
Class ^ 
Book- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



I» 



History of 
Gage County, Nebraska 




t 



"7 



j^ ^. 




y/^^ (Z oS^tr-^-^^ 



HISTORY OF 
GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



A NARRATIVE OF THE PAST, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS UPON THE PIONEER 
PERIOD OF THE COUNTY'S HISTORY, ITS SOCIAL, COMMERCIAL, EDU- 
CATIONAL, RELIGIOUS. AND CIVIC DEVELOPMENT FROM THE 
EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT TIME 



BY 

HUGH J. pOBBS 




w 



LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 
WESTERN PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING COMPANY 
/ 1918 



COPYRIGHT. 1918 

BY 

HUGH J. DOBBS 



«cj ^^.m 



THE TORCH PRESS 
LINCOLN. NEBRASKA 

AND 
CEDAR RAPIDS. IOWA 



)ci> riufi3;i;{ 



DEDICATED 

This volume is affectionately dedicated to the memory 
of my parents and to the memory of the other pioneers 
of Gage county, living and dead, whose heroism called 
the county into existence and advanced upon its rolling 
prairie wastes the Hues of civilized life. 



PREFACE 

This volume is divided into historical and biographical matter. For the 
former I am wholly responsible, but for the latter my responsibility is lim- 
ited to a few biographical sketches — less than a dozen out of hundreds — 
the remainder having been prepared under the supervision of the Western 
Publishing and Engraving Company of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

The chief value of the historical part of this book lies in its fidelity to facts. 
It is not claimed, however, that all has been set down that should have been 
written for a work of this character nor that the narrative is as complete in 
every instance as could be desired. Time and the limitations as to volume, 
imposed bv mv contract with the imblishers, have both combined to set bounds 
to my work. Whatever faults the critical may discover in the following pages, 
this much can at least be truthfully said of this History — it constitutes an earn- 
est effort to give both to the subscribers and the public, a readable and reliable 
history of Gage county, something that has not hitherto been attempted. 

I am under personal obligations to many for assistance in the preparation of 
this history. Particularly do I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to A. E. 
Sheldon, secretary, and Mrs. Clarence S. Paine, librarian of the State Histori- 
cal Society, Lincoln, Nebraska ; William Elsey Connelley, secretary of the 
State Historical Society of Kansas ; Hon. Charles H. Sloan, congressman of 
the Fourth congressional district of Nebraska; Major A. L. Green, Mrs. 
Charles F. Gale, Earl Marvin of the Beatrice Daily Sun, Mrs. Anna R. Mum- 
ford, William R. Jones, and Mrs. Oliver Townsend. Beatrice; John A. Weav- 
er and J. B. High, of the register of deeds ofifice; Mrs. Mabel Penrod, coun- 
ty clerk, and F. E. Lenhart, clerk of the district court of Gage county; Mrs. 
Minnie Prey Knotts, Lincoln, Nebraska; Mentor A. Brown, Kearney; Mrs. 
Aland ['ell, Tecumseh; A. D. McCandless and Charles ]\L ]\Iurdock, Wymore; 
]Mrs. Elizaljcth Porter, Wilbcr; Mr. and Mrs. F. A[. Graham, William Craig, 
and Robert A. Wilson, Blue Springs; Homer J. Merrick, .Vdams; Aliss Ev- 
elyn P.rinton, Pickrell; Theodore Coleman, Pasadena, and Miss Benetta Pike, 
Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Lilian P. Scoville, San Juan, Porto Rico; Dr. 
James P. Baker, St. Louis, Missouri; Mrs. Julia Beatrice Metcalf, Portland, 

5 



6 PREFACE 

Oregon: Joel Thomas Mattingley, Condon, Oregon; Louis Laflin, Cral> Or- 
chard; Hon. Peter Jansen, Andrew S. W'adsworth, Leonard A. Emmeri. Clar- 
ence W. Gale, Beatrice; Robert H. Baker, Chicago; W. II. Brodhead, ]\IcKay, 
Idaho; and James II. H. Hewitt, Alliance, Nebraska. 

I desire to express my sincere appreciation to the many subscribers to this 
volume who by letter or otherwise have shown a kindly interest in the work. 

\'ery respectfully, 

Hugh J. Dobb? 
Beatrice, Nebraska, August 7, 1918 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I — The Discoverers 15 

Christopher Cohimbus — England and France — French Explorers and Missionaries 

— Robert Cavalier de La Salle — The New World — Louisiana. 

CHAPTER H — Territory of Louisiana 21 

As part of New France — Attempted Settlement by La Salle — His Assassination — 
Effect of Extension of New France to Mississippi Basin — France loses her Colonial 
Possessions in North America — Retrocession by Charles V — American Opposition 

— Jefferson and the Treaty of Ildefonso — Jefferson's Aims concerning Louisiana 
and the Mississippi — Threat of Alliance with England — Alarm of Napoleon by 
Threat of War — Livingston Admonishes Talleyrand — Arrival of Monroe — Cession 
to the United States — Price — Population — Ignorance of America concerning New 
Purchase — Explorations of Lewis and Clark. 

CHAPTER HI — Nebraska up to 1866 29 

Early Explorers in Nebraska — Coronado — Mallet Brothers — Lewis and Clark — 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill — Territory opened for Settlement — Area — Boundaries — Or- 
ganization — Census — Death of Governor Burt — Governor Cuming — The First Leg- 
islature — Statehood. 

CHAPTER IV — G.\GE County 36 

Act Defining Boundaries — Name — Area — Seat of Justice — Whitesville — Prepara- 
tion for Election — Organization — First Meetings of County Commissioners — 
County Seat. 

CRAPTER V — Old Clay County 41 

Act Creating — Organization — Austin — Settlements — Partitioning — John P. Cad- 
man — Joint Meeting Commissioners of Gage and Lancaster Counties. 

CHAPTER VI — Topography of Gage County 45 

Location — Townships — Area — Hydrographic Features — Stone — Clay — Coal — 
Water Supply — Climate — Temperature — Soil — The Prairies. 

CHAPTER VII — Flora and Fauna 51 

Grasses — Flowers — Forest and Stream — Animal Life — The Buffalo — Elk — An- 
telope — Native Birds — Fish — Insect Life — Grasshoppers — Effect of Settlement. 

CHAPTER VIII — The Public Domain 57 

Nemaha Land District — Brownville Land OfHce — Registers and Receivers — Offered 
and L'noffcred Lands — Preemptions — Free Homestead Law — Agricultural College 
Land Grant .^ct — Operation of the Act — College Scrip Entries in Townships — 
Homestead Entries. 

CRAPTER IX — The Pioneers 63 

First Glimpse of Gage Countv — Home Building on the Prairies — Food Supplies — 
Fruits — Fish — Game — The 'Buffalo — Clothes — Food Substitutes — First \\'heat 
Crop — Spring Wheat — Common Salt — Social Life. 

CHAPTER X 71 

Poem by Edwin Ford Piper, "Have You An Eye" — Early Gage County Markets — 
Missouri River-Oregon Trail — Insufficiency of Local Markets — High Prices — Mis- 
souri River Points Best Purchasing Markets — Oregon Trail Best Selling Market — 
Its Early History — Great South Pass — John C. Fremont — Origin of Term, "Military 
Road" — Starting Point — Route — Marcus Whitman — Changes — Statistics of North- 
ern Route — An Emigrant Route — Freighting — Nebraska City — Overland Stage — 
Pony Express — Beatrice Route — General Description. 

CHAPTER XI — First Actual Settlers 85 

Otoe and Missouri Tribes of Indians — History — Reservation — Relation of Pioneers 
to Indians — Plans to sell Reservation — Sale — Report of Lewis and Clark — Indian 
Village — Removal of Indian Tribes. 



8 CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER XII — Xarr.\tive of Major Aliiert Lamborx Green ... 89 

ClI.XrTER XIII — First White Settlers HI 

Indian ARents and Employes — Gideon Bennett — David Palmer — John O. -Adams, 
and the Shaws — The Petiiouds — The Kilpatricks and Others — Settlements in Rock- 
ford Township — In Grant Township — At Hlue Springs. 

CI I.\PTER XIV — Founding OF Beatrice 117 

The Hannihal-N'ehraska .Association — Organization — Members — Locating Commit- 
tee—Its Report — Selection of Name — First Fourth of July Celebration — Assoaa- 
tion Meets on Townsite— Selection and Entry of Townsitc. 

CII.\PTER X\' — X.\RR.\TivE OF Mrs. Julia Beatrice (Kinney) Metcalf . 123 

CI 1 A I'TICR X\I — FouNiiERS OF Beatrice 129 

John Fitch Kinney — John McConihe — Albert Towle — Joseph Rutherford Nelson — 
Ohcdiah Brown Hewett ^ Gilbert T. Loomis — Oliver Townsend — Harrison F. Cook 

— Dr. Bayard T. Wise — Joseph Milligan— Bennett Pike — Jeflferson B. Weston — 
William H. Brodhcad^Dr. Herman >1. Re\nolds. 

CHAPTER X\II — A Roll OF Honor 149 

Gage County Territorial Pioneers — Biographical Sketches: Nathan Blakcly, Charles 
K. Emery, Joseph Hollingworth, Hiram \V. Parker, Charles G. Dorsey, Fordyce 
Roper, .Mbert L. Tinkham, Horace M. Wickham, Isma P. and Elizabeth Mumford, 
James B. Mattingley, Samuel Jones, Algernon Sidney Paddock. 

CH.M'TER X\I1! — Narrative of George Gale with Biocr.-\phic.\l Sketch 166 

CII.M'TF.R XIX — Growth OF Beatrice FROM Beginning to 1870 ... 181 

.•\ Hard Winter — Company .Assets — Pap's Cabin — Mum lord's Cabin — Entry of the 
Townsite — Population in 1S70 — Coming of the Railroads — First School House — 
First Bridge across the Big Blue — The Government Land Office — Improved Condi- 
tions — First L'nited States Mail — The Stage Routes — Beatrice of the Sixties. 

CHAPTER XX — BE.VfRicE Continued 189 

Incorporation of Towns by County Board — Petition to Incorporate Beatrice — Order 
Incorporating Beatrice — First Board of Trustees — Incorporation of Beatrice as a 
City of the Second Class — First City Council — Population of Beatrice — Incorpora- 
tion of Beatrice as a City of the First Class — .Additions to Beatrice — Changed to 
Commission Government — First County Court House — Location — Old "Public 
Square" — Description — Cost — .Abandoned — Demolished — .A New Court House — 
Court Hinise Bond Litigation — County Jail — The New Jail — First United States 
Postoffice — Present Postoflice Building — Postmasters — Beatrice City Hall — Fire 
Department — Lighting Plant — Sewers — Paving — City Water Works. 

CH.M'TER XXI — Beatrice Continued 208 

The Free Public Library — First Board of Directors — Carnegie Librarv Building — 
First Librarian — Public Parks — The Old Stone Church — The New Methodist 
Church — The First Presbyterian Church — The Episcopal Church — First Christian 
Church — l'nited Brethren Church — Trinity Lutheran Church — First Catholic Church 

— First Baptist Church — St. John's Lutheran Church — German Methodist Church 

— LaSelle Street Church — Seventh Day .Adventist Church — First Church of Christ 
Scientist — First Congregational Church — Mennontie Church — Beatrice School Dis- 
trict-Old Frame School House— First High School Building— Second High 
School Building— Third High School Building — Grade School Buildings — City Su- 
perintendents of Schools. 



CHAPTER XXII — Bf..\trice Concluded 

Banks — Factories — VNholcsale Houses — Rawlins Post — Hospitals and Sanitariums 

— Newspapers and Newspaper Men. 

CM AI'Ti-:R XXiil — Blue Spri.n-gs 

CHAPTER XXI\ — Wv.MoRE 

CHAPTER XX\— Incorporated Vii.L.u-.ES 

Adams — Barneston — Clatonia — Cortland — Fillcy — Libertv — Odell — Pickrell 

— \ irginia. 



228 

249 
260 



CONTENTS 9 

CHAPTER XXVI — Unincorporated Villages 290 

Ellis — Hoag — Kinney — Lanham — Rockford — Holmcsville. 

CHAPTER XXVH — County Offices and Officials 294 

First Election Law — Elections — Two Early Elections — Ofticial Roster of County 
Commissioners — Adoption of Township Organizations — County Clerks — County 
Treasurers — Clerks of District Court — County' Sheriffs — County Judges — County 
Superintendents of Schools — County Surveyors — County Coroners — Registers of 
Deeds — County Attorneys — County Assessors — Territorial Assemblies — House of 
Representatives — Members of the Council — State Legislatures — Members of the 
Senate. 

CHAPTER XXVni — Hospitals 303 

Institute for Feeble Minded Youths — Hepperlin's Hospital — New Lutheran Hospi- 
tal — Fall's Sanitarium — The Mennonite Deaconess Home and Hospital. 

CHAPTER XXIX — Military History OF Gage County 310 

Indian Raid on Little Blue River, 1864 — First Military Organization — A Stampede 

— Company C, Nebraska Militia — Sioux Indian War, 1891 — Gage County in the 
Civil War — The Spanish-American War — Roster of Companv C, First Regiment 

— The World War. 

CHAPTER XXX — The Bench and the Bar . . . . ■. . . 319 

Territorial Supreme Court — Territorial District Courts — Chief Justice Ferguson — 
Associate Justices — First Session Supreme Court — First Term District Court' — 
First Judicial Legislation — Gage County's First District Judge — First Term Dis- 
trict Court in Gage County — Second Term — First Grand Jury — First Embezzle- 
ment — First Murder — Third Term District Court — First Petit Jury — First Di- 
vorce Case — State Supreme Court — State District Courts — Act Admitting Attor- 
neys — First Lawyers in Gage County — Brief Sketches of Former Members of the 
Bar — Present Members. 

CH.\PTER XXXI — People Who have done Their Part in Making G.\ge 

County . . . .' 33S 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



William Clark . 

Meriwether Lewis . 

Bowlder Commemorating first council with 

QuivERA Monument . 

Stephen A. Douglas 

Francis Burt 

Thomas B. Cuming . 

Rev. William D. Gage 

Grasshopper Scene, 1874 

First Claim Cabin in Nebraska 

Salt Basin and Salt Works, Lincoln, 1872 

Mormon Encampment about 1846 . 

John C. Fremont 

Brigham Young 

Scenes at Ash Hollow .... 

Peter J. De Smet, S.J 

Freighting Scenes Along the Oregon Trail 
Concord Stage-coach .... 
Ar-k.\-ke-ta, Head Chiee oe the Otoes . 
Otoe Indian Village .... 
Old Agency Mill, Indian Reservation . 
Old Burial Place and Funeral Trees of th 
Medicine Horse's Village 
Log from John Pethoud's Cabin, 1857 . 
Original Cabin on First Homestead 

Daniel Freeman 

Julia Beatrice Kinney, 1860 . 

Julia Beatrice (Kinney) Metcalf, 1909 

Julia Beatrice (Kinney) Metcalf, 1878 

John Fitch Kinney 

Hannah D. (Hall) Kinney 

General John McConihe 

Albert Towle . 

Katie Towle 

Joseph Rutherford Nelson 

Oliver Townsend 

Harrison F. Cook 

Bennett Pike . 

William H. Brodiiead 

Herman M. Reynolds 

Nathan Blakely 

Margaret Constance Blakely 

Hiram W. Parker 



the 



E Otoes 



Indians 



ON N 



EBRASKA 



SOIL 



26 

26 

28 

30 

32 

33 

34 

37 

53 

65 

69 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

80 

82 

86 

92 

95 

99 

108 

113 

115 

116 

120 

124 

124 

131 

131 

132 

133 

134 

135 

137 

138 

141 

144 

146 

154 

155 

157 



11 



12 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Elizabuth Mu.mi'ord .... 
Pio.sEEK Residence of S.xmuel Jones 
.Mr. .\.\u Mrs. George G.ale 
Court Street, Beatrice, in 1870 

lilRDSEVE \'IEW OF BEATRICE, 1874 

First Court House at Beatrice 
Federal Building .\t Be.\trice 
Gage County Court House 
Old County Jail 
New County Jail 
Carnegie Library, Beatrice 
City Water Works, Beatrice . 
Be.vtrice City Hall . 
\'oLu.\TEER Fire Station, Beatrice 
.Athletic Park, Be.xtrice . 

\'lE\VS IN and about BEATRICE . 

Beatrice Churches . 

New Congregational Church, Beatrice 

First High School Building, Beatrice 

Be.\trice School Buildings 

Beatrice National Bank Building 

Beatrice Banking Institutions 

Beatrice Steel Tank Manufacturing Company 

Beatrice Iron Works 

John H. von Steen Company . 

F. D. Kees Manufacturing Company 

Beatrice Cold Storage Company . 

S\viFT & Company .... 

Beatrice Creamery Company . 

Residence Streets in Be.xtrice 

Business Streets in Be.\trice 

Beautiful Homes in Beatrice 

Theodore Coleman .... 

Court Street, Beatrice, in 1908 

Bridge and Mill at Blue Springs . 

Blue Springs High School 

William B. Tyler .... 

Mrs. Rebecca Tyler 

Robert A. Wilson .... 

Mrs. A.MEI.IA Wilson 

Solon M. Hazen .... 

Dr. Levi Anthony .... 

Francis M. Graham .... 

Mrs. Hannah Retta Graham . 

Niagara .Avenue, Wymore 

St. Mary's Catholic Church and Rectory Wymore 

First Baptist Church, Wymore 

First Methodist Episcopal Church, Wymore 

Two Rural Churches near Wy.more 



161 
164 
167 
185 
192 
195 
197 
197 
199 
200 
20.3 
203 
203 
203 
210 
211 
215 
221 
224 
225 
232 
233 
234 
234 
236 
236 
237 
237 
237 
238 
240 
241 
244 
248 
251 
252 
254 
2.=;4 
255 
255 
256 
257 
258 
258 
263 
266 
267 
268 
269 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



13 



High School, Wymore 

Main Street, Cortland . 

Public School. Cortland 

Views in Odell 

High School, Holmesville 

Cottages at Institute for Feeble Minded Youths 

Girls' Second Cottage, Institute for Feeble Minded Youths 

Hospital Building, Institute for Feeble Minded Youths 

Mennonite Hospital 

Dr. Fall's Sanitarium 

Lutheran Hospital . 

Institute for Feeble Minded Youth 

New Lutheran Hospital 

Colonel John M. Stotsenberg 

Fenner Ferguson 

James Bradley . 

Edward Randolph Harden 

Oliver P. Mason 

Zion's Lutheran Church 

Kilpatrick Mausoleum 

Pioneer Residence of Fidillo Hunter Dobbs 



270 
278 
279 
285 
292 
304-305 
306 
307 
308 
308 
308 
308 
309 
314 
320 
321 
322 
325 
448 
600 
613 



CHAPTER I 

THE DISCOVERERS 



Christopher Columbus — England and Fr.\nce — French Explorers and Missionaries 
— Robert Cavalier de La Salle — The New World — Louisiana 



Nothing in human history exceeds in roman- 
tic interest the discovery and settlement of the 
New World. The first voyage of Columbus 
from the shores of Spain across the unknown 
waters of the Atlantic ocean, which the super- 
stition of the times invested with every sort 
of mystery and danger, must always appeal to 
the imagination as an act of superlative dar- 
ing — ^ an event of first importance in the 
progress and happiness of mankind — for he, 
by adventuring where others dared not ven- 
ture, by a single act revealed to the astonished 
gaze of Europe the existence of new lands of 
wonderful beauty and promise, where none 
were believed to exist ; and, at a blow, dis- 
pelled forever the ignorance and fear which 
hitherto had enslaved the mind and paralyzed 
the endeavor of the most favored and most 
intelligent portion of the globe. 

Columbus set sail from the port of Palos on 
the 3d day of August, 1492, with a fleet of 
three small vessels, the Pinta, the Santa Alaria, 
and the Nina. He was accompanied by the 
tears and lamentations of the entire popula- 
tion of that small port, most of whom had 
relatives abroad the ships, and who, as the 
winding of the shore hid the little fleet from 
sight, abandoned all hope of ever again see- 
ing the adventurous mariners alive. On 
hoard those small caravels the crews them- 
selves, as the distance from the shores oi 
Spain daily increased, were seized with fear 
and unrest, which greatly endangered the 
success of the expedition. But the confident 
Admiral held firmly to his course and pointed 
the prow of his flag ship steadily toward the 



west. The sea was smooth, the air soft 
and refreshing, nature herself seemed un- 
usually propitious toward this momentous 
and daring enterprise. Soon the frail vessels 
came within tlie course of the trade winds 
and, with a constant and favoring breeze, the 
little squadron made rapid headway. Occa- 
sionally the crews sighted floating weeds and 
other objects which seemed to indicate the 
near presence of land and which served to 
cheer their spirits and invigorate their flagging 
zeal. On, on, on they sailed, day and night, 
always toward the west. Uneventful weeks 
passed without sight of land, but on the night 
of October 11, 1492, Columbus, who was sta- 
tioned on the high cabin of the Santa ^laria, 
saw at a distance across the water a faintly 
gleaming, uncertain light. Few of his crew 
were encouraged by this sign, though Colum- 
bus himself regarded it as a certain proof of 
the vicinity of land. At two o'clock on the 
morning of the 12th day of October, 1492. the 
little Pinta, which from her superior sailing 
ability was leading the other vessels, fired a 
gun, the agreed signal in case any of the ships 
should in the night time discover certain indi- 
cations of land. The little squadron instantly 
lav to, eagerly awaiting the dawn. At last 
daylight slowly broke, and at a short distance 
the voyagers beheld a green and marv'elously 
beautiful island, lying in a sapphire sea. It 
was San Salvador, the outpost of a newly 
discovered world. To their intense surprise, 
the Spaniards found this island densely popu- 
lated by perfectly naked savages, so kindly 
disposed and unsuspicious as to regard the 



15 



16 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



newcomers as gods whom they were inclined 
to worship. Accompanied by the principal 
persons of his expedition, Columbus, richly 
attired, was rowed to the shore. Falling upon 
their faces, the party kissed the earth and 
gave thanks to Almightj' God. Then unfurl- 
ing the bainier of Spain over this patch of 
land, Columbus took possession in the name 
of his sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. A 
few days were spent in sailing the waters 
about this island, and having gathered from 
the natives that, toward the southwest, gold 
was to be found in lands of yet more surpass- 
ing beauty, Columbus, on the 24th day of Oc- 
tober, 1492, turned his prows in that direction. 
On the fourth day of his voyage he beheld the 
noble shores of Hispaniola, now Cuba, rising 
out of the ocean before him. Charmed to 
ecstacy by the mildness of the climate, the 
beauty of the scener)', the gorgeous plumage 
of birds, the docility and intelligence of the 
natives, and the sunlit sea in which Cuba rests, 
(|uccn of the waves, the soul of the great Ad- 
miral glowed with pride and satisfied ambi- 
tion. He gave up his days to the luxun,' of 
his surroundings and to exploring the north- 
ern coast of the island, and on the 5th day of 
December, 1492, having passed the eastern 
extremity of Cuba, he saw toward the south- 
east, looming out of the ocean, a new island — 
high and mountainous, Hayti. the most beau- 
tiful and most unfortunate of all the West 
Indian islands. Here, freed by the softness of 
the climate and the wonderful fertility of the 
soil, from toilsome labor, he found a native 
population that passed its days in indolence 
and repose. Having lost the Santa Maria by 
an accident of the sea and being deserted by 
the Pinta, commanded by Pinzon, Columbus 
now resolved to begin his homeward voyage. 
Departing from Hayti Januar>- 4, 1493, after 
a most perilous voyage, guided by the hand of 
Providence, on the 15th day of March follow- 
ing, he again cast anchor in the little harbor 
of Palos. He left Spain jK>or and unknown, 
he returned rich with honors, having gained 
the right to have his name forever first on the 
roll of discoverers, as well as that of those 
who by greatly daring, greatly achieve. 



Columbus carried with him to Spain several 
natives of the islands, together with products 
of the soils of these new lands, notably to- 
bacco, cofTee, and potatoes, with fruits and 
spices, as evidence of his discoveries. The 
great and unusual honors bestowed upon him 
by the proudest and most powerful court of 
the world, with the graphic report which he 
was able to make to his sovereigns of his won- 
derful voyage and the marv-elous possibilities 
suggested by his discoveries, electrified every 
fKjrtion of the globe where civilization had ob- 
tained the slightest foothold. Fired partly by 
religious zeal, partly by love of adventure and 
thirst for fame, and partly by the commercial 
incentive to discover and open an all-water 
route for trade between Europe and the East 
Indies, the maritime nations of western Eu- 
rope joined enthusiastically in voyages of dis- 
cover}^ to the western hemisphere. 

Columbus himself continued in the great 
work of discovery till he had added to the 
memorable voyage of 1492 three others to the 
New World. Island after island rose out of 
the depths of the ocean before him. But in 
none of his voyages did the great discoverer 
touch either of the American continents. Ig- 
norant of the vast extent of the ocean, he 
imagined that he had reached only the thresh- 
old of India and that he was upon the 
point of realizing his lifelong dream of an 
open, all-water route to Cathay — land of 
jewels and spices, ^^'ith feverish energy he 
sought the one factor which alone, as he sup- 
posed, could give value to his priceless discov- 
eries. But gold was rare in those islands, 
fanned by the great trade winds, and yielding 
only bloom and fruitage, heaped as by magic 
upon the bosom of the Atlantic. 

On his third voyage, in 1498, Columbus 
came upon the large island of Trinidad, which 
lies off the coast of South America, near the 
mouth of the Orinoco river. Cruising about 
this island, he found to his surprise that the 
waters of the narrow strait that separates it 
from the main land were sweet and fresh, and 
gazing westward he beheld what he conceived 
to be the low-lying lands of a yet larger island 
extending twenty leagues or more along the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEliRASKA 



17 



coast. Never dreaming that these fresh, sweet 
waters were those of a mighty river that 
drained a continent and the low-lying lands 
the eastern edge of that continent, he sailed 
away to Hayti to visit a colony which he had 
founded there on his second voyage, in 1496. 
From this visit he was sent to Spain a prisoner 
in chains, and he died at Valladolid. IVlay 20, 
1516, poor and neglected, old and broken, at 
sixty years of age, already robbed by Ameri- 
cus \'espucci, an obscure adventurer, of the 
honor due to his memory, of bestowing his 
own name on the great New World which his 
genius and faith had disclosed to mankind. 

In a material sense, the net result of his four 
voyages of discovery was to add to the known 
portions of the earth those groups of archi- 
pelagoes in the western Atlantic which are 
collectively known as the West Indies, and 
which, sweeping in a wide curve from Florida 
to the mouth of the (Orinoco, screen the Car- 
ibbean sea from the gulf of Mexico and the 
i\tlantic ocean — islands of ravishing beauty, 
marvelous fertility, delightful climate, teem- 
ing with the products of nature. 

But who shall ever be able rightly to weigh 
the tremendous influence of this simple-hearted 
man upon the physical and mental horizon of 
the world ? The people of all western Europe 
by the middle of the fifteenth century had so 
far emerged from the "Dark Ages" as to be 
measurably free from the forms of govern- 
ment which had characterized the feudal sys- 
tem, and for the first time since modern 
Europe had arisen from the fragments of the 
Roman em]jire its governments were in the 
hands of able rulers, while national policies 
had displaced government by individual whim 
or caprice. It was the age of the Renaissance 
and the re\ival of learning. The world was 
undergoing the process of a new birth. The 
foolish superstitions and practices which had 
prevailed for centuries under the forms and 
guise of religion were rapidly passing away. 
A universal activity and zeal for the cause of 
learning had aroused mankind to a sense of 
its needs. France, England. vSpain, Portugal, 
were rapidly assuming the dignity and self- 
importance of empire, in the very midst of 



this tremendous activity and of these vague 
longings and dreams of national aggrandize- 
ment, came Columbus home from the voyage 
into the unknown, with almost incredible tales 
of golden islands beyond the furthest rim of 
the western sea. The vast evolution which 
was rapidly bringing freedom to mankind 
throughout western Europe had already pre- 
pared maritime nations to a large extent for 
the discovery of a new world, and, as if by 
the intervention of Providence itself, this 
great event was made to serve as an outlet 
for their highest ambitions. 

It is foreign to the aim and purpose of 
this history to narrate in detail the great 
work of discovery, exploration, and coloni- 
zation of America which followed its dis- 
covery by Columbus. W'e know that for 
years Spain led the other nations in the num- 
ber, extent, and value of her enterprises. In 
less than forty years after the death of the 
great Admiral, she had established her hold on 
the West Indies by right of discovery, and 
had grasped by the bloody hand of conquest 
Mexico, Central America, the isthmus of 
Panama, the isthmus of Darien. and the con- 
tinent of South America — a domain which in 
natural resources rivalled continental Europe, 
and which for unbroken centuries jjoured a 
golden stream into her national treasury. In 
addition to all this, she claimed Florida by 
right of its discovery, on Piaster Day, 1512, 
by the aged cavalier, juan Pnncc de l.ei-n, 
sailing in search of the fountain of perpetual 
youth, and she laid claim also to the basin of 
the Mississippi, on account of the discovery of 
that historic stream by Hernando de Soto, in 
1541, and its exploration in part by him and 
the wandering remnant of his followers after 
he had sunk to rest in its mighty flood. W ith 
more or less definiteness, Spain asserted for 
centuries proprietary' rights in the whole of 
North America, on account of the achieve- 
ments of Columbus and those Sjianish navi- 
gators who followed him. 

But her rivals, and particularly England and 
France, were quick to perceive the tremendous 
possibilities involved in the possession of lands 
in the western hemisphere, where, at almost 



IX 



IISTORV ol" CAC.E COL'XTY, XEIJRASKA 



;i siiifjlc Ijound and at a trifling cost in money 
and life, national wealth, national resources, 
and territorial dominion might be immeasur- 
alily increased. 

Thus it came about that in 14yX. when 
Columbus, looking westward from the island 
of 'IVinidad, saw the shores of South 
.\merica, Sebastian Cabot, sailing under a 
commission from Henry \'ll of Hngland, 
discovered and explored the eastern i)ortion 
of North .America from Labrador tn Ca])e 
Hatteras, thereby affording ground for Eng- 
land's claim to all jwrtions of the continent of 
.North .\merica from the middle shore of the 
.Atlantic ocean to the crest of tlie .Alleghany 
mf)untains. 

l-'rancis 1, King of France, early in the six- 
teenth century, turned his attention to discov- 
ery, e.\|)loration, and colonization in the New 
World. In 1524 John N'arrazani. a Floren- 
tine in the service of France, sailed from the 
shores of Europe with four vessels, in search 
of an all-water route to .Asia. Directing h'\> 
course nearly to the west, on the 7th of March 
he discovered the main land of the continent, 
in the latitude of Wilmington, North Caro- 
lina, lie explored this coast from one hun- 
dred and tifty miles south of Wilmington to 
the remotest (>oint of New England, reaching 
Newfoundland in the latter part of May. In 
July he returned to France and published an 
account of his wonderful voyage, which at- 
tracted wide attention, but ten years were 
sutTfered to elapse l)efore another effort was 
made to rejieat his experiment. Beginning 
with 1534, French navigators, aided by their 
government, flocked across the .Atlantic, ex- 
])lored the eastern coast of the great northern 
continent, circumnavigated Newfoundland, en- 
tered the gulf of St. Lawrence and ascended 
the noble St. Lawrence river. They founded 
.scores of towns, including I'ort Royal (now 
Annapolis, Nova Scotia), Quebec, and Mon- 
treal. French adventurers, tra])pers. hunters, 
j)enetrated the wilderness to the Great Lakes ; 
black-robed French missionaries preached the 
gospel over wide areas to savage tribes bv 
lake and stream far into the interior. No 
fairer pages of history can be found than 



those which record the exploration and settle- 
ment of New France, as the French posses- 
sions in North .\merica came to be known. 
From the early ])art of the sixteenth century 
lo the latter part of the seventeenth century, 
this work went continually forward. It was 
closed by the rediscovery of the Mississippi 
river by Joliet and his companian, the heroic 
Jesuit missionary. Father Marqette, in 1673. 
and bv the e.xploration of that mighty stream 
from the Illinois to its mouth by La Salle, in 
1682. 

The name of Robert Cavalier de La Salle 
will be forever spoken with respect by every 
man who is at all conversant with his daring 
and adventurous achievements. No more con- 
spicuous name adorns the annals of colonial 
history in North America. Amidst the vacillat- 
ing and shifting policy of Louis XIV and his 
ministers with respect to the French ])osses- 
sions in the New World, where much was 
jjromised and little done, La Salle, with the 
prevision of genius and great statesmanship, 
saw more clearly than any other man of his 
race that the road to empire for France lay in 
the lakes, rivers, savannahs, and wildernesses 
of North America. Not only was the prevision 
of em])ire his but lie possessed also the imagin- 
ation to conceive anil the power and will to put 
into execution the plans which should have 
been the colonial policy of France from the 
first. La Salle was a Norman, born at Rouen 
in 1643 ; he was educated by the Jesuits, with 
whom he spent ten years as a student and from 
whom he acquired a habit of rigorous abstrac- 
tion. .\bnormally reticent about himself and 
his work, he made few close friends and many 
bitter enemies. He was persistent, active, de- 
termined, and brave to a fault. In 1660 he 
left France for Canada. By that time the 
French possessions in North America had be- 
come known to the world as New France and 
comprised the entire basin of the St. Law- 
rence river, the Great Lakes region. Labrador. 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and that part of 
Maine lying in the basin of the St. Lawrence. 
To the vain and licentious Louis XI\'' New- 
France offered but a small and unpromising 
lield for the display of his glory and power 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



10 



and the gratification of his ambitions. It cost 
money to colonize, defend, and develop the 
distant province, and Louis was wasting his 
resources and exhausting the nation in deso- 
lating wars with England and the Holy Alli- 
ance. He had at last been prevailed upon to 
send to New France, in 1672, the ablest and 
most disinterestedly patriotic of all French 
governors, Count Louis de Frontenac, who, 
like La Salle, foresaw the approaching strug- 
gle for the continent between Protestant Eng- 
land and Catholic France, and was, like him, 
gifted wilh the jirevision of empire in the 
New World. 

On arriving in Canada, La Salle settled on 
an estate nine miles lielow Montreal, on the 
St. Lawrence. Here he came in contact with 
roving bands of Iroquois, who told him of a 
mighty river, far to the west, which rose in 
their country, flowed westward and he who 
followed its course for nine months, entered a 
wide sea. They called this river Ohio, mean- 
ing probably to include with it the Mississippi 
from the mouth of the ( )hio to the gulf. La 
Salle pondered this important information. 
Like other explorers, he was imbued with the 
idea of discovering an all-water route to 
India ; and he argued that the discovery of 
this stream might enable him to reach the 
Pacific, whose waves he knew in their far 
course broke on the distant shores of Cathay. 
With a few Franciscan monks, known as 
seminar)' priests, and some men at arms, with 
the aid of Frontenac, he organized an expe- 
dition to explore the region of country west of 
the Alleghanies, drained, as he believed, by 
the river described by the Iroquois. Little is 
known of this venture into the wilderness be- 
yond the fact that the expedition reached the 
Ohio and descended its course as far at least 
as Louisville, Kentucky. In 1670 we hear of 
La Salle again wandering amongst the forests 
that border the Illinois and exploring the 
region drained by that stream, Init again he 
stopped short of the great river. 

Fort Frontenac had been erected near the 
outlet of Lake (])ntario, on its northern shore, 
and here in 167S, La Salle was in command 
of this, the most advanced military outpost of 



New France. In this enxironment this re- 
markably grave, solitary, thoughtful man 
ruled with absolute authority over a wide 
region of country. His days were spent 
amongst the Indians, half-breeds, traders, 
trappers, voyageurs, and couriers de bois 
(rangers of the woods), barkening to their 
strange tales of the wilderness and prairies, 
of river and lakes, Indian tribes, and the wild 
life of the woods and plains. Slowly, slowly, 
he matured the great design of uniting by a 
bold stroke these unknown and unexplored 
wildemeses to New France, thereby laying 
the foundation for a French empire in the 
New World. La Salle knew that Joliet and 
the black-robed priest Marquette had in 1673 
rediscovered the Mississippi river under In- 
dian guidance, l)v following the course of the 
Wisconsin, and had jjaddled down the great 
river as far as the mouth of the Arkansas, 
leaving the question of its ultimate termina- 
tion still in doulit. By some of his associates 
it was thought that the Mississippi flowed into 
the Pacific ocean, others that it discharged its 
waters into the Atlantic, and some that the 
gulf of Mexico received its mighty flood. The 
determination of this vital question was in 
La Salle's mind the first step toward empire. 
Resigning his command at Fort Frontenac, he 
applied for a commission from the king to 
explore the vast unknown region lying south 
and west of Canada and the Great Lakes, but 
such were the difficulties and hardships which 
he encountered that four years expired after 
receipt of his commission before he was able 
to undertake the great adventure. In Febru- 
ary, 1682, with a small fleet of canoes, and 
accompanied by about thirty Frenchmen and 
a band of Indians from western Canada, La 
Salle descended the tranquil Illinois. His 
course was impeded at first by floating ice, but 
at Peoria lake he struck clear water, and on 
the 6th day of February, 1682, the small flo- 
tilla of canoes issued upon the bosom of the 
mighty Mississippi. 

Without a moment's hesitation, the canoes 
were pointed with the swift current and the 
momentous voyage which was to determine 
the course of the Mississippi was begun. The 



21) 



HISTORY OF GAGE CDLXTV. XKI'.KASKA 



]iarty floated and iniddled rapidly down its 
current, travelinjj only Ijy daylight. Day by 
day they drifted swiftly, almost silently, to- 
ward unknown destinies. Slowly the mysteries 
oi the New World unrolled before them like 
a scroll. The winter passed into spring, and 
in the bright smdiglit and drowsy atmosphere 
they saw the tentler foliage clothe again the 
wilderness. They passed numerous Indian vil- 
lages, some of which they visited, and where 
they occasionally spent the night. Not infre- 
quently they encountered Indians in huge war 
canoes, but. avoiding all hostile encounters. 
they drifted on and on toward their objective 
— the mouth of the Mississippi. They noted 
the steady trend of the river, through dense 
forests, swamjiy cane-brakes, wild-rice tields 
that lay along the shore, ever toward the 
south. Doubt finally dissolved into certainty: 
they knew that it led on through senii-tropic.d 
lands to the heaving billows of the gulf of 
Mexico. On the C>th day of April, 1682, ex- 
actly two calendar months since they had em- 
barked on the river, they reached its delta, 
where its mighty flood divides into three chan- 
nels. Directing D'Autray to follow the east- 
most channel with some of the canoes, the 
Count Henry Tonty the middle channel. 
I. a Salle himself flescended the western pass- 
age. Slowly ])addling down these waterwavs. 
they noted soon the odor of brine in the frcsii- 
ening breeze and suddenly before these keen- 
eyed voyageurs the tmnbling billows of the 
gulf of Mexico came into view. 

Proceeding along the marshy shore. La Salle 
](icked u]) one after another the canoes of his 
]>arty and, assembling his followers on a drv 
s])ot of land a short distance above the mouth 
of the river, he caused a column of wood to 
be made on which he inscribed the following: 
"Louis the (ircat. Kiiuj of France and of 
Savarrc. King. 
April 9lh, 1682." 

Then marshaling his men at arms, amidst 
the tire of musketry, the shouts of "A'ive le 
Koy" anil the chanting of the Te Deum by the 
])riests, while the Indian braves and their 
s(|uaws looked wonderingly on. La Salle plant- 
ed the column in its jilace. Standing near it 



he then in a loud voice delivered a proclama- 
tion, of which the following is part : 

In the name of the most high, mighty, in- 
\incil)le and victorious prince, Louis the 
Great, by the grace of God king of France and 
of Navarre. Fourteenth of that name, I this 
ninth day of A])ril, one thousand six hundred 
eighty-two, in virtue of the commission of his 
majesty which I hold in my hand and which 
mav be seen by all whom it may concern, have 
taken and do now take, in the name of his ma- 
jesty and of his successors to the crown, 
])ossession of this country of Loi'isi.w.v. the 
seas, harbors, bays, ports, adjacent straits 
and all the nations, peoples, provinces, cities, 
towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, 
streams and rivers within the extent of the 
Slid LmisiA.VA. 

Thus the great basin of the Mississippi 
river came imder the scepter of Louis XI\', 
the most dissolute monarch of Furope. and 
thus at the word of a single daring explorer, 
standing on the lonely delta of that great 
river, the territory of Louisiana, out of 
which came Nebraska, was called into exis- 
tence, a territory which comprised vast and 
unknown regions of dense forests, rich 
savannahs, sunbaked plains, apparently limit- 
less ])rairie, watered by a thousand streams, 
peopled only by savage Indian tribes, the abode 
of bufl^alo and other wild denizens of the for- 
est and plain : a territory which stretched 
from the pure springs of tiie far north whose 
confluent streams form the source of the 
mighty F'ather of Waters, to the hot marshy 
borders of the gulf of Mexico, and from the 
low-wooded crests of the .Mleghanies on the 
east to the river of ])alnis. the bold, naked 
l)eaks of the Rocky mountains and the sources 
of the Missouri of the west. 

The New France of Robert Cavalier de 
La Salle and of Frontenac, conii)rising Canada, 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the region of 
the Great Lakes and the territory of Lou-s- 
iana. has long since been lost to its founders, 
but the memory of that glorious empire plant- 
ed in the wilderness of North .\merica, with 
incredible hardships and labors which only 
men of heroic mo'd oould liave endured, still 
survives to animate the souls of the thought- 
ful and the hearts of the daring. 



CHAPTER IT 

TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA 

As PART OF Ni-:\v France — Attempted Settlement bv La Saeli' — His Assassination — 
Effect of Extension of New France to Mississippi Basin — ^ France loses her 
Colonial Possessions in North America — Retrocession by Charles V — 
American Opposition — Jefferson and the Treaty of Ildefonso — Ji;ffi;k- 
son's Aims concerning Louisiana and the Mississippi — Threat of Al- 
liance with England — Alarm of Napoleon by Threat of War — 
Livingston Admonishes Talleyrand — Arrival of Monroe — 
Cession to the United States — Price — Population — 
Ignorance of America concerning New Purchase — 
Explorations of Lewis and Clark 



The liistory of Nebraska may properly be 
said to begin with the voyage of the heroic La 
Salle in 1682. An historical sequence of events 
leads the mind steadily forward from his dis- 
coxeries till. l)y well defined processes of dif- 
ferentiation and elimination, a ])oint is reached 
where the commonwealth of Nebraska stands 
forth clearly defined in the mighty sisterhood 
of states which comprise the North American 
republic. 

In a comparatively short time after its dis- 
covery the vast territory of Louisiana became 
linked to Canafla and the other French posses- 
sions in North America as an integral part of 
New France. This ])rocess was begun and car- 
ried forward by men animated by the desire 
to realize the ideal of its discoverer, which 
aimed at nothing less than a great interior 
French empire, composed of the most fertile 
lands in the world. The New France, as fash- 
ioned by the vision of La Salle, was to be yet 
fairer than the old, as the daughter will some- 
times lie fairer than the mother. The work of 
reclaiming the wilderness was first carried on 
by French traders, trappers, hunters, and wood 
rangers, who extended their activities over the 
greater portion of the Mississippi basin, ex- 
tending south to the gulf of Mexico and 



west to and including Texas. \Miere these 
went the Jesuit and Franciscan monks fol- 
lowed, i^reaching the pure and gentle religion 
of the lowly Nazarene to the savage tribes 
who inhabited these wildernesses and plains. 
The earliest effort to establish settlements 
in the new territory was made b)' La Salle, 
himself, in 1684. Shortly after his return 
from the long voyage to the mouth of the 
Mississippi he repaired to France, and was 
supplied with three vessels, including a ship of 
the line, and a body of troops and emigrants, 
for the purpose of establishing a colony and 
erecting fortifications to guard the great river 
from English and Spanish aggression. But 
lie missed the mouth of the Mississippi and 
sailed westward to Mata Gorda bay, Texas. 
Dissension arose between him and the com- 
mander of the war vessel that accompanied 
him, and La Salle, leaving the ships with a 
few of the emigrants and men at arms, tem- 
porarily established his headquarters at that 
point and began a search for the Mississippi. 
Failing in his quest, he, in 1686, undertook 
to penetrate the wilderness to the Illinois, 
where Tonty had been directed to remain with 
supplies and men. While prosecuting this 
venture this remarkable man fell by the hand 



21 



HISTORY OF GAGE C< >rXTV. XEMRASKA 



of an assassin. Others took up the work of 
settling New France and occupying at least 
the lower basin of the Mississippi river; as a 
result of which New < )rleans was founded in 
1723. by Jean IJaptiste Lenioine. sieur de 
Bienville. Settlements were made also in the 
( >hio valley and elsewhere in the wilderness 
west of the .Mleghanies, so that by the middle 
of the eighteenth century a chain of forts and 
military ])osts had been planted by the French 
from Quebec along the St. Lawrence, the 
Niagara, the Detroit, the Illinois rivers, and 
the Mississip])i river and some of its tribu- 
taries, to the bay of IJiloxi, on the gulf of 
Mexico, while the region of the Great Lakes 
was guarded by similar outposts of defense. 
Such settlements were accompanied by the 
orderly forms of government, supported by 
the military forces of Canada and France, in 
the hope of guarding and defending from Eng- 
lish aggression on the east and Spanish aggres- 
sion on the south and west, the most valuable 
and extensive colonial territory ever possessed 
by a single European jjower in North America. 
The extension of New France to the basin 
of the Mississippi river from source to mouth 
and westward from the heights of the Al- 
leghanies. had the efifect of setting metes and 
bounds to British possessions in the New 
World. Bitter and ini])lacable rivalry arose 
between the English and French colonists, and 
i)loody attacks and rejjrisals blur the annals of 
both Saxon and Gaul. Britain's claim of all 
North America from ocean to ocean by right 
of Cabot's discover)-, and the stout resistance 
by the French to this claim, were the main 
causes of that series of sanguinary conflxts 
known in English colonial histon.- as the 
French and Indian wars, which, beginning in 
1690, with what is known as King William's 
war. raged with great fury and finally termi- 
nated at the close of the Seven Years' Euro- 
jjean war. in 1763, thirteen years before the 
commencement of the .\inerican Revolution. 
By treaties which marked the closing of these 
wars, striking changes were eflfected in North 
,\nierica. By the treaty of L'trecht. in 1713, 
which marked the close of that colonial dis- 
turbance sometimes designated as Queen 



Anne's war, England made her first great in- 
road into French territon,'. By this treaty 
she obtained control of the valuable fisheries 
of Newfoundland, together with possession of 
Hudson bay, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and 
minor French possessions ; and at the close of 
King George's war, in 1763. under the treaty 
of Paris, Canada itself and Cape Breton were 
ceded by France to England, with their terri- 
torial appendages, and the western boundaries 
of the English colonies were pushed beyond 
the .Mleghanies to the eastern shores of the 
Mississippi river. Thus fell, as by a single 
blow, the dream of empire which had animated 
the soul of the courageous La Salle, and of 
which Count <ie Frontenac al.so had dreamed, 
and thus was laid the foundation of the vast 
colonial possessions of England in the New 
World. 

Nothing remained to France of her proud 
colonial empire in North .America except that 
portion of La Salle's discoveries which lay 
west of the Father of Waters and which had 
come to be designated in France as the pro- 
vince of Louisiana ; all else had been swal- 
lowed up by her ancient rival, England. Even 
Louisiana passed immediately from her con- 
trol, for on the very day of the execution of 
the treaty of Paris by which she was shorn of 
Canada and Cape Breton, she entered into a 
secret treaty with Spain, under which the last 
fragment of the empire of Frontenac and La 
Salle passed to that country. Thus by the acts 
of a weak and licentious sovereign, the land of 
Clovis and Charlemagne was stripped of ever)' 
vestige of her rich colonial possessions in the 
New World, and thus ended the struggle for 
a continent between the two most enlightened 
nations in western Europe. 

But the tragedy of Louisiana was not yet 
played to the end, nor indeed could be until 
its destiny was fulfilled. Its cession to Spain 
increased her colonial possessions in North 
.\mcrica. till, with Mexico, they covered 
nearly half the continent. Whatever secret 
understanding may have existed between her 
and the court of Louis XV as to the retroces- 
sion of Louisiana in the future, Spain entered 
into possession of her new province shortly 



HISTORY OF GAGE COfXTY. NEBRASKA 



after the treaty of Paris in 17()3. hoisted her 
national emblem at New Orleans, city of Bien- 
ville, and. amidst the tears, protestations, and 
lamentations of the French inhabitants, es- 
tablished her authority over the province, 
which was to continue to the opening year of 
■ the nineteenth Christian century. During 
these forty-five years of Spanish rule in 
Louisiana province, most marked changes had 
taken place in France itself. The monarchy 
had fallen, the French Revolution had termi- 
nated, and an effort had been made to establish 
a republic, which ended in what is known in 
French history as the "Consular Govern- 
ment," with Napoleon Bonaparte as First Con- 
sul and as such the chief officer of state. 

()n ()ctober 1, 1800, a treaty was en- 
tered into between Charles IV of Spain and 
the consular government, whereby Louis- 
iana was retroceded to France, entire, as re- 
spected its fomier boundaries. Peace had 
temporarily settled over Europe and Napoleon 
looked forward to a period of continued na- 
tional prosperity, wherein he conceived it pos- 
sible to realize, at least in part, the dream of 
the unfortunate La Salle. But the ink on the 
parchment whereon was written the treaty of 
lldefonso was scarcely dry when a portentous 
war cloud suddenly obscured the rising sun 
of peace, wherein England, aiming at empire, 
threatened to involve France in another ter- 
rible conflict. Actual transfer of possession 
of the province to France was necessarily de- 
layed and before it could be accomplished the 
news of the retrocession had reached the 
United States. The Spanish governor had 
rendered himself obnoxious to this country 
on account of certain trade restrictions aflfect- 
ing navigation on the Mississippi and by re- 
fusing at New Orleans what was known as 
the right of deposit. 

It had become apparent that the expan- 
sion and growth of the United States de- 
manded free access to the gulf of Mexico 
through the Mississippi. In this country it 
was understood too that by the treaty 
of liclefonso France had obtained also 
what was then known as the Floridas, thus 
gaining control of the entire course of the 



great river to the gulf. Agitation was at once 
started having for its object the cession by 
France to the United States, of New Orleans, 
the Floridas, and that portion of the lower 
.Mississippi basin which reached from the city 
to the Floridas. The settlers of the western 
states and territories bordering on the river, 
particularly those of Kentucky and Tennessee, 
which had suffered most from the unjust re- 
strictions of the Spanish governor of New 
( )rleans, were greatly excited and were angry 
to the point of desperation over the proposed 
extension of a single European power to the 
entire length of the great river. Resistance 
was urged to the point of seizing the lower 
.Mississippi, with New Orleans, before the 
transfer of territory could be eftected. In 
their petitions to congress the settlers de- 
clared: "The Mississippi is ours by the laws 
of nature, it belongs to us by our numbers 
and the labor we have bestowed on those spots 
which before our arrival were barren and 
desert. ( )ur innumerable rivers swell it and 
flow with it to the Gulf of Mexico. Its mouth 
is the only issue which nature has given to our 
waters and we wish to use it for our vessels. 
No power in the world can deprive us of this 
right." 

On February 13, 1803, Ross, a senator from 
the state of Pennsylvania, introduced a reso- 
lution in the United States senate directing 
the government to seize the port of New 
Orleans. It was seconded by Gouvernevir 
Morris, of Revolutionary fame, then rejire- 
senting the state of New York in the senate. 
It was announced that volunteers from the 
Mississippi valley were ready at a word to 
carry this resolution into elTect if sanctioned 
by congress. But the President, the able and 
prudent Jefiferson. restrained this movement 
as dangerous to the peace of the country, and, 
preferring to achieve results by diplomacy 
rather than arms, he set before himself the 
task of acquiring the lower Mississippi basin 
by peaceful rather than by violent means. He 
first aimed to prevent if possible the cession 
of Louisiana to France and to e.xact from 
Spain recognition of the right of the United 
States to the unrestricted navigation of the 



24 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEBRASKA 



Mississippi. .\s an aitcriiaii\c. in case of 
failure, he proposed to form an iminediale al- 
liance with Great Britain. Writing to Robert 
Livingston, our minister in France, the Presi- 
dent says : 

'J'here is on the globe one single spot the 
possessor of which is our natural and habitual 
enemy, — tlie day that France takes posses- 
sion of New ( >rleans fixes the sentence which 
is to restrain her forever within her low-water 
mark. It seals the union of two nations who 
in conjunction can maintain exclusive posses- 
sion of the ocean. From that moment we 
must marry ourselves to the British fleet and 
nation. 

This threat had been most elteclively dan- 
gled by our minister to France before the eyes 
of the First Consul and from the moment of 
receiving the.se instmclions .Mr. Livingston 
was able to speak in a tone that arrested Xa- 
I)oleon's attention, and aroused in him a sense 
of a new power beyond the seas. .\ year had 
gone by since tiie secret treaty ui lldefonso 
had come to the knowledge of our government, 
and Mr. Livingston had apparently made but 
little jjrogress. In the s))ring of 1S03. at Jef- 
ferson's instance, James Monroe was dis- 
patched to France as special envoy and min- 
ister extraordinary to assist him in adjusting 
the irritating questions with respect to Louis- 
iana and the .Mississip])i — <|uestinns which 
had si)nmg so suddenly into prominence and 
which were bmirly heccmiing more menacing 
to the peaceful relations between France and 
the I'nited States. Even yet the instructions 
to both ministers did not contemplate the ac- 
quirement of the whole of the territory of 
Louisiana. The most that was hoped for aj)- 
parcntly was free navigation of that river for 
American commerce. To secure this, how- 
ever, it was proposed that we inirchase New 
< )rleans and the I'loridas from France, under 
the erroneous assumption that she had ac- 
quired the latter from Spain : and. by proi)er 
treaty stipulations, secure to both nations the 
right to free transportation. Not knowing 
the full terms of the treaty of lldefonso. Mr. 
jetTerson instinctively felt that whatever they 
were they deeply concerned the I'nited States, 
and he considered the moment had come to 



settle forever every question of policy or ter- 
ritory which might in the future occasion dis- 
sension with France. With clearer vision than 
any man of his day, Jefferson foresaw the 
tremendous advantages of removing everv 
obstacle to the expansion of our countrj- be- 
yond the Mississippi. Guided by an instinc- 
tive prevision, he purposed to seize the mo- 
ment to acquire control of that great stream 
and secure forever an unobstructed passage 
to the gu!f. Failing to achieve this result by 
peaceful means, he determined to accomplish 
it by force, and when .Monroe set out for 
France he carried instructions to demand the 
cession of Xew Orleans and the Floridas to 
the L'nited States, and conse(|uently the es- 
tablishment of the Mississippi as a boundary 
between the L'nited States and Louisiana. Mr. 
Livingston had already apprised Xapoleon tliat 
such a demand would l)e made and the First 
Consul had considered it of sufficient weight 
to detain the armed expedition whicli was 
about to sail for Louisiana. 

I'ut tile rapid march of e\enls was working 
more ])owerfully in the interests of the Amer- 
ican re]jublic than any influence the govern- 
ment itself was able to exert. At almost the 
very moment the existence of the treaty of 
lldefonso became knr.wn. came the porten- 
tous threat of war witii luigland : and Xa- 
poleon feared that because of her superior 
naval power and the defenseless position of 
Louisiana, England was bound to deprive 
F'rance of that province and yet further aug- 
ment her power and prestige in the western 
hcmisi)here. There were other considerations 
which impelled the consular government of 
France to hearken favorably to the represen- 
tations of Mr. Livingston. On the retroces- 
sion of the great province to Spain, aufl while 
the terms of the trcatv were still a secret, in 
order to be in a position to defend Louisiana 
from a convenient base against aggression from 
whatsoever source, Xajioleon had dispatched 
an arm\ , under General LeClerc, to San Do- 
mingo in KS02. This was partly for the pur- 
pose of crushing the negro rebellion then at 
its height in that island and partly to have an 
army within striking distance of Louisiana. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, XELIRASKA 



i'.ut LeClerc was defeated by Toussaint I'C )u- 
verture, and his army had been so decimated 
by war and disease that it iiad become inef- 
fective as a mihtary force. Besides these con- 
siderations, the increasing expense and diffi- 
culty of maintaining the power of France in 
Louisiana became every day more apparent 
to Napoleon and his advisers, while like a 
nightmare the haunting threat of Jefferson of 
an English alliance loomed before his vision. 
By a strategic dij^loniati; movement as dis- 
tinctive of his genius as any on the field of 
battle, the First Consul determined to defeat 
the arch enemy of France in its aggressive 
policy and at the same time with bands of 
steel bind to France the rising young republic 
of North America, whose ultimate destiny he 
foresaw was to dominate the western hemis- 
j)here. 

The existence of the treaty of Ildetonsn 
became known to Livingston in 1S02, and in 
Noveniber of that year, learning that Na- 
poleon had planned to send an expedition 
under General Victor to take possession of 
Louisiana, on behalf of the United States he 
submitted a definite offer to purchase New 
( Jrleans and the Floridas, leaving to France 
all the great territory lying west of the 
Mississippi. The reticence of both Napoleon 
and his chief minister of state, Talleyrand, 
with respect to the representations of our gov- 
ernment, and the secrecy with which the terms 
of the treaty was guarded, led our minister to 
suspect designs against the Lhiited States it- 
self. He warned Jefferson of his fears and 
advised the prompt strengthening of the mili- 
tary forces of the country in the lower basin 
of the Mississippi. A winter had passed 
without action on Livingston's offer of pur- 
chase, but Napoleon still delayed taking 
possession of Louisiana. Sjiring ajjproached. 
Mr. Monroe was known to be on the high seas, 
hastening to the assistance of Livingston. His 
arrival was momentarily expected. But Na- 
])oleon, having reached a final conclusion, acted 
with the celerity that characterized all his 
movements. Returning to his palace at St. 
Cloud from the religions services on Easter 



Sunday, ;\pril 10, 1803, he called into consul- 
tation Decres and Marbois, two of his most 
trusted advisers, and asked their opinion on 
the subject of the province of Louisiana. In 
the discussion which followed, he said : 

I know the full value of Louisiana and 
have been most desirous of repairing the in- 
juries to their country of the French nego- 
tiators of 1763. It has been restored to us by 
a few lines of a treaty. Now we face the 
danger of losing it. No doubt the English 
will seize it as one of their- first acts of war. 
.\lready they have twenty ships of the line in 
the Gulf of Mexico. Its conquest will be 
easy. There is not a moment to lose in plac- 
ing it beyond their reach. They have succes- 
sively taken from France the Canadas, Cape 
Breton, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the 
richest portions of Asia. They shall not have 
Louisiana. While nothing can compensate us 
for its loss, it may be disposed of in such man- 
ner as nltimateh' to redound to our advan- 
tage. 

The patriotic Decres elo(|uently 0]>pi:scil the 
projiosal. "France," he said, "needed colonies, 
and what colony could be more desirable than 
Louisiana ? The navigation to the Indies by 
doubling the Cape of Good Hope had changed 
the course of European trade and ruined 
Venice and Genoa." And then, with pro- 
phetic vision, he asked, "What will be its direc- 
tion if at the Isthmus of Panama a simple 
canal should be opened to connect one ocean 
with the other?" "The revolution which navi- 
gation will then experience" he declared, "will 
I)e still more considerable and the circumnavi- 
gation of the glolje will become easier than 
the long voyages that are now made in going 
to and from India. Louisiana will then be 
on the new route and it will be acknowledged 
that this possession is of inestimable value. 
There does not exist on the globe a 
single port, a single city susceptible of becom- 
ing as important as New Orleans." 

Marbois admitted the gravity of the situ- 
ation but supported the view of Napoleon. No 
conclusion was arrived at, but at daybreak 
the following morning Marbois was summoned 
to read the dispatches from the French min- 
ister at London. These indicated that war was 
imminent and rapidly approaching. After con- 



2f> 



HISTORY OF r.ACF. C()l"^"T^'. XKIiRASKA 



sideriiiK the inirport of this iiitelHgence, tum- 
ing to Marbois. Xapoleon said: 

1 renounce Louisiana. It is not alone New 
Orleans that we will cede, hut the whole col- 
ony, without resenation. 1 know its value 
anil 1 abandon it with the greatest regret. Bui 
to obstinately endea\or to retain it would be 
the height of folly. 1 direct you to negotiate 
this matter at once with the envoy of the 
United States. Do not wait for the arrival of 
.Mr. Monroe. 1 lave an interview tliis very day 
with -Mr. Livingston. 1 shall require a great 
deal of money for the ai)])roaching war, but 
will be moderate. 1 want titty million francs 
for Louisiana. 

Pending the arrival of Mr. Monroe, Living- 
ston, desjiairing of success and wearv of delay, 



territory of Louisiana was at the disposal of 
his government. In the negotiations which en- 
sued, the demand of Napoleon's ministers for 
one hundred million francs as a consideration 
for Louisiana, was gradually reduced till an 
agreement was reached, and on .April 30, 1S03, 
a treaty was signed by our ministers on be- 
half of the United States of .America, and by 
Francis Barbe Marbois. the financial minister 
of France, on the ])art of that country. b\- 
which, in consideration of the payment of 
fifteen million dollars, the equivalent of eighty 
million francs, the territory of Louisiana 
])assed to the republic of the United States. 
The consummation of the treatv was accom- 




•^ylzjeAytyyv^e/^fvc^i. a^Ley'yx^'^-^-^* 



on .\pril 12lh admonished Talleyrand that 
when Monroe arrived, he intended to advise his 
government to abandon the negotiations and 
seize New ( )rleans by force. ( )n that very day 
came Mr. Monroe, and on the 13lh day of 
April, while at dinner with a company of 
friends, tiie two ministers obser\'ed Marbois 
walking in the embassy garden. On being in- 
vited to enter, he stated that he liad important 
information to communicate, but would delay 
doing so until he could see the representatives 
of the L'nited States alone. Mr. Livingston 
sought him out at the first njiiiortunity and was 
starilic] npi.n bt-ing informed that the entire 



l«nied by no illusions on the ])art of the sig- 
natory parties. C)n the contrary they were 
fully aware of its import and tremendous im- 
portance. When it had been signed, Living- 
ston, rising from the consultation table, said : 
"We have lived long, but this is the noblest 
work of our lives. From this day the L'nited 
States takes their jjlace amongst the powers of 
the first rank; Fjigland loses all her exclusive 
influence in the affairs of .\merica." And 
Napoleon, showing his full appreciation of 
the imirortance of tjie event, exclaimed : "This 
accession of territory forever strengthens the 
power of the United States. T have just given 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Enj^Iand a maritime rival that will sooner or 
later humble her pride." 

The patriotic and far-seeing Jefferson 
lost not a moment's time in securing the rati- 
fication of this treaty. As soon as it was re- 
ceived on this side of the Atlantic, he issued 
a call for a special session of congress. That 
body assembled on the 17th day of Octolier, 
1803, and within a month the treaty was rati- 
fied and authority conferred upon the Presi- 
dent to take immediate possession of the newly 
acquired territory. To enable him to do so, 
he was empowered to employ the army and 
navy of the United States, and, if in his opin- 
ion necessars', he was authorized also to en- 
roll the militia of the several states to the 
number of eighty thousand men, to enforce 
and secure our country's right to the ceded 
territor}'. 

But no opposition was encountered to the 
surrender of the possession of the great pur- 
chase. France herself, on December 17, 1803, 
first procured its surrender from Spain, and 
on Tuesday, the 25th day of December, three 
days thereafter. Governor W. C. C. Claiborne, 
of }ilississippi territory, having been com- 
mis.sioned by the President to assume the pro- 
visional government of Louisiana, appeared 
at the gate of New Orleans, escorted by Gen- 
eral Wilkinson, with a small detachment of 
state militia. The party was greeted by a 
salute of twenty-one guns from the forts, and 
entering the city it drew up on the square 
known as the Place d'Arms. The ceremonies 
attending the formal presentation of Clai- 
borne's credentials as a commissioner of the 
United States to accept the surrender of the 
city of New Orleans and the territory of 
Louisiana, were soon over. The keys of the 
city were delivered to him, and Latiscat, the 
French governor, addressing the people from 
the portico of the cabildo, in French, con- 
gratulated them upon their accession to lib- 
• erty and absolved them from further allegiance 
to the sovereigns of France. Claiborne then 
spoke in English, assuring all present that 
their rights would be preserved as citizens of 
the republic of the L'nited States. The fleur 
cle lys, emblem cf ' France, was then slowl)- 



lowered, as the stars and stripes, the banner of 
freedom, slowly arose to catch in the sunshine 
the freshening breeze from over the waters 
of the Mississippi. When the flags were both 
half way, the one descending the other ascend- 
ing, a gun was fired, and at the signal the can- 
non on the vessels in the harbor and the bat- 
teries of the forts fired a salute, while amidst 
the cheers of the few Americans present, the 
territory of Louisiana passed forever into the 
possession of the L^nited States. 

It was a tremendous accession to the terri- 
tory of the young republic. The very figures 
that attempt to convey to the mind some idea 
of its superficial area are themselves impres- 
sive. It more than doubled the previous land 
area of the L'nited States. In round numbers 
it exceeded 883,000 square miles. Out of it. in 
addition to the present state of Louisiana, 
there have been carved Missouri, Arkansas, 
Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, North 
and South Dakota, two-thirds of Minnesota, 
one-third of Colorado, and three-fourths of 
Wyoming. At the time of its accession to the 
United States its known population did not 
exceed five thousand souls, nearly one-half 
of whom were slaves. In ISIO the first fed- 
eral census showed a population of twenty 
thousand, of whom one-half were still negro 
slaves. If taken to-day, — a census of the 
same territory would closely approach twenty 
million, all free men. 

Considered as a whole, little was really 
known of the vast territory of Louisiana at 
the time of its purchase by Jefferson. Al- 
though one hundred and twenty years had 
elapsed since that memorable 9th of April. 
1682, when Robert Cavalier de La Salle from 
a lonely eminence on the delta of the 
Mississipi had proclaimed the sovereignity of 
the King of France over his discoveries, no 
vigorous, persistent effort had been made to 
explore the vast territory, either by France or 
by Spain during the two score and five years 
she had been mistress of Louisiana. Few 
settlements had been established and aside 
from the "Chain of Forts" extending in an 
irregular line from the St. Lawrence to the 



28 



HISTORY < )F CAC.F. C( )LXTV. XEI'.RASKA 



Mississiijpi and <iii to tlic liay "i lliloxi. 
I^oiiisiana was an unknown land, except pos- 
sibly to the liir traders, hunters, trappers, 
wood rangers, and tlie in<letatijial)lc Frencli 
I>riests, who appear to have visited nearly 
every jjortion of the territory. 

But the sagacious and energetic Jerterson 
had matured a plan for exploring the Mis- 
souri river country, the least known portion 
of the territory, almost heforc congress had 
ratified the treaty under which ])ossession was 
acquired, in .May, 1X04, he started the far- 
famed Lewis and Clark expedition u]) the Mis- 
souri, charged with the duty of exploring that 
great river from its mouth to its source and 
then on to the Pacific ocean. The report 



which these ex])lorers. after an absence of two 
years, were able to make of the resources of 
the country through which they had jour- 
neyed, of its lofty mountain chains and 
|)lateaus. of its wide, rolling jirairies. its for- 
ests of valuable timber, its wildernesses, 
rivers, native inhabitants, and its wild life of 
forest and plain, served to confirm the vague 
ideas of the times concerning the new terri- 
tory as a possession of the United States. 

Time, through a thousand channels, has vin- 
ilicated the wisdom of Jefferson and his min- 
isters in securing at a critical period in our 
country's history, by the arts of i)eaceful di- 
plomacy, this great accession of territorv to 
our beloved countrv. 




HottUkr ;it Fort Callumii. .\cl.rask;i, commemorating the first council with the Indians on 

Nebraska soil 



CHAPTER III 

NEBRASKA UP TO 1866 



EaixLV Exi'LiiREKS In Nebraska — Coronado — Mallkt BKoTiiiiRS — Lewis axu Ci.ark 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill — Territory opened for Settlement — Area — Boun- 
daries — Organization — ■ Census — Death of Governor Burt — Gov- 
ernor Cuming — The First Legislature — Statehood 



The Virgin of the icilderness. 
She sits upon her hills alone; 
Loose sf^rigs of cedar in her hair. 
A z'ine-i^'reath round her cone, — 
As grey-eyed Pallas pure and free. 
Expectant of the things to be. 

— O. C. Dake. 

That portion of the '"Great Purchase" which 
comprises the state of Nehraska was scarcely 
known to white men prior to the expedition of 
Lewis and Clark in 1S04-1806. Doubtless it 
had been traversed, in part at least, by French- 
Canadian trappers, traders, and couriers du 
bois, as well as by French missionaries who 
followed the Indian trails to the remotes' re- 
j;ions of all New France. P)Ut these left no 
records of their travels and ad\entures of 
which history can take notice. Just when the 
earliest visits of white men to Nebraska occur- 
red ma}' never 1ie known. 

In recent years eflorts have been made 
l)y writers on the history of our state to 
connect the expedition of Francisco Vasquez 
de Coronado, in 1540, with Nebraska. It 
is claimed that this expedition not only 
crossed the southern lioundary of the state 
somewhere between the eastern boinidary of 
(iage comity and points much further west, 
but also that it actually penetrated the state 
as far north as the Platte river. The most 
convincing evidence assigned in support of 
this contention is that the chroniclers of the 
ex])edition, as well as its leader, used descrip- 
tive terms, in relation to the soil, vegetation, 
landscape, and other phenomena obserxed by 



them, which might be applicable to sotitheast- 
ern Nebraska, and that Coronado himself de- 
clares that Quivera "where I have reached it is 
in the 40th degree." To say the most for such 
evidence it only indicates in a general way the 
route of the expedition. It is offset by consid- 
erations which are entitled to great weight, 
even in the face of Coronado's declaration. 
Coronado came to the New \\"orld in the train 
of Mendoza. viceroy of .Mexico, in 1335. and 
had been assigned by his patron to the gov- 
ernorshi]3 of Neuva (lalicia. a ndrthern prov- 
ince of the conquered country. Like all ani- 
l)itious Spainards of that particular day, his 
imagination had Ijeen tired ])y the wonderful 
success of Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, 
and Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. The 
fabulous wealth of these vanquished nations 
had gone to enrich their masters to an extent 
of which no Spainard had ever before so much 
as dreamed. Coronado, listening to the tales 
concerning the far away "Seven City of Ci- 
bola," whose wealth was said to rival the 
riches of Montezuma and the Incas of Peru, 
resolved to imitate the exploits of Cortez and 
Pizzaro by undertaking the conquest of these 
fabled cities of the plain. Obtaining leave 
from the viceroy, and assembling an army of 
three hundred Spanish soldiers and a l)and 
of warlike Mexican Indians and equi]jping 
them for conquest, he started from the capital 
of his province on the 23d day of February, 
1540, animated solely by the hope of plunder. 
For two \-ears this marauding. i)redatorv ex- 



20 



.^0 



IISTORY OF r,A(",F. CorXTV. XKI'.RASKA 



|ieilitioii wandered about oser the barren 
wastes of New Mexico and possibly eastern 
Arizona, reddening their trail with the blood 
of the simple natives and committing,' heinous 
crimes against their chastity and virtue. The 
"Seven Cities pf Cibola" dwindled to a few 
isolated Zuni villages, while the search for 
f^old, always gold, proved an evanescent dream 
Finally it was found that the riches lay far 
away to the east in the land of the Quivera. 
1 lere. the Spaniards were told, were large cities 




From f'liotogmf'h (»tiiir</ ^y E. E. Blitckman. -ice 
frcstdi-nt Qti\;-^rti Historical Society. 

QuivERA Monument 
N'car Junction City. Kansas 



v.ith unmeasured treasures of gold anil vast 
herds of buffalo and other game. The rapa- 
cious leader gave willing ear to these tales. 
which no doubt were meant to involve his ex- 
lK>dition in ruin, and. turning eastw.ard, he 
traversed the ]i!ains of central Kansas as far 
as the neighborhood of Junction City, where, 
recently, enthusiastic Coronadists have erected 
a costly monument intended to commemorate 
the discovery of Quivera, a name apparently 



used to designate a tribe of Indians in that 
section of country. 

Whether Coronado came as far north as 
Nebraska will never be known. His declara- 
tion that he found Quivera within the -Wth 
degree means but little. Me was not engaged 
in exploring the country and could not have 
been greatly concerned about such things as 
degrees of latitude. Besides it is a well set- 
tled fact that in the sixteenth century a com- 
mon error of about two degrees runs through 
all Spanish computations as respects the fix- 
ing of degrees of latitude. If correct in the 
issumption that he did actually cross the for- 
ieth parallel of latitude, then Coronado was 
the first white man to set foot on Nebraska 
soil, and Nebraska was known to the Cau- 
casian race within a generation after the death 
of Columbus and more than eighty years be- 
fore the landing of the Mayflower at Plym- 
cuth Rock. 

It may be recorded that the first authentic 
account of the visit of white men to Nebraska 
is found in the journals of the brothers Pierre 
and Paul Mallet which fell into the hands of 
jean liaptiste Lemoyne, siuer de Pienville, the 
founder of New Orleans and for many years 
the French-Canadian governor of the province 
of Louisiana. In attempting to reach Santa 
Fe by way- of the Mississippi these explorers, 
with a party of French-Canadians, in 1739 
l)assed up the Missouri, its chief tributary, 
and ap])ear to have spent the winter at the 
mouth of the Niobrara. In the si)ring of 1740 
liiey descended the Missouri to the Platte and, 
following the latter stream about seventy 
miles, struck across the plains to Santa Fe, 
thus traversing a considerable portion of what 
is now the state of Nebraska. 

Whatever may be said concerning those 
who may have preceded them, it is true 
beyond cavil that the existence of what is 
now Nel)raska was first brought strongly 
to ])ublic attention by the expedition of 
Lewis and Clark. These ex])lorers, pad- 
dling up the swift and dangerous current of 
the Missouri river, were compelled to tie their 
crude vessels to objects along the river banks 
at night and to proceed only by daylight. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEliRASKA 



31 



They camped iiuliffereiitly on either side of 
the stream. July 15, 1804. their journal 
shows they first camped on Nebraska soil, at 
the mouth of the Little Nemaha river, near 
the present town of Nemaha, and on the way 
out their last encampment in Nebraska was 
made September 7, 1804, at a point a few 
miles below the northeast corner of the state. 
( )n their return trij) the explorers floated past 
the northeast corner of the state, on Sunday, 
the 31st day of August, 1806, and passed the 
southeast corner on the 11th of the following 
September — a total of five hundred and fifty- 
six miles, channel measurement. Several 
points in Nebraska where the explorers 
]iitche(l camp have been identified from the 
minute and accurate description supplied by 
the record of their movements along the course 
of the Missouri. 

Scattered along the banks of this mighty 
stream Lewis and Clark found many Indian 
tribes, amongst them the Otoe and Missouri, 
which long afterward became domiciled in 
Gage county. While encamped at Council 
Bluffs, a jjoint since identified as Fort Cal- 
houn, the explorers made the following entries 
in their journal : 

"The meridian altitude of this day [July 
31. 1804] made the latitude of our Camp 41° 
18' 1.4". We waited with nnich anxiety the 
return of our messenger to the ( Jtoes. r)ur 
apprehensions were finally relie\'ed by the 
arrival of a party of about fourteen Otoe and 
Missouri Indians, who came at sunset, on the 
2(1 of August, accom]ianied by a Frenchman 
who resided among them and interpreted for 
us. Captain Lewis and Clark went out to 
meet them and told them we would hold a 
council in the morning." 

The first political event of great signifi- 
cance in the history of Nebraska was the 
enactment by congress into law of a bill 
entitled "An act to organize the Territory 
of Nebraska." .\s early as 1848 the organi- 
zation into a territory of that part of the pub- 
lic domain lying west of Missouri and extend- 
ing to the Rocky mountains had received 
serious consideration in the halls of our na- 
tional legislature, and in 1852 a bill for that 



purpose had been actually introduced in con- 
gress. The following year a bill was brought 
forward for the organization of Nebraska 
territory, which covered substantially the 
territor)- no\\- included in the states of Kan- 
sas and Nebraska, extending from the Mis- 
souri frontier to the crests of the Rocky 
mountains. Neither of these measures at- 
tracted great ]niblic attention or received 
legislative sanction, but early in January, 1854. 
Stejjhen A. Douglas, who was then dominant 
in national politics, reported from the senate 
committee on territories, of which he was 
chairman, a l)ill to organize the territories of 
Kansas and Nebraska. This was the historic 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, the passage of which 
through congress stirred the nation, north and 
south, east and west, to its greatest depths 
and aroused passions destined to be cooled only 
in the agonies of fratricidal strife. No snch 
I)nblic upheaval as followed the introduction 
of this l)ill had ever before been known in the 
United States. The act was drawn with the 
])olitician's most consimimate art 'ind with a 
boldness that startled the entire country. 
There was no eli'ort on the part of the ]:)ro- 
jectors of this measure or any one else to dis- 
guise the fact that it repealed the "Missouri 
Compromise," the most obnoxious measure to 
the slave-holding class ever passed by the na- 
tional legislature, and permitted the extension 
of slavery north of the famed "Mason and 
Dixon Line." On the other hand, the bill, 
with the appearance of fairness, permitted the 
people of each of the proposed territories to 
determine, as states, whether they should be 
dedicated to slavery or freedom. Thus by 
adroitly uniting the Democratic representa- 
tives in congress, both north and south, in sup- 
port of his measure, and having first by sub- 
stitution divided the original bill into two or- 
ganic acts, one applying to Kansas and the 
other to Nebraska alone, Senator Douglas se- 
cured the passage of the substitute bills 
through both houses of congress in May. 1854, 
and on the 30th day of that montli the act 
creating the territory of .Vebraska received 
the official approval of Franklin Pierce, then 
President of tile L'nited States. 



IIISTUKV OF CAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



In the interval between the introduction of 
the hill an.l its passage, great preparations 
were on foot in anticipation of the act ulti- 
mately hecoming a law. On the 17th day of 
April, in that year, the federal government. 
by treaty stipulations, acquired the title of the 
various Indian tribes to all the lands within 
the boundaries of the proposed territories 
which bordered ui>on the western bank of the 
Mis.souri river. < )n the eastern shore of that 
great stream, during the spring of 1S54. people 
gathered from many states and anxiously 
awaited final action on the bill and the Presi- 




Stkphf.n .a. Dolgi..\s 

dent's proclamation opening the new territory 
of Xebrask.-i lor settlement. No white man 
had previously been or was at that time ad- 
k>wed to enter or remain on Nebraska soil 
without permission from the war de])artment 
and then only while engaged in hunting, trap- 
|>ing. or commerce with the Indians. WhMc 
the act was elTccting its passage through con- 
gress, the commissioner of the general land 
oHice at Wa.shington. after a personal ex- 
]>Ioralion of the eastern boundaries of Ne- 
braska, asserted that there were not three 



bona fide white settlers in the entire territory. 
The President's proclamation declaring it 
open for settlement was issued June 24, 1854. 
and with the wave of immigration that imme- 
diatelv broke over our eastern boundary, the 
long, exciting struggle which attended the 
erection of Nebraska into a territor}- came to 
an end. 

The area of the new territory as defined by 
the organic act far exceeded its {)resent boun- 
daries. Beginning at a point where the fortieth 
])arallel of latitude crosses the Missouri river, 
that is to .say at what is now the so'.itheastern 
corner of Richardson county, the southern 
boundary line of the territory stretched away 
westward to the eastern boundary of Utah and 
tlic summit of the Rocky moimtain-;. thence 
northward on the principal chain of those 
mountains to the British ])ossessions, thence 
eastward on the national boundary line to 
.Minnesota, and southward to the Missouri 
river, following the main channel of that 
stream to the point of beginning. 

In addition to the present boundaries of our 
Slate, this fledgling territory embraced within 
its l)orders .Montana. North and South Da- 
kota, the northern part of Colorado, a por- 
tion of Idaho, and nearly the while of \\'y<:ni- 
ing. It comprised a variety of soils, scenery, 
climate, and products. It was inhabited only 
iiy the red man and was the range of the 
greatest herds of wild buffalo known to man- 
kind, as well as elk, deer, mountain lion, and 
many other wild and ravenous beasts. It con- 
tained vast deposits of coal, mines of precious 
ores, oil fields of great and unknown value, 
immense forests, lakes, plains, and rivers with 
their rich, productive valleys. Doubtless th" 
organic act which conferred upon the new 
territory such magnificent proportions was 
])assed by congress under the belief that the 
major portion of the great ])lains region of the 
Missouri valley was unfit for human habita- 
tion. 

But the act ])rovided that congress might, 
from time to time, as appeared proper or ex- 
pedient, reduce the area of this territory by 
creating other territories or parts of territories 
from it, and it is by virtue of this original pro- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



33 



vision that Nel)raska has suffered successive 
diminutions until our present boundaries were 
finally reached. 

The organic act provided for the im- 
mediate, complete civic organization of the 



1804. About 1835, the Presbyterian church 
had established at this point a mission for the 
Pawnee, Otoe, and Missouri Indians, and it 
was the most widely known spot in the terri- 
torv at that time. It was beautifullv located 




From f>Iiologntf-li owned by the \\-h:\isl:,i Sltilc Uixtorical Society. 

Francis Burt 
First governor of Nebraska territory' 



new territory, and to this end Francis Burt, 
of North Carolina, was apointed governor, 
and Thomas B. Cuming, of Iowa, secretary 
of state for the territory of Nebraska. These 
two ofificials arrived at Belle\ue, in Sarpy 
county, October 10, 1854. This small west- 
ern outpost of civilization had been a sta- 
tion ot the American Fur Coninanv since 



on a rising plateau, near the Missouri river, 
and for some months it was the prospective 
capital of the new territory. On his way out 
to assimie the duties of his office, the governor 
had contracted an illness, and on the 18th day 
of October, eight days after his arrival, in the 
old ^Mission House at Bellevue, at the foot of 
the hill. "Big Elk." in that remote village, he 



34 



HISTORY OF CAGE COLXTV. XEl'-RASKA 



(lied, and Cuming succeeded lo the office thus 
made vacant, as acting governor of Nebraska 
territory. 

In matters jieriaining to the organization 
of the territorial government the organic act 
had clothed the governor with autocratic 
j)0\ver and authority. Amongst other things 
it was made his duty, immediately upon his 
arrival, to take a census of the jieople and 
of the qualified voters of the territory; to 
apportion amongst the counties the members 




Tho.MAS U. ClMI.NO 

First M-crctary and twice acting governor of Xe- 
braska territory 

of the two houses of the legislature, desig- 
nated by the act as the council ,uid house 
of rei)resentatives ; to call an election for 
members of that body, and select a place 
for holding its first session. Before his 
arrival at Bellcvue, Ciovernor Burt had 
marked off the inhabited portions of the ter- 
ritory into counties, and the ])roclamation of 
.\cting (iovernor Cuming, issued on the 21st 
day of November, 1S54, calling the first terri- 
torial election, included eight counties, name- 
ly: Burt, Cass, Dodge, Forney (now Ne- 
maha). I'icrce (now Otoe), Richardson, and 



Washington, — all bordering upon the Mis- 
souri river. 

The first official act of the acting gov- 
ernor was the issuing of a proclamation 
containing the announcement of the death 
of Governor Burt, and dated the 'lay of his 
demise. Three days thereafter, to wit. 
October 21, 1854, the acting governor, in order 
that all absent residents might return to the 
territory for registration, issued his procla- 
mation announcing that an enumeration of the 
census would commence on the following 
Tuesday, namely October 24, 18.^4. When 
comjileted. this census showed the entire 
population of the new territory to be 2,722. 
Upon the return of the census enumerators. 
Governor Cuming apportioned the thirty-nine 
members of the legislature provided for in the 
organic act aiTiongi.t the eight counties already 
mentioned, and issued a proclamation for their 
election. ( )n the 20th day of December, 1854, 
the election having been held, a call was issued 
convening the "(^leneral Assembly of the Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska on the Uith day of Jaiui- 
ary, 'l855." 

This first legislature, or general assembly, 
as it was called, was an able and a wonderfully 
active body. Following the Iowa statutes, 
from which it borrowetl with the utmost 
freedom, it enacted general laws for the 
government of the people, adopted codes of 
civil and criminal procedure, established 
nuirierous territorial roads, created and de- 
fined the boundaries of nineteen new counties 
and provided for the establishment of 
seats of justice therein. It passed laws for 
the incorporation of insurance, railroad, land, 
manufacturing, milling, bridge, ferry, bank- 
ing, colonization, and immigration companies. 
It incorporated cities, of which many were 
mere figments of some speculator's brain, 
their very names having been lost in the efflux 
of time. It incorporated colleges and seats of 
learning destined never to have faculty or 
curriculum, and finally, on the irnh day of 
.March. 1855, it expired amidst a whirlwind 
of joint resolutions and memorials to con- 
gress. 

It is foreign to the pur])ose of this work to 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



pursue at length tlie history of the territory 
of Nebraska. The organic act was passed and 
approved May 30, 1834, and, as we have seen, 
it was (|uici<ly followed bv executive procla- 
mation opening the new territory to settle- 
ment. In October, 1854, on the arrival of Gov- 
ernor Burt at Bellevue, there were probably 
less than two thousand white persons in the 
entire territory. But the territorial period 
quici<ly passed. The national census of 1860 
showed a total population of 28,841. In 1870 
the census gave the state of Nebraska 123,993. 
.\s early as 1864 a movement was inaugtirated 
which had for its object the admission of Ne- 
braska into the Union of States. That year, 
on the 19th day of April, congress passed "An 
act to enable the people of Nebraska to form 
a constitution and state government, and for 
the admission of such state into the Union on 
an ecjual footing with the original states." 
After prescri1)ing the boimdaries of the pro- 
posed state, directing the election of delegates 
to a constitutional convention to be held for 
the purpose of framing a state constitution, 
and fixing the date for holding such conven- 
tion, the act provided that the constitution of 
the proposed state, when framed, should be 
republican and not repugnant to the constitu- 
tion of the United States and the Declaration 
of Independence. The act further provided 
that such constitution should, by proper 
articles which should be forever irrevocable 
without the •consent of congress, provided 
inter alia that slavery or involuntary servitude 
should be forever prohibited in Nebraska, and 
that perfect tolerance of religious sentiment 



should be secured, and no inhabitant of the 
state should ever be molested in person or 
property on account of his or her mode of re- 
ligious worship. 

In compliance with this enabling act and 
pursuant to the directions thereof, an election 
was held in the territory on the 6th day of 
June, 1866, for the selection of delegates to 
the proposed constitutional convention. At 
the same time, by a sort of referendum, the 
cjuestion of statehood was also submitted to 
a vote of the people. The election returns 
showed a clear majority against statehood, and 
the constitutional convention which assembled 
in June, in conformity with the enabling act, 
promptly adjourned without action. 

In 1866 the subject of the admission of Ne- 
braska as a state into the Union again chal- 
lenged public attention. The territorial legis- 
lature for that year, on its own motion, sub- 
mitted a state constitution, prepared under its 
direction, to the voters of the territory, and at 
an election held June 2, 1866, this action of 
the legislature was ratified and the constitution 
was adopted. Congress, thereupon, under 
date of February 9, 1867, passed a supple- 
mental enabling act, wherein it was specified, 
as a condition precedent to statehood, that the 
legislature of Nebraska must declare that 
there shoidd never be a denial of the right of 
suffrage on account of race or color, by the 
prospective state. This condition was finally 
accepted, and on Marcli 1, 1867, the territory 
of Nebraska ceased to be, and the great state 
of Nebraska came into existence. 



CHAPTER IV 

CAGE COUNTY 

Alt Dkfimxc B()i'.NiJAkii> — ,\amk — Akka — Sicat oi- jusricic — \\'iiitf.svili.1; - 
AKATiDN Fur Klkction — Organization — Fir>t Mertings of County 
Commissioners — Col'xtv Scat 



I'kep- 



Anioiij; llic nineteen counties which were 
created by the first session of the legislative 
assen)l)!y of Xchraska territory was the 
county of Gage. This act was entitled "An 
act to define the boundaries and locate the 
seat of justice in Gage county." In conferring 
a name upon the new county it was the aim of 
the assembly to honor the Rev. W'illiam D. 
(^.age. a Methodist clergyman, who was then 
serving as chaplain for both houses of the 
legislative assembly. 

This act became a law od (lie loiii day ol 
.March. 1S55. .\s deiined by the act, the 
county consisted of a tract of land twenty- 
lour miles square, lying directly west of Paw- 
nee county, which had been likewise created 
by this session of the legislative assembly and 
its boundaries jirescribed by an act ai)proved 
-March 6, 1X55. The second section of the act 
creating Gage count} reads as follows : "W i1 
liani D. Gage. John B. Rol)inson and 1. L. 
Gibbs be and are hereby ai)i)ointed commis- 
sioners to locate the seat of justice in said 
county." And by the third section these com- 
missioners or a majority of them were re- 
quired to meet "at some convenient point (as 
may be agreed upon ) on or before the 10th 
day of June ne.xt, or within three months 
thereafter, and proceed to locate the seat of 
justice for said Gage county." By the fourth 
section of the act the commissioners were re- 
quired to commit their findings to writing, 
giving a i)articular descri])lion of the place so 
selected, and to file the same in the f>tifice of 
the county clerk of Richardson count\. who 



was re(]uired to file and keep on file such 
findings. The place thus designated was de- 
clared to be the "seat of justice" for the new 
county. The act further required the setting 
aside of "fifty lots of land" in the town so 
selected to be reserved for the use of such 
county, the moneys arising from the sale there- 
of to be by the county judge applied to the 
erection of a court house and other necessary- 
public buildings. 

I'rior to the i)assage of the foregoing act. 
.Vcting Governor Cuming had evidently 
marked out a county, lying west of Richard 
son. to be known as Jones county, ''"his pros- 
|)ecti\e county liegan at the northwest corner 
of Richardson county, as then constituted and 
which included both the ])resent counties of 
Pawnee and Richardson, and a])parently it 
was meant to extend thence northward to the 
I Matte river, aiul along the south side of that 
stream to the western boundary of the terri- 
tory, on the crest of the Rockv mountains ; fol- 
lowing this chain in a southeaster! v direction 
to the south line of the territory .uid thence 
back again to the southwest corner of Rich- 
ardson county and north to the jilace of be- 
ginning. 

In pre])aring for the election of nicmliers 
for the first legislature, the governor detailed 
Jesse Lowe, the deputy United States mar- 
shal, to visit the pro])osed county and as- 
certain the nmnber of settlers therein, 
lie was instructed to apportion to it one or 
more re])resentatives, as the number of 
inhabitants should require, and to arrange for 



,V. 



HISTORY OF GACzE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



37 



the holding of an election in such coimty. 
Whether the deputy marshal actually visited 
the prospective county is douhtful, but on the 
10th dav of December, 1S54, he reported to 
ihe acting governor that there were no voters 
in said county, "unless a few living in the 
■ neighborhood of Bellews precinct in Richard- 
son county, and who would naturally vote in 
said precinct." But as we have already seen, 
within three months from the date of this re- 
port, a bill passed both branches of the legis- 
lative assembly and became a law, creating 
the county of Gage, defining its boundaries 
and ])roviding for the location of a seat of jus- 
tice in and for said county. 

But it takes more than broad acres and legis- 
lative enactments to create a body politic. At 
ihe time the first territorial legislature sought 
to immortalize its chajjlain, the Rev. William 
I). Gage, by Ijestowing his name on that por- 
tion of th^ pulilic domain w hich it had erected 
into Gage county, there is not known to have 
been a single actual settler within its boun- 
daries, and it is doubtful if at that time there 
was a single white person in the county. It 
was, in fact, more than two years after the 
jjassage of this act before a sufficient nimiber 
of settlers had gathered in the county to at- 
tempt its organization. 

No evidence is known to exist which shows 
that the commission charged with the dtity 
of locating a county seat or "seat of jus- 
tice" for Gage coimty ever met or acted 
under the authority thus conferred upon it. 
But at the third session of the territorial 
assembly, begun and held at Omaha. Jan- 
uary 5, 1857. an act was passed (and ap- 
proved February 13, 1857), locating the 
"seat of justice" of said county at W'hites- 
\ille. The site thus selected by the assembly 
as the future county seat of Gage county com- 
];riscd the southeast (|narter of the southeast 
(|uarter of section twent\-nine in Rock ford 
townshi]), located a little south of the present 
village of llolmesville. two miles east and one- 
half mile north of the geographical center of 
the county as originally created. For several 
vears thereafter the stout oak stakes driven 
imo the prairie to mark the corners of lots in 



W'hitesville were plainly visible. Prairie fires 
finally consumed them and with their destruc- 
tion all trace of the projected "seat of justice" 
for Gage county disappeared. 

The first territorial assembly, by an act 
passed and approved March 14, 1855, provided 
that whenever the citizens of any unorganized 
county desired to organize the same a majority 
of the legal voters of the countv might make 




Rkv. W n.i.iAM U. Gagk 
Chaplain of the first legislature 

application to the ]irobate judge of the county 
to which it was attached for election purposes 
for an order calling an election for county 
officers in such unorganized county. The act 
further jjrovided that all unorganized counties 
should be attached to the nearest organized 
county to the eastward for election, judicial. 
and revenue purposes. Under this act. Gage 
county at the moment of its creation became 
automatically attached to Pawnee county for 
the purposes specified in the act, until such 
date as it had perfected its own organization. 
On the 5th day of .\ugust, 1857, shortly 
after the arrival of the company of colo- 
nists who founded the city of Beatrice, stejis 
were initiated bv them to organize Gage 



38 



F^ISTOR^• nV gage C()LXTV. xeuraska 



foiinty. with Beatrice as the county seat, and 
this witliout complying with the provisions of 
the act above nicntionefi. The townsite en- 
thusiasts appear to have gone through a form 
of an election of county officers at that time. 
It is said that thirty-three votes were cast and 
it seems that a full list of county officials were 
chosen. .\t that date there could not have 
been over fifty white persons within the county 
of (>age and it is doubtful if there were a 
dozen voters outside of the Beatrice Town- 
site Company. The minutes of the count) 
commissioners, or county court, as it was then 
called, in and for (>age county, begin March 
13, 1S5S. wherein it ajipears that Albert Towle 
and II. M. Reynolds acted as county commis- 
sioners and Nathan Blakely as county clerk 
of said county. These minutes are the first 
county records of any kind in e-xistence, and 
in a sense they form an unbroken, continuous 
record of the transactions of the county board 
of the county from the beginning. The min- 
utes of the first meeting read as follows ; 

"Commissioners court, held March 13, 183S. 
at which orilered that a county election should 
be held on Saturday, March 2Sth, to relocate 
the county seat of Cage county : also to elect 
a sheriff in place of Daniel I'. Taylor, who 
failed to ([ualify ; also to elect a county trea- 
surer in the place of Calvin Miller, who failed 
to qualify : also to elect a recorder in the place 
of John Hart, who failed to qualify; also a 
suiierintendent of common schools in place of 
\. B Fieldin, who failed to qualify. 

"It was ordered: That the county be di- 
vided into two precincts for election purposes : 
that townships one and two shall be called 
])recinct \o. 1, and that townshi])s three and 
four shall !)e called ])rccinct Xo. 2. 

"Isma Mumford. John Mcllowell and I'.cn- 
nett Pike were a])])ointed judges of election in 
precinct Xo. 2; Rankin Johnson, James John- 
son and Henrj- Klliott judges of election for 
jiricinct Xo. 1. The court then adjourned." 

The next meeting of the commissioners' 
court was held at the house of .Albert Towle 
( )ctober 7. 18.^8, and the third meeting was 
held at the same place Xovember 29, 1858, 
both designated as regular meetings, with the 



same officers jiresent as at the first meeting. 
The next regular meeting of the commission- 
ers' court was held January 3, 1859; present 
Commissioners Towle and Reynolds and 
County Clerk Nathan Blakely. And on .April 
13, 1859, at a special meeting of the commis- 
sioners' court, there occurs the following en- 
try : 

".\l a meeting at a s])ccial term of the Co. 
Court held at the house of .\. Towle, on the 
13th day of .\pril, 1859, present: Commis- 
sioners .Albert Towle and H. M. Revnolds. It 
was ordered and the following preamble and 
resolutions be adopted : 

"\\'iiKi<i;.\s, We have been officially in- 
formed by the county clerk of Pawnee county 
that certain individuals residing in precinct 
No. One of C>age county have petitioned the 
county commissioners of Pawnee county to 
issue an order for an election for the purpose 
of organizing said Cage county. Therefore, 

"Rksoi.n i:i). That we protest against any 
such order being issued by the aforesaid com- 
missioners of r*awnee county or any action 
being taken thereon by the citizens of pre- 
cinct No. One of Gage county. 

"Rksoi.vki), That we claim that Gage 
county was regularly organized bv an election 
held on the 3d day of Augu.st, 1857; that as 
evidence of this fact we have the certificate 
from the county clerk of Pawnee countv cer- 
tifying that the officers elected at the said elec- 
tion were duly elected. .And also the fact that 
the county clerk of said Gage county elected 
at the said election was duly c|ualified l>y the 
county clerk of Pawnee county. 

"In addition to the above the returns of an 
election held since the above named ha\ e been 
recognized by the board of territorial can- 
vassers as being issued by a regularly organ- 
ized county. 

"It is ordered that the county clerk of Gage 
county forward a copy of the above preamble 
and resolutions to the county clerk of Pawnee 
county. .\lso send a copy of the same into 
l)recinct No. (,)ne of Gage county. 

"The court then adjourned. 

"N.\Tii.\x Bt..\KELV, Co. Clerk." 

It is clear from this preamble and these 



HISTORY OF GAGE CUL'XTV. XELiRASKA 



39 



resolutions that active steps liad been taken 
l)y the county-seat promoters at Beatrice 
to validate the election of August 3, 1857. A 
second election had been held March 27, 1859, 
for the evident purpose of filling the county 
offices in all cases where the officials chosen at 
the first election had failed to qualify. Prob- 
ably at the second election no action was taken 
on the county-seat matter, as specified in the 
commissioners' proceedings under date of 
March 13. 1858. Blue Springs had become 
an aspirant for that honor, and as both voting 
precincts of the county participated in the 
election of March 27, 1859, a contest at the 
polls over that question appears to have been 
avoided. 

The location of the county seat and the in- 
I ■ sistence of Beatrice on the legality of the or- 
ganization of the countv in August, 1857, bv 
the Beatrice Tnwnsite Company had become 
so acute a subject of difference between the 
rival towns, that precinct No. 1, Blue S])rings, 
failed to participate in the annual election held 
.\ugust 2. 1858. At the meeting of the com- 
nn'ssioners' court under date of July 4, 1859, 
among other things, it was ordered that Albert 
Towle, Samuel Jones, and Nathan Blakely be 
allowed and ]5aid $1.50 each as judges of elec- 
tion at Beatrice, .August 2, 1858, and that W. 
n. Spencer and Myron Newton be allowed 
and paid a like sum each for acting as clerks 
of that election, but nothing seems to have 
been allowed any citizen of Blue Springs or 
vicinity for acting as a judge or a clerk in 
precinct No. 1 in this election. 

In the spring of 1859, both Blue Springs 
and Beatrice attempted to assess Gage county, 
each claiming to have lawful right to perform 
that service. Blue Springs because of the as- 
sumed illegality of the county organization 
claimed to have been effected by Beatrice in 
-August. 1857. and because of her pending ap- 
]ilication to the conmiissioners of Pawnee 
county for the calling of an election to eff'ect 
the legal organization of the county ; and Be- 
atrice, by virtue of the election in 1857, and 
her assumption of its regularitv. The resolu- 
tions of Commissioners Towle and Reynolds 
above set forth, under date of April 4, 1859. 



put an end to that movement on the j)art of 
Blue Springs, and both precincts of the county 
participated in the election of 1859. To ter- 
minate the dissension that grew out of this 
rivalry, the legislative assembly, at its session 
begun and held at Omaha, December 5, 1S59, 
passed an act entitled : "An act to legalize the 
first organization of Gage county, the location 
of the county seat at Beatrice and the official 
acts of the officers of said county." 

There can be no doubt but that the alleged 
organization of the county by the Beatrice 
Townsite Company in August, 1857, was ir- 
regular and probably illegal from its inception. 
There appears to be no evidence that the en- 
thusiastic townsite boomers made the slight- 
est effort to comply with the law then in ef- 
fect, regulating the organization of counties, 
and this fact seems to have been recognized 
by the legislature in passing the alrove de- 
scribed act. 

The passage of this act destroyed forever 
the hopes of Blue Springs respecting the 
county seat of the new county. This unpre- 
tentious outpost of civilization possessed many 
advantages which were justly counted in its 
favor as an aspirant to first place in civic 
honors. It is a romantic spot, beautifully lo- 
cated on the Big Blue river, and during all the 
times here mentioned it was a prospective sta- 
tion on a projected cutoff from the old mili- 
tary highway from Fort Leavenworth to the 
west, which, leaving the main road at Rich- 
mond, Nemaha county, Kansas, a few miles 
below Seneca, on the Nemaha river, led north- 
west from Blue Springs and beyond, inter- 
secting the main road at some point east and 
south of the famous Rock Creek Station, in 
Jefl'erson county. Blue Springs also was on a 
main traveled road from Marj'sville, Kansas, 
through the Otoe Indian village to Beatrice. 
It possessed natural advantages for a city 
wdiich were wanting to some extent in its rival. 
It was several miles nearer the geographical 
center of the county than Beatrice, and its few 
inhabitants were people of worth and char- 
acter, equal in these respects to the Beatrice 
colonists. Its most serious drawback was its 
])r(i.\imitv to the (Hoe and Missouri Indian 



40 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. XKURASKA 



reservation, the north line of which was only 
two miles distant. 

Beatrice may have been more in line with 
the direct travel both east and west, and it cer- 
tainly possessed the controlling advantage of a 
central location as respected the white inhabi- 
tants of the county at that time. In addition 
to these things, its destiny was in the hands of 
men who were fully alive to the advantages 
that would accrue to them by controlling the 
organization of the county from the very first, 
and by this and other methods securing at 



Beatrice the county seat. The changing years 
have probably vindicated their judgment. 
With its present boundaries, Beatrice is un- 
questionably the most desirable location as a 
seat for the government of our splendid 
county. The animosities which may have been 
engendered by the county-seat rivalry of more 
than a generation ago have long since passed 
away, and the two historic territorial cities 
of Gage county, their early dissensions for- 
gotten, for many years have dwelt together in 
the bonds of unity and friendship. 



CHAPTER V 

OLD CLAY COUNTY 

Act Creating — Organization — Austin — SETTLiiMENTs — Partitioning — John 
C.-UJMAN — Joint Meeting Commissioners of Gage and Lancaster Counties 



Prior to the passage of the act creating Gage 
county and defining its boundaries, the first 
territorial assembly, on the 6th day of March, 
1855. passed an act "To define the boundaries 
and establish the seat of justice for Lancaster 
county," and on the following day an act was 
passed creating Clay county and defining its 
boundaries. Gideon Bennett and James H. 
Decker, members of the assembly from former 
Pierce (now Otoe) county, and D. M. John- 
son, representative from Richardson county, 
were appointed by the last named act as legis- 
lative commissioners "to locate the seat of 
justice for Clay county" : and a third section 
of the act provided "that the seat of justice 
in and for Clay county shall be called Cla- 
tonia." Both of these counties, like Gage, were 
twenty-four miles square. Clay lying north of 
Gage and south of Lancaster, but joining each. 
and consisting of a fine body of land, with an 
unusual proportion of rich upland prairie. 

Clay was duly organized into a county 
pursuant to the act creating it and defin- 
ing its boundaries, and entered upon its 
separate existence as such. No evidence 
is known to exist to show that any place 
was ever selected by the legislative commission 
as a county seat or seat of justice for Clay 
county. While several towns or villages ap- 
I)ear to have been laid out on paper, there was 
never in fact any semblance of a town in Clay 
county. The nearest approach to it seems to 
have been a group of squatters on the public 
domain about what was known as .\ustin's 
mill, on Stevens (now Indian) creek. Here, 
in 1S57, came Hiram \V. Parker. Fordvce 



Roper, Edward C, Charles, and Homer B. 
.\ustin, also (Jrrin Stevens, who gave his 
name to Indian creek at that ])oint — a name 
which the Beatrice colonists always refvised 
to recognize. Possibly a few other early set- 
tlers gathered near there on the public domain, 
and an efifort was made to establish a town 
which could become in the course of time a 
county seat for the ulw county. Kdward C. 
Austin had located a claim in the latter part 
of April or earlv in Mav, 1857, in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the present village of Pick- 
rell. He had built a log cabin, staked out ,i 
forty-acre tract of his claim into town lots, 
and called the proposed town Austin. Shortly 
thereafter he purchased and brought to his 
claim a saw mill and buhrs for a grist mill, and 
erected the former on the east side of Indian 
or Stevens creek, on the north side of the 
present road leading east from Pickrell. A 
little below the mill, on the east side of In- 
dian creek, was the suneyed town of Austin. 
Xo dwellings or other structures were ever 
erected on the tov.-nsite and '.he mill itself 
proved a financial failure, due in part to the 
fact that it was not on the line of western 
bound emigrant travel, and in part to the fact 
that there was scarcely any demand for lumber 
in that locality, but more to the fact that a saw 
mill was established about the same time 
in Beatrice, by the Beatrice Town'^ite Com- 
pany. About the year 1862 the buhrs of 
Austin's mill were purchased by Mr. Fordyce 
Roper for use in a null which he was then 
erecting in Beatrice. This move broke up the 
prospective town of Austin and nothing more 



41 



42 



HISTORY OF (;.\GE COLWTV. XEISRASKA 



was heard of il. Ihe Austins left the cuuu- 
try : Parker. Roper, aiul Stevens moved to 
Beatrice, and no one was left to take their 
j)laces in furthering the interests of this for- 
lorn hojK'. 

In addition to the projected town of Austin, 
there was at least one serious effort to found 
a town in the north half of Clay county. In 
that section of the county, John D. I'rey and 
family had established a residence near Roca, 
July 26, 1K56. The following year other set- 
tlers joined them, among whom were J. L. 
Davidson, W. W. Dunham, and I. C. Bristol. 
.\ townsite company was formed, composed 
of John I,. Davidson, Joseph B. Weeks, James 
S. Goodwin. John G. Haskins. and George L. 
Bristol : a forty-acre tract of land was sur- 
veyed into town lots and the prospective town 
named Olathe. This ambitious project was lo- 
cated on Salt creek, about three-quarters of a 
mile west of the ford where the road from 
.Vebraska City to Denver crossed that stream, 
a few yanls north of the spot where the pres- 
ent bridge at Roca is located. The Olathe 
(|uarries were only a short distance awav. 
there was some wood along the creek, and 
these appear to have been the determining fac- 
tors in the location of the town. Nothing 
came of this venture, and at the time Clay 
county was divided there was not a single 
town, village, or hamlet within its bounds. 

Clay county as thus constituted was large- 
ly a treeless scope of countrj-, rather poorlv 
watered, especially on the upland, and it was 
generally thought that there was no desirable 
central location for a county seat in the county 
Its big. roiling, unbroken prairies did not look 
uniting to men who were wholly dependent 
for so important a matter as fuel upon timber 
along the streams. The settlements had been 
confined to those localities where timber could 
be had. In addition to the settlement in the 
neighborhood of Austin's mill, others were 
made in 18.^7. in Adams township, along the 
Big Xeniaha river at several points in the 
north half of Clay county, along Salt creek 
and its tributaries, and a few squatters on the 
public domain might li.ive been found in the 



southwest corner of the county, along the Big 
Blue river. 

The maintenance of county government in a 
county whose pojiulation was so sparse and so 
widely separated, would, it was thought, be an 
expensive and diflficult problem under any cir- 
cumstances, and the early settlers of the county, 
realizing the situation, were for the most pari 
readily persuaded to embrace a scheme for the 
division of their county. This movement was 
started in 1863. John P. Cadman. residing 
near the village of Lancaster, in the neighbor- 
hood known as Yankee Hill, where the present 
.\sylum for the Insane, at Lincoln, is located. 
was that year elected the representative of 
Gage. Clay, and Lancaster counties in the ter- 
ritorial legislature. He is said to have carried 
with him a petition signed by a majority of 
the legal voters of Clay county praying the 
legislature to divide that county and attach 
the north half to Lancaster and the south half 
to Gage county, ^\'hether this is true or not 
a bill was brought forward early in the session 
of the assembly, which convened at Omaha. 
Januan- 7. 1864. to effect such division and 
distribution of old Clay county. Some oppo- 
sition developed at first to this measure in the 
legislative body, headed by Mr. John S. 
Gregory, a colleague of Cadman's. But the 
obvious advantages of this imjwrtant measure 
to all three counties were such that Gregory 
was finally induced to lend his influence to the 
act. 

The bill, which passed the assembly on the 
15th day of February, 1864, was carefully 
and skilfully drawn by the late P. M. Mar- 
quette. It was entitled "An act to attach the 
north half of Clay county to the comity of 
Lancaster and the south half of Clay county 
to the county of Gage." It covered every 
])ossible contingency that might arise from 
the proposed division. It declared the or- 
rganization of the county of Clay to be for- 
ever at an end. and constituted the board of 
county commissioners of Lancaster and Gage 
counties "A board to meet at such time and 
place as they might agree upon for the pur- 
pose of effecting the division of Clay county 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



43 



pursuant to the provisions of this act." In 
comphance with the terms of the act, the 
commissioners of Gage county on July 26, 
1864, held a joint session with the commis- 
sioners of Lancaster county, represented by 
John W. Prey, at the home of Hiram W. 
Parker, the county clerk of Clay county, in 
Beatrice, for the purpose of effecting a set- 
tlement of the affairs of that county. The 
preliminary entry on the journal of the rec- 
ords of the county commissioners of Gage 
county as respects this meeting reads as fol- 
lows : 

"County Court, July Z(>, 1864. Commis- 
sioners of Lancaster and Gage. 

"At a meeting of the county commissioners 
of the counties of Gage and Lancaster, held 
at the house of H. \V. Parker, for the pur- 
pose of receiving the accounts, books, monies, 
and all and any other property belonging to 
Clay county, and for the purpose of a settle- 
ment of the accoimts to and with the officers 
of the aforesaid county of Clay. 

"There were present county commissioners 
from Gage county. Fordyce Roper, F. H. 
Dohbs and \\ illiam Tyler. From the county 
of Lancaster, John W. Prey." 

As illustrative of the niea.ner vnhniie of 
business transacted by a county in that early 
day, as well ])erhaps as the poverty and sim- 
plicity of the times, the remainder of the rec- 
ord of the meeting mentioned in the ]ireceding 
paragraph may not be without interest to the 
reader or regarded as inappropriate to this 
history. It reads as follows : 

( )Ri)i:k 111' lU'siNicss 

Ordered 1st. — That the account of H. W. 
1 'arker be allowed for services as county 
clerk (Clay County) from April 4, 1864 to 
lulv 28, 1864, 3J.4 months at $4.25 per month, 
$15.00. And that the Clerk of Clay County 
draw a warrant on the county treasurer for 
the same. 

Ordered 2nd. — That John W. Prey be al- 
lowed 811.00, his per cent, for collecting Co. 
revenue and that the Co. clerk of Clay County 
draw warrant on the Co. treasurer for the 
same. 

3rd. — That the clerk of Clay County draw 
warrants on the Co. treasurer for John \V. 



Prey for $25.80, said amount having been paid 
out by him for non-assessed sinking fund for 
the year 1861. 

4th. — By an examination of the Clay 
County record, the total amount of indebted- 
ness was found to be $211.95. 

5th. — The assessed \aluation of property 
in the south half of Clay County for the year 
1864 is $13,482.00. 

6th. — The assessed valuation of property in 
the north half of Clay County for the year 
1864 is $22,647.82. 

7th. — The total amount of indebtedness to 
be paid by the north half of Clay County ac- 
cording to apportionment is $185.70. 

8th. — The total amount of indebtedness to 
be paid bv the south half of Clav Countv is 
$110.75. 

( )rdered 9th. — That the county treasurer 
of Cla}' County pay over all monies in his 
hands to their respective funds. 

Ordered 10th. — That all offices in Clay 
County be declared vacant from this date, ex- 
cept precinct officers. 
( Signed ) 

( )liver Townsend, 
Co. Clerk for Gage Co. 

F. Roper, 
F. H. Dobbs, 
William Tyler, 
John W. Prey. 

The reader has now looked upon the closing 
scene of old Clay county. Seldom have the 
obsequies of so important an organization as a 
splendid county been attended with greater 
simplicity or with less bitterness and dissen- 
sion. It is easy to read betw-een the lines of 
the act of dissolution the paramount influence 
of the rising city on the south and the am- 
bitious village of Lancaster on the north, so 
soon to lose its identity in the noblest monu- 
ment that has yet been reared to the martyr- 
president, the heroic Abraham Lincoln. Lapse 
of time has proved that the few heroic spirits 
of Stevens creek. Pierce, Hear, the Nemaha 
and Salt, would have been more than justified 
in persisting to the last in maintaining the 
separate existence of their county. The 
traveler who now motors over northern Gage 
and southern Lancaster counties is charmed 
with the beauty of the landscape and the fer- 
tility of the soil. Where once only a few 
souls gathered in isolation and loneliness along 
the widely separated streams within these 



IIIST()R^' ( )F OM'.V. ViASTY. XEI'.KASKA 



Ixmndarii's. he tiiuls a coiiunieil. i)rus|«.Tuu^. 
and happy population numbering many thou- 
sands. W'liere once stretched the silent and. 
to many, desolate prairies, he beholds wide- 
s])readiiij; lields, meadows and pasture lands, 
jjroves and orchards ; he finds also commodi- 
ous and not infrequently cle,E;ant country 
homes. Xo finer upland site tor an ambitious 
county-seat town can be anywhere found in 
the west than that occupied by the present vil- 



iafje of Cortland, near the <jeoj,'rai)hical center 
of ancient Clay county. Within llie former 
boundaries of this old county are several other 
pretty, attractive, and thriving;- villaj:;es. and 
what was Clay county in the i)rimitive days 
has evolved into a district supplied with rail- 
roads, telegraph and telephone lines, schools, 
(.inirches. banks, nias^iiificent highways, and 
otiier institutions and conveniences bv which 
modern living is both embellished and exalted. 



CHAPTER VI 

TOPOGRAPHY OF GAGE COUNTY 

LocATrciN — Townships — Area — Hvdrographic Fkatures — St(.)ne — Clav — Coal — 
Water Suf'plv — Climate — Temperature — Soil — The Prairies 



The county of Gage is located in the 
southern part of the state of Nebraska. 
its eastern boundary being approximately 
fifty miles west of the Missouri river. On 
the north it is bounded by Lancaster county. 
on the east by Johnson and Pawnee counties, 
on the south by the state of Kansas, and 
on the west by Jefferson and Saline coun- 
ties. It is a rectangular body of land, thirty- 
six miles in length north and south and twenty- 
four miles in breadth from east to west. As 
originally created by the territorial assembly, 
in 1855, it was twenty-four miles square, but 
as the reader will remember, in 1864, Clay 
count)-, which was also twenty-four miles 
square, was divided by the territorial assem- 
bly, the south half being attached to Gage and 
the north half to Lancaster county, thus giving 
to both Gage and Lancaster their present di- 
mensions. The county is composed of twenty- 
four government townships, which, under 
article 9 of the constitution of the state of Ne- 
braska, are each independent corporations — 
like counties as relates to their own internal 
aflfairs. In 1885 the county government was 
changed from the commissioner system to 
township organization, and when such change 
is made, boards of supervisors are required 
by law to select names for the various town- 
ships under their jurisdiction, by which they 
sliall thereafter be designated. Pursuant to 
this provision of the law, the various town- 
ships of Gage county, beginning with the 
northeast, are named as follows: Adams. 
Nemaha. Highland. Clatonia, Grant. Holt. 
Hanover. Hooker, Filley, Logan. Midland. 



Blakely. Lincoln, Riverside, Rockford, Sher- 
man, ISlue Springs, Island Grove, W'ymore, 
Sicily, Elm, Glenwood, Paddock, Barneston, 
Liberty. With the exception of Blue Springs- 
and Wymore all these townships are approxi- 
mately six miles square. Originally Blue 
Springs comprised a full government town- 
ship, but in 1889, for the purposes of local 
government, it was divided, on an east and 
west line through the center, into two town- 
ships.- The south half was named Wymore, 
and in the same is situated the city of that 
name ; the north half retained the name of 
Blue Springs and within its limits is the little 
city of the same name. It is through this di- 
vision of the original township of Blue Springs 
that Gage county now has twenty-five town- 
ships. 

The county has a superficial area of nearly 
864 square miles, — approximately 552,960 
acres. It has an average elevation above sea 
level of 1.200 feet. Its surface configuration 
may be described as a plain, tipped toward the 
southeast. — a construction which is only 
slightly modified locally by erosion and the di- 
rection of water courses. When it is consid- 
ered that the two principal drainage systems 
of the count V flow from the northwest in an 
almost due southeasterly direction, it becomes 
evident even to casual observation that the 
general surface trend also follows that course. 

The hydrographic features of the county 
are verv marked and readily traced. The 
Big Nemaha river enters it from the north- 
west, near the half-section line running north 
and south through Section 2, in Nemaha town- 



45 



46 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



ship, and, flowing in an almost due southeast 
direction across Adams township to the south- 
east corner of Section 36 in that township, it 
crosses the county Hne into Johnson county 
With its tributan- streams, it drains a large 
l)ortion of Xemaha, Adams, and Hooker town- 
ships. At Sterling it receives the waters of 
Hooker creek, and at Tecumseh those of 
Yankee creek, both of considerable volume and 
with headwaters partly in Gage county. At 
Tecumseh the Xemaha has a volume of water 
sufficient for milling purposes if proiJerly con- 
served, and for many years it was the site of a 
good grist and flouring milt, deriving its power 
wholly from the river. It crosses the Paw- 
nee county line into Richardson county a few- 
miles east of Tablcrock, receives at Salem the 
waters of its South Fork from Kansas, and 
falls into the Missouri river at the southeast 
comer of Richardson county, discharging into 
the Missouri a considerable volume of water. 
Rut by far the most important element in 
tlie natural drainage of Gage county is the 
Big Blue river. This beautiful stream also 
enters the county from the northwest, in Sec- 
tion 19, Grant township, and, taking a south- 
easterly course, it flows across Grant, Blakely, 
Midland, Riverside. Rdckford. Blue Sjirings. 
and Barneston townshijjs, crossing the state 
line into Kansas at a point in Section 35 in 
Barneston township, approximately twenty- 
eight miles south and seventeen miles east of 
the initial point. From the west it receives 
the waters of Swan creek at a point two and 
one-half miles south of DeWitt, Cub creek 
near Hoag, Bills creek at Blue Springs, and 
Big Indian creek at Wymore, with their nu- 
merous tributaries. From the north and cHst 
its waters are augmented by those of Clatonia. 
Soap, Smake, Indian, Bear, Cedar, Mu<l. Wolf, 
Plum, and Mission creeks with tlicir tribu- 
taries, most of which are living streams, a 
number carrying considerable quantities of 
water. Power for all purposes is sujjplied by 
the river itself, and its value and usefulness 
in this respect become increasingly important 
with every decade. From Barneston the river 
flows almost due south, through Kansas, re- 
ceiving the waters of the Little Blue river and 



other streams on its course, and, greatly aug- 
mented in volume and force, it falls into the 
Republican at Manhattan, Kansas. It is one 
of the most beautiful and interesting of all 
Nebraska rivers, and from source to mouth it 
is approximately three hundred miles in length, 
— channel measurement. 

The drainage of the county is fully ma- 
tured. From ever)- portion of it the water is 
led at once by natural depressions, streams 
and water courses away from the land. So 
nearlv ])erfect is the drainage that in case of 
excessive rainfall the surface water is imme- 
diately conducted into runs, creeks, and 
streams, and these may become swollen, over- 
flow their banks and flood the valley and low 
huids, sometimes washing away the soil, de- 
stroying fences, bridges, and other structures. 
and often doing great damage to crops on the 
bottoms and sloping uplands. Damages from 
this source could be greatly mitigated if the 
farmers and other interested parties would 
avail themselves of the recent drainage legisla- 
tion of our state, form drainage districts, if 
necessary issue bonds, and, by ditching, 
straighten the channels of the streams so as 
to facilitate the rapid discharge of their waters 
and prevent overflow. This has been done in 
Pawnee. Johnson, Lancaster. Xemaha. Rich- 
ardson, and ])robably other counties of the 
state, to the ver\- great profit of the sections 
concerned. 

Both the Nemaha and the Big Blue rivers, 
and particularly the latter, are noted for their 
wide and fertile valleys. Many of their tribu- 
taries also present in a marked degree valley 
formation. Usually the valleys on either hand 
are bounded by ranges of low hills, beyond 
which are the u])lands, — formerly prairies. 

From the time white men first became fa- 
miliar w-ith southeastern Nebraska, the streams 
of our county were bordered by lines of tim- 
ber, w-hich under favorable circumstances 
often spread out over the lower bottom lands 
into groves of valuable oak, walnut, hickory, 
ash, elm, hackberry, cottonwood, willow, and 
other deciduous varieties of trees common to 
this latitude. On some of the str'ea.ns the red 
cedar is occasionallv found. From these natural 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. XEP.RASKA 



47 



sources the early settlers of our county ob- 
tained wood for fuel and lumber, logs and 
clapboards for building purposes, fencing and 
other requirements of rural husbandry. Culti- 
vation of the land, by keeping down disastrous 
jirairie tires and by affording strong jjrotection 
to the native timber growths, has largely con- 
tributed to the spread of timbered areas. In 
later times the use of coal and other fuels, and 
of foreign lumber, by relieving the demand 
upon the native woods has likewise greatly 
augmented the natural resources of the coun- 
try, so that at the present moment our tim- 
bered areas exceed by many thousand acres the 
natural forest resources of the county as 
known to the pioneers. In addition to these 
factors tree planting in recent years has given 
Gage county largely the appearance of a tim- 
bered country. 

There are no mountains and no hills of un- 
usual size or altitude in Gage county. Its 
most noted elevation is a round-topped hill 
on the eastern boundary of Riverside town- 
ship, a few miles southeast of Beatrice, locally 
known as "Iron Mountain." Speaking gen- 
erally, the configuration of the surface of the 
county is such that a traveler is everywhere 
met with a panorama of low hills, gentle 
slopes, short plains, and shallow ravines, all 
pleasingly diversified by stream and wood. 

In may portions of the county a fair quality 
of building stone is found, and in the neigh- 
borhood of Blue Springs and Wymore are ex- 
tensive quarries of conglomerate rock, which 
for several years have afforded an ample suj)- 
ply of materials for the important rock-crush- 
ing industries at those points, the products be- 
ing shipped in quantities over the state and 
elsewhere. Sand and gravel of exceptional 
• quality are also valuable natural products of 
this county, as well as clay, both common and 
vitreous. 

Coal has not yet been discovered in paying 
quantities anywhere in the state of Nebraska. 
As far back as 1868. Prof. F. V. Havden, then 
at the head of the National Geological Survey, 
in an address delivered to the citizens of Bea- 
trice in the old frame school house, cautioned 
his audience against entertaining any hope of 



finding coal in Gage county in workable quan- 
tities ; and in his report to the secretary of the 
interior at W ashington in 1872, after a thor- 
ough study and survey of the resources of the 
state of Nebraska, says : "In regard to finding 
workable beds of coal within accessable depths 
in eastern Nebraska by deep boring, I would 
remark in conclusion that though not pre- 
pared to discourage all hope of success, it is 
])roper to state that all the known facts are 
unfavorable." 

The intervening years have only served to 
prove the wisdom and correctness of this 
eminent scientist's conclusion. Twice in 
Gage county deep borings have been made for 
coal, oil, and natural gas. The first effort was 
about 1875. when a boring eleven hundred feet 
deep was put down across the alley on the 
Robertson property just north of the old jail, 
in Beatrice, with no other result than to de- 
velop a strong flow of salt water which rose 
to the top of the ground with nearly artesian 
force. Quite recently another boring was put 
down, on the Farlow tract of land which now 
is incorporated in the golf links and Country 
Club grounds. A depth of six hundred feet 
was reached, where salt water was again 
found. Within a few months from this date 
several tracts of land in the eastern part of our 
county have been covered with oil. coal, and 
natural-gas leases. No borings have yet been 
made, and nothing has transpired since 1868 
to discredit the cautionary remarks of Prof. 
F. V. Hayden. 

The county is well supplied with water 
otiier than that af^'orded by streams. Nu- 
merous excellent springs are found in many 
localities. At Barneston, within a stone's 
throw of the old Agency building, is a 
splendid spring which during the Indian 
occupation gushed out of the ancient prairie. 
For many years it supplied the entire Otoe and 
Missouri tribes of Indians, as well as the white 
population at the agency, with pure, whole- 
some water for drinking and all domestic pur- 
poses. It has been allowed to fall into disuse 
and is now so filled with washings from the 
land and with other debris that is is a mere 
bog. — so much an object of danger to stock 



48 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



that the owner of the land where it is located 
keeps a fence around it. With proper develop- 
ment this spring is capable of supplying a citv 
of many thousands with an abundance of the 
purest water, at small expense. At Blue 
Springs there is a succession of beautiful 
s])rings .ijushing from under steej) embank- 
ments and forming a little stream which is 
called Spring creek and which debouches a 
few- rods away into the Big Blue river. Here 
is an unknown (juantity but certainly an alnii-.- 
ilant sup|)ly of excellent water, cajjable of meet- 
ing the demand of a large city. These nat- 
ural water resources, besides giving a name to 
the beautiful city of Blue Springs, have been 
sufficiently developed to meet the demands of 
both Blue Sjirings and W'ymore. Beatrice, 
as is well known, draws her entire municipal 
water sui)ply for her 12.000 ])Oi>ulation, 
amounting to over 1.000.000 gallons a day, 
from what is known as Zimmerman Springs, 
a few miles northwest of the city, — a sujjplv 
which under scientific analysis has been foun<l 
to be almost chemically pure. There are other 
localities throughout the county where s])ring 
water of excellent (|uality and great i)urity can 
be obtained at comparatively small cost. Well 
water of great volume and i)urity is obtainable 
in every part of the county, at depths varying 
from a few feet in the Blue river bottom lands 
to much greater dejuhs in the upland regions. 
There are no natural lakes in the countv and 
no large bodies of water formed bv the 
streams. 

The climate of Gage county is moder- 
ately humid, mild and invigorating. The 
normal monthly temi)erature ranges from 
an average of thirty-two degrees Fahren- 
heit in January to seventy-six degrees 
m July. Nowhere in the upper Mississip])i 
valley are the climatic conditions more equable 
or more conducive to healthy living for man 
and beast. Mere one experiences in the great- 
est perfection the grand procession of the sea- 
sons, spring, summer, autumn, winter. The 
rainfall averages about thirty inches per an- 
num and is well distributed throughout the 
period of plant growth, as a rule assuring 
abundant harvests, bountiful cro])s. .\11 Ne- 



braska, however, is in the region of occasional 
extremes of temperature caused by excessive 
drought. Once in each decade, sometimes 
oftener, crops may partly fail from this cause 
or from hot, dry southwesterly winds. The 
winters are sometimes severe, and other ec- 
centricities of climate common to Nebraska 
and neighboring states may, and do in fact, 
manifest themselves in some degree in Gage 
county. But, all things considered, it would 
be difficult to find in this latitude of the entire 
coinitry a more healthful or a more attractive 
climate. 

In the early days fluctuations of temper- 
ature were more frequent and more marked 
than now, and the pioneers often suffered 
severely both from the rigors of winter and 
the heat and drought of summer. Fearful 
storms not infrequently swept over the tree- 
less prairies, endangering the lives of man 
and beast, both in winter and sumnicr. W itii 
the settlement of the country-, the cessation of 
prairie fires, the jjlanting of groves, orchards, 
and hedgerows, together with many other 
agencies incident to a large and progressive 
community, tending to ameliorate the hard 
conditions of pioneer life, the sudden and fre- 
quent changes of temjjerature to which all the 
northwest is subject summer and winter. ha\e 
come to be regarded here with great indiffer- 
ence. 

The soils of the county, as of nearly all east- 
ern Nebraska, are mature and fertile. They 
contain the essential elements necessary to the 
growth and production of the fruits, grasses, 
and grains common to north temperature re- 
gions, and as a rule, up to the present moment, 
they respond bountifully to the labors of the 
husbandman without artificial fertilization oi 
other expensive upkeep. , 

Soil may be defined as a mixture of fine 
earthy materials with organic matter produced 
by the decomposition of vegetation on the 
earth's .surface,— as the stems, roots. an<l 
leaves of trees, gras.ses. and other forms of 
vegetation. The earthy materials which enter 
into .soil formation are the outer portions of 
the earth's crust, which, by a process described 
as weathering, or by glacial action or other 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



49 



drastic force, become decomposed into fine 
stone, gravel, minerals, clay, sand, and silt. 
Types of soils are determined by the relative 
proportions of these materials, organic and 
inorganic, which by inspection or chemical 
analysis are found to enter into their compo- 
sition. 

On the basis of their origin, the soils of 
Gage county may be roughly classed as resi- 
dual, alluvial, glacial drift, and loessial de- 
posits. Residual soils are formed from the 
tlecomposition of limestone and possibly some 
other kinds of rock by a process scientifically 
known as leaching, in which the soluble por- 
tions of the decomposed mass disappear, and 
the insoluble or less soluble remain in the place 
where decomposition or leaching has occurred, 
as a sort of subsoil, and by the addition of 
vegetable or organic mold may mature into 
rich, fertile soil. 

Alluvial soils are formed from sedimentary 
deposits arising from the overflow of streams, 
carrying in suspension soils and soil materials 
from a higher to a lower elevation. The 
vegetable matter such soils contain often ren- 
ders them the richest and most fruitful known 
to man. The valleys of the Nile, the Missis- 
sippi, the upper Ganges, the Hoang-Ho, the 
Po. and the Danube, afford fine e.xamjjles of 
the strength and wonderful fertility of this 
kind of soil. 

Cilacial soils are derived from those deposits 
which are mainly the product of glacial action, 
exerted through long ages in the formative 
period of the earth, though their immediate de- 
position may have been caused in part by the 
action of wind and water. Such soils are 
found as far south as the southern boundary 
of the great ice cap, which in the glacial or 
ice age covered to enormous depths the north 
temperate regions of the world. Soils derived 
from this source are scientifically described 
as drift. 

Loessial soil is a loessial deposit, ven,' 
homogeneous in character and rarely strati- 
fied. It usually contains large quantities of 
land and fresh water shells as well as the bones 
of extinct animals. In regions where the 
loess occurs it is the most recent of the soil 



formations. It is regarded as the sedimentan- 
bottoms of ancient fresh-water seas and lakes. 
Its presence is often attributed to fierce winds 
which in primordial times carried the fine 
loamy silt to distant areas and spread it out, 
often in great thickness. This imperial soil, 
according to Professor Samuel Aughey, who 
was the first to occupy the position of geolo- 
gist at the State University of Nebraska, ve- 
neers almost the entire glacial drift of the 
state. It forms the Missouri river bluf¥s and 
is thickest there, gradually thinning towards 
the west. A recent soil survey of Gage 
county showed the loess to be extensively pres- 
ent in various areas, principally however on the 
uplands. It is said to be the thickest and in 
the highest state of preservation about Cort- 
land. In common parlance it is spoken of as 
loam, modified by descriptive terms, as black 
loam, sandy loam, clay loam, and the like. 

To the wondering view of the early in- 
habitants of this section of Nebraska the ob- 
ject of the most striking and universal inter- 
est was the rolling prairies. Extending from 
the Canadian boundary on the north to the 
tropical gulf of Mexico on the south, and 
from the timbered shore of the Missouri river 
on, the east to the foothills of the Rocky 
mountains on the west, its apparently illimit- 
able expanse presented great variety of sur- 
face configuration. In its virgin state it was 
a source of never-ending curiosity and inter- 
est. Thickly clothed with verdure, diversi- 
fied by stream and wood, and shimmering in 
the brilliant sunshine, the prairies of eastern 
Nebraska were probably the most beautiful 
landscape on the face of the earth. At fre- 
quent intervals were found rivers and living 
streams of pure water, and the dark foliage 
of the forest trees skirting them presented a 
pleasing contrast to the lighter green of the 
prairies. Such was the fascination which they 
exerted over the human mind that the first 
settlers were prone to wander from one high 
l)lace to another to feast their eyes upon the 
beautiful panorama which the prairies offered. 

The origin of the prairies is involved in some 
doubt. Even scientific men of character and 
great learning are not fully agreed upon this 



30 HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 

important subject. The most plausible theory mately became the high level prairies. The 

which seeks to account for the presence of the rolling prairies are said to bear evidence to the 

great level prairies is that they were the sites rush and the recoil of the fresh-water seas that 

of ancient shallow lakes, which gradually tilled followed the melting of the great ice cap, while 

with silt washed down from the Rocky moun- the ravines, the hills, and the valleys were 

tains. si.\ hundred miles away, and from other formed by the washing away of large portions 

sources, — first becoming marshes, which with of the surface in the process of continental 

the accumulations of vegetable matter ulti- draining. 



CHAPTER VII 

FLORA AXD FAUNA 



Grasses — Fi^ovveks — Forest and Stream — Animal Life — The Buffalo — Hlk — An- 
telope — Native Birds — Fish — Insect Life — Grasshoppers — 
Effect of Settlement 



The native flora of our county, like all 
the southeastern portion of Nebraska, was 
characterized by many forms of plant life. 
The most casual observer could readily divide 
it into the flora of the prairies and the flora of 
forest and stream. The prairies were clothed 
with many varieties of grass as well as of 
plants, some of which were perennial and 
in their florescence beautiful. The early set- 
tlers found bottom land along the streams and 
other depressions stocked with the blue-stem 
grass, the uplands with bunch grass and other 
species of succulent grasses, all of which how- 
ever ultimately yielded to the blue-stem as the 
countrv became settled, tlie uplands pasturefl. 
and the ravages of fire diminished, — eastern 
Nebraska thus became clothed with this the 
most desirable of all our native forage plants. 
This process was rapid in Gage county, so 
much so that within ten years after the first 
settlements were made the blue-stem could 
be cut for hay anywhere on the prairies. 
Mingled with the grasses, which spread a beau- 
tiful carpet of verdure over the earth's sur- 
face, were hundreds of flowering plants whose 
diversity of size, color, an<l perfume contrib- 
uted to the beauty and interest of the primi- 
tive landscape. The graceful wild rose, rep- 
resentatives of the lily family, buttercups, vio- 
lets, mallows, primroses, goldenrods, asters, 
verbenas, morning-glories, and many other 
well known flowering species bloomed forth 
over the prairies in their season, — a profusion 
of delicate colors. In almost no other way have 
settlement and cultivation wrought such radi- 



cal changes as in the plant life of the prairies. 

The flora of the forest and stream needs but 
a word. L'nlike that of the prairies, which 
was native in its origin, the larger forms of 
vegetation in this portion of Nebraska are 
wholly due to migration. In the southern 
part of the state the source of forest growth 
is readily assignable to the nearby forests 
along the Missouri river. The distribution of 
tree, vine, and shrub seeds, of all common for- 
ests growths in this latitude, has been greatly 
facilitated by wind, by flood, by beak and wing, 
a process which has gone on from primordial 
times to the present moment. Shut off from 
germination, by the fine, compact soils of the 
prairies, such seeds, when transported from 
near by or from distant forests, have found 
lodgment and favorable conditions of growth 
in the rich alluvial soils of the streams, thus 
giving rise to our forests of oak, hickory, elm, 
hackberry, sycamore, maple, box elder, red 
bud, locust, willow, Cottonwood, and all the 
other varieties of timber growth that go to 
make up our groves and forests. Amongst 
the shrubs are the plum, chokecherr}-, hazel 
nut, prickly ash, wahoo bush, red willow, 
gooseberry, wintergreen, and some other va- 
rieties. Of plants and vines the most beauti- 
ful and important are the strawbern,-, the 
blacklierry, raspberry, several varieties of 
wild grape, bitter-sweet, Virginia creeper, 
sarsaparilla, and other climbing vines. 

The hand of man has greatly modified the 
pleasing aspect which nature wore here in her 
primitive state, and has added greatly to the 



51 



HISTORY UF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



stock of I'oresi trees and forest growths by 
the art and skill of arboriculture, while by ex- 
cluding fire and other destructive agencies it 
has greatly increased both the quality of our 
growing timber and the acreage of our for- 
ests. 

The animal life of southeastern Nebraska 
when the white man came was varied and 
interesting. Nearly even,- form of wild life 
common to this latitude, whether of earth, 
air, or water, was represented here. and. in 
addition, forms which are associated mainly 
with wide reaches of open prairies. In vast 
herds, aggregating many millions, here roamed 
the shaggy bulTalo. while the shy and lordly 
elk in great bands fed upon the natural mead- 
ows. Both species of the American deer were 
native here, and droves of beautiful antelope 
roamed the ])lains. Not long before the advent 
of the white man, our plains were probably 
also the range of the caribdu. the moose, and 
the mountain sheep. The wild fox, the sly 
coyote, and his large relation, the mountain or 
gray wolf, the lyn.x, the panther, the bear, the 
mountain lion, and other representatives of the 
carnivorous tribe were all at some time no 
doubt native to our eastern Nebraska. The 
rodents were widely distributed in forest and 
plain : they were the mole, the wood mouse, 
tile ground gopher or ground sfjuirrel, the 
jOTcket gopher, the common tree squirrel, the 
b.'idgcr. the ground hog. while acres uymn 
acres were included in the villages of the 
prairie dug. The strictly fur-bearing animals 
were well re|)resented by the beaver, the otter, 
the mink, the muskrat, the raccoon, and the 
skunk. I'rogs, tna<ls. and other batracians 
inhabited the streams and marsh lands, while 
numerous varieties of snakes, the prairie rat- 
tlesnake, the conunon bull snake, the water 
nidccasin. the i)ufting adder, and other forms 
of reptilian life abounded on the prairies and 
about the woods and streams. 

Bird life was in evidence on every hand. 
The largest species were the wild turkey, 
giMi.se, brant, crane, duck, and turkey buzzard : 
The medium-sized species were the long-billed 
curlew in vast flocks, the golden plover, the 
sand piper, several species of hawks. <;wls. and 



crows ; the smaller birds and the singers, 
amongst others, included swallows, wrens, 
yellow hammers, chickadees, peewees, blue- 
jays, meadow larks, thrush, bluebird, black- 
bird, and many other prairie, bush, meadow, 
and grass species of song and plumage birds. 
The game and food birds aside from water 
fowl were wild turkeys in occasional flocks, 
the quail, and millions upon millions of grouse, 
or i)rairie chickens as the)- were commonly 
called. 

The clear waters of the creeks and rivers 
were well stocked with all varieties of hsh 
common to this portion of North .\merica. In 
the smaller streams and in the deep holes in 
large ravines which were fed in part by 
springs. were found bullheads, perch, chubs, 
cat. red-horse, and suntish. In the rivers and 
larger streams were the bufTalo, pike, pickerel, 
gar-pike, suckers, croppies, and cat fish. In 
Gage county in the early days as at the pres- 
ent time, the Big Blue river was the one re- 
liable source of the fish supply. In this re- 
spect it was a very notable stream, as fish 
abounded in it and were easily taken, and be- 
fore the wash from cultivated lands had 
changed their character its waters were clear, 
s])arkling, beautiful as a mountain stream — 
in deep places as blue as the overhanging sky. 
A river moss, wherever a stony formation sup- 
plied points of attachment, spread out over 
the bottom of the stream, sometimes from 
shore to shore and several inches thick, cover- 
ing large areas of the channel, its individual 
streamers often being many feet in length and 
all thickly lea\ed. The swift water imparted 
a wavy motion to its mass, and its gentle ris- 
ing and falling was often accelerated by large 
buffalo fish and other species preying upon the 
periwinkle, crawfish, and other small ac(|uatic 
life found attached to the green moving masses 
of moss. 

Insect life, the most numerous and varied 
of all forms of life, has always abounded in 
every portion of Nebraska. Flies, gnats, 
mosquitos, wasps, hornets, vari-colored but- 
terflies, moths, grasshoppers, cycads, beetles, 
miriapods, crickets, spiders, bees, locusts, 
cateq^illars, ants, and every other creeping 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEI'.RASKA 



DO 



and crawling thing native to the north tem- 
perate zone finds a natural habitat in eastern 
Nebraska. Of these native insects the most 
destructive species are the chinch bvig, the 
army worm, the Hessian fly, the Colorado 
])otato-beetle, and the codling moth. At 
varying periods of time, under favorable cir- 
cumstances, great injury has been done to 
growing field crops b}' many of these insects, 
as well as to orchards and gardens. 

But the insect that has caused the greatest 
and most widesi)read disaster to crops and 
vegetation in our county, as well as to the state 
at large and neighboring states, is the Rocky 
Mountain locust or grasshopper — a migra- 
tory insect, native to the high, dry plateaus 
of New Mexico and Arizona, the eastern 
foothills of the Rocky mountains, and the 
plains of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. 
Nothing in the natural history of the west 
has excited such widespread interest as the 
great locust plagues to which the early set- 
tlers of our state were frequently subjected 
and which may again become a menace to our 
prosperity. Unlike Pharaoh's locusts that 
came on an east wind, these usually came on 
a northwest wind, but like them "they cov- 
ered the face of the whole earth so that the 
land was darkened ; and they did eat every 
herb of the land, and all the fruit of the 
trees — and there remained not any green 
thing in the trees or the herbs of the field in 
all the land of Egypt." [Ex. 8, v. 15.] 

It is not known when these pests first ap- 
peared in Nebraska. Probably before the 
coming of the white man they may have been 
here as a mere incident to wild nature. The 
first actual visitation known to history oc- 
curred in 1857, when they are described bv 
the Brownville Advertiser as "mowing the 
prairies." No less than seven invasions are 
known to have occurred in southeastern Ne- 
braska before the last, in 1874. They were 
much alike. In a few instances the corn crop 
was far enough advanced to escape total de- 
struction, but in the great invasion of 1874 
not a green thing escaped. The leaves on the 
trees, prairie grass, and herbage of ever\ de- 
scrijition were practically laid waste. The 



first intimation of disaster would be a few 
rapidly dropping hoppers out of the sky, mere 
a^•ant couriers of the myriads of destroying 
locusts. The observer, glancing toward the 
sun, beheld the air to a depth of half a mile 
or more thick with the flying insects, moving 
with the wind and glittering in the sunshine 
like flakes of snow. A slight change of the 
high-wafting breeze or a slackening of its 
force, caused an immediate descent of the 
whole dense mass to the ground, and the 
whole earth, as in liiblical times, was covered 




Gr.\sshoi'picr Scene, Plattsmoi-th, Xeer.\ska, 1874 

by hopping, flying, creeping, climbing, crawl- 
ing locusts, and every edible thing perished. 
Here in Gage county up to July 16, 1874, 
crops of every description had never held 
greater promise. Fall wheat and oats were 
already harvested, or well matured, but on 
that day a devastating hot wind swept up 
from the southwest and the corn crop was 
blasted in a few hours. The grasshopper in- 
vasion which followed in the early part of 
August left the fields practically liare. All 
Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, ^lis- 
souri, Kansas, Arkansas, Nevada, Colorado, 
Texas, and the territories of Wyoming. 
Dakota, and Itlaho were involved in the dis- 
aster. In most of this territory tlie crops. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COIXTV. NEBRASKA 



fjanleiis. and orchards were in fiourishinsi 
condition : everything was swept away. This 
invasion marks an era in the history of the 
state*: att'ectcd anrl in the hves of all their in- 
habitants, a never to be forgotten circum- 
stance. It was the same story ever\-where — 
destruction on a tremendous scale. It was 
the most startling plague of locusts of which 
we have any account outside of the Bible 
Combined with the drought, this scourge was 
the cause of great destitution in Nebraska. 
( )n the Sth day of September, 1S74, Governor 
Robert W. Furnas, by proclamation, appoint- 
ed twenty prominent Nebraskans as a relief 
commission to receive and distribute all con- 
tributions of money and clothing in aid of 
those who had been, through no fault of their 
own, practically reduced to beggarv. These 
gentlemen formed a corjjoration known in 
our history as the Nebraska Relief and .\id 
Society. This society proceeded to organize 
the work throughout the slate. It was esti- 
mated in Januan-, 1.S74, that more than ten 
thousand ])eople of our commonwealth were 
in need of aid. In the frontier counties the 
suffering was acute and often pitiful, but a 
great many benevolent persons interested 
themselves in the cause of relief and much 
was done by private charity to mitigate the 
poverty and want of the times. 

By January S, 1875, the society was able to 
report the receipt from various sources of 
$^7,279.73 in money and nearly an equal 
amount in clothing. Early in 1875 congress 
appropriated thirty thousand dollars in money 
to be used in the purchase of food supplies 
and five times that amount for the inirchase 
of clothing, its beneficences to be distributed 
to the people of the several states who were 
sufferers from the grasshopper scourge of 
1874. A part of these funds came of course 
to our state. By far the most practical and 
noteworthy act within our borders was the 
passage of a law by the legislature, under date 
of Februar>- 17, 1875, providing for the issu- 
ing of state bonds, to the amount of fifty 
thousand dollars, "For the purjiose of pro- 
viding seed for the citizens of counties devas- 
tated by grasshoppers during the year 1.^74." 



Most of the counties in the state, including 
Gage, were beneficiaries of these relief meas- 
ures, and by these various means thousands 
of homesteaders were held upon their claims 
and the state was spared wholesale depopu- 
lation in many counties. 

Great alarm existed during the winter of 
1874-1875, as well as the following spring 
and early summer, on account of the billions 
and billions of grasshopper eggs that had been 
deposited in the ground the previous autumn. 
The e.xact facts of the case with respect to 
the deposition of grasshopper eggs staggers 
belief. Scarcely an inch of land or a clod of 
dirt but contained several nests of grasshop- 
per eggs, closely packed in a sealed mass, 
about an inch in length, numbering probablj' 
one hundred eggs to a package, shaped like 
and about the size of a small ant egg. When 
hatching time came in the spring, the sight 
was simply wonderful. Myriads upon multi- 
plied myriads of small, young hoppers ap- 
peared everywhere, so thick in places upon 
the rails of the railway tracks as to impede 
travel. Words fail to describe adequately the 
situation. The young hoppers were ravenous. 
In a large portion of the state every green, 
edible thing disappeared as if by magic. They 
matured rapidly and by the 20th of May or a 
little later the young pests got their wings and 
shape, after a succession of moultings, and 
became, by an almost instantaneous transition 
from a mere rusty hopper, a winged insect 
capable of prolonged flight. The migration 
began the moment their wings ajipeared. The 
young, wingless insects would begin hopping 
with a wind from the north, when suddenly 
with a mighty hop their wings would appear 
and, spreading them, they would sail away 
southward on the favoring breeze. In a few 
days all were gone and the replanting of the 
corn, oats, and gardens began. But on June 
15, 1875, a south wind brought them back. 
Pale, anxious, frightened groups of men 
gathered in the cities and villages to discuss 
the situation, business came to a standstill, 
and appalling disaster seemed imminent. 
But Providence had intervened to avert the 
threatened ruin. It was soon observed that 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEl'.RASKA 



although they had . settled in multiplied bil- 
lions in the lields and gardens, no depreda- 
tions were committed. An examination 
showed that every insect was the victim of 
more than a single species of parasite, amongst 
them being a small, yellowish boring beetle, at 
the base of the wings. None ever again rose 
in flight. They remained stationary a few 
hours and perished. Here in Gage countv, 
Avhere comparatively little damage had been 
done to the growing crops by the young hop- 
pers, a cold rain set in the night of their re- 
turn, and when it was over there was not a 
single live grasshopper to be found. Their 
bodies were washed, by wagon loads, into 
the draws, frequently damming them and im- 
peding the flow of surface water from the 
rain. This was the last of the much and 
justly dreaded grasshopper scourges. More 
than two score vears have elapsed since the 
final appearance of this strange and destruc- 
tive migratory insect, and the state of Ne- 
braska has become rich and powerful, but the 
man who was living in Nebraska in 1S74 wit- 
nessed a scourge of locusts greater than that 
of Pharaoh. 

The Gr.vsshoppeks 

KnWIN FORI) PIPER 

Down by the orchard plot a man and boy. 

The boy's hat just above the whitened floor 

Of oats half hiding the young trees and sway- 
ing 

Under a strong breeze in the blazing noon. 

The man looks upward, blinks with dazzled 
eyes. 

Then shading face with hand peers painfulh ; 

Little winged creatures drive athwart the sun. 

High up, in ceaseless, countless flight to the 
north. 

His mood runs hot envisioning the past. 

"It was three years ago this very day. 

"Three years ago that clinging, hopping horde 
Made the earth crawl. With slobbery mouths, 
-Ml leafage, woody twig, and grain, and grass. 
They utterly consumed, leaving the land 
Abominable. The wind-borne ])lague rained 

down 
On the full-leaved tree where laughter rippled 

light 
To answer odorous whispers of the flowers. 
Soon, naked to the blistering sun, it stared 



.\t the bones of its piteous comrades. After- 
wards, 

A jest to strangers — charity — cattle hun- 
gering — 

Women and children starving ! But the 
power of the creatures ! 

The daughters of the locust, numberless, num- 
berless ! 

laws bite", throats suck, the beauty of lovely 
fields 

Is in their guts, the world is but a mummy !" 

.Man and l)ov turn from the oats and the 
vigorous orchard : 

But as they go the lad is looking, looking 

'I'o see, high up, like gnats, the winged mil- 
lions 

Moving across the sun. May God rebuke 
them ! 

As long as the human race was represented 
in Nebraska by wandering savages who dwelt 
sparsely in widely separted communities it was 
possible for every form of wild life to thrive 
and increase, but when the white man spreads 
abroad over nature's wide domain, maintaining 
fixed habitations, he dominates all forms of 
life. And the settlement of Nebraska by the 
palefaced race has brought tremendous changes 
in its primitive forms. Gone are the useful 
buff'alo, the stately elk, the deer, the antelope, 
from which the Indian fed and clothed him- 
self and manufactured many of the crude 
utensils for his own use ; gone the larger 
felines that preyed upon them; fish, bird, and 
even insect life have also been notably modi- 
fied by the presence of the white man. The 
game birds have almost totally disappeared, 
with the curlews and the plovers, while the 
wild goose, brant, crane, and duck are rarely 
seen except in their long, high, semi-annual 
pilgrimages to and from their breeding 
grounds on the Saskatchewan and the far 
north. The denizens of the streams have 
been depleted both in quantity and quality, 
many species having wholly disappeared, as 
the pike, pickerel, bullhead, sucker, chub, red 
horse, and perch. The waters of our county 
no longer abound with the buffalo fish or the 
cat, and even the vicious gar-pike has become 
scarce. While these are taken in limited num- 
bers, the carp, an alien fish, has largely sup- 
planted them, liven the great Missouri has 



56 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV. NEBRASKA 



suffered similar depletions and invasions and 
the faithful and continuous efforts of the 
state through its fish commission to restock 
our streams with desirable edible fish have so 
far proved of doubtful value. 

The beaver and the otter, which once were 
found in numbers about the water courses of 
southeastern Nebraska, have almost wholly 
disappeared. The mink, muskrat, and skunk 
are still occasionally trapped or shot, but 
their pursuit is no longer a profitable occupa- 
tion. The wolves, badgers, mountain lions, 
and other no.xious carnivora have either been 
driven away or hunted and killed, until only 
an occasional coyote, bob cat, or badger is 



found where once they abounded. Few repre- 
sentatives of the reptilian family remain and 
these are mostly of an innocuous kind. 

Animal life of the state has been affected 
too by the additions to it which man has con- 
sciously made or which have followed his 
course. Beside.; the domestic animals which 
replaced the buffalo, elk, and deer and made 
civilization possible on the "Great .American 
Desert," wherever man builds, plants, sows, 
gathers, or reaps, there is found in its greatest 
perfection the house Hy, the Colorado potato- 
beetle, the chinch bug. the cut-worm, and other 
insects that prey upon the roots, stems, and 
leaves of his fields, gardens, and orchards. 



I 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE PUBLIC DOMAIN 
Nemaha Land District — BrownvillE Land Ofeice — Registers and Receivers — 

FERED and UnOFEERED LaNDS PREEMPTIONS — FrEE HoMESTEAD LaW — AGRI- 
CULTURAL College Land Grant Act — Operation of the Act — Col- 
lege Scrip Entries in Townships — Homestead Entries 



Of^ 



The public domain of the United States has 
dwindled to a mere fraction of what it was in 
1854. when the territory of Nebraska was 
created by act of congress. The system by 
which the United States government under- 
took to dispose of its lands has worked as ef- 
ficiently as any department of the public ser- 
vice. In every state and territory where pub- 
lic lands were located, and particularly here 
in the west, the federal land office has always 
proved an effective and a most important fac- 
tor in the settlement and development of the 
country. The prospective settler has met. at 
the verv outset of his inquiries, the organ- 
ized agencies of his government, prepared to 
lend him all possible assistance in selecting and 
locating upon a tract of land. 

The local land office for the district in 
which Gage county was situated in the early 
pioneer days, was established at Brownville, 
Nemaha county, Nebraska, under an act of 
congress, dated March 3, 1857, and opened 
for business about that time. The land dis- 
trict was officially described as the Nemaha 
District, while amongst the people it was al- 
most universally designated as the Brownville 
h'nd district. The office continued in opera- 
tion at Brownville from the date of its estab- 
lishment to July 7, 1868, when it was re- 
moved to Beatrice. The district was there- 
after known as the Beatrice land district, 
and it embraced Nemaha, Richardson, Paw- 
nee, Johnson, Gage. Jefferson. Saline. Fill- 
more, Thayer, Nuckolls, and Clav counties. 



The office was maintained at Beatrice from 
July 7, 1868, to the 15th day of September, 
1887, when the district was consolidated with 
the Lincoln land district and the records of 
the Beatrice office were removed to Lincoln. 

For more than thirty years this office was 
a necessary and an important factor in the 
affairs of the inhabitants of the district which 
it served. Through its ministrations many 
homes were established and the foundation 
for many a fortune laid. The volume of 
business transacted at this office through the 
greater portion of its existence was enor- 
mous. Its officials were called upon to advise 
the settlers both with respect to the laws 
under which public lands were granted to in- 
dividuals and the methods of complying with 
these laws once the entryman had availed 
himself of their benefits. The officers of the 
local land offices of the United States are des- 
ignated as register and receiver. The fixed 
salary attached to each office was $500 and an 
additional amount, on the fee basis, was al- 
lowed, not to exceed ,$2,500, or $.^.000 in all. 
The ofiicers of the old Brownville-Beatrice 
land office were uniformly gentlemen of high 
character and excellent ability. Their names 
may be regarded as worthy of preservation in 
a work of this kind. At Brownville the offi- 
cials were : 

George H. Nixon. Register, April 9, 1857, 
temporary : April 16, 1858, permanent. 

Charles B. Smith. Receiver, .\pril 11. 1857. 
temporary: .April 16. 1858. jiermanent. 



58 



HISTORY (JF GAC.E COIXTV. XEl'.R ASKA 



Richard F. Barrett, Register, May 27. 1861, 
tiin])orar\ : July 26, 1861, permanent. 

I. F!d\vard Burbank, Receiver, May 27, 
1>!'^>1, teni])orary. 

(ieorgc F. Watton, Receiver, June 21. 1861, 
temporary July 2b, 1861, permanent. 

Sewell K. Jamison, Receiver, March 10, 
18<')2, i)ermanent. 

Charles G. Dorsey, Register, July 25, 1865, 
tcmijorary : May 16, 1866, permanent. 

Theodore W. Bedford, Register, Novem- 
ber 5. 18<')6, teniix)rary. 

Henry M. Atkinson, Register. March 7, 
1867, permanent. 

John S. Carson, Receiver, April 15, 1867, 
])crmaiient 

At Beatrice the officials were : 

lliram \V. Parker, Register, June 2. 1871. 
temporary; December 27, 1871. permanent; 
January 22, 1876, pemianent ; January 29, 
1880, i)ermanent. 

Xathan Blakely, Receiver, August 10, 1869, 
lemi>orary ; December 28, 1869, permanent. 

Robert B. I larrington, Receiver, September 
10, 1875, temporary ; December 17, 1875, per- 
manent ; December 22, 1879, permanent. 

Hugh J. Dol)l)s. Register, March 7, 1884. 

William 11. Somers, Receiver, March 24, 
1881. 

Jose])h I nil. I\eceiver, June 9. 1885. tem- 
]K>rary. 

Ivhvard R. Fogg, Recei\er, May 24, 1886, 
l)ermanent. 

In the beginning of the land office in the 
old Xemaha district, the ]Hiblic lands were 
classified as offered and iiiioffercd lands. The 
former comprised all those tracts which had 
been formally offered by the local land office 
for sale at public auction, for cash, to the high- 
est i)idder, the minimum bid allowed being 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. The 
unotTered lands comprised all public lands 
wliich li.id not been placed on sale at public 
auction, for cash, to the higiiest bidder. This 
distinction in the public land laws was made 
by act of congress in the early "408. and con- 
tinued from that time until May 18, 1898, 
when the law criMtintj tlie distinction was re- 
])ealed. 



In districts where ottered lands were lo- 
cated, those not sold at public vendue when 
offered, could be aftenvard bought without 
settlement for cash, at one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre. UnotTered lands were not 
o])en for cash entry. In both classes title could 
l)e acquired by entry and actual settlement 
under the ]3reeniption laws of congress. Like- 
wise military -bounty land warrants issued, 
under the acts of 1847 and 1855. to the soldiers 
and sailors of the Revolutionary war. the war 
ot 1812. the Mexican war. and the various In- 
dian wars, could be used in purchasing public 
lands of the United States, regardless of the 
foregoing distinction. And under the home- 
stead act, effective January 1, 186.1. this dis- 
tinction was also ignored and entry could be 
made anywhere on the public domain on lands 
not reserved or otherwise appropriated by con- 
gress. 

The offered lands in the old P.rownville- 
Beatrice land district were confined to the 
Missouri river counties. From first to last 
Gage county presented a clear field for entry 
of land under the preemption, homestead, 
and other acts for acquiring title on the pub- 
lic domain. Prior to the passage of the home- 
stead law the settlers acquired title under the 
l)reem])tion act, where purchase was not made 
by military-bounty land warrants. The pro- 
cedure under the preemption laws as applied 
by claimants was simplicity itself. It con- 
sisted in performing some act which amounted 
to notice to the world of an intention on the 
part of the settler to claim the tract selected 
by him — as the erection of some sort of a 
dwelling or the placing of a foundation for a 
cabin on the land selected ; any act, in fact, 
which manifested an intent to claim a given 
tract of land and which at the same time 
amounted to notice of such intent to an ad- 
verse claimant. Such act must of course be 
followed by fding in the local land office a 
written declaration of intent on the part of 
the claimant to enter and purchase said land ; 
it must also be followed by actual settlement 
on his i)art. and in twelve months by proof of 
settlement, of improvement, and the payment 
to the government of one dollar and twenty- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



59 



five cents per acre in cash or in military- 
"bounty land warrants, or, at a later date, by 
college scrip at the same rate per acre. 

A number of preemption filings were made 
on Gage county land prior to the taking effect 
of the homestead law, January 1, 1863, but 
these were followed by comparatively few 
final entries. In actual practice, the squatter 
on the public domain performed his acts of 
settlement, filed hrs declaration of intentions 
in the local land office to ajjpropriate said land 
and pay for the same, made improvements, es- 
tablished his residence upon the land, and in 
many instances; without perfecting his entry 
under the preemption acts, remained in open, 
exclusive, adverse possession until the home- 
stead law became eft'ective, when he availed 
himself of its benefits by changing his pre- 
emption into a homestead. Once in actual 
possession the "Squatter Sovereign" ran little 
risk of being disturbed by a rival claimant. 
By a sort of freemasonry existing between 
them, the settlers allowed it to be understood 
that there must be no claim jumping, and 
claim jumpers in Gage county were pretty 
scarce. 

The passage of the free-homestead bill by 
congress nearly two and one-half years before 
the close of the great Civil war, was followed, 
after the close of the war, by a tremendous 
influx of settlers on the public domain, wher- 
ex'er free homes could Ije found, and Ciage 
county rapidly filled with actual settlers seek- 
ing permanent homes in this beautiful section 
of country, many of them veterans of the Civil 
war. But in 1867 this movement was sud- 
denly and permanently halted l)y the operation 
of what is known as the .\gricultural College 
Eand Grant Act. 

^\'hatever one may think of the beneficent 
purpose of this act, whereby the national leg- 
islature was induced, without the slightest 
financial consideration, to appropriate nearly 
ten million acres of the public lands of the 
United States for educational purposes, there 
can be no diflference of opinion as to the im- 
providence and wastefulness of this legisla- 
tion. As set forth in the title to the act, the 
purpose of this vast donation was to jirovide 



for the establishment of one or more institu- 
tions in each state, "the leading object of 
which shall be, without excluding other scien- 
tific and classical studies, and including mili- 
tary practice, to teach such branches of learn- 
ing as are related to agriculture and mechanic 
arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the 
states shall respectively prescribe, in order to 
promote the liberal and practical education of 
the industrial classes in the several pursuits 
and professions of life." 

Had the operation of this act been confined 
to those states and territories whose wealth 
consisted chiefly in the public lands within 
their boundaries, and which, on account of 
poverty, were unable to make suitable provis- 
ion for the education and training of their 
young men and women, it would be beyond 
just criticism and worthy of all praise. Prob- 
alily that was the original intent and purpose 
of the act, but the selfishness of the old and 
wealthy states, where there were no public 
lands, resulted in a distortion of the original 
intent, and in the end imparted to the act the 
appearance of a land-grabbing device of colos- 
sal proportions, by which states with large 
delegations in congress profited enormouslv 
at public expense. 

For the bill in its passage through congress 
to secure the support of the representatives of 
those states where there were no public lands 
subject to entry or purchase under federal 
laws, an ingeneous scheme was devised where- 
bv scrip was to be issued to all such states for 
the full amount of their donative shares, at 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, for 
the entire acreage due them on the basis of 
thirty thousand acres for each senator and rep- 
resentative in congress. The states holding 
this scrip could under the law either enter 
land with it themselves or sell it at private 
sale and use the proceeds of such sale as they 
deemed proper to carry out the purposes of 
the law. The result is perfectly obvious — 
the weak, helpless, needy states, rich only in 
the public lands within their borders, were 
restricted to the land itself at the rate of thirty 
thousand acres for each senator and represen- 
tative in congress, while the great, strong. 



60 lIIStORY (JP GAGE COIXTV. XEUKASKA 

healthv. jjowerful states took their share in prices, some of the states were enabled, on ac- 
scrip, and either located it themselves at the count of the vast amount of their donative 
rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per shares of the public lands, to endow most lib- 
acre on vast tracts of public lands or sold it erally the institutions founded under the act. 
upon the market for cash. Thus Nebraska Thus. Pennsylvania, with 780,000 scrip acres, 
received under the act ninety thousand acres received, at the low rate of fifty-two cents per 
of public land, which formed the nucleus for acre, from scrip sales alone the sum of $406,- 
its State L'nivcrsity. while the great state of 000: Massachusetts, with a donative share of 
New York received college scrip covering 390,000 acres of the public domain, from scrip 
989,930 acres, part of which was sold on the sales alone received S219.000: and the other 
market at a fraction of its face value, the re- wealthy eastern states profited from scrip sales 
mainder being used to purchase vast areas of proportionally. When we take into account 
the finest pine land in the world, in Wiscon- the fact that the populous eastern states re- 
sin and Minnesota. From her donative share ceived the lion's share of this vast donation, 
New York realized $6,651,473.88, which vast and that the new prairie states and territories 
sum constitutes the endowment of Cornell and the northern timbered states and terri- 
University. Not a single state or territory- tories were despoiled of their rich and valuable 
failed to avail itself of the provisions of this lands under this act, to build up existing edu- 
enactment, by which a grand total of 9,397,340 cational institutions in New England, New 
acres of the public lands of the United States York. I'ennsylvania. New Jersey, Ohio. In- 
were nominally dedicated to the cause of diana. Illinois, and other landless states, the 
higher education. Only a comparatively few, improvidence and the selfishness of this legis- 
however. actually received their donative lation must be aj^parent to the dullest mind, 
shares in land. As might have Ijcen foreseen Gage county suffered severely from this 
by any jjatriotic and prudent statesman, the wasteful policy. Speculators thronged her 
vast ])rofit of this legislation inured to indi- prairies, their pockets and carpetbags stufTed 
viduals. The process by which this curious with college scrip bought at nominal figures 
and unexpected result was achieved was ver)' from Illinois. Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, 
sim|)le. The scrip was thrown indiscriminately Massachusetts, Maine. New Hampshire. Mis- 
on the market and sold for cash to speculators, souri. Kentucky, .\labama. Mississippi. Rhode 
usually for a fraction of its nominal value, the Island. New York, and other scrip states, and 
l)urchaser or assignee succeeding to the rights in the summer of 1867 her broad, fertile acres 
of the states to select and pay for the public disappeared as by magic, at the very moment 
lands of the country with agricultural-col- when Nebraska had ceased to be a territory, 
lege scrip so purchased, at the rate of one dol- when the railroads had come or were on their 
lar and twenty-fi\e cents per acre. Thus. way. and when the pioneer days were over 
-Mabama scrip sold for one dollar and six and immigration was setting toward her in an 
cents per acre, leaving a margin of nineteen ever increasing stream. Keen-eyed ajjpraiscrs 
cents per acre profit to the purchaser; Arkan- went leisurely over our county's finest upland 
sas scrip sold for ninety cents. Connecticut regions and marked for entr>- even,- desirable 
scrip for seventy-five cents. Delaware ninety- '""act of land. The following table shows ap- 
two cents, Illinois one dollar, Indiana eighty- proximately the acreage thus entered in the 
seven cents, Kentucky sixty cents, Maine and several townships of our county during the 
Massachusetts fifty-six cents. Maryland and years 1867 and 1868. by the use of college 
New Jersey fifty-five cents. Missouri and scrip; 
Pennsylvania fifty-two cents, Ohio fifty-four Adams 19 section*. 

cents. New Hampshire thirty-two cents. North Nemaha 19 1-2 sections 

Carolina forty-six cents, and Rhode Island Highland 8 sections 

forty-one cents per acre. Even at these low Clatonia 3 1-4 sections 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



61 



Grant 14 1-2 sections 

Holt 23 1-2 sections 

Hanover 29 1-2 sections 

Hooker 29 1-2 sections 

Filley 19 1-2 sections 

Logan 20 3-4 sections 

Midland 14 3-4 sections 

Blakcly 11 1-2 sections 

Lincoln 20 3-4 sections 

Riverside ; 24 3-4 sections 

Rockford 18 sections 

Sherman 31 1-2 sections 

Island Grove 15 1-2 sections 

Blue Springs 7 3-4 sections 

Sicily 12 1-2 sections 

I{hn 8 sections 

In the northern portion of the county at that 
time, most of Nemaha township, practically 
all of Highland, and a large part of both Cla- 
tonia and Grant townships had been with- 
drawn from public entry as state selections 
under the grant by the general government to 
the state of Nebraska of 500,000 acres of the 
jiublic domain for internal improvement, under 
the act of September 4, 1841. In 1871 these 
lands were opened for homestead entry, the 
state's application for the reservation of such 
lands having been rejected by the general land 
office at Washington, and were thus saved 
from the predatorj- effects of the Agricultural 
College Land Grant Act. In the south part 
of the county the Otoe and Missouri Indian 
reservation, of course, escaped speculative 
spoliation of the college scriptor. The dense 
population of those townships, where practi- 
cally each quarter-section of land went to an 
actual settler, shows what would have taken 
place had not more than one-half of Gage 
county's fair domain gone to increase the edu- 
cational facilities of the wealthy eastern 
states and line the pockets of speculators in 
college scrip. 

It may interest the reader to know that, not- 
withstanding the donation of this ';.rge acre- 
age of Gage county land in the way here de- 
scribed, a great many homestead entries were, 
in fact. nia<le in the county bv actual bnnafidc 
settlers prior to 1871. when the opening of the 



lands in the northern part of the county notice- 
ably increased the number of such entries. 

In the several townships of the county 
where homestead entries could be made jirior 
to the above date, the number of such entries 
exclusive of cancellations, was: 

Adams _^f^ 

Highland ( :\lichael Weaver ) i 

^'^nt ;;;4,- 

Hanover 

F'lley '.'...2(, 

Midland -yg 

Lincoln ^ 

Rockford :;_! 

Island Grove 2(> 

Sicily 21 

Liberty 20 

Nemaha 

Clatonia g 



12 



Holt 

Hooker 21 

Logan 2-1 

Blakely 32 

Riverside j,, 

Sherman g 

Blue Springs 14 

Elm 10 

A total of four hundred and forty- four en- 
tries. Assuming that each entry covered the 
maximum of one hundred and sixtv acres, the 
total acreage embraced in these homestead en- 
tries is 71,040. Subsequent to Januan,- 1, 
1871, the public lands in our county subject 
to homestead entry were almost wholly con- 
fined to .\emaha. His^hland. Clatonia. and 
Grant townships, with an occasional entry in 
some of the other townships, usually growing 
out of the relinquishment and cancellation of 
a previous one. 

In these calculations the lands of the Otoe 
and Missouri Indian reservation, which were 
ceded to the United States in 1881 and which 
were afterward sold for the exclusive benefit 
of these Indians, for cash, to actual settlers 
only, under virtually the same conditions and 
restrictions as prevailed under the homestead 
law, are not considered. But if we add the 



62 



HISTORY ( )]•• GAGE COL'XTV. XEIiRASKA 



acreage of these lands to the acreage covered 
by homestead entries in our county, it will be 
seen that even then less than one-half the ter- 
ritory of ( >age county passed from the govern- 
ment of the United States to actual settlers. 

.\<>r are the lands the titles to \vhi:h were 
ac(|uired under the ])reeniption laws or cash 
entries with military-bounty land warrants, 
considered in the above calculations, Inil the 
lands so purchased from the L'nited States 
were not of sufficient acreage to affect to any 
extent the foregoing results. 

.\ moment's reflection will show the striking 



contrast between the beneficent influence of 
the free-homestead law and the effects of the 
agricultural-college act, not only in the early 
settlement and development of our county but 
in existing and future conditions. The one 
operated as a gift from heaven, descending 
upon an independent, self-respecting and in- 
dustrious population ; the other forms the 
basis of nearly every large landed fortune in 
the county. Without it there would have been 
no such indiviilual domain as the Scully es- 
tate, and the problem of landlordism in Gage 
countv would be scarcely worth considering. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE PIONEERS 

First Glimpse OF Gage County — Homebuilding ox the Praiuies — Food Supplies — 

Fruits — Fish — Game — The Buffalo — Clothes — Food Substitutes — 

First Wheat Crop — Spring Wheat — Common Salt — Social Life 



It should certainly be the delight of every 
age to pay grateful tribute to a noble or 
\aliant ancestry. The annals of mankind 
liave but meager interest when stripped of the 
personal element and confined to a bare narra- 
tive of events. But when vivified by the rec- 
ord of the lix'es of those whose heroic daring 
lifted them far above the ordinary, common 
jilane of living, history may become the most 
pleasing and instructive of all subjects of 
study. 

Xo history of our county would be com- 
])lete which failed to render justice to its 
pioneers. Three score and four years have 
passed since the first wave of immigation 
broke over the eastern boundary of our state, 
which marked the close of the long struggle 
that attended the creation of the territory of 
Nebraska. Accustomed as we now are to 
comfortable and often luxurious homes, to 
cultivated fields, well kept, well traveled pul)- 
lic highways, to groves, orchards, meadows, 
churches and schools, to thriving villages and 
cities, to newspapers, manufactories, banks, 
business estalilishments. railroads, telegraph 
and tele])hone lines, to e\erything, in fact, that 
tv])ifies modern living, we are too prone to for- 
get the hard, difficult pioneer days, when there 
were no homes save the settlers' lonely dug- 
out, sod-house, or log-cabin ; wlien there were 
no fields or meadows save the rolling prairies, 
stretching away to the horizon on every hand, 
as far as the eye could see ; when there were no 
highwavs s;ive the meandering paths of the 
buffalo and Indian; when there were no or- 



chards, towns or cities, no railroads, telegraph 
or telephone lines ; when all the landscape was 
fresh from the hand of God, untouched and 
unchanged by the brain and genius of man. 

Not only are we in our present state of hap- 
piness and prosperity prone to forget the as- 
pect that nature wore in these primitive soli- 
tudes to the wondering view of the first in- 
habitants of our county, but we may even be 
.strongly inclined to hold as of trifling conse- 
quence the sacrifices required of pioneer life 
and to disparage the actual hardships, dan- 
gers, privations, and suffering which the\- en- 
dured whose heroism and courage made it 
possible for the lines of civilization to be ad- 
vanced upon the great plains region of the 
west. 

The thin line of immigrants th;it gathered 
in the spring and early summer of 1854, on 
the eastern shore of the Missouri river, await- 
ing the signal to enter the new territory of 
Nebraska, rapidly S])read o\er the eastern sec- 
tion of the territory contiguous to that mighty 
stream. And the early immigrants of Rich- 
ardson. Nemaha, Otoe, Cass, Sarpy, Douglas, 
and some other of the eastern counties, on ac- 
count of the navigation then existing on the 
river, were spared many of the privations of 
jjioneer life. But those who later pushed on 
into Gage and other counties remote from this, 
the only source of water transportation avail- 
able, experienced in every degree the hardships 
of isolated pioneer existence. 

If we turn back the pages that cover the 



63 



6+ 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



sixty- four years of our state's history, we will 
tind that in 1S54 when people of the New 
England, the Middle, and the South Atlantic 
states spoke of the west they meant Ohio, In- 
diana or, at the farthest, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Illinois, — or Iowa or Missouri when they 
mentioned our western border or frontier. The 
iininiyrants hound fur Nebraska territory in 
1854, and for several years thereafter, usually 
crossed the Missouri river at Omaha. Platts- 
mouth. .Nebraska City, lirownville. or some 
less known village nestled amongst the bluffs 
on the western shore of that stream. The 
means of travel were in their crudest state. 
The intending immigrant might reach the river 
on foot, on horseback or by mule, ox or horse 
drawn vehicle, or by the deep-throated, side- 
wheel Missouri river steamboats, which in 
tiiose days traversed the "Big Muddy" from 
St. Louis to the trading posts of the trappers, 
traders, and frontiersmen scattered along it> 
banks to its source in the northwest. Once 
having crossed that turbulent stream, the im- 
migrant did not need to be told that he was on 
the very confines of civilization, since the 
crudity and newness of his surroundings were 
vocal with evidence of that fact. He found 
himself hundreds of miles from the nearest 
railway, while the future of the electric tele- 
graph was still wrapped up in a congressional 
aj)propriation of thirty thousand dollars, to en- 
able IVofessor Morse to perfect his wonderful 
invention. Eastward across the river lay the 
hamlets and sparse settlements of the new 
state of Iowa ; toward the west, from every 
])oint as far as the eye could see. stretched the 
territorv of Nebraska, until then wholly unoc- 
cupied by civilized man. Of one thing the im- 
migrant could feel assured. — when he turned 
his back upon the Missouri river and faced the 
western horizon he was like an army cut off 
from its ba.se of sup])lies and lines of com- 
munication. I'lcfore him lay the undulating al- 
most treeless prairie, rolling away to the west, 
mirth, and south like the liillows of the ocean, 
hundreds upon hundreds of miles. It was the 
"Great .American Desert" of the old geogra- 
lihers: the "Plains" of the military department 
at Washington ; the El Dorado of the poor 



homeseeker ; the unorganized, tenantless ter- 
ritor}' of Nebraska, inhabited only by wild ani- 
mals and by the red man. almost equally wild. 
.\s he advanced westward a little in the bril- 
liant sunlit plain, the last trace of the presence 
of civilized man soon vanished. The dim 
wagon trail grew dimmer and more uncertain 
and finally disappeared, .\round on every 
hand the blue sky, descending to the horizon, 
encompassed him like a gigantic dome. A 
silence, a solitude that had brooded together 
over these vast areas since the world began, 
closed about him as his distance from the river 
settlements slowly increased. In these pri- 
meval solitudes he might remain for weeks, 
aye months, without seeing a single human 
face or hearing save his own, a single human 
voice. 

Such was the face that nature wore and the 
conditions that life presented to those who 
drew the first furrows in the virgin soil of 
Nebraska. But the tnte pioneer looks be- 
yond his present hard, uninviting surround- 
ings, and with prophetic vision beholds states 
and nations arise from tenantless wildernesses 
and naked plains. Others may grow weary or 
discouraged, and abandon the enterprise, — 
not so the pioneer. Destiny points his course 
and with unswerving fidelity he calmly awaits 
the fruition of his hopes ! 

lUit the pros])ect that confronted the Gage 
county pioneer in that long by-gone day — 
three score and four years ago — was not 
wholly uninviting, nor his surroundings as 
desolate, nor his condition as desperate as to 
the unreflecting mind they might have seemed. 
Resourceful by nature, self-reliant from the 
hard school of e.xperience, courageous, deter- 
mined, he was his own best guarantor of the 
successful issue of his venture as a pioneer in 
the new territory. If the winds of winter 
whistled and roared about his lonely cabin and 
drifting snows almost hid it from sight, within 
the blazing logs glowed on the rude hearth and 
all was warmth and cheer. If the winter 
seemed long. cold, and hard, it burgeoned at 
last into spring, whose vernal clouds and dap- 
pled sky. whose long twilight and dawn, song 
of birds and distant boom of prairie chicken 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



65 



welcoming the rising sun, renewed his hopes 
and spurred him on to yet higher endeavor. 
Summer followed, always beautiful, with the 
wide billowy prairie garbed in green, white, 
pink, red, yellow, and gold ; then autumn, with 
its brilliant and soothing colors outlining 
prairies and stream. 

The occupations of the pioneer were 
many and varied. His Jirst care was to pro- 
vide some sort of shelter for himself and 
family. Here in Gage county this usually con- 
sisted of a log cabin, or occasionally a sod 
house, generally comprising a single room, 



constructed for that purpose, drawn by sev- 
eral yoke of oxen or sometimes by three or 
more horses or mules. The sod was usually 
broken to a depth of about three inches, the 
plows being equipped with either a standing 
or a rolling cutter, and the depth of the fur- 
row regulated by a device which held the plow 
steadily on a level. With the pioneers, per- 
fection in prairie breaking consisted in so 
turning the sod that the edges lapped in such 
a way as to give to a strip of breaking, the ap- 
pearance of the weather-boarded side of a 
frame house. The breaking could be planted 




From ilrazfiii 



u) .\ . r. Dodge 



{,L'o. .S(,j)(,uM-, 111 tli.r }ronrn-y s'.ctcit hi 

First Claim Cabin in Nebraska 
Built by Daniel Norton, between Omaha and Bellevue, in 1853 



probably fourteen by sixteen feet in di- 
mensions, of a single low story in height, built 
in some bend of a stream or other sheltered 
spot. It was often scant quarters for a family, 
but children of pioneer parents soon learned 
to accommodate themselves to their surround- 
ings and the exigencies of circumstances. 
After his family the pioneer's next care was 
to construct shelter for such stock as he posses- 
sed and to provide for their maintenance. This 
shelter was apt to be a verj' crude affair, 
though warm and safe, while hay made from 
blue-stem and other grasses, and corn grown 
on the newly turned sod, furnished an abun- 
dant supply of animal food. 

The water supply for man and beast, and 
fuel being provided, the pioneer turned his 
attention to breaking the tough prairie sod, 
which was accomplished as a rule with plows 



as a com field either by dropping the corn in 
every second or third furrow and covering 
with the next, or by cutting a gash in the up- 
turned sod with a sharp ax or spade and in- 
serting the seed, firming the earth above with 
the foot. Pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, 
beans, and other field or garden truck were 
planted in the same way, and this method 
carefully followed was most apt to give sat- 
isfactory results. If the season were favor- 
able, crops of sod corn were often raised 
yielding as high as twenty-five or more bushels 
per acre, and the rich, new soil produced po- 
tatoes, melons, pumpkins, squashes, turnips, 
and other vegetables in great profusion and 
of excellent quality. Ordinarily a very few 
months in the growing season of the year, 
under favorable conditions, were sufficient 
to place the family of the pioneer beyond the 



r)6 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XIU'.RASKA 



possibility of actual want, as tar as good 
wholesome vegetables and Indian corn could 
insure this result. For sugar a ready and a 
very wholesome substitute was found in com- 
mon sorghum, and in the production of a high 
grade of sorghum molasses the pioneer often 
attained great skill, the product being whole- 
some and pleasant to the taste. Beginning 
with the first settlement of the county, and 
extending until long after the close of the 
great Civil war, this nutritious product entered 
largely into the dietar>' of the people. 

The pioneers of our county found grow- 
ing in great abundance along the streams 
thickets of wild plums and chokecherries. 
The plums were often of large size and de- 
licious flavor: the cherries, large and meaty, 
hung in long, thick, grape-like bunches in 
profusion on the low bushes. These thickets 
were apt to be found in great perfection 
in the bends of the streams, forming a 
sort of fire break to the groves of tim- 
ber, of which they were the fringe. The mold 
produced by their thick leaves from year to 
year aflforded almost ideal conditions for the 
spread of forest growth. In the early spring, 
when the elms, willows, cottonwoods, box 
elders, oaks, and other trees along the streams 
were putting forth their tender young leaves 
and the fresh green of the prairies was be- 
ginning to show on ever}- hand, the milk- 
white, fragrant blossoms of the plum and 
cherry thickets afforded a pleasing diversity 
to the landscape, often outlining the course of 
the streams for great distances. 

In the woods were found numerous vari- 
eties of excellent wild grapes and wild goose- 
berries, while at the edges of the prairies the 
wild strawberries grew in abundance — and 
these formed the staple fruit supply of the 
pioneers. These fruits were made into jellies, 
preserves, jams, butters, and other forms of 
food for winter use, and with the thrifty 
housewife's tomato preserves, pumpkin but- 
ter, dried com, and other preparations of a 
like character, they formed an important 
feature of the homely family food supply in 
the early days, as they virtually took the place 
of the orchards and vineyards of the older 



settled portions of the country. These native 
wild fruits have long since lost their value 
and importance as sources of food supply. 
The plum and cherry thickets have largely 
disappeared and even the wild grape and 
gooseberry no longer enter extensively into 
the dietary of the present population. Tht 
custom of pasturing non-tillable and timbered 
land with stock has proved almost fatal to the 
existence and spread of ever)- sort of wild 
shrub, vine, and forest growth. The time is 
rapidly approaching when the scarcity and 
the high cost of coal and lumber will force a 
return, in the matter of forestation. to the 
primitive conditions of the country- ;is respects 
the protection of growing timber from de- 
struction by pasturage. 

The food supply afforded by these sources, 
was not infrequently supplemented by the 
streams, the groves, and the prairie. The- 
waters of our county in an early dav abounded 
with several varieties of edible fish which w'ere 
easily taken by the expenditure of a little time- 
and trouble. Many of the most desirable 
sort, the pike, the pickerel, the perch, the sun- 
fish, the chub, the red horse, have long since 
disappeared. Throughout the pio;ieer days 
our prairies abounded with grouse or prairie 
chickens, the woods with squirrels, rabbits, 
raccoons, and quails, with an occasional Hock 
of wild turkeys. 

Prior to the advent of the white man. Gage 
county had been a favorite range of the wild 
buffalo, the elk. the deer, the antelope, .^s 
late probably as 1855, when the Otoe and Mis- 
souri tribes of Indians were transferred from 
the Missouri river country to our county, 
these great game animals were here in large 
herds and bands. The early settlers found 
their remains in every direction. They had 
slowly retired, however, before the red man. 
so that by 1857 the buffalo had wholly disap- 
peared from the confines of our county, but 
still could be found in great abundance in the 
region west of the Little Blue river. Small 
liands of elk were occasionally seen in the 
northern portions of the county, while deer 
and antelope, when the first settlers arrived, 
were still fairly abundant, especially in the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



67 



winter about the heads of draws or wherever 
thick underbrush afforded shelter and food. 

Of all the plains animals the buffalo was 
at once the most ])icturesque and the most 
useful. These huge beasts ranged the prairies 
l)v millions from the Height of Land in the 
far north to the tide_ waters cf the gulf of 
Mexico. They spread over what is now 
Texas, western Louisiana, ( )klahoma. New 
]\Iexico, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, 
the Dakotas, and Montana. To the Indian 
tribes inhabiting these regions they fur- 
nished clothing, food, materials for sewing 
garments, knives, arrow points, war clubs, 
and nian\- other useful articles of Indian 
manufacture for both peace and war. The 
building of the trans-continental railway lines 
in 1867 and in subsequent years, by multiply- 
ing the means for their destruction, finally led 
to the wanton extinction of this wonderful 
and picturesc|ue indigenous source of wealth. 
Such representatives of this once numerous 
and powerful denizen of the prairies as now 
remain are found only in parks or shows, in 
semi or complete confinement, regarded as 
curiosities and forming a sad commentary 
upon the careless wastefulness of a govern- 
ment to which conservation of natural re- 
sources of wealth has until recentlv been a 
subject of minor consideration — a high 
sounding phrase. 

From such sources of food supply as here 
gi\en, the pioneer was able fully to supple- 
ment the products of his raw land and stock 
of domestic animals and to live in security 
against the demands of hunger through the 
most strenuous times, until his harvest ripen- 
ed again upon the rich soil of his homestead 
and the returns of his toil and foresight finally 
rendered him indift'erent to the wild plum and 
grape, the bison, the deer, the antelope, and 
those conditions of living which his depen- 
dence on them implied. 

Probably the most perplexing subject with 
which the pioneer had to deal concerned 
clothes. Even before the beginning of the 
war of the rebellion, in 18')1. clothing ma- 
terials of all kinds here in C^age county 
were scarce and expensive. The cost of all 



commodities was increased by the Civil war 
of 1861-1865, which also augmented the 
scarcity of many articles. But in the case of 
wearing apparel the cost was not only very 
much enhanced but there was often little of 
much value to be had. The scarcity of cloth- 
ing and the materials for it, as well as the 
cost of all clothing materials, was manifested 
in many ways, btit chiefly by plainness and 
inexpensiveness of attire. Frequently the men 
and boys wore coats made by wives and 
mothers from blankets obtained from the In- 
dians by barter, while pantaloons constructed 
from meal sacks or any common, cheap mate- 
rial were much in evidence. Shortly before the 
close of the war, and for some time thereafter, 
army contract clothing which had been con- 
demned and rejected by the government was 
to be had at fairly reasonable figures, and a 
civilian partly clad in army blue was a com- 
mon sight on the streets of Beatrice and else- 
where long after the war had closed. Boots, 
shoes, socks, hats, caps, mittens, gloves, and 
other articles of wearing apparel for men and 
boys were often crude in manufacttire as well 
as material. The common footwear for win- 
ter was brogans and cowhide boots and shoes, 
while in summer the country population dur- 
ing the war went mostly barefoot. Occasion- 
ally Indian moccasins would be worn and not 
infrequently rough homemade foot-gear, 
while the skins of animals — the badger, coon, 
coyote, squirrel, sheep, antelope, deer — were 
often used for caps, mittens, leggings, and 
vests. Leather straps, strips of buckskin, and 
even bedticking, often supplied the ofifice of 
suspenders, and all articles of wearing ap- 
parel were more or less of home manufacture. 

Wives and daughters dressed plainly in 
homemade garments. The sunlionnet was the 
most fashionable form of female headgear 
and crinoline was worn by all. Outside the 
villages, Beatrice and Blue Springs, what 
might be deemed a well dressed lady or gen- 
tleman was, in fact, rarely seen amongst the 
pioneers, and none but beggars and tramps 
would now think of dressing as rural folks 
in that far off day were forced to dress. 

In addition to his other privations, the 



r>8 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XT^'. NEBRASKA 



jjioneer during the opening years of our coun- 
ty's history was tre(|Ufnt!y unable to pro- 
cure tea, coffee, wheat flour, coal oil, salt, 
and many other commodities of common 
household consumption, nearer than the 
Missouri river, if at all. Even when procur- 
able, such articles were expensive and the cost 
often i)rohibitive. For tea and coffee substi- 
tutes were found which were relished by 
many. Often a Inirnt cmst of com or any 
bread, parched corn, or even corn meal stirred 
with sorghum and browned over the fire to 
the size and consistency of grape nuts, made 
a substitute for coffee. For tea tiie leaves of 
summer savory and various other herbs were 
used in jjlace of Bohea. Souchong, ^'oung Hy- 
son, and Gun])owder. The substitute for 
wheat flour was of course corn meal, and 
many a family was reared to strength and 
happiness largely on corn bread, milk, butter, 
garden vegetables, and such wild meat as was 
available. The common substitute for coal 
oil for lighting purposes was the tallow candle 
or the old fashioned homemade lamp, consist- 
ing of some sort of receptacle, as a saucer, 
teacuj). or tin plate, with a twist of cotton cloth 
for a wick, immersed in lard. 

Wheat was not grown in Gage county 
prior to 1.S61 or 1862, when spring wheat 
was introduced, and for many years it con- 
stituted the only variety planted. At first 
the settlers strove to raise only enough for 
their own use, as there was no home market 
for their surplus. And in addition the manu- 
factory of wheat flour was in its crudest 
state. The first mill for grinding grain of any 
kind in Gage county was at the Otoe res- 
ervation, and for several years corn meal and 
graham flour were its only products. The 
pioneer hauled his wheat to Brownville, Peru, 
Nebraska City, and even to points in wes- 
tern Iowa, to obtain his supply of wheat flour. 
But about the year 1864 Fordyce Roper came 
into possession of the milling franchise in 
Beatrice and erected a small mill, nin by water 
power, on the i)resent site of Black Brothers' 
fine merchant mill. At the same time the 
United States government began to make 
white flour at the mill on the Otoe resen^a- 



tion, and thereafter both points became im- 
portant milling centers for an increasingly 
large ])atronage. These were toll mills, where 
the farmer delivered his grain at the mill in 
large or small quantities, divided it with the 
miller on the proportional basis fixed by law 
and waited around until his grist was ground. 
Sometimes this might require several days, as 
each customer took his turn, like buying 
tickets at a railway station on an excursion 
day. Those living close at hand could, and 
often did, leave their grists and return later 
for their share of the flour. 

Spring wheat contiiuicd to be a stajile crojy 
here until about 1876, when the chinch bug 
became so destructive to the plant that its 
cultivation ceased, and fall wheat was substi- 
tuted for it \\ith more hap])V results, while 
the chinch bug as a pest disappeared. The 
surplus wheat crop was either hauled to mar- 
ket at some Missouri river point or made into 
flour and hauled by wagon loads to the stage 
>tutions. ranches, and military i)osts along the 
old military highway from Independence,. 
.Missouri, Leavenworth. Atchison, and St. 
Joseph to Fort Kearney and beyond, where 
it found a ready sale at good prices, along 
with the homesteaders' surplus butter, eggs, 
beef, pork, and corn. 

Common salt also was a necessary article 
that was difficult to obtain through the 
ordinary channels of trade. -\t a very 
early period in the settlement of our state. 
the salt basin at Lincoln became a factor 
of much importance not only to the pio- 
neers of Gage county but also to large areas 
of the settled portions of the territories of 
Nebraska and Kansas and the state of Iowa ; 
for here, under favorable conditions, the set- 
tler by a few hours' labor could often ()l)lain 
enough of this im])ortant substance to last an 
ordinary family for an entire year. Through- 
out the summer months, in dry weather, a thin 
crust of salt would be produced every twenty- 
four hours over the low, flat, semi-dry surface 
of the basin, and this could be scraped up by 
wagon loads. .\t first the settlers hauled 
their scrapings home and proceeded to cleanse 
the salt from its impurities. This was done 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. XEBRASKA 



69 



by boiling the mass in sorghum pans or large 
cast-iron kettles, skimming off the impurities 
that rose to the surface and evaporating the 
strong brine in shallow vessels. From a 
wagon load of scrapings could be produced 
by this method a barrel or more of clean, pure 
salt in a few days, the length of time re- 
quired depending upon the sun and the at- 
mospheric conditions. Under favorable cir- 
cumstances ten inches of brine could be com- 
])letely reduced to high-grade salt in sixty 
liours. 



pellecl to return home saltless after camping 
for several days on the salt flats. For a num- 
ber of years several enterprising gentlemen 
managed to make a very comfortable living in 
this industry, besides enjoying in its season 
the tine shooting of wild goose, duck, crane, 
and other water fowl that in myriads fre- 
quented the salt lake at the basin. 

Social intercourse and social diversions 
amongst the pioneers were on a plane com- 
mensurate with their lives. To those who 
are wholly \maccustomed to the conditions 




S.\I.T B.\SIN AND S.M.T WoRKS, LiNCOI.N, NeBR.\SK,\, 1872 



Very shortly after the beginning of the 
Civil war, in 1861, there had been established 
at the basin a regular industry for producing 
salt in quantities, by evaporation. People 
coming- from great distances for salt were 
enabled to exchange flour, corn, eggs, butter, 
potatoes, and other farm produce for salt 
ready for immediate use. Or upon the pay- 
ment of fifty cents per hundred weight they 
could buy the crude salt which in fair weather 
had been scraped together in heaps under 
some sort of shelter, and by subsequent evap- 
oration at home secure their supply of salt. 
This was a great convenience, since many a 
settler after driving for miles to obtain his 
annual salt su]:)ply found the basin black and 
bare, on account of rain, mist, fog, or excep- 
tionally high winds, and might even be com- 



which a new country, de\oid of every 
convenience of modern living, imposes on 
its adventurous first inhabitants, the life 
of a Gage county pioneer may seem cruelly 
hard and unattractive — a drab existence from 
which one might reasonably exclaim in the 
language of the Book of Common Prayer, 
"Good Lord deliver us." Such persons take 
small account of the wonderful adaptability 
of human nature which enables the normal 
man often to turn to his advantage his most 
.adverse surroundings. And, besides, the pio- 
neers of a new country are largely in a class 
by themselves. They possess the prevision of 
the seer of visions and the dreamer of 
dreams, and are endowed with the never- 
failing light of imagination. To such, pioneer 
life in the early da\s in X'cbra.ska was any- 



70 



IIL^TORV UF GAGH COL.XTV, NEBRASKA 



thing but (lull and uninteresting. Its great 
simplicity and its freedom from those exac- 
tions which wealth imposes left time for 
social intercourse. None were rich and few 
so poor as to suffer by contrast with their 
neighbors. Amongst the pioneers there ex- 
isted a far truer sense of equality than can 
anywhere be found in communities where so- 
ciety is complex and where prevail social dis- 
tinctions resting on wealth, ancestry, or posi- 
tion. Neighbors were few and often remote 
but distance was no barrier to social inter- 
course in those far-off simple days. The 
settlers were not usually pressed for time and 
made nothing of traveling, even with slow ox 
teams, several miles to S])end the day with 
friends. Social gatherings, picnics, Sunday 
schools and other religious meetings, and even 
dances, were apt to bring together whole 
townships. Innocent youthful parties were 
frequent, where the masculine element ap- 
peared in its smartest garments, and well 
greased cow-hide boots; the feminine in its 
l)rcttiest pink and white, most fetching poke 
bonnet and newest crinoline. Tag, blindman's 
buff', drop the handkerchief, and other youth- 
ful games served to pass the hours. Refresh- 
ments consisted at all social gatherings of 
native walnuts, popcorn, and sorghum taffy, 
while gaiety ruled the happy throng. Danc- 
ing was always a staple amusement for the 
youth of the community and even for those of 
staider deportment and greater age. It was 
not the fox trot or bunny hug, not often the 
waltz. ]iolka. or schottiscli. but the \'irginia 



reel or the common square dance, with the 
fiddles wailing out the ".Money Musk," the 
".\rkansas Traveler," "The Girl I Left Behind 
Me," and other simple, lively melodies, while 
some one called to the waiting couples on the 
floor. "Salute your partners and the opposite 
lady" : when this act of ballroom courtesy had 
been performed there would come the sten- 
torian call. "Forward four," then "Balance 
all" antl "Swing your partners," and so on 
through the whole set of dancing figures till 
the call "To your seats" came at last, after 
several minutes of glorious rj^thmic motion in 
time to the rude orchestra. After a few mo- 
ments of social intercourse, laughter, per- 
chance a song, the floor manager's call was 
again heard good and loud, "Choose your 
partners for the next dance." and if the young 
swain was fortunate enough to lead forward^ 
the girl of his choice, his happiness was un- 
alloyed, and in the minds of the happy sons 
and daughters of our pioneers was apt to be 
eclipsed Byron's description of the great ball 
in Brussels the night before Waterloo, when 

"There was a sound of revelry by night, 
.\nd Belgium's capital had gathered there 
Her beauty and her chivalrj- ; and bright 
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave 

men. 
A thousand hearts beat happily, and when 
Music arose with its voluptuous swell, 
Soft eye looked love to eye that spoke again, 
And all went merry as a marriage bell." 



CHAPTER X 

"II-WK Y(ir Ax Evi-:.'" I'oK.m r.v Ei>\vi\ Imikd 1'ipkr — Early Gack County .Markets — 
.Missm-Ri Ri\t-:r-Oregc>n Trail — Insufkiciency of Local Markets — High Prices 
— Missouri River Points Best Purchasing Markets — Oregon Trail Best Sell- 
ing Market — Its Early History — Great South Pass — John C. Fremont — 
Origin of Term, "Military Road" — Starting . Point — Route — Marcus 
Whitman — Changes — Statistics nx Northern Route — An Emigrant 
Route — Freighting — Nebraska City — Overland Stage — Pony Ex- 
press — r>E\TRicE RouTi; — CtExeral Descriptiox. 



Have You An Eye? 

Have \-()U an eye for the trails, the trails. 

The old mark and the new? 
W'hat scurried here, what loitered there. 

In the dust and in the dew? 

Have vou an eye for the heaten track. 

The old hoof and the young? 
Come name me the drivers of yesterday. 

Sing me the songs they sung. 

O. was it a schooner last went by, 
And where will it cross the stream? 

Where will it halt in the early dusk. 
And where will the camp-fire gleam? 

They used to take the shortest cut 

The cattle trails had made ; 
Get down the hill l)y the easy slope 

To the water and the shade. 

But it's harlied wire fence, and section lin 

And kill-horse travel now : 
Scoot you down the can\on hank. — 

The old road's under plough. 

Have you an eye for the laden wheel, 

The worn tire or the new? 
Or the sign of the prairie pony's hoof 

That was never trimmed for shoe? 

( ) little hy-i)at!i and big highway. 

Alas, your lives are done. 
The freighter's track a weed-grown ditch. 

Points to the setting sun. 



The marks are faint and rain will fall. 

The lore is hard to learn. 
( ) heart, what ghosts would follow the roatl 

If the old years might return.' 

The lack of convenient markets was jier- 
haps as serious a drawback to the early settler 
of our county as any of his n.unierous hard- 
ships. At the very beginning, of course, there 
was no need of markets. On account of 
drought, hot, dry winds, grasshoppers, or other 
calamity, it frec|uently hajipened that the set- 
tler had no surplus, but had to su])]3lement the 
meager returns from his claim liy such food 
as the streams, woods, and prairies supplied. 
But in process of time the problem of markets 
became immediate and insistent. 

It was often as necessary to be able to I)U> 
in a convenient market as to sell, and for many 
years here in Gage county merchants were able 
to supply to only a limited degree the neces- 
sary demands of the population. Their stock 
in trade consisted principally of the bare ne- 
cessities of life, flour, bacon, cheese, crackers, 
sorghum, and the like, and as they would not 
usually pay cash for farm products, transac- 
tions with their customers were largelv a mat- 
ter of barter. — calicoes for eggs, denims for 
gooseberries or butter. There being virtuallv 
no home market where the pioneer could both 
sell for cash the surplus of his labor and 



' From Barbed Wire and Other Poems, liv Edwin 
Ford Finer (1917). 



71 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



skill and jnirchase the iiccessary articles of 
consuniption for liiinself and family, he was 
often compelled to seek distant markets in 
which to sell as well as buy. Thus many of 
the commonest things in use. as a hat, a bon- 
net, a slate, a pencil, a spool of thread, farm 
machinery, tools, clothing, and the like, could 
often be had only at some Missouri river town 
or village. This condition of affairs is toler- 
ablv well stated by the following extract from 
a letter written from the interior of the ter- 
ritory of Nebraska as late as January 26. 1866, 
in which the writer says: 

"1 will give you. or attempt it. — for nothing 
could show except the actual living here. — 
some idea of the life in these western wilds. 
In the first place we are about as near in the 
center of nowhere as I care to be. We are 
fifty miles directly west from Nebraska City, 
which is the nearest point where one can buy 
a shoe-string or a spool of thread. FarmS here 
are 'ranches.' cattle yards "corrals' ; there are 
no fences of any account, people herd their 
cattle by day, put them in corrals by night, 
that is they 'corral' them. " 

From the beginning of our county's history 
in 1857 until long after the close of the Civil 
war, until the railroads came, in fact. i)rices 
ranged high on all sorts of commodities. This 
was due to two main causes, namely, a depre- 
ciated medium of exchange and the absence of 
anything like a system of rapid transporta- 
tion. 

In 1854, the year which witnessed the first 
imigration to our county, the whole country 
was laboring in the slough of a financial de- 
pression induced in part, if not mainly, by a 
system of state banks, commonly designated 
"Wildcat," which sprang into being after the 
dissolution of the historic I'nited States Bank 
and its branches, by Andrew Jackson. Presi- 
dent of the I'nitcd States, in 1835. These 
banks were invariably what is known as banks 
of issue, and their beautifully engraved notes, 
containing the figure of an Indian, dog, buffalo, 
tree, cat, or other meaningless device, and in- 
tended to circulate as money, were so often 
utterly worthless as to destroy public confi- 
ilence in the entire svstem. Gold and silver 



were at a tremendous premium and difficult to 
get. .-Ml classes of chattels as well as land 
had an inflated value when measured by this 
medium of exchange. In every case the value 
of a bill depended wholly on the rating of the 
bank issuing it, and this could be shown only 
bv the "National Business Man's Detector." 
a publication intended to give the financial 
standing and condition of every bank of issue 
in the L'nited States. The public was wholly 
dependent upon such information as to the 
solvency of the hanks of the entire country. 

The working of this system of exchange 
can be illustrated by a concrete example. An 
immigrant party to the territory of Nebraska, 
in 1859, tendered the owner of the ferry boat 
in payment of its passage charge at the point 
where they desired to cross the Missouri river, 
a bill issued by a newly organized bank of 
Indiana. The bank was not listed in the copy 
of the "Detector" in the possession of the 
ferryman, and he refused the transportation 
until he could telegraph to St. Joseph and 
receive a reply assuring him of the solvency of 
the Indiana bank. This took from three 
o'clock until seven o'clock in the afternoon. All 
business transactions were necessarily con- 
ducted in the same cautious and cumbersome 
manner. The National Banking Act of 1864 
introduced a stable as well as a uniform mon- 
etary system, under the general supervision of 
the government of the United States, and 
■"Wildcat" banking became a thing of the 
past. But to such a deplorable state had the 
country fallen that the issuance of the treasury 
notes and the national greenback currency 
earlv in the great Civil war. as war measures, 
acted upon the business world like the elixir 
of life, and this even though the greenback 
currency itself possessed a purchasing power 
far below its par value. For exani])le. in 1863 
one Innidred dollars in gold would jnirchase 
t\\ o hundred and eighty dollars in greenbacks. 

.\s the products of the soil increased, the 
])ioneers, following a natural law of commerce, 
turned to the nearest cash market in which to 
disjxise of their surplus. This was the great 
continental highway which was known to the 
traders, ranchmen, and overland stage drivers 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



73 



as the "^kJilitary Road." but whicli is now 
more generally and perhaps more properly 
designated as the "Oregon Trail." The cer- 
tainty of good cash prices for almost every 
description of farm produce and live stock 
along this great thoroughfare not only re- 
lieved the settlers of the dread and fear of 
want, but also had the effect of steadying and 
stimulating prices at home, thereby creating 
a better home market. Through the agency 
of this great publi: roadway eastern Nebraska 
rapidly filled with immigrants and the slow 
accumulation of wealth and fixed capital set 
in. This great national highway was so much 



their expeditions to and from the jiost the 
Astorians established a traveled; road over 
most of the distance between Independence 
and Astoria. Later this dim trail was fol- 
lowed by the hunters, trappers, and traders 
whose occupations took them to the northwest, 
and finally by explorers, surveyors, Mormons, 
and emigrants making their way to Utah, 
(Oregon, and California. 

In 1824 the Great South Pass, at the head 
of the Sweetwater, a branch of the North 
Platte river, was discovered, which greatly 
facilitated western travel. In 1832 Captain 
ISonneville passed over this route from Inde- 










'^'"^' -''^9r>r^K>^'' ^ 1 




« ■>-_*- •'-^-<rfr'; 



•■iR=**» ;ii 



Engra-.cJ fr.m: /-.-Hu"/ W.i-f,;, ni llu- Fi\,ntu-r SkctL-l, Book of X. P. Dodge 
A MORMOX EXC.\MI'MENT ABOUT 1846 



a part of our county's early development and 
entered so largely into the life of the pioneers 
that it deserves a place in this history. 

The Oregon Trail has been described as the 
route of "a national movement" — the migra- 
tion of a people seeking to avail itself of op- 
portunities which have come but rarely in the 
history of the world and will never come again. 
It was a route every mile of which had been 
the scene of hardship and suffering, yet of 
high purpose and stern determination. 

The known history of the great trail begins 
with the establishment of the fortified trad- 
ing post known as Astoria, on the Columbia 
river, fifteen miles above its mouth, in 1811. 
by the agents of John Jacob Astor, head of 
the American Fur Company. This venture 
failed and in 1813 it was abandoned. Ijut in 



pendence to California, and it is claimed that 
his was the first wagon train over the great 
trail. In 1842 John C. Fremont, but recently 
commissioned lieutenant of a corps of topo- 
graphical engineers, by the direction of the 
federal government, led a surveying ex])edi- 
tion from Independence, by way of the Grand 
Island, in the Platte, to the Great South Pass 
and the Rocky mountains. This expedition 
was accompanied by the famous Kit Carson, 
as guide. It consisted of twenty-seven armed 
and mounted men. together with the young 
lieutenant and the twelve-year-old son of 
Colonel Thomas H. Benton, United States 
senator from Missouri, whose daughter, Jes- 
sie, was Fremont's wife. 

In 1846 Fremont's route was followed by 
Joel Palmer and party, from Indiana, and by 



74 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV. NEBRASKA 



r,(l\vin Bryant aiul party. In 1843 the Oregon 
immigration set in. and in 1847 began the great 
Mormon imniigration to L'tah. which lasted 
for several years. The main body of "Saints." 
some fifteen thou.sand. led by Brigham Young, 
set out from Florence. Nebraska, taking the 
already broken trail up the north side of the 
Platte river. I'.ut from Independence, West- 
port, and other Missouri frontier points the 
Mormons followed the southern trail to its 
confluence with the northern in the neighbor- 




Ton x C. Fremont 

liood of the Great South Pass. In KS49 came 
the gold excitement in California and a mighty 
emigration set in across the plains, along the 
old trail. The following year t'.eneral Albert 
.Sidney Johnston, who was afterward com- 
mander in chief of the Confederate armies, led 
an armed force of five thousand men along the 
trail, from Fort Leavenworth to l'tah. to sup- 
press a threatened Mormon insurre:tion sup- 
jiosed to be brewing at the time, and from this 
circumstance the eastern portion of this great 
highway was thereafter frec|uently designated 
as the "Military Road." In 1850 ])lacer gold 
was discovered in the sands of Cherrv creek. 



where the city of Denver now stands, and the 
following year, placer gold was discovered 
also in the neighborhood of Pike's Peak. The 
immigration that followed these several events 
in our country's history imparted to the old 
trail tremendous importance in the settlement 
and develo])ment of the west and northwest. 

The actual starting point of the Oregon Trail 
was St. Louis, the entrepot of western traffic. 
From there to the mouth of the Kansas the 
journey could be made by steamboat. But 
from the Kansas river, the upward course of 
the Missouri for six hundred miles was al- 
most directly north, which rendered its further 
navigation for those bound for Oregon, Cali- 
fornia, and the Rocky mountain regions unde- 
sirable. Land expeditions became the recog- 
nized mode of travel from this and all upper 
Missouri river points to the far west and 
northwest. The Santa Fe Trail also had its 
origin at the mouth of the Kansas river, some 
years ])rior to the beginning of overland travel 
along the Oregon Trail. To accommodate 
the travel on both these historic thoroughfares 
the town of Independence, Missouri, first 
sprang into existence, and, later, W'estport, 
now the site of Kansas City. Here were lo- 
cated horseshoeing and repair shops, general 
outfitting and supply houses, horse and cattle 
markets, — everything in fact required by the 
caravan trade to Santa Fe and the Oregon 
CDuntry. 

From Independence the two trails were at 
first identical as far out as the neighborhood 
of the town of Gardner, Kansas, a distance of 
forty-one miles. Here a signboard was 
erected, with an arrow pointing toward the 
northwest and bearing the legend "Ro.vo To 
( )regox," Never before or since those mem- 
orable days has a wayside sign announced 
so long or so unusual a journey. Leading on 
from this point across the country in an al- 
most straight northwest direction, the original 
trail crossed the Kansas river at Papin's Ferrv. 
where the state capital of Kansas now stands, 
eighty-one miles out from Independence. The 
general itinerary of the early trail from this 
jjoint to its destination was as follows : Turkey 
creek, ninety-five miles ; Big X'ermillion. ICiO 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



/5 



miles: Big Blue river, 174 miles; here the 
ford was first near the mouth of the Eittle 
Blue, and eight miles beyond the ford Albert 
Sidney Johnston's "Military Road" came in, 
bringing the travel from Leavenworth, Atchi- 
son and St. Joseph ; later the ford was diverted 
to ^larysville, where the junction of the two 
roads occurred. The trail entered Nebraska 
a trifle east of the southwest corner of Gage 
county. — at a point now occupied by a mon- 
ument : then on to Big Sandy, 22(^ miles, near 
its junction with Little Blue river; Platte 
river, 316 miles. The trail now led up the 
immediate valley of the Platte to the junction 
of the North and South Forks; Lower Ford, 
on the South Platte, 493 miles, where the mad 
to the headwaters of the South Platte led 
away from the trail, u]) the south bank of the 
river; Ash Hollow, 513 miles; Court House 
Rock, 535 miles; Chimney Rock, 571 miles; 
Scott's Bluffs, 616 miles ; Laramie, 667 miles ; 
Big Springs, 680 miles ; Ford of the Platte, 
794 miles ; Poison Spider creek, 807 miles ; 
Independence Rock, 838 miles ; Devil's Gate. 
843 miles ; Great South Pass, 947 miles. This 
is the most celebrated pass in the entire length 
of the continental divide. Here the trail passed 
from .\tlantic to Pacific waters. Pacific 
Springs, 952 miles; Green river, 1014 miles; 
Fort Bridger, 1070 miles; junction with Sub- 
lette's CutolT, 114(1 miles. This cutoff elim- 
inated the wide detour by way of Fort Bridger; 
it left the main road at Little Sandy. 959 miles, 
and, taking a nearly due west course, reached 
Big Sandy, 975 miles; then Green river, 1021 
miles; Bear river, 1093 miles; Smith's Fork. 
1149 miles; Tliompson's Fork, 1156 miles; 
Soda Springs, 1206 miles; Fort Hall, 1288 
miles ( on the left bank of the Snake river, 
the third important station on the trail and the 
first on Columljia waters ) ; American Falls, 
1308 miles; Salmon Falls, 1439 miles; Fort 
lioise, 1585 miles; Powder river. 1692 miles; 
the Grande Ronde, 1736 miles; Umatilla river, 
1791 miles ; Columbia river, 1835 miles ; The 
Dalles. 1893 miles; the Cascades, 1977 miles; 
Fort \'ancouver, opposite the mouth of the 
Willamette, head of navigation on the Colum- 



bia and properly regarded as the end of the 
Oregon Trail, 2020 miles. - 

From the time of the .\storians ( 1811-1813) 
to the beginning of the Oregon immigration 
( 1843) travel along the great trail was largely 
confined to exploring, surveying, and military 
expeditions and to parties engaged in hunting, 
trapping, and trade with the Indians. These 
stojjped short of covering the entire distance 
to the Pacific coast by a direct continuous 
route, and it remained for Dr. Marcus W'hit- 



1 




Brigham Young 

man to demonstrate to the world the practic- 
ability of such a highway of travel. 

In 1836 this remarkable man had gone into 
the Oregon country as a missionary-physician. 
under the auspices of the American Board. In 
1842 he returned to the east deeply impressed 
with the great value of Oregon and strongly 
opposed to the treaty of 1818, whi:h estab- 
lished joint occupation of that territory by 
England and the I'nited States. He visited 
\\'ashington fcr the purpose of acquainting the 
federal authorities with the advantages that 
would accrue to this ciiuntr\- by the abroga- 
tion of the treaty and the acquirement of the 

2 Xota bene; .\ll distances here given are from 
Independence. 



/'hufo^r.ifli.s hy J„l,„ Ifriglii. stall arhs: 



Scenes at Ash Hollow 



The original route ol the Oregon Trail from the south fork to the north fork of the Platte river bv 
way of Ash Hollow, descends northward from the plain. 3.763 feet above sea level, four miles to the river 
bottom, at an elevation of 3,314 teet. From the head of the Hollow, the trail, still visible, wound to the 
left about a mile along the sharp-backed ridges, then dropped by a very steep descent eastward into the 
Hollow, \yhich here widens into a level valley from a quarter to half a mile wide. The spring, a luxurv 
to the emigrants, still bubbles up strongly a quarter of a mile from the mouth of the Hollow, and at the 
base of a clifT about 100 feet high, as shown in the middle picture. The cedar and ash trees at one time 
abundant here all have been cut away. Marks of Fort Grattan, occupied as a post in 1855, are visible near 
the river north of the east side of the mouth of the Hollow. On the west side of the mouth of the 
Hollovv are the modest gravestones of Rachel Patterson, a girl of nineteen, who died in 1849 and of 
two infant children. 

The figure on the hill is that of Mr. Alberts, editor of the Morton History. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



77 



undisputed possession of Oregon. To prove 
the accessibility of Oregon to settlers he assist- 
ed in leading: a large party of emigrants, in 
1843. from Independence to the Columbia 
river. In 1844. at the suggestion of the sec- 
retary of war, he prepared a bill for passage 
by congress, whic-h provided for the establish- 
ment of military posts along the trail from 
Papin's Ferrv to the Pacific coast, for the 
protection of emigration. ^^'riting of this 
measure, to the secretary, in 18-14, he says: 

"I have since our last interview, been in- 
strumental in piloting across the route de- 
scribed in the accompanying bill and which is 
the only eligible wagon road, no less than two 
hundred families, consisting of one thousand 
persons, of both sexes, with their wagons, 
amounting in all to more than one hundred 
and twenty, with six hundred and ninety-four 
oxen and seven hundred and seventy-three 
loose cattle. As pioneers these people have 
established a durable road from ]\Iissouri to 
Oregon, which will serve to mark permanently 
the route for larger numbers for each suc- 
ceeding year."' 

On the arrival of these emigrants, in 184.\ 
a provisional government was formed for Ore- 
gon, and on the withdrawal by England of her 
claims, Oregon, in 1848. was erected into a 
territory of the United States. These results 
are justly attributable to the indefatigable en- 
ergy, courage and patriotic ardor of Dr. Mar- 
cus Whitman. 

'"As a highway of travel the Oregon Trail is 
the most remarkable known to history. Con- 
sidering the fact that it originated with the 
spontaneous use of travelers : that no transit 
ever located a foot of it ; that no level estab- 
lished its grades ; that no engineer sought out 
the fords or built any bridges or surveyed the 
mountain passes : that there was no grading 
to speak of nor any attempt at metalling the 
road-bed: — and the general good quality of 
this two thousand miles of highway will seem 
most extraordinary. Father De Smet, who 
was born in Belgium, the home of good roads, 
pronounced the Oregon Trail one of the finest 
highways in the world. At the proper season 
of the vear this was undoulitedlv true. lie- 



fore the prairies became too dry. the natural 
turf formed the best roadway for horses to 
travel on that has probably ever been known. 
It was amply hard to sustain traffic, yet soft 
enough to be easier to the feet than even the 
most perfect asphalt pavement. Over such 
roads, winding ribbon-like through the verdant 
prairies, amid the profusion of spring flowers, 
with grass so plentiful that the animals reveled 
in its abundance, and game everywhere greet- 
ed the hunter's rifle, and finally, with pure 
water in the streams, the traveler sped his way 




Peter J. De Smet, S. J. 



with a feeling of joy and exhilaration. But 
not so when the prairies became dry and parch- 
ed, the road filled with stifling dust, the 
stream-beds mere dry ravines, or carrying only 
alkaline water which could not be used, the 
gaiue all gone to more hospitable sections, and 
the summer sun pouring down its heat with 
torrid intensity. It was then that the Trail 
became a highway of desolation, strewn with 
abandoned property, the skeletons of horses, 
mules and oxen, and, alas, too often, with 
freshly made mounds and head boards that 
told the pitiful tale of suffering too great to be 
endured. If the trail was the scene of ro- 
mance, adventure, pleasure, and excitement. 



78 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV, NEBRASKA 



so it was marked in every mile of its course 
by human misery, tragedy and death. 

"The inunense travel which in later years 
passed over the trail carved it into a deep fur- 
row, often with several parallel tracks making 
a total of a hundred feet or more. It was 
an astonishing spectacle, even to white men. 
when seen for the first time. It may easily be 
imagined how great an impression the sight 
of this road must have made upon the minds 
of the Indians. Father De Smet has recorded 
some interesting observations upon this point. 

"In 1851 he traveled, in company with a 
large number of Indians, from the Missouri 
and Yellowstone rivers to Fort Laramie, where 
a great council was held that year to form 
treaties with the several tribes. Most of these 
Indians had not been in that section before and 
were quite unjirepared for what they saw. 'Our 
Indian companions,' says Father De Smet, 
"who had never seen but the narrow hunting 
paths by which they transport themselves and 
their lodges, were filled with admiration on 
seeing this noble highway, which is as smooth 
as a barn floor swept by winds., and not a blade 
of grass can .shoot up on it on account of the 
continual passing. They conceived a higii 
idea of the countless White Nation, as thev e.\- 
press it. They fancied that all had gone over 
that road and that an immense void must e.x- 
ist in the land of the rising sun. Their coun- 
tenances testified evident incredulity when I 
told them that their exit was in no wise per- 
ceived in the land of the whites. They stvled 
the route the Great Medicine Road of the 
Whites." '■ ^ 

The settlement and development of the west 
produced many changes in the old Trail as 
known to Fremont, the "Pathfinder." and 
other early western travelers and explorers. 
In February. 1859, the Hannibal & St. Joseph 
Railroad was completed to St. Joseph. Mis- 
souri, and in 1861 it was extended to Atchison, 
Kansas. During the late '50s and early '60s 
navigation on the Missouri attained its great- 
est volume and towns sprung up as bv magic 
along its banks. Each progressive step in the 
march of western development was reflected 

3 Hixt. Am. Fur Trade, vol. i, Chitondeii. 



in the history of the old highway. Branch 
lines shot out from Fort Leavenworth. Atchi- 
son. St. Joseph, Brownville, Nebraska City, 
and other Missouri river towns, all converg- 
ing upon the old trail and intersecting it before 
it reached Fort Kearney. The most noted of 
these has already been mentioned as starting 
from the vicinity of Council Bluffs and thread- 
ing the valley of the Platte, north of the river. 
— the avant courier of the L'nion Pacific Rail- 
road. The non-Mormon travel along this 
route, though bound to California. Oregon, and 
the northwest, followed it to Shinn's Ferry 
or a ford in the immediate neighborhood of 
Fort Kearney, and, crossing the Platte, con- 
tinued on up the south side of the river, tra- 
versing the Independence trail. As time 
developed the necessity for diverting travel 
to the gold fields of Colorado and other sec- 
tions of the great west, branch lines led away 
from the Oregon Trail, to Salt Lake City. 
San Francisco, Denver, and the southwest, as 
far even as Santa Fe, but until the construction 
of the L'nion Pacific Railroad, in 1867-1868, 
the Oregon Trail, its cutoffs and numerous 
branches leading into and away from it. was 
the sole connected line of travel across the 
continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
ocean, and the usual means of communication 
throughout the great plains and Rocky moun- 
tain regions of the west, as well as the entire 
Pacific slope. 

Xo statistics are available which in brief 
compass illustrate the tremendous importance 
of the great trail, considered as a unit. The 
following news item taken from the Dakota 
City Herald, under date of August 13. 1859. 
affords some evidence of the volume of travel 
and emigration on the route from Council 
Bluffs and Omaha up the Platte valley, at that 
early date: 

"The secretary of the Columbus Ferry Com- 
pany at Loup Fork informs the Omaha .Vf- 
braskiaii that the emigration across the plains 
up to June 25th was as follows : 1807 wagons. 
20 hand carts. 5401 men, 434 women. 480 
children, 1610 horses, 406 mules, 610 oxen. 
6000 sheep, had crossed this ferry at that point. 
This statement includes no portion of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



79 



^lormon emigration, but embraces merely Cali- 
fornia. Oregon and Pike's Peak emigrants and 
their stock, all going westward. The return- 
ing emigration crosses at Shinn's Ferry, some 
fifteen miles below the confluence of the Loup 
Fork with the Platte. Many of the outward- 
bound emigrants also crossed at the same 
point, so it is probable that not less than -WOO 
wagons have passed over the r^Iilitary Road 
westward from this city since the 20th of 
.Mar:h." 

The reader will observe from the foregoing- 
extract that the uses made of the old trail were 
many and varied. In 1859 the high tide of 
western travel and emigration had not been 
reached, but from that year forward to the 
completion (.i the Union Pacific Railway, it 
increased by leaps and bounds. From a dim. 
narrow roadway, traveled at wide intervals by 
exploring, surveying, and military expeditions 
and thin lines of emigration, it expanded under 
its increasing usefulness into a broad, smooth, 
hard-beaten highway of great national inter- 
est and importance. Unlike the Appian Way 
and other great roads centering in Rome, the 
])roducts of militarv necessity and ambition, the 
Oregon Trail in all its branches and ramifica- 
tions was wholly devoted to the arts of peace 
and the activities of a young and mighty na- 
tion. 

As a route of emigration its value and use- 
fulness can never be exaggerated. Long before 
a trans;ontinental railway was projected, when 
in fact railway construction was yet in its in- 
fancy in this coimtry, it was the means of 
peopling P'tah, Oregon. California, Colorado, 
and other sections of the great west. Over 
it travel was maintained across the continent 
of North America. Travelers bent on business 
or pleasure and persons engaged in the diplo- 
matic service of foreign countries freely made 
use of this great thoroughfare, to escape the 
long, tedious, and often dangerous sea voyage 
aroimd Cape Horn, to and from the Orient. 

The military occupation of the west by our 
government, and the tremendous emigration 
that followed it, gave rise to a freighting in- 
dustry by mule and ox trains imlike an_\thing 
])reviously known in our history, and this 



formed a most conspicuous element in the use- 
fulness of the trail. .\'o statistics are avail- 
able to give an adequate idea of the tremen- 
dous volume of goods annually carried across 
the plains when this industry was at its max- 
imum. As early as 186L Neljraska City, by 
l3e;oming the headquarters of the firm of Rus- 
sell. Majors & W'addell, contractors for the 
transportation of government freight to the far 
west, grew quickly into one of the principal 
outfitting" towns on the Missouri river. A cen- 
sus of the freighting business from that point 
taken for the year 1865 showed the following 
figures : ^len employed in the movement of 
grain and merchandise westward. 8,385 ; 
wagons. 7.365; mules, 7,231; oxen. 50,712; 
freight transported, 31,445,428 pounds. When 
it is considered that Nebraska City was only 
one of several great outfitting stations on the 
Oregon Trail and its branches, that most of 
the freight was carried long distances over 
plain and mountain, across tmbridged streams, 
in huge, creaking, linch-pin, thick-tired, can- 
vas-covered wagons, capable of transporting 
from seven to ten tons of freight and drawn 
by from five to ten yoke of oxen or more, trav.- 
eling at the rate of two miles an hour and re- 
quiring months to make the round trip, the 
gigantic proportions of this industry must be 
apparent to the dullest mind. 

The following description of Nebraska City 
in its pristine days as a terminus of freight 
traffic is taken from a letter written from near 
there in 1866, and is fairly representative of 
the scenes constantly occurring at all Missouri 
river outfitting towns for freight traffic across 
the plains : 

The streets are not filled with carriages and 
gay equipages, though I saw some elegant 
turnouts, but there are huge freight wagons on 
every street, at every corner ; there are hun- 
dreds of oxen and mules attached to them. 
( )ften ten yoke of oxen to a wagon, — six 
span, oftener four, of mules driven with one 
line. There is heard the lumbering of these 
"prairie schooners." the bellowing of oxen, 
braying of mules, cracking of long whips, 
which for me is a show of itself, to see the dex- 
teritv with which the drivers u.se them. There 
is the hallowing, yelling of teamsters, mingled 



1 




Freighting Scenes Along the Oregon Trail 

The Unver view represents the freighting train known as '•Bull of the Woods." owned hy Alexander and 
James Carhsle From a photograph taken on Main street, Nebraska Citv, looking east from Sixth street 
and loaned by Air. O. C. Morton. This train consisted of twentv-five wagons with six mules to each 
wagon, and was considered one of the finest outfits known to freighters. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



81 



with more oaths than I have ever heard before 
in all my life together. Everything is high in 
this prairie land. My mother sells some of her 
butter for sixty cents per pound, none less than 
fifty cents, and that at home ; cheese thirty 
cents and thirty-five cents ; and so on with 
everything. The great amount of travel on the 
road half a mile from us makes all the market 
one needs at present. Trains passing with 
thirty wagons (twenty-four or eighteen, those 
being the usual numbers) are or have been un- 
til recently of almost daily occurrence, — some 
going to the mountains, others going to the 
states. It is also the stage route (or one) of 
Ben Holliday's express through to California, 
so that we have a daily mail one day from the 
west, the next from the east. It seems odd in 
such a new country, so devoid of almost every- 
thing civilized, to see the coach daily, going 
and coming. 



As a highway for the Overland stage from 
the Missouri river to the Pacific coast the great 
trail performed a most interesting and a most 
important service to the American people. 
Light Con:ord coaches were usually required 
for this service, and with the rapid growth of 
the west, the business ultimately attained huge 
proportions. 

From 1850 down to the date when the old 
trail ultimately fell into disuse the overland 
stage was largely devoted to the carrying of 
the mails. The carrying of passengers and ex- 
press packages also formed important items of 
its receijits. At first monthly trips were made, 
then semi-monthly, and finally ■ — when the 
overland-stage business fell into the hands of 
Ben Holliday, who in many respects was one 
of the most remark-able men of his day — a 
stage service was evolved in which stages ran 
daily on fast and schedule time from Atchison, 
Kansas, to Placerville, California, in the re- 
markably short period of seventeen days, car- 
rying mail and passengers each wav. 

An important incident to the old highway 
was the pony express, a movement which orig- 
inated, in 1860. with William H. Russell, of 
Leavenworth, Kansas. It was a system of 
mounted couriers, wholly devoted to the private 
transmission of letter-mail, newspapers, tele- 
graph messages, important government dis- 
patches, hank drafts, and the like. It followed 



the St. Joseph branch of the Overland trail to 
Kennekuk, forty-four miles out from the Mis- 
souri river, where it intersected the main Inde- 
pendence line, and thereafter followed the old 
trail to Fort Kearney, thence on up the Platte 
valley to old Julesburg, where it forded the 
South Fork, followed the old Mormon trail up 
Lodge Pole creek, thence through the Great 
South Pass to Fort Bridger. Salt Lake City, 
and on to Sacramento, where it connected with 
navigation on the Sacramento river to San 
Francisco. The trip from its eastern terminus, 
at St. Joseph, Missouri, to its western terminus 
usually required eight days, and the return 
trip the same number of days. It was inaug- 
urated at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 3d 
day of April, 1860, with many demonstrations 
of satisfaction throughout its entire course 
across mountain and plain. At San Francisco 
cannon were fired, flags displayed, speeches 
made, flowers distributed, and at both terminals 
crowds gathered to witness the departure of 
the first daring rider of the pony express. The 
horses selected for this service were hardy and 
fleet plains stock. The equipment consisted of 
a strong, well made saddle and a mail sack of 
the old-fashioned saddle-bags pattern, and an 
emergency lariat. The rider was booted and 
spurred. A leathern holster on either side of 
the pommel of his saddle carried a navy re- 
volver. No time was wasted at the stations 
where changes of horses, and often of riders, 
were made. Usually the rider found his 
mount already groomed, safldled, and held by 
an assistant awaiting his arrival. He had onlv 
to change his holsters and mail bags from one 
saddle to the other, mount the fresh steed and 
away with the speed of the winds. At sta- 
tions where riders were relieved, the fresh 
rider would be awaiting the incoming man. 
mounted and ready to fly on his journey. 

This service lasted approximately eighteen 
months and was discontinued only when the 
telegraph line, of which it was the azvnt cour- 
ier, reached Fort Kearney, in 1861. It was 
by far the most picturesque feature of over- 
land travel along the wonderful old trail, and 
no other business venture of the great plains 
region had a more daring or romantic historv 



82 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBR-JiSKA 



or left a more lasting impression than the pony 
express. 

This storied old highway was reached from 
Beatrice and other sections of Gage county 
mainly by the Brownville road. This branch 
of the overland trail crossed the Big Blue river 
at the old Market street ford ; it then swung 
northward to the river, and, taking the course 
of the present highway to a point about two 
miles west of the Cub creek crossing, it left 
the creek and started on its course across the 
high prairie on what was known as Twenty- 
two Mile Ridge: it struck Little Sandv creek 



river, near where the town of .Mexandria h 
now located. Four miles above Hackney's 
was the Kiowa stage station ; six miles beyond 
the Kiowa was the Oak Grove ranch, located 
near the dreaded Narrows, a. point on the Little 
Blue river where the prairies terminated 
abruptly in low, steep blufTs, forcing the travel 
on a narrow strip of land along the river bank. 
.\ little east of the Narrows was the ranch of 
the ill-fated L'banks family. Comstock's ranch 
was a short distance above this pass, and be- 
yond Comstock's was the Little Blue stage sta- 
tion. Here the trail left the river and struck 




OxE Type of the F.\mous Concord Stage-coach 



at Thomas Helvey's ranch, and a mile further 
on to the west, at Shumway's ranch, it inter- 
sected the main trail. Three miles west of 
Shumway's, at Patterson's ranch. Big Sandy 
was crossed, and the traveler entered the stir- 
ring scenes and pulsing life of the great na- 
tional highway. 

.•\t Big Sandy, besides Patterson's ranch, 
there were Slaughter's ranch, D. C. Jenkins' 
ranch. George W'eisel's ranch, and some others. 
In addition to these there was a stage station, 
kept by Edward Farrell. From Farrell's sta- 
tion on the liig San<ly. the trail, a broad, 
smooth highway, led almost due west across 
Eighteen Mile Ridge, past Thompson's stage 
station, twelve miles out from Farrell's, to 
the great Hackney ranch, on the Little Blue 



out across the Nine Mile Ridge. At Buffalo 
ranch it returned to the Little Blue and con 
tinned- u]) that stream eight miles to Pawnee 
ranch. Four miles beyond was Spring ranch, 
an overland stage station, where the trail 
climbed a long, steep hill to the high prairie, 
and led on to Thirty-two Mile Creek, a station 
located on a little stream of that name, eight 
miles southwest of the present city of Hastings. 
From Thirty-two Mile Creek it ran in a north- 
westerly direction through a collection of low, 
rounded sand hills to the Platte river bottom, 
where it intersected the Nebraska City branch 
of the trail at Hook's ranch, nine miles this 
way from Fort Kearney. 

From almost any point in Gage county a 
market could be found for farm produce in two 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



83 



or three days' travel, at the ranches and sta- 
tions along the old trail. Money was abun- 
dant, prices good, and the excitement, ro- 
mance, and thrilling adventure afforded by the 
trail was an added inducement to draw the 
pioneers and their sons to this traffic. 

A person who now travels by rail or motors 
over country roads from any portion of south- 
eastern Nebraska to the site of old Fort Kear- 
ney, in the general direction held by the Ore- 
gon Trail or its branches, encounters evidence 
of wealth and refinement on every hand. He 
sees a succession of thriving cities and villages, 
connected by rail, telegraph, and telephone 
lines. Beautiful homes, smiling countrysides, 
and a happy, intelligent, and thriving popula- 
tion greet him on every hand. To such a trav- 
eler the condition of life which this same sec- 
tion of country presented along the old con- 
tinental cross-country highway from about 
1S50 to 1867 would be impossible of visualiza- 
tion. To the traveler in those heroic days the 
only signs of civilized life were the old high- 
way and its ever shifting kaleidoscopic popula- 
tion. The road itself constituted not the least 
wonderful of the objects which he encoun- 
tered. It led across the naked prairie from the 
Alissouri river, — wide, hard, and bare. It fol- 
lowed no definite course, unless a generally 
northwesterly direction could be so designated. 
It crossed bridgeless streams, traversed locali- 
ties of great natural beauty and vast prairie 
meadows where millions of buffalo, elk, deer, 
and antelope found abundant pasturage dur- 
ing the greater portion of the year. On either 
side, stretching away in all directions, was the 
uninhabited and apparently litnitless prairie. 
The few stage stations and ranches that 
marked its course served to emphasize the 
emptiness and desolation of the country 
through which it passed. 

This great thoroughfare was traveled by as 
heterogeneous a mass of people as could be 
found anywhere in the world, — merchants, 
capitalists, freighters, prospectors, miners, 
hunters, trappers, traders, soldiers, Indians, 
emigrants. Mormons, gamblers, adventurers, 
pleasure-seekers, tourists, and the representa- 



tives of foreign nations, — passing from east 
to west or from west to east, all in teeming, 
restless activity. From the top of a Concord 
stage-coach, drawn by three span of horses 
selected for this service on account of their 
speed and endurance, and rushing ahead on 
schedule time at the rate of ten or more miles 
per hour, pausing at the stations only long- 
enough to change jaded for fresh teams, the 
traveler might go for days without being out 
of sight of long trains of huge wagons drawn 
slowly by from six to ten yoke of oxen or half 
as many mules. 

The pioneers either hauled their produce to 
the ranches or stations on the trail or sold at 
home, at remunerative prices, to those who 
were regularly engaged in freighting along the 
trail. Among these were Samuel Jones and his 
son William R. Jones, Peter Hanna, John Dun- 
bar, Jefferson B. Weston, Joseph Saunders, 
David Kilpatrick, Nathan Blakely, William 
Blakely, Thomas and Joseph Kline, \'olney 
Whitmore, George Whitmore, M. C. Butler, 
J. W. Kelly, Gilbert T. Loomis, Alvah Ayers, 
and many others whose names are not readily 
recalled. The ranches along the old trail were 
kept by a fearless class of frontiersmen, whose 
business it was to supply the freighters, sol- 
diers, stage-drivers, emigrants, and travelers 
with provender for their stock, and for them- 
selves food and drink, — -quite often drink. 
Amongst the Gage county people who were en- 
gaged from time to time in the ranching and 
stage-driving business were Albert Holliday, 
who for many years kept the Hackney ranch ; 
Charles N. Emery, first a stage-driver and 
then a keeper of Pawnee and other ranches ; 
Jim Bainter ; "Big" Fred and "Little" Fred 
Roper; Joseph B. Roper; Joseph Milligan ; 
William E. Mudge ; William Hess ; Asa and 
John Latham ; Robert Emery ; Carl Emery ; 
John Gilbert ; Ray Grayson ; William Blakely, 
and George Hurlburt. 

This storied highway is now a thing of the 
past. The part it played in the settlement and 
development of the great west may never be 
fully understood or rightly appreciated. Over 
the greater part of the distance traversed by it 



84 HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 

there is left scarcely a trace. In a few years regions of our country, the far west and north- 
there will he none who could mark its course, west, what the Union Pacific Railroad, of 
But as long as men note and love the history which it was the precurser. became on its 
of their country, this one fact must always re- completion over half a century ago. 
main. — for nearly three score years, beginning There are highways born, the old roads die - 

■ , ,, . , ■ ' • 101 1 .1 •' . .- 1 Can vou read what once they said, 

with the .\storians m ISll, this ffreat national t^ ■, ,-. u j iu a 

'^ From the wav-worn ditch and the sunflower 

thoroughfare, with its branches and ramifica- clump, 

tions, was to the plains and Rocky mountain .\nd the needs of folk long dead?^ 



* I-rom Barbcff Wire n/if' Other I'ociiis, \)\ Edwin Ford I'ipc-r (iyi7). 



CHAPTER XI 



FIRST ACTUAL SETTLERS 

Otoe and Missouri Tribes oe Indians — History — -Reservation — Relation oi- 
NEERS TO Indians — Plans to sell Reservation — Sale ^Report of Lewis 
AND Clark — Indian Village — Removal of Indian Tribes — 



I'lO- 



The first actual settlers of Gage county were 
of course the Otoe and Missouri consolidated 
tribes of Indians. The treaty under which all 
their lands in the territory of Nebraska were 
ceded to the United States, except their reser- 
vation on the Big Blue river, was made March 
15, 1854, and became immediately effective. 
Section 2 of the treaty required the Indians to 
vacate the ceded lands and remove to their 
new reservation "as soon after the United 
States shall make the necessary provision for 
fulfilling the stipulations of this instrument as 
they can conveniently arrange their affairs, and 
not exceeding one year after such provision is 
made." 

The report of George Heppner, the gov- 
ernment agent for these Indians, to the Indian 
Bureau at Washington, under date of Novem- 
ber 1, 1855, conveys the information that they 
were then occupying their new reservation, 
in what afterward became Gage county, and 
had raised a crop of corn for their support 
during that season. According to this report 
there were at that time approximately six hun- 
dred Indians on the reservation, which was 
doubtless their full tribal strength. 

When first known to white men, the Otoe 
tribe of Indians were one of a group of three 
related tribes, the others being the Iowa and 
Missouri tribes of Indians, all speaking prac- 
tically the same language. They appear never 
to have been numerous, like the Pawnees, 
Comanches, and some others of the plains In- 
dians. Their history as far as known con- 
tains little more than a struggle to defend 



themselves against their enemies, until they 
came virtually under the domination of the 
white man. They are first mentioned by some 
of the French-Canadian traders, trappers, and 
missionaries. Father Marquette, in 1673, ap- 
parently locates them on his autograph map 
about the upper Des Moines river, and Mem- 
bre, the companion of LaSalle, in 1680, places 
the tribe one hundred and thirty leagues west 
of the Illinois, on the Wisconsin. In 1700, 
Iberville, a French-Canadian explorer and the 
first governor of the province of Louisiana, 
said that the Otoe and Iowa Indians were 
with the Omahas. Charlevoix, in 1721, found 
them on the east side of the Missouri, above 
the Kansa tribe, on the west side of the Mis- 
souri. In 1761 they were located on the 
Platte, between its mouth and the Pawnee 
country to the west. Here they were found 
by Lewis and Clark in 1804, on the south side 
of the river, twenty miles from its mouth; but 
the explorers record the fact that they had 
formerly lived twenty miles above the mouth 
of the Platte on the south bank of the Mis- 
souri river. Having been greatly diminished 
by war and smallpox, in 1817 they migrated 
to the neighborhood of the Pawnees, near the 
city of Fremont, under whose protection they 
seem to have lived for a time, and were here 
incorporated with the Missouris. For some 
time prior to 1841 the two tribes were lo- 
cated near the mouth of the Platte river, in 
the neighborhood of Bellevue. Later they 
removed to a reservation near Nebraska City, 
which in the treaty bearing date of March 



85 



86 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



15, 1854, was ceded to the United States, to- 
gether with all lands in Nebraska territory 
save and except a rcsen'ation lying partly 
in the southern portion of Gage county. As 
before stated. Article 2 of the treaty prom- 
ised that they would vacate the ceded territory 
and remove to the lands reserved for them by 
it "as soon after the United States shall make 
the necessary provision for fulfilling the stipu- 
lations of this instrument as they can con- 
veniently arrange their affairs, and not to 
exceed one year after such provision is made." 
This reservation comprised a fine body of 




.\r-k.\-ke-Ta (tribal guardian) 
Head chief of the Otocs 

land, ten miles north and south and twenty- 
five miles east and west. It extended two 
miles south of the state line its full length, 
into Washington and Marshall counties, Kan- 
sas. North of the state line it extended two 
and three-fourths miles into Jefferson county. 
That portion of it which lay in Gage county 
was a strip eight miles in width and twenty- 
two and one-half miles in length, east and 
west. Glenwood. Paddock, and Barneston 
townships lay wholly within the reservation, 
also the greater part of Liberty township : it 
included the two southern tiers of sections in 
Kim, Sicily, Wymore. and Island Grove town- 
ships to within two and one-fourth miles of 
the county line on the east, .\ltogether it 



comprised 250 sections, 160,000 acres, of 
which 126,720 acres lay in Gage county. It 
was well watered and timbered. The Big 
Blue river flowed through it in a southeasterly 
direction, across Wymore and Barneston 
townships, while Big Indian creek drained 
the northern and western portions and en- 
tered the river at Wymore. East of the river 
Wolf, Plum, and Mission creeks with their 
tributaries drained the land and supplied in 
great abundance water for grazing purposes. 
Fine groves of timber lined all the streams. 
Hunting aiKl fishing offered both sport and sus- 
tenance to the noble red man and his pro- 
geny, while to the hoes, which a wise and 
beneficent government placed in the hands 
of the squaws, the rich alluvial soils of the 
creek and river valleys responded with boun- 
tiful crops of Indian corn, melons, pumpkins, 
beans, and other field and garden produce. 

The pioneers profited considerably from the 
existence of this large reser\-ation within the 
county. The United States government from 
the first had maintained on the reservation, 
at the junction of Plum creek and the river, 
a steam saw and grist mill where lumber of 
all dimensions was manufactured from native 
timber and where com meal and graham flour 
could be ground. Here also was a blacksmith 
shop which, in addition to the Indian black- 
smithing, did custom work. From the sur- 
rounding country for miles settlers hauled 
their saw- logs and grain to this primitive mill 
and hauled back Uunhcr, slabs, meal, and 
cracked wheat or graham flour. The mill was 
afterward supplied with proper machinery for 
making bolted flour, and then became one of 
the early milling points of our county. 

Considerable trade, mainly barter, was car- 
ried on between the pioneers and the Indians, 
in which beaded moccasins, buffalo robes, 
dried or jerked buffalo meat, other products 
of the chase, and handiwork of the squaws, 
as well as blankets, calicoes, and other articles 
issued annually by the Great Father at Wash- 
ington to his dusky children, were exchanged 
for the hogs, cattle, slice]), and cured meats 
of the settlers. 

The personal relations between the Indians 
and the white settlers were ideallv friendlv. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



87 



There were many members of these tribes 
that in point of worth of character measured 
up to the best traditions of the North Ameri- 
can Indian. They were as a rule scrupu- 
lously honest, returning what they borrowed 
from llieir white neighbors and friends, and 
discharging punctually their financial obliga- 
tions. They were not pilferers or thieves. 
They were inclined to overstay a welcome 
and were great beggars for something to eat. 
In their domestic relations they apparently 
led well ordered and decent lives. 

In those days of primitive life the white 
man rarely turned his eyes toward the landed 
possessions of his Indian neighbors. Gov- 
ernment land was cheap and abundant, to be 
had almost for the asking. No man needed 
to want for land ; he could take it by paying 
a trifling fee to the officers of the government 
land office at Brownville. But on the admis- 
sion of Nebraska into the Union as a state; 
on the entry by college scrip, in 1867, of the 
finest portions of the public domain in Gage 
county, and the coming of the railroads, the 
situation completely changed. Land began 
to have a value. Soon it was impossible for 
a man to be land poor. A homesteader who 
had been accustomed to regard his quarter 
section more as a liability than an asset, sud- 
denly found that it possessed a cash value in 
the open market ; that when pressed for 
money, by resorting to an invention known 
as a mortgage, he could actually borrow a few 
hundred dollars on his homestead. Un- 
dreamed of opulence descended upon him, 
and the poor homesteader, whose years had 
been spent in poverty and want, who was 
often compelled to stay because too poor 
to leave, suddenly found his broad acres a 
source of wealth, as wonderful to him as the 
lamp of Aladdin or the purse and hat of For- 
tunatus. 

Under these circumstances the lands of 
the Indian reservation became appreciably 
valuable in the eyes of the white inhabitants 
of the two states where it lay, and in the eyes 
of the Indians themselves and their guardian, 
the United States government. Great pres- 
sure was brought, beginning with the early 
'70s, on the representatives of both Kansas 



and Nebraska in congress, to effect the sale 
of the reservation and convert it into a source 
of wealth for the white man. 

In January, 1875, Hon. Algernon S. Pad- 
dock, then a citizen of Gage county, was 
elected to the United States senate from 
Nebraska. Soon after taking his seat he 
introduced a bill providing for the sale 
of that portion of the Otoe and Missouri 
Indian reservation lying west of range VII, 
and prescribing a method for conducting 
the sale of such lands. This act, by and 
with the consent of the Indians, became a 
law August 15, 1876, and the lands affected 
by it, constituting a little more than one-half 
of the reservation, were appraised and sold 
for cash to active settlers at the appraised 
value, in tracts not exceeding one hundred and 
sixty acres to any one purchaser. They at- 
tracted a fine class of settlers, and were soon 
disposed of at an average price of about three 
dollars and fifty cents per acre. With inter- 
est on deferred payments this netted the In- 
dians over two hundred thousand dollars. 

The sale of this land, which had hitherto 
produced nothing to its owners and which they 
regarded as of but little value, for practically 
five himdred dollars per capita, served only to 
whet the appetite of the Indians for that sort 
of tangible wealth which always bears the dol- 
lar mark. The successful outcome of this 
sale prompted further agitation in congress on 
the part of the representatives of both Kan- 
sas and Nebraska to put the remainder of the 
reservation on the market, and on March 3, 
1881, a bill was passed by congress for that 
purpose, which also prescribed a method of 
conducting a sale of the lands afifected by it. 
The govenmient having purchased in the In- 
flian territory, now Oklahoma, 129,113 acres 
of land as a reser\'ation for the Otoe and Mis- 
souri Indians, immediately after the passage 
of this act, the remainder of their lands, after 
appraisement, were placed on sale, in 1883. 
Under the orders of the secretary of the in- 
terior, the appraisement was ignored and the 
lands sold at public auction for cash to the 
highest bidder, but to actual settlers only, and 
in tracts not to exceed one hundred and sixty 
acres to any one purchaser. The exact figures 



88 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, NEBRASKA 



are not at hand to show the amount of this 
sale, but the lands brought approximately 
twelve and one-half dollars per acre, amount- 
ing approximately to the sum of one million 
dollars. In addition to removing an unas- 
similable element from the population of our 
Gounty, these two sales brought within its jur- 
isdiction and added to its taxable wealth a 
splendid body of land which in process of 
time has become verj' valuable, and thickly 
populated by a splendid class of American 
citizens. 

Tradition aside, the Otoe Indians were 
never warlike or aggressive. They were 
tillers of the soil, traders and trappers, and 
were usually found in the neighborhood of 
some more powerful tribe whose protection 
they sought. 

The Missouri tribe of Indians, who derived 
their name from the great river on whose 
shores they dwelt for many years, after hav- 
ing been attacked and almost annihilated, in 
1720, by the Sac and Fox tribes with their al- 
lies, were dispersed. Five or six lodges 
joined the Osage, two or three took refuge 
with the Kansa, and the remainder amalga- 
mated with the Otoe Indians. Lewis and 
Clark spoke of the Otoes and Missouris whom 
they saw in the neighborhood of Council 
Bluffs, as almost naked, having in fact no cov- 
ering except a sort of breech-cloth and a loose 
blanket or painted buflfalo robe thrown about 
their shoulders. Their villages consisted of 
large earthen lodges, but when traveling they 
found shelter in skin tepees. 

The pemianent Indian village was located 
in Barneston township, mainly on the site of 
the present village of Barneston. At this 
point there was and still is a splendid spring 
of purest water, similar in quality to the well 
known Zimmennan spring from which the city 
of Beatrice draws its entire supply of water. 
Xear this spring were the agency building, the 
school house, Indian tepees and burial place. 
To the south of the village, across Plum creek, 
at the point where that stream enters the Big 
Blue river, on the small tract of level land ad- 
jacent to both these streams, were the black- 
smith shop, the steam saw and grist mill be- 
longing to the Indians, and the residences of 



several of the employes of the government 
upon the reservation. The Indians maintained 
an unbroken residence in this location from 
April, 1855, to October 5, 1882, — more than 
twenty-seven years, — during which period of 
time, under the care and tutelage of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, its agents and 
employes, including several teachers, they 
made considerable progress in general educa- 
tion and in a knowledge of the useful indus- 
tries of civilized life. After ceding their lands 
here to the United States, they removed from 
our county to Oklahoma, in 1882. The la it 
glance afforded us of the aboriginal inhabit- 
ants of Gage county is presented in the follow- 
ing extract from the report of their agent. 
Jacob \'. Carter, to the bureau of Indian af- 
fairs, under date of August 20. 1882. It reads 
in part as follows : 

Soon after forwarding my last annual re- 
port dated at Otoe Agency, Nebraska, I re- 
ceived orders to remove the Indians in my 
charge from that agency to their new location 
in Indian Territor)-. Agreeable to said order, 
I began the work of removal at once. On 
September 22, 1882. I started the cattle herd, 
numbering two hundred and twenty-four head, 
in charge of competent herders, for the terri- 
tory. On the 5th of October following, hav- 
ing completed my arrangements. I pulled out 
of the Agency with a train which consisted of 
seventy wagons and about two hundred ponies. 
We arrived at Red Rock on the 23d day of 
the same month, nineteen days out, traveling 
nearly three hundred miles without sustaining 
any loss or mislia]) by the way- The herd ar- 
rived on the 16th, in good condition and with- 
out loss. 

It is generally understood that these Indian 
tribes had been greatly decimated by death, in- 
duced partly by sloth and excess wealth. un*il 
their numbers were reduced to somewhat over 
five hundred, in 1881. Their number was es- 
timated as twelve hundred in 1833. Bur- 
roughs gave in 1859 their number as nine hun- 
dred ; the report of the Indian bureau Et 
Washington for 1843 designates nine hundred 
and thirty-one. In 1862 the two tribes num- 
bered seven hundred and eight ; in 1867, five 
hundred and eleven ; in 1877, four hundred 
and fifty-seven: in 1886, three hundred ancf 
thirty-four; and in 1906 three hundred and 
ninetv. 



CHAPTER XII 



NARRATIVE OF MAJOR ALBERT LAMBORN GREEN 



[When Ulysses Grant became president of 
the United States in 1869 he adopted the 
policy of placing the Indian wards of the 
nation as far as possible in the hands of the 
Quakers, a policy to which he rigorously ad- 
hered during hte eight years of his incum- 
bency in office. In June, 1869, Albert Lam- 
born Green, of Philadelphia, a young man 
affiliated with that sect, was placed in charge 
of the Otoe and Missouri tribes of Indians in 
Gage county, as the agent of the government 
and with the rank and title of a major in 
the federal army. Major Green served in 
that capacity several years, and became fa- 
miliar with the history of these Indian tribes 
as well as with their manners and customs. 
At the request of the author of this book he 
has prepared the following reminiscent nar- 
rative illustrated by pen drawings prepared by 
himself. Those who may feel an interest in 
these aboriginal inhabitants of our county 
cannot fail to read with keen pleasure the 
following context:] 

Man's earliest weapon was a stone, and later 
a rudely chipped flint, the acquisition and use 
of which ushered in the paleolithic age, — the 
initial period of all human culture and pro- 
gress. It was during this earliest stage of 
human advancement that the region now em- 
braced within the limits of Gage county, re- 
ceived its first inhabitants, — a race whose 
weapons and utensils, rudely chipped from the 
flints of the locality, still testify to its having 
existed. In the course of many generations, as 
greater skill became acquired, the paleolithic 
age of roughly chipped flints gradually merged 
into a neolithic age of finely wrought arrow- 
heads and carefully finished weapons and uten- 
sils of stone. Such an age has likewise left its 



scattered memorials throughout the region 
Whether both periods pertain to an identical 
race may never be known, but archeologists 
regard it as almost a certainty that the period 
of roughly chipped flints long antedates the 
Pawnee occupancy of the region. To the per- 
iod of Pawnee occupancy may confidently be 
attributed all fragments of pottery and possi- 
bly all relics of a neolithic character. Prof. 
E. E. Blackman has definitely located the sites 
of at least five prehistoric villages within the 
county, the most ancient of which undoubtedly 
belonged to the paleolithic age. One that is 
known to have been occupied by the Pawnees 
long after the invasion of Quivira by the 
French traders and explorers, is located about 
a mile north of Blue Springs. Another, that 
is evidently of much greater antiquity, has 
been found a short distance south of Holmes- 
ville. Other village sites, both east and west 
of the river, bear ample evidence of the fact, 
that, for untold centuries, the valley of the 
Blue has been the abode of man. 

It may have been with a people whose an- 
cestors were of the older, or paleolithic, 
period, that Coronado met in 1541, and of 
whom Castaneda, the chronicler of the ex- 
pedition, has left us so graphic a descrip- 
tion. It is from Castaneda's account, which 
historians have generally regarded as authen- 
tic, that we are led to believe that Coro- 
nado's horsemen crossed the Kansas river near 
the mouth of the Blue and followed the course 
of the latter stream northward. No other 
river or stream flowing into the Kansas so ac- 
curately meets the description given, and the 
fact that the principal villages and trails or 
routes of travel were undoubtedly along its 
course lends confirmatory evidence to this 



89 



90 



HISTORY OF GAGE COCXTV. NEBRASKA 



conclusion. Coronado was in search of cities 
and towns, and the great flint deposits near 
the present side of W'ymore had attracted to 
their vicinity a population whose village sites 
are still traceable. Thus we may safely as- 
sume that Castaneda's graphic description of 
the people met with, applied to the aboriginal 
inhabitants of this vicinity, hence a few quo- 
tations from his narrative may be in place. 
He says "they are very intelligent," and "able 
to make themselves so well understood by 
signs that there was no need of an interpre- 
ter" ; he speaks of them as "a kind people and 
faithful friends"; he tells us that "the women 
are well made and modest," that "they cover 
the whole body and wear shoes and buskins 
made of tanned skins" ; he tells us that when 
away from their villages, they travel with 
troops of dogs loaded with poles and having 
Moorish pack-saddles with girths, and that 
when the loads become disarranged the dogs 
howl, calling some one to fix them aright." 
Two hundred years after this account was 
written this region was still a part of that 
mystical Quivira described by Spanish writers 
as bounded on the east by the "Mountains of 
the Sun" — now known as the Missouri river 
bluflfs. At that time the existence of the Blue 
river had become so well known to the French 
traders and explorers that when, in 1795, in- 
fonnation was being obtained for the prep- 
aration of an up-to-date map of North Amer- 
ica, showing all the latest discoveries, the Blue 
river was correctly located and named, at 
least so far as its course through Quivira was 
concerned, but the geographer evidently lacked 
information as to its further course and dis- 
posed of the problem by causing it to empty 
into the gulf of California. The Otoe name 
of the river was Xee-haun-chee, but the In- 
dians sometimes referred to it as Xee-haun- 
chee-toe. Big Blue river. 

This ancient map locates the "Otter Nation," 
j)robal)lv intending it for the "Ottoe Nation" — 
that being an old-time way of spelling the name 
of the Otoe tribe. At the time the map was 
made the Pawnees occupied the valley of the 
Blue as well as that of the Republican, while 
the Otoes dwelt near the mouth of the Ne- 



brailhka ( Platte) and included in their trap- 
ping grounds the Nemahas and bluff region of 
the Missouri as far south as the Great Ne- 
maha. Tradition informs us that prior to about 
1720 the natives of this region possessed no 
horses, their only domestic animal being a 
tamed descendant of the large gray wolf. But 
about that time an expedition set out from 
Santa Fe to conquer the Otoes ^nd take posses- 
sion of the region for the king of Spain, and 
thus head off the French, whose activities as 
traders and explorers had e.xtended far up the 
Espiritu Santo, and Nebraithka rivers. It ap- 
pears that the Spanish had learned of a chronic 
state of warfare existing between the Osages. 
who lived south of the Kansas river, and the 
tribe they were advancing against, and decided, 
if possible, to engage their assistance. As the 
Spanish cavalcade journeyed toward the 
Osage domain, it met a war party of Mis- 
souris, and, mistaking them for Osages, in- 
formed them of the purpose they had in view, 
which was nothing less than to surprise and 
destroy their own kindred. The Missouris, 
quick to perceive the blunder the Spaniards 
had made, conferred together and soon in- 
formed the Spaniards that they really were 
Osages returning from a war against the 
Otoes and that they would willingly accom- 
pany them on a war-path against their enemy. 
Then, secretly dispatching a courier to the 
Otoe village to acquaint their friends as to the 
situation, they conducted the Spanish party 
thither by slow stages, giving them to under- 
stand that they were conducting them to the 
town of the Osages, where they would be en- 
tertained before proceeding against their com- 
mon enemy. It was customar}- with the 
Spaniards on all warlike expeditions to have 
a friar along to look after their spiritual in- 
terests and to act as a chronicler of their do- 
ings, and we are indebted to a friar's letter 
now in the archives of Spain for most of the 
particulars here given. The Otoes, posing as 
Osages at the village, received the visitors 
with a great show of hospitality. The inter- 
\al that had elapsed between the arrival of 
the courier and that of the Spaniards had been 
employed in assembling warriors from every 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



91 



available source; even a band of their heredi- 
tary enemies, the Pawnees had arrived, prob- 
ably from the valley of the Blue, After a 
night spent in feasting and dancing, the as- 
sembled warriors fell upon the drowsy unsus- 
pecting Spaniards and killed them all, except 
a monk. The horses and equipage of the in- 
vaders were secured by the Indians, and it 
afterward devolved upon the monk to teach 
them how to ride — an art in which they soon 
became adepts. Tradition informs us that 
the monk afterwards escaped on the fleetest of 
the animals. Thus it was that in the course 
of time ponies superseded dogs as beasts ot 
burden in this region. As the pony herds 
multiplied they came to be regarded as syn- 
onymns of wealth. The war-path became no 
longer a mad adventure to secure scalps that 
had no economic value, for an enemy's ponies 
were worth more than his scalp, and it usually 
required as much risk and bravery to secure 
the one as the other. The Pawnees probably 
occupied the valley of the Blue until about 
the year 1825, when they went north to join 
their kindred whom the Delawares had driven 
from the valley of the Republican. During 
their occupancy of this region their principal 
village was situated about a mile north of the 
present town of Blue Springs, while their 
winter tepees were scattered up and down the 
river. The enmity between the Otoes and the 
Pawnees was hereditary ; surprise attacks 
and bloody reprisals had kept alive a hatred 
that had been nursed from generation to gen- 
eration. The smoke-cured scalps of Pawnee 
warriors, hardened and faded with age, still 
adorned the Otoe medicine bags long after 
they had settled on their reservation. 

The last attack made upon the village above 
mentioned by Otoe warriors occurred only a 
few years prior to the Pawnees' removal. A 
large band of Otoes were then encamped near 
the mouth of the Nemaha, and had cunningly 
timed their attack to take place at day-break of 
the day succeeding that on which the young 
braves of the Pawnee village had started on a 
buffalo hunt. The Otoes, bent on securing 
scalps as well as plunder, had killed a number 
of people and caused a frightful uproar and 



panic in the village, when a brave from the 
hunting party — which had encamped the even- 
ing before near the head of Indian creek — 
came riding into the village; he was at once 
killed by the Otoes, who also wounded the pony 
and frightened it so that it galloped back to- 
wards the camp ; its return, riderless and 
wounded, caused great alarm and called for in- 
stant action. All the braves of the hunting 
party, mounted on their swiftest ponies, started 
at once for the home village, on reaching 
which, they saw at a glance what had occurred. 
The enemy had left, but the avengers were not 
long in striking their trail, which was swiftly 
followed ; they were overtaken in a large draw 
near the east side of what is now Island 
Grove township, — a spot that was pointed 
out to the writer by old men of the Otoe tribe 
who related incidents connected with the af- 
fair as handed down to them. A fierce battle 
ensued — during which no quarter was given 
or asked. The Otoes, about thirty in num- 
ber, were completely surrounded and fought 
desperately, but were outnumbered two to one ; 
only one was permitted to escape and report 
the fate of his companions ; the wounded were 
scalped, and Ijoth dead and wounded were 
burned, the Pawnees having fired the tall 
sloughgrass that grew in the draw. 

After the Pawnees left the Blue, which is 
supposed to have been about 1825, the Otoes 
included the Blue valley in their hunting and 
trapping circuit, and it was seldom that the 
tepee of an Otoe family, or perhaps a group of 
tepees, might not be found somewhere along 
the river's course. In 1854 a reservation, com- 
prising two hundred and fifty square miles, 
the greater part of which is now included with- 
in the limits of Gage county, was set apart for 
the Otoes, they having ceded, for a consider- 
ation to be paid in the form of an annuity, all 
their lands south of the Platte, except said 
tract. Of the one hundred and sixty thousand 
acres comprised in the area reserved, consider- 
ably more than one hundred thousand acres 
were included within the limits of the county. 
The site selected for their village and the 
agent's residence was a sightly elevation about 
half a mile east of the river, where a spring, 



92 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



ihat issued from a limestone ledge, afforded 
an ample supply of pure water. The town of 
Bameston now occupies a part of the site. A 
residence for the government agent was built 
about one hundred feet north of the spring. 
It consisted of a one and a half story frame 
with an ell on the rear, and contained in all 
six rooms with large basement. There was a 
latticed porch in front, with a balcony over 
the same, that commanded a view of the whole 
village; near the agent's house was a large 
barn and other outbuildings. A steam grist 



cular opening in the roof. There were also 
a few bark lodges of a type that were common 
among the lowas and Sacs and Foxes, but they 
were of a less durable character than the 
Siouan type of habitation and were usually 
regarded as temporary. An agency farm of 
one hundred acres was broken out adjacent to 
the village. The white employes included a 
farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, miller, phy- 
sician, teachers, etc. All plowing was done 
with oxen. All supplies were hauled from 
Missouri river points, usually from Brown- 




Otoe Indian \'ill.^ce, 1869-1870 



mill, saw mill, blacksmith sliop. and residences 
for the various white employes, were located 
on Plum creek, about a mile from the agency. 
The main village consisted of about forty 
large earth-covered lodges of the type com- 
monly used by tribes of Sioux origin. Each 
lodge was circular in form, with an entrance 
through a projecting passageway opening 
towards the east, and was usually not less than 
about forty feet in diameter, inside measure- 
ment. Usually several closely related fami- 
lies occupied a single lodge — each having a 
sleeping booth on a raised platform that ex- 
tended around the inside space. All cooking 
was done at a lire of small logs that' blazed in 
the center, the smoke escaping through a cir- 



ville. A mission school, under Presbyterian 
auspices, was established near the reser^'ation 
soon after the Indians removed there. It w^as 
established by the New York Home Mission 
Society of that denomination, on the north 
half of Section 1, township 1 south, range eight 
east, state of Kansas, which tract of three 
hundred and twenty acres the society had pur- 
chased, and on which it had caused to be 
erected a concrete building ninety by forty 
feet in size and three stories in height with 
an ell or wing two stories in height. The 
kitchen and dining room were in the latter and 
the school rooms and dormitories were in the 
main building. The buildings were about six 
miles from the agency and village, and about 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



9.? 



a mile and a quarter beyond the limits of the 
reservation. On May 10, 1857, the Rev. 
Daniel A. Murdock, with his wife, Prudence, 
and their seven children, arrived and assumed 
charge of the mission ; three teachers were 
engaged, as were also a fanner, a carpenter, 
and a teamster, as well as two interpreters. 
It was the benevolent design of the society 
that the education of both sexes should com- 
bine industrial features. Soon after Mr. Mur- 
dock's arrival a conference was held with the 
chiefs, which resulted in an agreement on 
their part that they would promote the attend- 
ance of all children of a proper age, and in 
due time the school opened with an attendance 
of seventy-two, of whom only two were 
females. This was very disappointing, as ac- 
commodations had been provided for as many 
girls as boys. All pupils arrived almost in a 
state of nudity, and they were generously sup- 
plied with clothing at the expense of the so- 
ciety. Each day was dvided into periods of 
hours for school-room study, for out-door 
play, and for farm work, and thus all was pro- 
gressing favorably when the time arrived for 
the tribe to start on its annual fall buffalo 
hunt. The chiefs and heads of families then 
visited the mission and urgently requested 
that the boys be permitted to accompany their 
parents on the hunt, a request that could not 
be granted, inasmuch as it would practically 
break up the school for an indefinite time. It 
was supposed that the Indians had acquiesced 
in this refusal, when suddenly, on a Sabbath 
afternoon, all the boys disappeared and were 
soon en route with their parents to the buf- 
falo region. The mission people were not 
only discouraged — but also dismayed, for 
there was no certainty as to when the chil- 
dren would return, and it was possible that 
they might be absent the greater part of the 
winter. A few weeks after the departure of 
the children an incident occurred that doomed 
the school to failure, through fear and dis- 
trust on the part of the Indians, causing their 
refusal to permit their children to attend. This 
incident was nothing less than a raid of hos- 
tile Siou.x Indians upon the Otoe village and 
the mission property, during the tribe's ab- 



sence on the hunt. The circumstances of 
their raid convinced the Otoes that their chil- 
dren would have been massacred if they had 
not accompanied them on the hunt. It seems 
that the Sioux, finding that the village was de- 
serted, as any who had not gone on the hunt 
had fled or secreted themselves, ransacked 
such caches as -they were able to find and then 
proceeded to the mission, evidently in search 
of the children. Finding none in sight about 
the premises, the leader of the band ascended 
the hall staircase, leading to a dormitory, 
when he encountered J. E. Tanner, overseer 
of the farm, who seized him and threw him 
to the bottom of the stairs, where he landed 
very heavily. Being unsuccessful in finding 
any of the children, the two girls having been 
secreted by the teachers, the Sioux angrily de- 
parted. This was the last time that a Sioux 
war-party ever ventured within the limits of 
the county. The following spring, finding 
that the Indians still refused to allow their 
children to attend the school, Mr. Murdock 
resigned his charge and left the mission in 
charge of a Mr. Gutherj- , but after vainly try- 
ing to win the favourable regard and confi- 
dence of the Indians he too resigned, and the 
society, thoroughly discouraged, concluded to 
abandon as a hopeless job all attempts to edu- 
cate and civilize the Otoes. The society sold 
the mission property, and the building was 
afterward partially destroyed by a tornado. 

No further attempt was made toward edu- 
cating the Otoe children until the summer of 
1869, when the administration of agency affairs 
was placed in the hands of a representative of 
the Society of Friends, by President Grant. At 
that time the Otoes and Missouris were, with 
very few exceptions, "blanket" Indians. Most 
of the men, both young and old, were accus- 
tomed during warm weather, to discard even 
the blanket and wear only a clout or breech- 
cloth. Hats were never worn, except by the in- 
teqDreter and occasionally by an Indian police- 
man. It was customarj- to shave the scalp, leav- 
ing only a lock from the center of the crown 
backward, to which an eagle's feather was fre- 
quently attached. They used much Vermil- 
lion, indigo, yellow ocher, and v\fhite clay in 



94 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBR.\SKA 



facial decoration, and necklaces of woven 
horsehair curiously wrought with many col- 
ored bead-worU by the Indian women, were 
woni by both sexes almost universally. The 
Indian women were very skilful in embroid- 
ering and decorating moccasins and leggins of 
deer-skin with bead and porcupine quill work. 
Most of the older men and women had their 
ears lacerated with holes, often not less than 
a quarter of an inch in diameter, not only 
through the lobe, but also through the rim of 
the ear from the top downward. Such holes 
facilitated loading the ears with large clusters 
of bobs, — an article of adornment made of 
block tin and sold by all Indian traders. It 
was usual for the women and girls to put a 
line of Vermillion paint where their hair parted 
as well as to paint with vermillion the inside 
of their ears, thus adding to the fine effect of 
the silvery bobs. Eagle feathers, red-stone 
pipes, wampum, and beadwork were aniont; 
their most highly prized possessions — single 
specimens of either being frequently valued at 
more than a fine horse. 

While the earth-covered lodges of the vil- 
lage were cool and pleasant as summer habi- 
tations, they were cold and draughty in win- 
ter, the heat from the central fire escaping 
too readily through tiie great circular opening 
in the roof. For that reason it was customary 
for all to live in tepees during the winter, each 
family selecting a sheltered spot where water 
and dead wood were obtainable, and where, 
though often surrounded by banks of drifted 
snow, they existed with some degree of com- 
fort until spring. The Indian ponies sought 
shelter in the tinilier, where they often de- 
pended on the bark of the Cottonwood for sus- 
tenance. At the time the writer assumed 
management of the Indian agency, old Ar-ka- 
ke-ta was the head chief and the other chiefs 
were Big Soldier, Wan-na-ga-he, Medicine 
Horse ( Shunga-mon-co), Buffalo. Piiie Stem, 
and Little Pipe. Ar-ka-ke-ta was a polygamist, 
and regarded his wives as valuable assets on 
account of their usefulness in cultivating the 
ground, providing fire-wood, and otherwise 
cnntributing to iiis support. He was opposed 
lo );i(i)(-ual labor, and was what might be 



termed an obstructionist, as he opposed all 
measures likely to promote the advancement 
of the tribe. In appearance he was decidedly 
unprepossessing and untidy ; his usual facial 
adomment was a coating of soot mixed with 
mud, — which accorded well with a pessimis- 
tic state of mind that was natural to him. In 
1867-1868 a party of the chiefs had visited 
Washington and negotiated a treaty, under 
the terms of which they agreed to sell the 
whole reservation of one hundred and sixty 
thousand acres at one dollar and fifty cents per 
acre, and Ar-ka-ke-ta posed on that occasion 
as a great man ; the mud and soot disappeared 
from his face ; the pessimist became an op- 
timist, for, in his mental visions of the future, 
he saw his people rescued from the shackels 
that civilization was weaving around them, 
and mingling once more with kindered tribes 
in the far off Indian territory. When the 
writer arrived at the agency in June, 1869, 
the treaty was awaiting ratification by the 
senate and the tribe was consequently in a very 
restless condition. It soon became obvious to 
him that the conditions of the treaty were very 
prejudicial to the best interest of the Indians 
and that the consideration was entirely inade- 
quate, being less than half of what might be 
considered a fair valuation of the land at that 
time. He accordingly commenced taking 
measures to defeat ratification, by calling a 
council and persuading the head men and a 
few of the chiefs to sign a remonstrance 
against ratification, and a repudiation of the 
action of the party that had visited Washing- 
ton. This, together with a carefully prepared 
statement, was taken to Washington by a com- 
mittee of Friends, and the result was the de- 
feat of the treaty. The lands afterward sold 
for nearly ten times what they would have 
brought under the terms of the treaty. 

In 1870, as Indian agent, I removed .\r-ka- 
ke-ta from the position of head chief and pro- 
moted Shunga-mon-co (Medicine Horse) to 
that position. This was done because of the 
old head chief's refusal to remove from the 
village and go to fanning \<hen a neat frame 
house and tract of choice land had been of- 
fered him. It was important that the head 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



95 



chief should set an example to the young men 
of the tribe. Medicine Horse was a man of 
considerable influence and of very striking a])- 
pearance, — a natural orator whose flowery 
figures of speech always elicited cries of how ! 
how ! how ! from the assembled council. He 
agreed that if appointed head chief he would 
occupy a frame house, open a small farm, and 
set a good example to others. When the mat- 
ter was first broached to him he declared, with 
j^retended seriousness, that he had never done 



1870, 1871 and 1872 probably twenty-five fam- 
ilies had tried the experiment of living in 
houses and cooking on stoves — at least dur- 
ing the summer months — the lure of tepee 
life proving too strong on the approach of 
winter for some of them. Next in import- 
ance to Medicine Horse was Big Soldier, who, 
in face and figure, was a replica of an ancient 
Roman senator. By means of facial, labial, 
and finger movements, he was always able to 
converse without an interpreter, although he 



^.:i&^-^^^''^^ 
S??^'^- 







i^i iS^ii^^^^i 



Old Agency Miur. 



a stroke of work in his life, but he was im- 
mediately contradicted by old Chief BuiYalo, 
who affirmed that he remembered seeing him, 
when a boy, carrying a kettle of water for his 
mother. At this accusation Medicine Horse 
pretended to be very angry declaring that the 
charge was utterly false. In the course of a 
few days Medicine Horse, assisted by others, 
was busily engaged in cutting saw-logs and in 
due time he and his family were ensconced in 
a neat frame dwelling built of newly sawed 
Cottonwood lumber. Encouraged by his ex- 
ample others were also persuaded to cut logs, 
and the agency ox-teams were kept busy haul- 
ing them to the saw mill. During the years 



seldom used an English word. In many ways 
he was a very remarkable man, and a typical 
thoroughbred Otoe. 

Next in importance to the chiefs were 
the police, usually consisting of not more 
than fifteen individuals, chosen and appointed 
by the agent, whose duty it was to make 
arrests and otherwise assist in preserving 
order. They were commanded by a captain 
and lieutenant, and all provided with United 
States cavalry uniforms, which, however, 
were seldom worn except on important oc- 
casions, such as council meetings, and the 
execution of orders that required them to 
leave the reservation. All of the chiefs were 



96 



HISTORY OF GAGE COU.XTV. XEHRASKA 



Otoes except Kagle, who was a Missouri In- 
dian and the recognized "war chief" of the 
combined tribes ; for many years it had been 
his jjrovince to act as commander on all buf- 
falo hunts or other adventurous enterprises, 
lie was a man of commanding and dignified 
appearance, and despite his great age was 
straight as an arrow and active as a young 
man. An incident that came under the writ- 
er's observation while accompanying the In- 
dians on a buffalo hunt in 1870, illustrates 
how punctilious old Eagle was in strictly en- 
forcing an ancient tribal rule that forbids the 
killing of a straggling buffalo before the camp 
has been pitched and the hunters are all ready 
to participate in a combined attack upon the 
great herd. In this case it was a young chief, 
Little Pipe, who was the offender. Eagle's 
face was stern and unrelenting as he ordered 
the hea\'j- pony lash applied to the culprit's 
naked back, but before a blow descended the 
young chief's brother-in-law pushed him aside 
and presented his own back to receive vicari- 
ously the punishment that it was feared might 
degrade a chief. A bloody back soon showed 
that while the substitution had been accepted 
no mercy had been shown by the old war 
chief. This chief's name is worthy of a place 
in histor}' as the last chieftain of that Indian 
nation whose name is more frequently men- 
tioned than is that of any other aboriginal 
people on the continent ; a people who have 
given name to one of earth's longest rivers and 
to one of our nation's greatest and richest 
commonwealths. In 1869 there were only 
about eighty Missouris living, and since that 
time the race has practically disappeared. 

it was customary for the Otoes to go on a 
buffalo hum twice a year, starting on the 
summer hunt about the last of June and get- 
ting back usually some time in August. Late 
in November they started on the winter hunt, 
the return from which was wholly dependent 
on weather conditions and their success in 
procuring hides and meat.. The depredations 
by hostile Indians on the Little Blue had made 
the settlers very distrustful of all Indians, and 
in order to allay fear on the part of the set- 
tlers, as well as to protect the Otoes from hos- 



tile Indians, the agent obtained from the war 
department an order directing General Augur 
to furnish an escort of cavalry for the win- 
ter hunt of 1869 as well as for the summer 
hun.t of 1870. On the latter occasion the 
agent and a party of Philadelphians accom- 
panied the expedition ; they encountered a 
large herd of buffalo on the Sappa creek, in 
what is now Decatur county, Kansas. 

It was an ancient Indian practice among 
the Nebraska Indians to make sugar from the 
sap of the box alder, — a practice that the 
Otoes continued after their settlement on the 
reservation. Formerly they used no tobacco, 
hut smoked a mixture of dried sumac leaves 
and red-willow bark that had been in common 
use among all the western tribes probably for 
centuries. This old Quivira mixture, with 
sometimes a little tobacco added but oftener 
without any, was always adhered to by the 
Otoes and Missouris. The smoke produced 
had an acrid though not altogether disagree- 
able odor and was usually exhaled through 
the nostrils. The Indians obtained many fine 
fish from the Blue. They used no fishhooks, 
but shot the fish as they glided through the 
clear water, using only bow and arrows for 
the purpose. When heavy rains raised the 
water to flood tide they built seine-like bar- 
riers of willow poles and rods across the 
mouths of bayous and draws so that the re- 
ceding waters left many fish, usually of large 
size, stranded behind such barriers. As long 
as the waters of the Blue remained clear the 
river abounded with gars, which often at- 
tained* a large size; specimens four feet in 
length being frequently caught. Although 
the white settlers did not consider them edi- 
ble, the Otoes regarded them ver^^ favourably 
as food. As the country' gradually settled up 
and sediment from plowed fields found its way 
into the river, the gars disappeared. As late 
as 1869 a beaver was occasionally caught, and 
the commoner fur-bearing animals, such as 
mink, skunk, raccoon, etc., were plentiful, 
their furs being quite a source of profit to the 
Indians.. The abundance and variety of 
plums gathered by the Indian women were 
surprising. They varied greatly in quality and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



97 



size, a tree being occasionally found the fruit 
from which equalled the choicest sold in our 
markets to-day. There were still a few wild 
deer in the county as late as 1870, for at 
least two fawns were caught by the Indians 
during that year, and a large antlered buck 
was seen by the writer a few miles south of 
Beatrice. 

The breaking of the prairie sod caused the 
total disappearance of a plant, once quite plen- 
tiful, whose bulbous root was eagerly sought 
for and highly prized as an article of food by 
the Otoes. In taste it slightly resembled a 
chestnut, and when divested of its thick, bark- 
like skin, it was as large as a hulled walnut. 
This plant grew to a height of from eighteen 
inches to two feet and had a branching top. 
The settlers made no use of it. but to the In- 
dians travelling on the war-path or the hunt, 
when short of other food, it afforded security 
from starvation. It was an emergency food 
supply that the Indians had no doubt availed 
themselves of from time immemorial. The 
Otoes at all times relished it highly, even when 
they had other food in abundance. The des- 
truction of the origional sod has caused the 
disappearance from the county of other plants 
equally as interesting, but probably of none 
that occupied as high a place in the Indian's 
estimation as did this one.. 

For more than a decade prior to 1869 no 
missionary efforts had been made or religious 
services held among the Otoes and Missouris. 
They had a religion, if such it might be called, 
that was not based on creed, bible, or confes- 
sion of faith, and that had come down to them 
as an inheritance from a far off past. It was 
the religion of ancient Quivira. The Great 
Spirit, Wa-con-da, — the maker of all things 
was to them no far off deity dwelling 
in a far oft' heaven, but an ever present actuat- 
ing and controlling force in nature and in all 
natural phenomena; they heard his voice in 
the thunder and saw the ashes of his wrath 
in the lightiiing; the toniado showed his might 
and power: the sunshine and the gentle rain, 
the ripened corn, and ever\' beneficent gift of 
nature, bore evidence to his favor. How 
many white professors of religion, seated at a 



loaded table, commence eating without giving 
a thankful thought to the Great Giver of all 
good : — and yet we have seen an Otoe chief, 
seated with his family on the ground around 
a pot of succotash, a mixture of boiled corn 
and pumpkin, before dispensing it to the mem- 
bers of his family pour some of it on the 
ground and stir it into the dirt and ashes so 
that the dogs could not get it, calling on Wa- 
con-da to accept it as a thank offering. It 
was the universal custom in council to pass 
the pipe from chief to chief, each taking a 
whiff or two, and exclaiming, as he exhaled the 
smoke, words that signified an acknowledg- 
ment of Wa-con-da's presence, — the act be- 
ing in reality a smoke offering. They knew 
nothing of the Mosaic law, but old Chief Wan- 
a-ga-he once declared, striking himself upon 
the breast, "We know that within us is peace 
if we do right, but if we do \vrong Wa-con-da 
is displeased and we are unhappy." Kindness 
toward each other and harmony in families 
were notable traits of the Otoe character that 
remind one of Castaneda's statement already 
quoted — "they are a kind people." As the 
ancient Jews relied upon their tribal God to 
aid them in battle with their enemies, so the 
Otoes relied upon Wa-con-da to aid and pro- 
tect them on the war-path. 

In the fall of 1870 Agent Green discovered 
that a party of Otoes were preparing for a 
pony raid on a distant tribe a proceedure that 
was analagous to going on the war-path, so far 
as risk and excitement were concerned. The 
leader of the party, a notorious half-breed, 
known as Jim White-water (who afterward 
spent seventeen years in the state penitentiary 
for an atrocious double murder), had already 
nearly completed all preliminary arrangements 
when the discovery was made. For several 
days the braves whom he had selected for the 
party had been segregated in a tepee at some 
distance from the village, undergoing certain 
preparatory exercises, consisting mostly of 
chanting and drumming, while Jim sought se- 
cluded places in the timber along Plum creek 
where he loudly wailed and called on Wa-con- 
da to favour the enterprise. This segregation 
or separation of men from their wives for some 



98 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



days, before starting on the war-path, the time 
being taken up with efforts to win the favour 
of Wa-con-da by chanting and drumming, is of 
great antiquity. On this occasion W'a-con-da 
failed to render protection, for the agent 
wrath fully descended on the band with his 
police and ordered their dispersal threatening 
imprisonment of their leader if he attempted 
to leave the reservation. The chiefs at once 
asked for a council and informed the agent 
that when a war-party had gone so far with 
the preliminaries they could not back out with- 
out disgrace, and that in order to look their 
friends in the face without shame it would 
be neces.sar}' to give them at least six ponies, 
and suggested that if the agent would give one 
they would make up the required number. This 
the agent refused to do, and the chiefs silently 
departed, but sent a messenger to inform the 
agent that they had bought the war-party off 
with ponies. 

The medicine-bag, a bundle about two feet 
in length, containing a mysterious assortment 
of relics and charms, held an important place 
in what might be termed the religious psychol- 
ogy of the Otoes. In some mysterious way it 
was supposed to invite the presence or favour 
of Wa-con-da. There was usually one of 
these mysterious bundles suspended in every 
large lodge and all were supposed to be of 
great antiquity, having been handed down 
from generation to generation. Some of them 
were decorated with the scalps of enemies 
slain in battles fought so long ago that even 
tradition fsiled to recall their story. There 
was no tincture of idolatry connected with 
these objects ; they were venerated very much 
as shrines have been venerated by Christians 
and were carried by war parties in a belief tliat 
W'a-con-da, the Great -Medicine (Mystery), 
would favour them with his protecting pres- 
ence. 

The Otoes and Missouris believed in a uni- 
versal immortality that included not only hu- 
man souls but also spirits of all animals. They 
believed that a pony, strangled by the side of 
its owner's grave at the time of his burial, ac- 
companied him as a spirit steed to the land 
of the immortals, and that a dog strangled be- 



side the grave of a little child afforded it com- 
pany and protection. It was not until 1870- 
1871 that Agent Green succeeded in abolishing 
the practice of strangling ponies, but the 
strangling of dogs was permitted to continue 
during the Indians' sojourn in the county. It 
was not an uncommon sight to see the body of 
a dog, dried to a mummy, standing in an up- 
right position with its back to a stake, to which 
it was tightly bound by a raw-hide thong 
passed around its throat. 

The Otoes used no coffins, but placed their 
dead in a sitting posture in graves that were 
only about four feet in depth with an opening 
at the top only large enough to admit the body, 
— the cavity being from three to four feet in 
width at the bottom. The relatives, having 
taken a final farewell of the dead, all joined in 
load wailing, while the old women, whose 
province it was to dig graves and conduct 
burials, placed a layer of heavy sticks and a 
buft'alo robe or blanket over the mouth of the 
grave and piled the excavated earth upon it. 
If a pony was to be strangled, a saddle and 
bridle was usually put beside its owner in the 
grave, and the chosen animal, having been 
decorated with hand-marks of vermillion, was 
led to the grave-side with a lariat looped 
around its neck in a manner easily to produce 
strangulation when a squaw at each end pulled 
with all her strength. The pony having fallen 
beside the grave was allowed to remain there 
until dogs and wild animals had consumed its 
flesh ; the skull was then placed as a decoration 
on the top of the mound, and its tail or a por- 
tion of the mane attached to a pole planted at 
the side of the grave. A well authenticated 
instance of the burial alive of an old man, with 
the body of his grandchild, occurred a few 
years prior to 1869. The story, as related by 
Battiste Deroin, was a very sad and pathetic 
one. It appears that the old man was greatly 
attached to the child and when it died was in- 
consolable; his feeble condition indicated that 
his own departure was not far distant, and it 
was in accordance with his own desire that he 
was placed in the grave with the little one in his 
embrace, that he might be its caretaker and 
companion through the wilderness that all 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



99 



must cross in order to reach the land of eternal 
rest. Food was placed beside him and the 
wailing sounded afar, as his kinsmen bade him 
farewell and the heavy earth was mounded 
above his head. 

The Otoes did not always bury their dead, 
especially when the ground was deeply frozen. 
One of the strangest sights to be seen upon the 
reservation consisted of two ancient oaks, 
standing within a few feet of each other, the 



nited and with their gruesome burden com- 
pletely destroyed. What was probably the 
last instance of such disposal of the dead oc- 
curred during the winter of 1870, when the 
writer discovered the recently placed body of a 
child securely wrapped and tied far out on the 
limb of a very tall tree that stood on the bank 
of the Blue at a point about a mile south of 
the present town of Wymore. 

The first mercantile establishment in the 




Old Buri.m, Pl.ace and Funeral Trees of the Otoes 



limbs and forks of which were laden with the 
mummified remains of men women and chil- 
dren, each wrapped in skins, old blankets, bark, 
etc.. and bound with raw hide thongs so se- 
curely that the most violent storms had never 
been able to dislodge them. The trees stood 
at the foot of a low bluff near the principal 
Indian burial ground, and at a point nearly 
midway between the present town of Barnes- 
ton and Plum creek. During the fall of 1872 
a great prairie fire swept the river bottom and 
there being much tall grass and dry trash be- 
neath the partly decayed oaks, they were ig- 



county was on Plum creek, at a point about a 
mile west of the present town of Liberty, 
where, in a log cabin, one Gideon Bennett, an 
Indian trader, sold beads, calico and other In- 
dian goods, taking in exchange furs and buf- 
falo robes, as well as crediting the heads of 
families against the forthcoming annuity pay- 
ments. The business afterward passed into 
the hands of Macdonald, of St. Joseph, who, 
in 1869, engaged Mrs. David Palmer to con- 
duct the store. She understood and talked 
the Indian language and dealt fairly with the 
Indians. Mrs. Palmer and her husband were 



100 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



among the first settlers of the county and were 
typical pioneers. David was a stalwart moun- 
tainer, inured to hardships ; the advantages of 
an education had been denied him, but the 
book of nature was ever open to his under- 
standing. Mrs. Palmer was in many respects 
a remarkable woman, energetic and trust- 
worthy in conducting Macdonald's business 
and quick to acquire a knowledge of the Otoe 
language that enabled her to transact business 
without an interpreter. As illustrating the 
versatility of her talents, the writer has in his 
possession a pair of heavy, gauntleted driving 
gloves made from a beaver skin that he ob- 
tained from an Otoe, — the palms and fingers 
being of deer skin, the cutting, fitting, and 
stitching all being the work of her hands and 
equal to any that are offered for sale. The 
vicinity of the store was settled by families 
from Tennessee, some of whom tried raising 
cotton, but soon discovered that the climate 
was not very well adapted to it; some of them 
did their own spinning and weaving of a sort 
of cloth, having brought the necessary appa- 
ratus with them from Tennessee. The writer 
remembers to have seen men's clothing made 
from this homespun cloth. 

It was during the time that Bennett con- 
ducted the store on Plum creek that a band of 
Pawnees made a raid upon it. They had 
spent a part of the night watching for an op- 
portunity to seize Otoe ponies, but finding 
them too securely corralled and guarded, had 
broken into the store instead. Naturally Ben- 
nett supposed that a party of Otoes must have 
been guilty of the afifair, but investigation at 
the agency proved that such was not the case. 
The Otoes were greatly excited and their po- 
lice were not long in discovering the trail of 
the robber band which they followed swiftly, 
overtaking them on the Little Blue, some miles 
above the present site of Fairbun,'. In the 
fall of 1869 the writer, while accompanying 
the Otoes on a hunt, encamped for a night near 
the spot where this encounter took place, at 
which time fragments of skulls and bones were 
found among the briars and underbrush that 
covered the spot where the Pawnees were 
overtaken. The Otoes claimed to have killed 
the entire party. 



We have already referred to the hereditary 
hostility that existed between these Indians 
and the Osages, — a hostility that is known to 
have existed as far back as 1720, if the writ- 
ings of Spanish friars can be depended upon, 
and which appears to have been kept alivo 
through all the intervening years, resulting 'w. 
frequent ventures upon the war-path, re- 
prisals for ponies stolen and sometimes in 
bloodshed. The last rsid made by Osage 
warriors upon the Indians of Gage county oc- 
curred in the fall of 1868; it resulted in the 
killing of a number of Otoe women who were 
at work at some distance from the village, all 
of whom were scalped and otherwise mu- 
tilated. The Osages were a powerful tribe as 
compared with the Otoes, but a party of Otoe 
braves at once prepared to take the war-path 
against them, determined either to inflict retri- 
bution or exact reparation. Plaving invoked 
the favour of Wa-con-d,^ by chanting, drum- 
ming, and wailing, in a tepee apart from the 
village, the party set out on their perilous un- 
dertaking. They had been gone many days and 
great suspense and anxiety was felt in regard 
to them when a messenger, announcing their 
approach with a great herd of ponies, arrived 
at the village. The greatest excitement and 
rejoicing ensued ; heralds cried the news from 
one end of the village to the other, and the 
women and children stationed themselves on 
the tops of the lodges in order to get a view 
of the returning war party as it approached in 
the distance. Soon, with beating drum and 
loud war whoops, they filed into the village 
with a string of eighty ponies following in 
their train. Of these eighty ponies, it ap- 
pears that forty had been given by the Osages 
on presentation of the peace-pipe at a parley 
held at the Osage village, the other forty had 
been stolen from the Osages the following 
night. A great war dance followed : the stor)- 
of braver}- and daring was loudly shouted by 
the heralds ; feasting and rejoicing continued 
far into the night, but t'.rough it all a sense of 
hovering danger disquieted the old men of the 
tribe who were too well acquainted with the 
ways of the Osages to doubt for a moment 
that their painted warriors would lose little 
time in exacting reparation. Measures were 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



101 



at once taken to gnard against a surprise raid. 
All ponies were securely corralled within the 
village every night and kept under watch both 
night and day. 

It was during this period of fear and sus- 
pense, which extended into the summer of 
1869, that the Pottawattamies turned a rather 
neat trick on the Otoes. A war-party of 
Pottawattamies had made a raid upon the 
Omahas and with thirty head of stolen ponies 
were on their homeward way, when, in order 
to mislead the Omahas and throw suspicion 
upon the Otoes, should the Omahas follow 
their trail, they made a detour through the 
Otoe reservation, passing in the night as near 
the village as possible without discovery by 
the Otoes. The war-party of thirty Omaha 
braves who a few days later, following their 
trail, naturally concluded that their ponies had 
been stolen by the Otoes and that the right 
thing to do would be to recoup themselves 
from the Otoe herds. Cautiously reconnoit- 
ering during the small hours of the night, they 
were greatly astonished at the unusual pre- 
cautions that the Otoes had taken to protect 
their ponies from theft, not being aware of 
their recent trouble with the Osages. The 
ponies belonging to each family were enclosed 
in pens of heavy wickerwork close to the' 
lodge entrance and from sunset until day- 
break a watchman was on guard. 

The Omaha braves, secreted in the tall sun- 
flowers and wild hemp that formed a rank 
growth in the vicinity of the lodges and cor- 
ralls, received no attention from the Indian 
dogs, though if a white man had so hidden 
they would have announced his presence in 
the noisiest manner. Slowly the hours passed 
until, with the first streaks of dawn, the 
watchmen retired and then with swift move- 
ments the silent forms of thirty nearly naked 
men cut the withes of bark that held the 
wickerwork and poles of the corralls in place, 
each seized a choice animal, mounted it, and 
all rode swiftly away. The noise of clattering 
hoof-beats awakened the drowsy Otoes who 
came swarming from their lodges, sure that 
the feared and hated Osages had visited them 
at last. It was soon found that thirtv head 



of the very best ponies were missing. In a 
very short time the women and children of the 
village were standing on the lodges gazing 
afar oiT on the prairie where a long line of 
Otoe horsemen were swiftly following the 
trail of the stolen ponies. By noon the thieves 
had been overtaken and found to be Omahas 
instead of Osages. The entire party were 
taken prisoners and brought to the agency ; all 
were in war paint and heavily armed, each 
man having, besides a bow and quiver of ar- 
rows, a heavy revolver of the type used by 
cavalrymen during the Civil war. The leader 
carried a war-drum which the writer still re- 
tains as a memento of the occasion. Having 
disarmed them as the}' entered the council 
room in charge of the Indian police, all were 
seated on the floor while their leader and 
other principal men of the party were called 
upon to state the circumstances of their visit. 
The Otoes had been furiously angry at first, 
but on learning all the facts connected with 
the aft'air were rather inclined to view it as a 
"comedy of errors" and, on advice of the 
agent, smoked the pipe of peace with the cap- 
tured men and invited them to partake of 
food, as they were nearly starved. They had 
traveled from their village one hundred and 
fifty miles away, afoot, expecting to return on 
horseback, but the fortunes of war compelled 
them to return as they came. The only blood 
shed upon their war-path was that of a hog 
belonging to Elijah Filley, whose farm lay in 
their course. Elijah brought the bloody ar- 
row to the agency as evidence of what he sup- 
posed to have been an Otoe depredation. 

The success of the Omaha raiders in taking 
ponies from the corralls did not lessen the 
feeling of uneasiness and dread that was felt 
in the direction of the Osages. In fact the 
expectation of an Osage attack kept the Otoes 
on the anxious seat until the spring of 1870, 
when Agent Green called a council and an- 
nounced to the chiefs his intention of making 
an everlasting peace between the tribes. He 
informed them that he should at once invite 
the Osages to send representatives to a settle- 
ment of all differences; that forty head of 
ponies should be delivered to them, that beinsr 



102 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



the r.miiber stolen ; and that the war-path be- 
tween the Otoes and the Osages should be for- 
ever ended. In due course of time a band of 
Osage chiefs and braves, gorgeously painted 
and befeathered, arrived at the agency ; a 
council was held and many speeches in both 
the Otoe and Osage language were made : the 
great red-stone peace pipe was smoked by all 
as it passed from hand to hand. The agent, 
whom the Indian chiefs always addressed as 
"Un-koe" (my father) when they were as- 
sembled in council, then emphasized the im- 
portance of at once forever ending a custom 
that civilization would no longer tolerate. All 
agreed that the words of the father were good, 
— -a great feast followed the adjournment of 
the council, and the Osage warriors departed, 
leaving behind them a sense of peaceful se- 
curity that the Otoes had not known for many 
long years. 

After the destruction of the old mission 
building some years elapsed before any at- 
tempt was again made to educate the Indian 
children. During the fall and winter of 1869 
Cottonwood and walnut logs were cut and the 
saw mill was kept busy preparing lumber for 
a school house and other needed buildings. A 
large one-story school building was completed 
in 1870 and all Indian children of school age 
were required to attend, attendance being 
made comi)ulsory. Commencing with the fall 
of 1869 clothing of all kinds for children was 
abundantly furnished by the Indian Aid As- 
sociation of the Philadelphia "^'carly Meeting 
of Friends, consequently the school children 
were all well clothed for the first time in their 
lives. The .school was supplied with com- 
petent teachers from the start, — women 
whose faithful services entitle their names to 
laudatory mention in any historical account of 
our county's Indian population. Miss Maria 
V^anDorn and Mrs. Nannie Armstrong were 
Virginians, while Mrs. Sallie Ely and Miss 
Elizabeth W^alton were from Philadelphia. 
All were faithful and efficient workers in 
educational lines as well as in attending to the 
needs of the sick and aged, in distributing 
clothing, and in advising the Indian women in 
regard to sanitary living. Miss Phebe Oliver, 



a graduate of the Women's Medical College 
of Philadelphia, came to the agency as resident 
physician in 1870. She was very successful 
in the treatment of diseases of children, the 
prevalence of which diseases had caused many 
deaths previous to her arrival. Up to this 
time the Otoes had relied wholly on their 
own methods of treatment, the basic principle 
of which was the prevention of interference 
by evil spirits. Every case of sickness was 
supposed to result in accordance with the will 
of an evil spirit or influence that, unless 
frightened away, will interfere with the action 
of medicine and render a cure impossible. The 
course usually adopted in the case of desper- 
ate wounds or severe injuries was to shake 
rattles and to dance around the patient for six 
days and nights, fresh dancers taking the place 
of others from time to time. In the case of a 
sick or wounded horse a dilTerent method was 
pursued. At each administration of medicine 
or treatment of a wound a difl^erent colored 
blanket was placed upon the animal, the sup- 
position being that this would confuse or de- 
ceive the bad spirit that interfered with the 
curative process, so that it would be likely to 
pass without recognizing the animal. 

As illustrative of Otoe methods in the suc- 
cessful treatment of a case that the agent and 
his employes all considered hopeless, that of 
Roc-co a young brave whose skull had been 
split by an axe so that a portion of the brain 
exuded, deserves recording in these pages. It 
seems that Roc-co was sitting on the ground 
close to where his wife was cutting down a 
tree, w hen her axe slipped or glanced and cut 
deeply into the top of his head. The horrified 
woman, believing that she had killed him and 
knowing that his blood relatives would lose no 
time in taking her life for his, at once iled and 
secreted herself in some far-off fastness. The 
unconscious Roc-co was found mi due time ai; ! 
borne to the agency. It was the opinion of 
all the white employes that he could sun-ive 
hut a short time and that he would never re- 
gain consciousness. Dr. Oliver not yet having 
arrived upon the reservation, the Otoe doctors 
begged for permission to try their .skill upon 
him, which the agent granted. He was then 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



103 



taken to his own lodge and laid upon the 
ground with his head near a fire, beside which 
an Otoe drum was continuously beaten and 
around which a circle of Indians danced, each 
shaking a gourd rattle, the noise of which, to- 
gether with the monotonous chanting of the 
relays of dancers, was kept up for six days 
and nights. At intervals one of 'he dancers 
stepped from the circle and taking a mouthful 
of a dark liquid sprayed it upon the wound. 
Whether it was the alternate moistening of 
the wound with the liquid and drying by the 
wannth of the fire, or the incessant noise, 
acting curatively in awakening dormant faith, 
no one can tell, but the fact remains that after 
six days the tribe assembled to see him led 
forth, pale as a ghost, tottering and leaning 
on a staff. His complete recovery was a mat- 
ter of only a few weeks. 

In the meantime diligent search had been 
made for Roc-co's wife, and she was very 
liable to perish from cold and hunger, the 
nights being cold and she very thinly clad. It 
was many days before a trace of her could be 
found and when at last, emaciated and worn 
out with anguish and physical suffering, she 
was found in some far off ravine, the news 
of her husband's survival and possible recov- 
ery came to her as a message of great joy. 
She had carefully evaded and eluded all 
searching parties, supposing their intention 
was to put her to death. 

Among the Otoes the doctors were usually 
women, whose duty it was to dig the grave 
and bury a patient whom they failed to cure, 
such termination of a case entitling them to 
act as administrators of the personal estate of 
the deceased, most of which became their 
perquisites. Bleeding and blistering were re- 
sorted to for many pains and aches. The 
bleeding was done by scarifying the spot in 
which the pain centered and then using a 
sort of a suction cup made from the horn of a 
young buffalo, the small end of which had 
been perforated. The blistering was a cruel 
infliction usually applied on the breasts of chil- 
dren by inserting a piece of dry pitch in a small 
cut and igniting it. As several such torches 
were scattered over a child's breast and burned 



down until large blisters were produced, one 
can imagine the agony the little patients had 
to endure. 

An ancient Indian cu.5tom, that survived 
until 1871-1872, was pony-giving and pipe- 
dancing. The lowas, Omahas, and Otoes had 
always been on visiting terms, and always 
owed each other visits, in order to get back 
as many ponies as had been given or more. It 
was nothing unusual for the Otoes to give 
from twenty-five to fifty head of ponies to a 
visiting band. A man's reputation for courage 
and his standing in the tribe was largely de- 
pendant on the number of ponies he had given 
away during his lifetime. In almost every 
lodge there was conspicuously displayed a 
bundle of small painted sticks, each of which 
represented a pony that the owner of the lodge 
had given away on the occasion of a pipe- 
dance. The larger the bundle the greater the 
honor due its possessor. The daughter of a 
man whose display of painted sticks indicated 
his having given away many ponies was en- 
titled to bear the "Kra-kah'' mark, — a blue 
spot tattooed midway between the eye brows. 
The possession of such a be.iuty-spot was evi- 
dence that she was the diuighter of a very 
brave and honorable personage. Agent Green 
found that pipe-dancing and tribal visits with 
pony giving were very detrimental to the 
tribe's advancement toward a more civilized 
condition. They were customs that had been 
in vogue for untold centuries and were among 
tlie strongest ties binding the tribes to a past 
age of barbarism. At a conference of United 
States Indian agents, held in Omaha in 1870- 
1871. he advocated a concerted action on the 
part of all the agents in the superintendancy, 
in putting a stop to tribal visiting, pipe-danc- 
ing and pony-giving. Each agent present 
agreed no longer to permit his Indians either 
to go on a pipe-dance visit, or to receive a 
visiting band from another tribe. It required* 
some time for the tribes to reconcile them- 
selves to this abandonment of what for cen- 
turies had been one of their chief sources of 
pleasure and excitement, and it was not until 
after a few visiting bands had been sent to 
their homes pony-less that the custom was re- 



104 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



luctaiitl)' al)andoned. The conclusion of a 
permanent peace with the Osages and the dis- 
continuance of frequent triba' visits with their 
attendant excitement rendered it less difficult 
to induce the Indians to live in the small frame 
houses that the agent was building for them, 
and to cultivate the land. 

Gradually the men were induced to wear 
the clothing furnished by *he Indian Aid Asso- 
ciation, though many of the older men could 
never be persuaded to wear trousers and often 
mutilated or destroyed a new pair of trousers 
in order to use the legs as leggings ; they ob- 
jected to the rest of the garment for the rea- 
son that it made the lower part of the body too 
warm. Efforts were made by the ladies of the 
agency to introduce the use of soap and towels 
into the domestic economy of the Otoe lodges, 
and considerable quantities of these were sup- 
plied by the Indian Aid .-\ssociation, all of 
which the Indians gladly received and at once 
established a lively commerce with their white 
neighbors, supplying them with soap and tow- 
els in exchange for fresh pork, chickens, but- 
ter, and other edibles. On one occasion the 
Indian Aid Association sent a very large box 
containing enough gay creations of the millin- 
er",-; art to supi^ly every woman in the tribe with 
a flower or feather bedecked headpiece, either 
a hat or a bonnet. The next day the young 
braves of the tribe had bedecked themselves 
with the whole of this supply of gay milli- 
nery : the women had no use for it. 

The Otoes and Missouris were of very pure 
Indian blood, except in the case of three or 
four individuals whose names indicated a 
French ancestrj'. Two of these men were of 
striking appearance and physique. Both were 
fairly well educated and they were of nearly 
the same age. One was Battiste Deroin the 
other Battiste Barncljy. Battiste Deroin was 
an Otoe while his lifelong rival and competitor 
for the position of United States interpreter 
was an Omaha, married to an Otoe woman. 
The French blood in the veins of each had 
been diluted through so many generations of 
Indian ancestors that its existence was hardly 
apjiarent. For some reasons that had mili- 
tated in his favour Deroin received the ap- 



pointment as government interpreter from 
Agent Green, in 1869, — a position that he 
afterward held until the removal of the Indians 
from the county. Both men had great in- 
fluence among the Indians and were highly re- 
garded by many of the ^arly settlers of the 
county. They were both most interesting con- 
versationalists and well verged in all Indian 
lore. Battiste Deroin was a polygamist, his 
two wives being sisters, as he had availed him- 
self of an Indian custom that permitted a man 
to take his wife's younger .'•ister as a supple- 
mentary wife without ceremony or gift. The 
fact that this young woman was the beauty of 
tlic tribe and had a host of admirers and lov- 
ers caused him many a pai'g of jealousy that 
was far from being groundless. Battiste 
Barneby was among the first Indians on the 
reservation to build a frame house and occupy 
it as a dwelling place both wmter and summer. 
It was provided with a wide, open fire-place, 
within which a cheerful tire alw'ays blazed 
and beside which might be often seen a nearly 
full-grown wild cat, either asleep or engaged 
in washing its face with its paw, just as an 
ordinary pussy does. Its sharp claws en- 
abled it to exact due respect from the snarling 
(logs that tried to form its acquaintance. Mrs. 
Barneby wore the Kra-kah mark between her 
eyebrows, indicating that her father had been 
brave and honorable ; a man of great liberality 
and generosity. A bundle of small painted 
sticks, each representing a pony given away, 
doubtless accompanied him to the grave. Bat- 
tiste Barneby was accidentally killed, in .Atchi- 
son, Kansas, in 1875 or 1876. 

Perhaps no Indian was more widely known 
among the early settlers than old Medicine 
Jake, the snake doctor. Emaciated and en- 
tirely nude, except as to a breech cloth, his 
striking appearance was enhanced by a snake- 
skin bandaged around one of his skinny le^s, 
just below the knee, as a sign or advertisement 
of his profession. Rattlesnakes and moc- 
casins were quite plentiful and the Indian 
children were frequently bitten. It was 
claimed that old Jake had an inf.tllible cure 
that nobody else knew how to prepare. Strange 
as it may seem, the Otoes were afraid to kill 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



105 



snakes owing to a belief that if one was killed 
its kindred would seek until they found the 
killer and inflicted revenge. Their name for 
snake was "wah-cun," signifying something 
akin to a spirit. Another remark d)le char- 
acter was O-thro-kes-koo-nie, known among 
the white people as "Hog-Jaw" because of a 
deformity that caused his lower teeth and jaw 
to project in a frightful manner, — a malfor- 
mation that made the poor fellows life miser- 
able by creating fear and aversion whenever 
he appeared in the presence of strangers. Per- 
haps one of the strongest characters among 
the Otoes was jo-John, captain of the Indian 
police. When Ar-ka-ke-ta was deposed and 
Medicine Horse made chief, Jo-Johti was pro- 
moted by the agent to a chieftainship, but alas. 
Beatrice whiskey was his undoing, — when 
under its influence, in a sudden fit of anger, 
he killed a companion by striking him on the 
head with a neckyoke. This act cost him his 
position as chief and, according to ancient cus- 
tom, forfeited him his life, putting it abso- 
hitel}- at the disposal of the kindred of the 
slain. In order to save him from summary 
execution he was lodged in jail at Beatrice. 
Eventually the relatives of the murdered man 
were appeased by a liberal gift of ponies, and 
Jo- John was restored to the bosom of his 
family. Physically Jo-John was a splendid 
specimen of his race. Having a mental capac- 
ity above the average, he possessed those 
ancient traits of Indian character that won 
the confidence and esteem of the early French 
traders, — -honesty, integrity, and truthful- 
ness. An incident illustrating this occurred 
shortly before the unfortunate homicide we 
have mentioned. It seems that he had bor- 
rowed a small sum of money from a person 
living near Blue Springs, promising to repay 
it within a certain time and when the time was 
near at hand he went to the house of the 
lender to repay it, only to find the premises oc- 
cupied by strangers, who informed him that 
the party he sought had removed to a distant 
part of Kansas. Jo-John knew nothing about 
bank drafts or money orders, so, mounting his 
pony, he set out on a long and wearisome jour- 
ney to find his creditor. The trip required 



several days and involved much inquiry, for it 
was not known exactly where the party had 
located and an inal)ility to clearly express ideas 
in English made the task he had undertaken 
all the harder. His perseverance, however, 
was rewarded by finding the party sought, who 
was greatly surprised by the payment of a 
small debt that he had forgotten all about. 

The Otoes as a people were innately hon- 
est and generally careful to meet all their 
financial obligations. This characteristic was 
so well known to all Indian traders and agency 
employes that they never hesitated to extend 
them credit, knowing that on annuity payment, 
if not before, the debt would be paid. Per- 
haps ne.xt to Jo-John the finest looking and 
most typical specimen of an Indian warrior 
was Har-ra-gar-rah, son of Chief Big Sol- 
dier. He was known among the white peo- 
ple by the name of "Hod-de-god-die." It 
was the chief hope and ambition of Big Sol- 
dier's life that Hod-de-god-die should succeed 
him as chief, and many were the interviews he 
sought with the agent on that account, but the 
old man's hopes were doomed to disappoint- 
ment for Hod-de-god-die's mental equipment 
and calibre would have disqualified him even 
had a vacancy occurred. When arrayed in 
full Indian costume that included a very anc- 
ient necklace of bear's claws, ears loaded with 
silver bobs, and face bedecked with indigo 
and Vermillion, Hod-de-god-die presented a 
rather gorgeous spectacle, but the real Beau 
Brummel of the tribe, the acknowledged 
prince of all fops, was Jack Wild-Bird. To 
visitors he was a curiosity. He apjjeared to 
have only one serious occupation, aside from 
athletic games, and that was the beautification 
and decoration of his personality. Hours 
were spent in painting and decorating his face 
with vemiillion, indigo, yellow ocher, and 
white clay, and experience had taught him 
how to produce the most startling and inhar- 
monious efl'ect. His head was always kept 
shaved to a scalp-lock, from which floated a 
fine eagle's feather. And many hours of his 
time were occupied in the use of his beard- 
puller and in watching his face in a lirge hand- 
glass that was carried attached to his waist 



106 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



cord. The beard-pullers used by the Otoes 
consisted of a spring-like steel coil about 
three inches in length which, when pressed 
against the face, and tightly squeezed, caught 
and held the small hairs and eyebrows, thus 
enabling the operator to extract a large num- 
ber at once. These instruments were sold 
l)y all Indian traders. During warm weather 
lack's only raiment, aside from his scarlet 
l)reech cloth and heavy necklaces of wampum 
and beads, was similar to that possessed by 
Adam before the apple episode, but in cold 
weather he fairly bloomed in gay ribbands, 
deer-skin leggings decorated with the stained 
quills of the porcupine, and the handsomest 
scarlet blanket obtainable. He was un- 
doubtedly the most accomplished flute music- 
ian in the tribe, and during summer evenings 
the melodious strains of his flute, mingled 
with the far off wail of a mourner beside a 
lonely grave, were often aids in courting 
sleeji. The never failing hospitality to be met 
with at every lodge rendered the matter of 
subsistence a minor consideration with this 
gay idler. In the ancient athletic games of 
the tribe he was a leader and expert. The 
village {)lay ground was a very important fea- 
ture of viUage life. It consisted of well- 
smoothed and perfectly level space about five 
hundred feet in length I)y perhaps two hun- 
dred in width. It was there that many of the 
young men, nude except as to breech cloth, 
l>layed from morning till night through the 
hottest days, exhibiting a wonderful dexterity 
in throwing, while running at great speed, a 
small flexii)le ring, causing it to s])in along the 
ground while each runner essayed to catch it 
upon a sort of a javelin that he threw as he 
ran. This game was rendered very exciting 
by the betting that accompanied it. and it was 
from this source that Jack Wild-liinl accpiired 
the means that enabled him to bedeck himself 
so gayly. 

It was a custom among the Indians to de- 
])rive a woman of the sight of one eye if she 
was known to have departed from the path of 
virtue. The writer was cognizant of a case of 
this kind in 1869, but occasions for the in- 
fliction of this severe punishment were very 



rare. Marital infelicity, caused by infidelity 
on the part of a wife, called for the blood of 
her paramour; or in lieu of that a gift of 
ponies proportionate to his wealth. 

The adjudication and settlement of all 
troubles devolved upon the agent. In the 
course of administering justice and punishing 
delinquents he found it necessary on one oc- 
casion to convert the agency smoke-house into 
a jail, and having placed a number of youth- 
ful culprits therein, under a ten days' sen- 
tence, he securely padlocked the door. The 
building being an old frame structure, the 
prisoners had little difficulty in devising a ■ 
secret exit which enabled them to spend most 
of their time at home, being very careful to 
be in jail when the meals were handed in. This 
free and easy manner of sufTering imprison- 
ment had been continued for several days so 
successfully that the prisoners grew careless 
in regard to being in limbo at meal-time, and 
their jailor having decided to pay them a visit 
a little earlier than usual, found the prison 
empty. The police were at once notified and 
soon reported that they had found them in the 
jail, where they positively declared they had 
been all the time. 

The Otoe word for medicine had a broader 
meaning than we attach to its equivalent, for 
it is "mon-co," — the mysterious, the occult, 
the incomprehensible ; even clairvoyance is not 
beyond its pale. A remarkable instance of an 
exhibition of the last named phenomena by 
the medicine men of the tribe occurred in 1872, 
while efforts were being made to recapture 
\\'hite-\\'ater, the murderer, who, having es- 
caped from the sheriff after his arrest, was in 
hiding somewhere on the reservation. A 
large party of lowas were visiting the Otoes 
at the time, on account of a pipe-dance, and 
had joined in the hunt that was being made 
for the hiding-place of the fugitive. On ac- 
count of a trifling peculiarity in the shape of 
the sole of his moccasin the searchers had 
discovered his trail in widely separated locali- 
ties, but his cunning in eluding them w-as 
greater than theii sleuth-craft. The Indians 
were exceedingly anxious to capture White- 
Water in order to show their condemnation 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



107 



of his crime as well as to placate the animosity 
it had created, toward the Indians, among the 
friends and relatives of the murdered men. 
Disappointed in their efforts after several 
days of search, they at length invoked the oc- 
cult and mysterious power that was believed 
to pertain to the "Mon-co" men, with results 
in the direction of clairvoyance that were as 
astonishing as they were mystifying An as- 
semblage of probably two hundred horsemen, 
including the lowas, was gathered ;.t a place 
on the west side of the river where the prairie 
gradually sloped to a broad river-botton. The 
medicine men in their midst chanted and 
danced frantically until at length two of them, 
mounted on swift ponies, emerged from the 
throng and after circling around it a few times 
at great speed, darted off across the prairie 
and out of sight, — where they went or what 
happened to them during their absence of per- 
haps twenty minutes we do not know, but 
when they reappeared their horses were in a 
lather of sweat and as they approached it be- 
came evident that both swayed .md could 
hardly retain their seats ; a rush was made to 
meet them and each fell from his horse into 
the outstretched arms of his friends in an ap- 
parently unconscious condition. They were 
laid upon the ground and an excited crowd 
gathered closely around them. As they 
slowly recovered from a stupor they muttered 
words that were eagerly awaited for and lis- 
tened to by those who were bending over them. 
In gasping and broken sentences they told of 
where they had (clairvoyantly ?) seen the 
fugitive seated. It was on the summit of a 
high bluff on the south side of Cedar creek 
at a point that could be reached by climbing a 
verv steep rocky gulch that extended from 
the bed of the creek. There, they declared, he 
was sitting in the tall grass and gazing watch- 
fully over the country. The writer who ac- 
companied the party of horsemen that at once 
started for the spot indicated, which was 
several miles distant, noticed that as they drew 
near, the Indians halted and were evidently 
afraid to approach within gun shot, and it was 
not until he had appealed to the police to show 
tlieir bravery that they finally charged up the 



hill and, on the very spot designated by the 
medicine men, found the nest in the tall grass 
where he had been seated a very short time be- 
fore the party charged up the hill on the 
prairie side, his moccasin tracks proving that 
he had escaped down the rocky gidch to the 
bed of the creek and along the edge of the 
creek, where his trail was followed for about 
a mile when it struck across the prairie tow- 
ards the timber on Wolf creek. 

The circumstances connected with the ar- 
rest of White-Water by Sheriff Alexander, 
of Jefferson county, his escape from the sher- 
iff', and his final capture by the Indians, may 
be of sufficient historical interest to relate here. 
News of an atrocious double murder had 
reached us, but it was not until the arrival of 
Sheriff Alexander at the Agency that we 
learned that White- Water was suspected of 
the crime. On inquiry it was learned that 
when the Otoes returned from the hunt a few 
days before he had loitered behind and came 
in alone and very seriously wounded some 
hours after the crime must have been com- 
mitted. The police informed us that he was 
living at Medicine Horse's village of bark 
lodges near the mouth of Mission creek, and 
the agent and sheriff at once proceeded to that 
place. 

On their arrival an Indian, by a riy gesture, 
indicated the lodge where he slept and the 
agent at once entered and found him lying 
beside his wife on the platform of poles that, 
with a covering of skins, constituted his bed. 
On seeing the agent enter and catching a 
glimpse of the sheriff outside the doorway he 
at once realized that for him the situation was 
now desperate, and reaching beneath his pil- 
low he drew forth a heavy, old-fashioned navy 
revolver, the very one with which the murder 
had been committed, and cocking it with his 
unwounded hand, excitedly told his wife that 
"now my time has come to die and these two 
principal white men shall die with me." He 
arose from the bed and, keeping the pistol 
pointed at the agent, backed to the rear door- 
way of the lodge, the agent followed closely 
despite his repeated threats that he would 
shoot, a threat that he would uidoubtedly 



108 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



have carried into effect had not Medicine- 
Horse arrived in the nick of time and coni- 
])elle(l him to put up his pistol, telling him that 
if he killed either the agent or the sheriff the 
white people would wipe the tribe off the 
reservation. The murderer, pale with fear 
and suffering from his wound, was placed on 
a rear seat of the agency carriage with Medi- 
cine-Horse beside him as a guard as well as a 
friend and adviser, and driven rapidly to the 



return the next day, but having finished his 
business by sundown, and the night being 
moonlight, he concluded to start back. In 
those days all the creeks between Beatrice and 
the agency were crossed by very dangerous 
and uncertain fords, and in order to reach the 
Wolf creek ford the road skirted along the 
creek through the timber for nearly a quarter 
of a mile. It was shortly before midnight 
when the agent reached this stage of his home- 







Medicink-Horse's \': 



agency. On arriving at the Otoe village 
White-Water begged to be permitted to bid 
farewell to a relative, and it was while doing 
this that he sprang away from the sheriff and 
with the swiftness of a deer made his escape. 
It was nearly two weeks after the clairvoy- 
ance episode before his capture was finally ef- 
fected. It had become known that he was 
lurking in the timber bordering Wolf creek, 
iieavily armed, and determined never to be 
taken alive ; this knowledge had been obtained 
by secretly following and watching his wife, 
who had sought him out and was in communi- 
cation with him. On the day of his capture 
the agent had gone to Beatrice, expecting to 



ward journey, the very timber tract in which 
the outlaw was secreted. The iiioon was 
shining brightly and as all the curtains of the 
carriage were rolled up he at once realized 
that he was about to become a possible target 
to an unerring marksman. He stopped the 
horses, unrolled and fastened down ever)^ cur- 
tain, and then useing the whip made quick 
time through the timber and across the steep- 
banked, dangerous ford. Approaching the 
agency with the expectation of Pnding all 
wrapped in darkness and slumber, he was 
greatly astonished to find the place all lighted 
and astir. The Indian police were standing on 
guard about the doors, and evidently some- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



109 



thing momentiious had occurred. Yes, White- 
Water had been captured, brought to the 
agency, and deHvered to the agent's wife, who 
had been left in charge of atifairs during his 
absence. She had wisely planned all arrange- 
ments to render the murderer's escape impos- 
sible, but the unexpected return of her hus- 
band was a great relief to her. The capture 
was effected by his kinsmen in ordc^r that no 
one could be held liable, or compelled to atone 
for his blood in case of his execution, — it 
being the Indian custom for kindred to exact 
reparation either by taking a life or exacting 
a heavy penalty in ponies. They had ap- 
proached him with brotherly greetings that 
disarmed suspicion and it was his own 
brother who, at an opportune moment, sprang 
upon him and held his arms while the others 
bound him securely with a lariat. A farm 
wagon was then brought from the agency and 
his unhappy kindred completed their stern act 
of duty by delivering him into the hands of 
the law. The next day the Indian police, clad 
in their blue cavalry uniforms, and carrying a 
large United States flag at their head, escorted 
the large agency carriage containing the agent, 
his interpreter, Battiste Deroin, and the 
prisoner for Fairbury. Lack of space forbids 
giving details of the case; suffice to sav that 
at a trial before Judge O. P. Mason, held some 
months later. White- Water was convicted of 
murder in the first degree and sentenced to 
imprisonment in the penitentiary for life. 
Seventeen years later he was pardoned by the 
governor, but his stay in prison had been an 
age to him. Confinement had ruined his 
health, his wife had married another his kin- 
dred were mostly dead, and the beautiful val- 
ley of the Blue was no longer the heme of his 
race. 

The names of some of the leading braves 
and heads of families whose faces were fa- 
miliar to many of the early settlers of the 
county may become of historic interest to fu- 
ttire generations and well worth preserving, 
together with the significance of each in Eng- 
lish. Hence we present the following : 

Shun-ga-mon-co ( Medicine-Horse) 
Cha-pah (BufTalo's Head) 



Cha-thea-ka (Buffalo's Tracks) 
Hoo-gra-toe-way (Four Pillars) 
E-stah-mon-tha (Iron Eyes) 
Kay-tah (Turtle) 
Paw-nee-inga (Little Pawnee) 
Paw-nee-coo-cha ( Pawnee-Killer) 
Sho-cha-mon-ie (Moving Smoke) 
Wah-nah-quash-coon-ie ( Fearless ) 
Wah-cun-hun-cha (Big Snake) 
Shun-ga-scaw (White Horse) 
Mon-co-yo (Valley or Low Land) 
Bah-thea-inga (Little Cedar) 
My-um-pe (Good Land) 
Nah-way-hun-cha (Big Hand) 
Koth-a-inga (Little Crow) 
Lont-noo-inga (Little Pipe) 
Nee-ach-shinga (Little Creek) 
Maw-hee (Knife) 
Mah-loo-ha-la (Distant Land) 
Mon-toe-pah (Bear's Head) 
Mon-toe-tha-way (Black Bear) 
No-ho-cha-ning-shinga (Little Brains) 
Ton-nah-coo-nah (Courting Favour) 
Wah-con-dah-keep-ah (Religious Head) 
Wah-cun-thra-cha (Long Snake) 
Whan-a-ga-he (Adviser) 
Ho-mo-schu-cha (Red Elk) 
Mah-sho-cha (Dust) 
Chee-na-inga (Small Village) 

Other heads of families, the English signifi- 
cance of whose names we are unable to give, 
but all of whom were well known to most ot 
the early settlers of southern Gage county, 
were the following: 

A-Gie-hi-ya 

Cha-ah-gra 

Har-ra-gar-rah (Police) 

Ka-gra-tha 

Mus-ka-gah-hay (Police) 

Pah-wan-a-sha 

Shoc-a-pi-ya 

Poonch-e-in-do-wa 

Who-ha 

Ah-ga-ha-mon-nee 

Cre-cah-gah 

Hoth-a-coe 

Gah-he-gah (Police) 

Nah-pe-wah-la 

Pay-ton-gah-hay 



no 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Tah-poth-ka (Police) 

Noh-thra-thra-cha 

Chu-sho-cha 

Ah-ho-thea-ah 

Ha-thon-ta 

Ha-naw 

Loo-he-a-mon 

Noh-he-toppe (Police) 

Roc-co (Police) 

Um-buth-ka-day 

We-ru-gri-inga 

Sho-cha-inga 

Among the names of prominent Otoe women 
who were occasional callers on the white set- 
tlers and whose faces were familiar to many 
of them were: 
Ho-tock-a-me (Tom Boy) 
Hun-gesh-cha-me 
Ah-wa-soon-tha-me 
Mon-ka-toe-wack-a-me 
O-ma-toe-me 
Mon-com-pay-me 
Hoo-gla-me 
Moh-sho-cha-me 
Hun-do-ya-me 
Tah-cha-me 
Bah-ho-cha-me 
Kay-lah-me 
Mon-thu-bla-me 



In 1875-1876 better school accommodations 
were secured by the erection of a large mod- 
ern two-story school building, with accommo- 
dations for boarding a large number of the 
children. The supervision and care of the 
Indian Aid Association of the Society of 
Friends was continued from year to year, and 
this, combined with other civilizing influences, 
was instrumental in gradually changing the 
modes of living and habits of thought among 
the younger members of the tribe, hut the old 
people adhered tenaciously to the ancient 
habits and customs of their race. The discon- 
tinuance of buffalo hunting, tribal visiting, 
pony-giving, pipe-dancing, and other episodes 
of Indian life that had always been of vast 
import to them, caused a feeling of unrest and 
dissatisfaction that finally culminated in a 
determination to remove to the Indian Terri- 
torj'. 

In concluding this account of the aborig- 
inal inhabitants of Gage county the writer 
wishes to bear testimony to their many virtues 
as a people, — their honesty, their never-fail- 
ing generosity, their unselfish liberality, and 
their love and deep regard for each other in 
every family circle. Many interesting facts 
and incidents might be added, but space for- 
bids. 



CHAPTER XIII 

FIRST WHITE SETTLERS 

Indian Agents and Empi,oyes — Gideon Bennett — ^ David PalxMER — John O. Adams, 
AND THE Shaws — The Pethouds — The Killpatricks and Others — Settle- 
ments IN RocKEoRD Township — In Grant Township — At Blue Springs 



The first white man to enter our county 
as far as we have any reHable information, 
were George Heppner, Indian agent for the 
Otoe and Missouri tribes of Indians, in 1855 ; 
his successor in office, WilHam Wallace Den- 
nison, in 1859; and a few employes of the 
government who had in charge the mill which 
belonged to the Indians and which had been 
hauled from Nebraska City by ox teams, in 
April, 1855 ; the blacksmith, farmer, and such 
other employes as the government allowed at 
that time. At least one white man followed 
the Indians from Nebraska City and engaged 
in trade with them on his own account. This 
was Gideon Bennett, who, in 1854, kept the 
famous ferry on which so many immigrants 
to the new territory of Nebraska there crossed 
the Big !Muddy then and later on, and who 
obtained a charter from the first territorial 
legislative assembly conferring upon him and 
his family the exclusive privilege and fran- 
chise for operating a ferry at Nebraska City 
for ten years, beginning April 1, 1855. This 
privilege the second session of this assembly 
revoked. Bennett established a trading post 
on Plum creek, just outside the eastern reser- 
vation line and in the immediate vicinity of the 
village of Liberty, on Plum creek. He, how- 
ever, acquired no residence in our county and 
remained at the trading post but a short time, 
when he sold it to a party named AIcDonald, 
at St. Joseph, Missouri, and returned to Ne- 
braska City, where his family resided. Af- 
terward he became prominent in local 
and territorial affairs, amongst other 



activities representing Otoe county in 
the territorial assembly of 1864. Some 
of his children still reside in Nebraska 
City. Neither Agent Heppner nor Agent Den- 
nison removed their families from Nebraska 
City to the new reservation nor made any 
effort to acquire a residence in the county, 
nor did any of the other employes of the gov- 
ernment about the Indian agency acquire or 
attempt to acquire a permanent residence in 
the county until after settlement was made at 
a number of other points. Some of the em- 
ployes at the agency did, however, at an early 
date acquire a permanent residence in the 
county. Among these were Robert A. Wil- 
son, who with his brother, William Wilson, 
came to the agency in 1855, and erected and 
took charge of the steam saw mill. They re- 
mained in charge of this property as millers 
and engineers till 1859, when both returned to 
Iowa. Robert A. Wilson married there and 
in 1861 he returned to Gage county, where he 
has ever since resided in Blue Springs. A 
more extended notice of him will be found 
later on in this work, in the article entitled 
"Blue Springs." Another of the Indian em- 
ployes in an early day was Jacob Shaw. Mr. 
Shaw and his wife came to the Otoe agency 
with their only son, John Shaw, now connect- 
ed with Klein's Mercantile Company, of Beat- 
rice, in 1859, and was the government black- 
smith for the Indians until about the year 
1865, when he removed to Beatrice, where he 
and his wife and son became highly respected 
and ])rominent citizens. Mr, Shaw passed 



11 



112 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



away in 1916, but his aged widow and their 
son survive at the time of this writing. 

About the time the Indians were removed 
from Nebraska City to their new reservation, 
a young man by the name of David Palmer 
came to the county as an employe of Gideon 
Bennett at the latter's trading post on Cub 
creek. Just when he acquired an actual and 
permanent residence in the county does not 
seem to be settled beyond a doubt. It is cer- 
tain, however, that he remained in the county 
from about 1855 until his death, residing dur- 
ing the latter part of his life on a farm owned 
by him in the neighborhood of Liberty. 
While living there he was drowned June 
26, 1876. in the I'.ig I'.lue river, near the 
Otoe and Missouri Indian village. His de- 
scendants still live in Barneston and Liberty 
townships. They arc William Palmer, a son, 
of Liberty: Mrs. Flora McFarland and Mrs. 
Fannie Evans, daughters, of Barneston. It 
is to be regretted that a more authentic record 
of David Palmer cannot be obtained for the 
purposes of this history. 

If we can look to neither Agents Ileppner 
nor Detmison nor to the emploves of the gov- 
ernment about the Indian agency, nor to Gid- 
eon Bennett, nor to David Palmer, as the first 
white settler in Gage county, that question 
must be detennined by considering other por- 
tions of the county. 

The evidence is conclusive that white men 
in considerable numbers came into the county 
in the spring of 1857. In March of that year, 
in old Clay county, a lone white man is said 
to have stretched a piece of bark between two 
saplings on which was written this scrap of 
information : "John O. Adams claims this 
tract of land this 30th of March, 1857." Un- 
der the doctrine of squatter sovereignty as 
then applied to the preemption laws of the 
country, this simple act was sufficient probably 
to con,stitute a settlement upon the public do- 
main, if followed within four months with 
substantial improvements and actual occupan- 
cy. After selecting this tract of land, Mr. 
Adams returned to Holt county, Missouri, 
where he spent the winter of 1856-1857, and 
in the following April he moved with his fam- 



ily upon his claim, a part of which now con- 
stitutes the townsite of the village of Adams. 
Having erected a small hewed-log house on 
his land, he, on May 17, 1857, occupied it as a 
residence and on the same day began break- 
ing up the virgin soil and planting a crop of 
sod corn. It can hardly be questioned that his 
is the first claim located, his the first cabin 
erected (the cabin at Bennett's trading post 
excepted), and his the first furrows drawn 
within the present boundaries of Gage county 
— all this, even though we may concede to 
David Palmer the honor of being the first 
bona fide white settler of our county. In ad- 
dition to himself and wife I\Ir. Adams's fam- 
ily consisted of seven children. They were 
Nelson, Nancy, Isaac, John Quincy, Leander, 
Naomi, and Myanna. Mr. Adams was born 
in New Jersey, in 1807, he married Miss Leti- ■{ 
tia Harris, a native of Kentucky, born in 1812, 
and removed from Kentucky to Missouri in 
the fall of 1856, with an ox team. He ac- 
quired a large tract of land in Adams town- 
ship, and several of his children were old 
enough to avail themselves of the benefit of 
the homestead law. His wife passed av,-ay 
at the age of fifty-five years and his o\\^^ death 
occurred December 24, 1867. None of his 
children survive except Nelson and Naomi, 
who reside in the town of Adams. To this 
sterling pioneer a special memoir is dedicated 
in the biographical department of this volume. 
Shortly after his arrival Mr. Adams was 
joined by John Stafford, H. Reynolds and 
brother. Charles Hickock, and Henry Golden; 
and in July, 1857, Stephen P. Shaw and his 
wife, Anna Hicks Shaw, with their sons, Wil- 
liam, Egbert, John B., James I., and Stephen 
\\ Shaw, with their families, and James and 
^^'illiam P. Silvernail, sons-in-law, with their 
families, settled along the Big Nemaha river, 
in Adams township, all neighbors of John O. 
Adams. The Shaws were natives of the state 
of New York, migrated from that state to 
Wisconsin in 1850, and from there to Nebras- 
ka, leaving Wisconsin March 6th, with six 
lumber wagons drawn by eight yoke of oxen, 
and arriving in Nebraska July 6, 1857. In 
November of that year this small colony was 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



113 



augmented by George Gale, John Lyons, and 
George Noxon, who also were sons-in-law of 
Stephen P. Shaw. And in the same year 
Jacob and John Hildebrand, George Drown, 
William Curtis, and H. C. Barmore arrived 
to swell the number of this little colony of 
progressive citizens. All these early pioneers 
settled in Adams township. Some are still 
living, among them John B., James I., and 



Pickrell, and began the erection of a log cabin 
on his claim. He and Pethoud were found 
at this work on the 15th day of May, 1857, 
by Jeliferson B. Weston, Bennett Pike, M. W. 
Ross, and Harrison F. Cook, members of the 
locating committee of the Nebraska Associa- 
tion, on their way to Omaha to report to the 
remainder of the association the selection of 
the original townsite of Beatrice by this com- 




Section of walnut log from John Pethoud's log cabin erected in the summer of 1857 on his claim lour 

miles north of Beatrice 



Ste])hen \'. Shaw. Alfred Gale, who was also 
a pioneer of 1857 in .\dams township, and 
who maintained a continuous residence in that 
townshi]) until recently, is spending the clos- 
ing years of his life in University Place, this 
state. 

At almost the same time that John O. 
Adams entered the boundaries of old Clay 
county, John Pethoud, head of the well known 
pioneer family of that name, came with his 
friend Edward C. Austin to that county. -Aus- 
tin settled on Stevens (now Indian) creek, in 
the innnediate neighborhood of the viUage of 



mittee as the most eligible location in south- 
eastern Nebraska for a city. 

John Pethoud also drew after him a con- 
siderable following of relatives and friends, 
who settled in ^Midland, Logan, and Hanover 
townships, along Indian, Pier:e, and Bear 
creeks, on the south side of the Clay county 
line. Amongst these were his married sons, 
John, Thomas, and Franklin M., with their 
families, and his sons, Andrew J. and James 
K. P. Pethoud. Soon afterward he was joined 
by his sons-in-law, Samuel Jones, the father 
of William R. Jones and Mrs. Sarah Drew 



114 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of Beatrice, and John Wilson and Marvin 
Thompson. About the same time, as previous- 
ly noted. Edward C. Austin and two brothers, 
with Fordyce Roper, H. W. Parker, Orrin 
Stevens, and a few others settled in Clay coun- 
ty, around Austin's mill, near the present site 
of Pickrell. These pioneer families were soon 
joined by Ira Dixon and family, Joseph Proud, 
Thomas Sherrill and family, M. C. Kelly, J. 
H. Butler, and H. J. Pierce, for whom Pierce 
creek was named. 

In 1838 and 1859 settlements were made in 
the western part of the county, along Cub 
creek, by Samuel Kilpatrick and his wife, 
Rachael. parents of John David and Henrj' 
Kili)atrick, lx)th deceased, and the well known 
railroad contractors, capitalists, farmers, and 
slock-raisers, William II. Kilpatrick, Roljert 
J. Kilpatrick. Samuel Davenport Kilpatrick, 
and Joseph .\1. Kilpatrick. About the same 
time, down the creek toward Beatrice from 
Samuel Kilpatrick's homestead. Leander Cof- 
fin, Thomas and Joseph Clyne and their moth- 
er. Elizabeth Clyne, Andrew Dean, a large 
family by the name of Wells, .Asa F. Bailey, 
George Whittemore, Joseph GrafT, William 
Blakely, Frederick Ehvood, Jonathan Potts, 
and another man of the same surname, located 
claims along Cub creek or its vicinity. 

Early settlements were made also along the 
Big Piluc river, and the Mud and Cedar creeks, 
in Rockford township. The first settler in this 
townshi]). as far as known, was James B. 
Mattingley. with his wife and two children. 
Mattingley located on lower Mud creek, in Sec- 
tion 33. in May. 1857. In 1858 the C. C. 
( Ct)ffin ) Berry family located a mile west of 
Matlingley's. on the I'.ig Blue river, in Section 
33 of Rockford townshi]). In the spring of 
1858 Ivlward Woolridge and wife. Leonard 
^\"il.s{)n. wife and child, George W. Stark, and 
Solon M. Ilazen located on preemption claims 
in the central ])art of the township. Thev 
each broke out a few acres of prairie and 
planted a crop of sod corn. \\"oolridge. Wil- 
son, and Stark built cabins on their claims and 
remain«il until their corn had ri|)ened. This 
was gathered and stored in their cabins 
Leonard Wilson's child died in the autumn of 



1858, its little grave being the first grave in 
Rockford township and the beginning of what 
is known as the Stark cemetery. In August, 
1858, Fidillo H. Dobbs located a preemption 
claim in the same neighborhood. All these 
settlers returned to Missouri river points to 
spend the winter. In the spring of 1859 the 
Woolridges, Pottertons, Hazen, and Stark re- 
turned to their claims ; the Wilsons never came 
back. Fidillo H. Dobbs moved his family, 
consisting of his wife and six children, to his 
claim March 13, 1859. The same year Jacob 
Schullenberger and family, Henry Schullen- 
berger, wife and children, Philip B. Coffee 
and family, Robert Breese, John Tidier, John 
H. Dunn, and James W. Dunn established 
their permanent residence in Rockford and 
Filley townships along Mud creek. In 1861 
these settlers were joined by William E. Mudge 
and family and Joseph Milligan and his wife 
Sally ; and within the same year the Hollings- 
worth, Shelley, and Wild families, consisting 
of about twenty-five persons, settled in the 
neighborhood of Holmesville, along Cedar 
creek and the Big Blue river. They were 
English, were all related, and proved a wel- 
come and valuable addition to the population 
of Gage county. 

On the Big Blue river north of Beatrice, in 
errant and Blakely townships, the first settlers 
were John Barrett, George Grant, and Charles 
Buss, about 1859. They were soon joined by 
a strong English colony of which the i)romi- 
nent members were Richard Rossiter and fam- 
ily, William and James Plucknett, Robert 
Nicholas, Richard Dibble and families. These 
were afterward joined by the Kinsies, two 
brothers, Joseph Roper and Frederick P.. Rop- 
er, and members of the Quackenbush family 
and others. 

In the southeast corner of the county settle- 
ment was made in 1859 along Plum and Wolf 
creeks and their tributaries, by James L. Ayers, 
Jonathan Sharp. Nathaniel D. Cain, Stephen 
B. Evans. John Palmer, Frederick Fisher, Peter 
Buckles, Tipton Marion, Frederick Wymore, 
and others. 

In July, 1857, about the time the city of 
Beatrice was founded on an open prairie, set- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



115 



tlement was made also in the neighborhood of 
Blue Springs. The first settlers of whom we 
have any account in that locality were James 
H. Johnson and his family, consisting of his 
wife, Martha M. Johnson, his young daugh- 
ters, jMary and Martha, and his sons, Thomas, 
Allen, James, and Richard. Allen, a boy ten 
years of age, was drowned in the Big Blue 
river shortly after the arrival of this family on 
their claim, a mile and a half northeast of 
ISlue Springs. His death was the first to oc- 
cur in Blue Springs township of which we 
have any record. The Johnson family" was 
accompanied in its migration by the Elliott 
family, which, besides IMartin Elliott, the head 



this volume, in an article devoted to Blue 
Springs. 

^ An interesting incident in the early settle- 
ment of Gage county is the fact that the first 
homestead entry under the homestead act of 
1863 was made by a citizen of this county, 
Daniel Freeman, long a resident of Blakely 
township, where his homestead is located. 

He had entered the service of the United 
States as a private in the Sixteenth Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry at the breaking out of the 
Civil war, in 1861. Shortly afterward he was 
transferred to the secret service of the United 
States, in which he continued until the close 
of the war, ren<lerinsr almost invaluable ser- 




Originai, Cabix ox First Homestead 



of this pioneer family, his wife and some minor 
children, included his adult married sons with 
their families — W'illiams. Stephen, and Henry 
Elliott. With the Elliotts was also a related 
family named Hevener. In 1858-1859, these 
pioneers were joined by Rankin Johnson and 
family, Patrick R. Gary, a son-in-law of John- 
son's, and by Jacob Pofif, Reuyl Noyes, Joseph 
Chambers, Samuel Shaw, Rebecca Woodward, 
F. M. Gratiam, William B. Tyler, W'right Sar- 
gent and his wife. True Sargent, and Herbert 
Viney and wife; and in 1860-1861, Thomas 
Armstrong and family, George Desert, Dr. 
J. M. Summers, and his son-in-law, James B. 
Maxfield, who afterwards became distinguish- 
ed as a presiding elder in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church in Nebraska. Robert A. Wilson, 
Dr. Levi Anthony, Lyntis Knight, and King 
Fisher also settled in Blue Springs or in that 
neighborhood. The individual histories of 
some of these settlers will be found later on in 



vices to the military department at Washing- 
ton. In 1862 he was detailed for duty in the 
territory of Nebraska, and while here he vis- 
ited the village of Beatrice and located a claim, 
in Section 26, township 4. range 5 of this coun- 
ty. He erected thereon a log cabin, and he 
moved his family to his claim prior to the first 
of January, 1863. 

On the last day of December, 1862, Mr. 
Freeman appeared at Brownville for the pur- 
pose of availing himself of the benefit of the 
new homestead act, which went into effect at 
midnight, December 31, 1862. Mr. Freeman 
knew of the provisions of the homestead act 
but had no conscious intent of being the first 
man to profit by it. He had been ordered to 
report for service in one of the mililr.ry dc 
partmerits of the country and was anxious to 
be away. That night he attended a dance at 
Brownville. and, becoming acquainted with one 
of the emploves of the government land of- 



116 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



fice, he apprised him of the fact that he de- 
sired to make homestead entry of his claim in 
Gage county. This accommodating official im- 
mediately after twelve o'clock, on January 1. 
1863. accompanied Mr. Freeman to the land 
office and prepared his application for home- 
stead entry covering the south half of the 
northwest quarter, the northeast quarter of the 
northwest quarter, and the southwest quarter 
of the northeast quarter of section 26, township 
4, range 5, Gage county. Nebraska, and when 
the land office opened in the morning for bus- 
iness. .Mr. I'Veenian's entrv was allowed as the 




l)AMi;i. I'KKKMAN 

first under the homestead act — this notwith- 
standing the i)resence of a large number of 
other applicants, including Samuel Kilpatrick, 
who were awaiting op()ortunity to enter land 
under the new homestead act. lion. Galusha 
A. Grow, the author of the free-homestead 
law, speaking years afterward in congress up- 
on the beneficence of this act, among other 
things, said ; 

There are two interesting incitlents connect- 
ed witii the final i)assage of the original free- 
homestead bill. First, it took effect on the 
day of Lincoln's emanci|)ation proclamation. 
Second, the first settler under the homestead 
bill, which provided free homes for free men, 
was named Freeman. Daniel Freeman, of Be- 



atrice. Gage county, Nebraska, was a Union 
soldier, home on a furlough which would ex- 
|)ire on the 2d or 3d day of January, 1863. At 
a little past midnight on the 1st day of January, 
1863. he made his entry in the land office of his 
district, and left his home the same day to 
take his place again in the ranks on the tented 
fields. His entry was number one, his proof 
of residence was number one, his patent was 
number one. recorded on page one of Ixiok one 
of the land office of the United States. The 
first settler under this law was a Freeman, and 
1 trust that the last of its beneficiaries in the 
long coming years of the future will be a free 
man. 

Daniel Freeman was of the sturdiest kind 
of New England stock. His ancestors almost 
from the begimiing of this country have been 
prominent and influential citizens of their com- 
munities. Many of them, including his great- 
grandfather, had fought in the Revolutionary 
war as well as in the war of 1812 and the In- 
dian wars of the country. He himself pos- 
sessed many admirable and heroic cjualities. 
The last visit paid to him by the author of this 
volume some time before his death was at his 
home on the old homestead. He was ill, suf- 
fering from ailments from which he never re- 
covered. Lying on his couch, he discoursed 
eloquently about his family history and point- 
ed out upon the walls of his room and in its 
corners, many relics of Revolutionary days, 
among them his great-grandfather's flintlock 
musket, carried in some of the first battles for 
liberty in Massachusetts. 

Mr. Freeman was born in Ohio in 1826, and 
was taken by his parents to Knox county. Illi- 
nois, in 1835. In 1847 he began the study of 
medicine, at Peoria, Illinois. Two years later 
he graduated from the Electric Medical Insti- 
tute at Cincinnati, and he began the practice 
of his profession at Ottawa, Illinois, the same 
year. lUit the great Civil war drew him into 
its maelstrom in 1861, and after its close, in 
1865, he found occupation in the simple, un- 
eventful life of a farmer. I le served his coun- 
try as sheriff in 1869-1870; he was for many 
years justice of the peace of his townshi]), antl 
he held other minor civil offices, (^f this hon- 
ored pioneer further mention is made in the 
biographical department of this work. 



CHAPTER XIV 



FOUNDING OF BEATRICE 

The Hannibal-Nebraska Association — Organization — Members — Locating Com- 
mittee — Its Report — Selection of Name — ■ First Fourth of July Celebration — 
Association Meets on TowNSiTE — Selection and Entry of Townsite 



The most authentic and interesting account 
of the early settlement of our county clus- 
ters about the beautiful city of Beatrice. What- 
ever credit may be due to others for the settle- 
ment, development, and progress of Gage coun- 
t)', there can be no doubt of the part that this 
city has played in all this work. The story of 
the founding of Beatrice reads like a romance 
and can never fail to have absorbing interest 
as a unique experiment in the settlement of the 
west. 

Almost from the beginning of the ninteenth 
century the Missouri river steamboat had been 
an important means of communication between 
settled portions of our country and the western 
frontier. By 1854, when the territory of Ne- 
braska was created and opened to immigra- 
tion, lines of steamboats were regularly plying 
between St, Louis and the upper Missouri. 
One of these vessels was the old side-wheel 
steamer "Hannibal." On the 3d day of April, 
1857, this staunch river boat slowly turned her 
])ro\v up the current of the Mississippi, pushed 
off from her wharf at St. Louis, and began a 
long, tedious, and uneventful voyage to the set- 
tlements along the Missouri river. She was 
crowded witii emigrants from every portion of 
the cnuntry, all bound for the west. Of her 
three hmidred passengers two huntlred were 
Mormons on their way to join a Mormon col- 
ony at Florence, Nebraska territory, and 
thence to move across the great plains to Salt 
Lake City. Of the remaining passengers 
many were young men, and a few were heads 
of families ; nearlv all were bound for the west- 



ern frontier. Before they had been many days 
out from St. Louis, there sprung u]) between 
the non-Mormon portion of the passengers an 
acquaintance which was destined to be attend- 
ed by consequences of the utmost importance 
to the citizens of Gage county and the state of 
Nebraska. On the 23d day of the voyage from 
St. Louis, while this great river boat was tem- 
porarily stranded on a sand bar, opposite the 
village of Doniphan, in Kansas territory, in 
a meeting called for the purpose of considering 
the situation steps were taken whereby thirty- 
five of these daring and congenial spirits bound 
themselves by a written constitution to remain 
together and settle as a colony somewhere in 
the new territory of Nebraska. 

The minutes of this meeting when viewed by 
the light of subsequent events possess great in- 
terest. They read as follows : 

Wednesday, April 22. 1857. 

Meeting of the passengers on board the 
steamboat Hannibal, convened while fastened 
on a sand bar near Doniphan, K. T, 

On motion of John AlcConihe, Hon. J. F. 
Kinney was called to the cliair. On motion, 
John McConihe was appointed secretary. 

The chairman then stated the object of the 
meeting to be the organization of all who were 
willing into one town association and the form- 
ation of a settlement in Nebraska. Appro- 
l^riate remarks were made by the president, 
tending to show the advantages of such an as- 
sociation, if all the members were actual set- 
tlers, and further stated that southern Ne- 
braska, the Nemaha country, would probably 
offer the greatest inducements at present. 

Mr. Albert Towle was then called upon and 
he addressed the meeting, stating that he had 



117 



118 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



traveled in the Nemaha country and that it 
was a beautiful and desirable section, and that 
a town located in its midst would thrive and 
prosper. 

Thereupon it was resolved that a committee 
of five be appointed to draft articles of asso- 
ciation and report at a subsequent meeting. 

The chair appointed as a committee to draft 
articles of association, John McConihe, Ezra 
M. Drake. Timothy Klfiott, Bayard T. Wise, 
James .\. Raridon. 

Mr. McCoiiihc moved that the chairman be 
added to the committee as its chairman- Car- 
ried. 

The meeting was large and enthusiastic, 
and the subject of starting new towns was gen- 
erally discussed. 

On motion the meeting adjourned to meet 
to-morrow. .April 23d, at 10 o'clock A.M. 
John McConihe, Secretary. 

The second meeting also was well attended. 
It included probably most of the non-Mormon 
male passengers who were looking forward to 
establishing themselves in the new territory 
of Nebraska. The minutes of this meeting 
are interesting and have great historical value. 
They are as follows : 

Missouri River Steamboat Hannibal. 
April 23. 1857, 10 A. M. 
Meeting called to order. Hon. J. F. Kinney 
in the chair. The committee appointed at the 
first meeting to draft articles of association re- 
ported as the result of their labors, the fol- 
lowing: 

Articles of Association. 

The undersigned agree to and adopt the fol- 
lowing .Articles of .Association. 

First: The name of this association shall 
be known, as "The Nebraska Association." 

Second : The object of the same to select 
a townsite in Nebraska, either by purchase or 
claim ; claim the same and so much land ad- 
jacent thereto as this association mav agree 
upon, all of which shall be held by the niem- 
bers for the mutual benefit of all. 

Third: Persons signing these articles and 
becoming settlers either in person or by sub- 
stitute upon the townsite or adjacent land 
claimed as aforesaid within two months shall 
be entitled to an equal share in all the bene- 
fits belonging to or arising out of this associa- 
tion. 

Fourth : The offiers of this association shall 
consist of a president, secretary, trea.surer and 
board of directors. 

Fifth: A locating committee shall be ap- 



pointed immediately, who shall proceed at the 
expense of this association to explore Ne- 
braska and select a townsite and report at an 
adjourned meeting to be held at Omaha City 
on the 20th of May next, which report shall 
be adopted as the townsite for the town of . . 



Sixth: Such townsite shall be surveyed, 
lithographed and divided into such number of 
shares as may be agreed upon, which with the 
claims adjacent thereto shall be the ])roperty 
of this association, and such number of shares 
as may be thought best can be sold and the 
proceeds of such shares applied to the carry- 
ing out of the purposes of this association. 

Seventh: Assessments may be made if nec- 
essary from time to time for such expenses 
and improvements as a majority of the mem- 
bers of the association may declare necessary. 

Eighth : Members who do not in person or 
by substitute locate upon said townsite or some 
claim of the association adjacent thereto within 
two months from the time of the report of the 
locating committee shall forfeit all right of 
membership; unless he shall be justified in his 
absence by the association. 

Ninth : These articles may be amended or 
others substituted therefor by a two-thirds 
vote of the members, provided always that re- 
quisite notice of such proposed alteration of 
these articles has been given to the association 
at least two weeks previous to the adoption of 
the same and the members thereof sufficiently 
notified of such meeting. 

Tenth : Each member shall have the benefit 
of such improvements as exceed in value those 
made by others of the association, to be as- 
certained and allowed in such equitable man- 
ner as may be agreed upon. 

The above articles were fuUv discussed 
separately and were finally adopted unanim- 
ously. \\'hen, on motion, the secretary was 
ordered to copy the same preparatory to re- 
ceiving signatures, and the meeting adjourned 
to three o'clock P.M. for that purpose. 

John McConihe. Secretary. 

.At the adjourned meeting, at three o'clock 
in the afternoon, the articles of the associa- 
tion were presented for signatures and were 
signed by the following named persons : E. 
A. Wilmans, Calvin Miller, E. M. Drake. Wil- 
liam F. Buflfington. John McConihe. Timothy 
Elliott. M. C. Barr, Gilbert T. Loomis, George 
W. Robb, John B. Kellogg, John Henn, Jacob 
Talman, Albert Towle, Bayard T. Wise. Her- 
man M. Reynolds. Bennett Pike, John Brown, 
George IT. Tobey, .A. Nelson, J. F. King, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



119 



Norman Colsoii, John P. Cadman, Phineas W. 
Hitchcock, George A. Jackson, tl. W. Ross, 
Edward Stewart, Jefferson B. Weston, Jesse 
Spiehiian, Jacolj ZoUnger, John F. Kinney, 
Richard Northrup, James J. Raridan, Alexan- 
der McCready, Justus Townsend. 

Later, and before the boat reached its des- 
tination in Omaha, Isaac M. Steele, Alexander 
Lewis, Charles Dripps, James M. Green, Dan- 
iel P. Taylor, Obediah H. Hewett, John N. 
Newton, Joseph R. Nelson, and Logan D. 
Cameron were admitted to membership in the 
association, and at a meeting of the board of 
directors held in Omaha, on May 22, 1857, 
George D. Bonham and Joseph Milligan also 
were admitted into full membership in the as- 
sociation on the same terms as the others. 
namely, payment into the treasury of the sum 
of one hundred dollars. And at a meeting 
of the board of directors held at Beatrice it 
was "resolved that H. F. Cook become a 
member of the association upon payment of 
assessment ( in place of Mr. Dripps, whose 
share has been forfeited) and upon payment 
of fifty dollars additional." As far as the 
records go there were no other formal addi- 
tions to the membership of the association, but 
it is an historical fact that Nathan and William 
Blakely, together with Isma P. Mumford 
and wife, arrived on the townsite of Beatrice 
on July 17, 1857, and became thereafter close- 
ly identified with the history and destinv of 
Beatrice. 

At the third meeting of the association held 
on board the Hannibal April 28, 1857, a census 
of the membership was taken with respect to 
their occupations and it was found that there 
were six lawyers, four physicians, three mer- 
chants, a mason, a bricklayer, an engineer, 
and a surveyor, together with a number of 
members without expressed occupations. 

liefore the "Hannibal" reached Nebraska 
Cit\- a committee consisting of Bennett Pike, 
M. W. Ross, F. A. Wilmans, Bayard T. Wise, 
Jetierson V>. Weston, and Judge John F. Kin- 
ney, was chosen, known as the locating com- 
nn'ttce. in conformity with the 5th subdivision 
of the articles of association, "to explore Ne- 
braska and select a townsite and report at an 



adjourned meeting (of the association) to be 
held at Omaha on the 20th day of May next, 
which report shall be adopted as a townsite," 
etc. At Nebraska City this committee left the 
boat and proceeded to discharge its duty. It 
divided itself into two sub-committees. Wise, 
Kinney, and Wilmans formed one of these, and, 
proceeding directly west from Nebraska City 
they passed over the spot where Lincoln, the 
state capital, now stands. The other three 
members of the committee, Weston, Pike, and 
Ross, hired a team at Nebraska City, and, 
with Harrison F. Cook as driver, began their 
search at once for a suitable location for the 
prospective city. Striking in a southwesterly 
direction, without other guide than the sec- 
tional corner stones planted by the government 
surveyors, they proceeded through the bright 
May weather to examine the country through 
which they took their course with the single 
purpose of choosing the most desirable site 
for a city. After several days of intelligent 
wandering over the springing prairies, in the 
brilliant sunshine lands, on a late afternoon 
in early May, they pitched camp on the banks 
of Indian creek, near where the Kees Manu- 
facturing Company's buildings now stand, and 
within the present limits of the city of Beatrice 
.A. little investigation convinced them that their 
quest was at an end. These clear-visioned 
young men noted the wide sweep of rolling 
plain extending in all directions from the con- 
fluence of the two streams where their camp 
was made ; they marked the near neighborhood 
of several well wooded streams flowing 
through fertile lands into the PAg Blue river; 
they observed that this stream, with its rock 
bottom and steep shores possessed at this point 
ample facilities and power for milling and 
manufacturing purposes, and that nature had 
given the adjacent land grades and levels that 
rendered the work of building a city an easy 
task. 

Having carefully noted all these things they 
began their journey to Omaha, stopping a few 
hours on the way with John Pethoud and his 
friend Edward C. Austin, who were engaged 
in building a hewed-log house on Mr. 
Pethoud's claim, four and one-half miles north 



120 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of tlie prospective city, on this side of the Clay 
county hne. 

The entire cuniniittce having assembled in 
( )niaha and agreed u])on its report, tlie nieni- 
Ijers of the association were called together 
to receive it, on the 20th day of May. 1857, at 
the hour of one o'clock in the forenoon, in the 
office of the territorial secretary of state. 
The report was brief and was probably written 
by that able young lawyer, Bennett I'ike. It 
reads as follows: 

We. the undersigned, locating committee of 
the Nebraska Association, after thoroughly 
exploring Johnson. Gage. Clay. Lancaster and 




lii.iA Ukatrick Kinney 
1860 



Cass counties, find tiic most eligible site for a 
town near the center of Gage county. The ad- 
vantages of this place consist in its location be- 
tween two tributaries of tlie lilue and at the 
junction of the western branch with the main 
river; in the great beauty and fertility of the 
adjacent prairies, in the abundance of wood 
and timber, in the proxiiuity of stone fit for 
building jnirposes, and the favorable indica- 
tions of coal. The prairie is four miles in 
width from creek to creek and is skirted on 
either side by the timber line along the banks 
of the above mentioned streams. The timber 
is generally oak. walnut, hickory, ash. cotton- 
wood and elm, and is of a better qualitv and 
finer size than any other we saw in our ex- 
plorations. The beauty of the situation, the 
central ])osition in the county, and (|uality and 
C|uantity of the timber, the sujjcrior nature antl 
location of the intervening prairie and the 
large extent of country tributary to it. deter- 
mined us in the selection of this place as pos- 



sessing all the requisites and advantages nec- 
essary to the founding and building of a pros- 
perous and thriving inland town. All of which 
is very respectfully submitted, with an accom- 
l)anving map of the place. 

iiennett Pike. M. W. Ross. 

F. A. Wilmans. li. T. Wise. 

J. B. Weston. J. F- Kinney. 

This report was unanimously adopted and a 
committee appointed whose duty it was to as- 
certain and properly designate the exact loca- 
tion of the proposed townsite and have the 
same surveyed. Another committee was ap- 
pointed, charged with the duty of reporting 
at an early date to the association a name for 
this embryo town. The last named committee, 
as a result of its deliberations, at a meeting of 
the association on May 21st, reported the 
names of "Wheatland" and "Beatrice." The 
latter was the name of Judge Kinney's eldest 
daughter. Julia Beatrice Kinney, and it was 
adopted by a vote of sixteen to nine. The as- 
sociation, after appointing a committee, head- 
ed by Bennett Pike, to purchase for its use a 
steam saw mill, adjourned to meet at Beatrice 
on the 27th day of July. 18.^7. 

Most of the members of the association made 
their way to the ])roposed townsite during the 
month of Jime. and by the 4th day of July 
nearly all were assembled on the original vir- 
gin townsite of Beatrice. They ])ri,ceedcd to 
celebrate the national holiday, and this was the 
first Fourth of July celebration ever held in 
Gage county. Judge Kinne\-. who had lucateil 
at Nebraska City in the i)ractice of the law. 
drove across the country with bis family to 
participate in this celebration. Though the 
])artici])ants were few in number, patriotic en- 
thusiasm was much in evidence. Miss Julia 
Beatrice Kinney, the seventeen-year-oid daugh- 
ter of the president of the association, in a 
jjleasing speech presented to her namesake the 
national flag which had been made by the ladies 
of the association at Nebraska City, and I'.en- 
nett Pike replied. 

Most of the members remained on the grountl 
until the 27th day of July, the date to which 
the association had adjourned at Omaha in 
May to meet at the townsite of Beatrice, and 
when on that day the president of the as.so- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



121 



ciation, Judge Kinney, directed his scholarly 
secretary, John McConihe, to call the roll of 
the members the following' gentlemen respond- 
ed to their names: Alessrs. Pike, Towle, Wise, 
Weston, Jackson, Hewett, Elliott, Joseph Nel- 
son. Northrop, Townsend, Tobey, Tailor, 
Wilmans. Ross, Reynolds, Johnson, Miller, 
Brown, Loomis, Green, and Bonham. Thirteen 
members, namely, Kellogg, A. Nelson, Barr, 
Cadman, Hitchcock, Henn, Dripps, Stewart, 
Zolinger, King, Raridon, Robb, and Buffington, 
were represented by proxy. 

Judge Kinney then announced that the site 
selected for the location of the town was "one 
mile from east to west and one-half mile from 
north to south." Some discussion ensued, 
during which Mr. Bonham moved "that the 
townsite be so moved as to conform with the 
government survey and to consist of four 
hundred acres." After further discussion of 
the site of the proposed town "the whole mat- 
ter was referred back to the locating commit- 
tee". On the 28th day of July, that committee 
reported, recommending that "the eastern 
boundary be placed on the section line and that 
an addition be taken in on the west sufficient 
to cross the river." This report was accepted 
and O. B. Hewett was thereupon appointed lot 
agent "to donate town lots and that he be al- 
lowed to donate no more than three lots in 
any one block, and that no lots be donated 
except to actual settlers who will build there- 
on." A resolution was adopted that "the size 
of the town lots be fifty feet front by one 
hundred and forty feet deep, with streets eighty 
feet wide and alleys twenty feet wide, running 
one way." The Rev. D. H. May. the grand- 
father of Earl and Paul Marvin, was given 
five lots "for his kindness in coming to Beatrice 
and preaching the first sermon in town." A 
resolution was adopted donating "one thousand 
dollars to any competent man who will take 
the mill, erect the same immediately and run 
ii under certain specified restrictions," and 
"Mr. Towle was allowed the privilege of oc- 
cupying the association log house by unanimous 
consent until further action u]K)n the subject." 
William H. l!rodhead, who had previously 
been selected to survev the townsite. at this 



meeting of the association, July 28, 1857, was 
"allowed one hundred dollars and expenses 
for laying out the townsite and making three 
plats of the same" and Mr. Bonham was ap- 
pointed "to confer with him about selecting 
lands." A half block was donated and set 
apart for school purposes and a committee ap- 
pointed to select land for a cemetery. Mr. 
Pike was empowered to sell the mill if oji- 
portunity offered, and Hewett was directed as 
lot agent to donate two lots to the "finst 
blacksmith who would erect a blacksmith shop 
in town." At an adjourned meeting of the 
association held July 2S>th at three o'clock in 
the afternoon, the location of the townsite was 
taken up and finally it was resolved "that the 
townsite be removed to the north so as to cor • 
respond with the government survey." 

The townsite finally selected comprised the 
southeast quarter of section thirty-three and 
the southwest quarter of section thirty-four, in 
township four north, and range six east of the 
sixth principal meridian, comprising three 
hundred and twenty acres. It was surveyed 
and platted by William H. Brodhead, at that 
time a resident of Nebraska City, and on the 
13th day of August, 1859, it was formallv en- 
tered under the national townsite act, by Dr; 
Herman \l. Reynolds, as mayor of the city of 
Beatrice, at the land office at Brownville. where 
at the same time a plat of the new town was 
filed, as in case of such entries the law re- 
quired. 

The reader has now looked upon the origin 
of the city of Beatrice. Glancing backward 
across the intervening three score years from 
his felicitous surroundings, it may be difficult 
for him to visualize the unpromising condi- 
tions that beset this beautiful city at the hour 
of its birth. Planted in the midst of what 
was virtually a primitive waste, far removed 
from even the confines of civilized life, no one 
who was not endowed with the prevision of 
the pioneer could have foreseen the bright fu- 
ture that awaited it. 

The Nebraska Association continued in busi- 
ness until about 1870, when Solon M. Hazen 
of Blue Springs, who was one of the county 
commissioners at that time, was selected as a 



122 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



referee to make a division amongst the persist- 
ent members of the unsold and unclaimed lots 
included in the original townsite. Unfortu- 
nately his assignment of lots is not available for 
the purposes of this history. Few, however, 
of the original company were left to claim their 
proportionate share of the residue of the com- 
pany assets. Having accomplished its orig- 
inal purpose and witnessed the full frui- 
tion of its hopes, the association, following 
Hazen's report, formally and voluntarily dis- 
banded. 

When we consider that the title to the ninety- 
four blocks com])rising the original townsite 
of Beatrice, and now by far the most populous 
and valuable portions of the city, rests upon 
the entry made by Dr. Herman .M. Reynolds 



at the United States land office at Brownville, 
on the 12th day of September, 1859. under the 
act of congress dated May 25. 1844, commonly 
known as the townsite act, and the steadv, un- 
wavering zeal of the body of men who for 
years held the destiny of our city in their 
hands, we are bound to yield to the founders of 
Beatrice ungrudging credit for all they did 
here. It is to their energy, enthusiasm, and 
prevision that we owe not only the origin of 
lieatrice. but also in a large measure its pros- 
perity and happiness. Their names should be 
ever spoken with reverence and respect by all 
who take the slightest interest in her welfare, 
or who feel a just pride in the fact that she i> 
as a city set upon a hill, whose light can not 
be hid. 



CHAPTER XV 



NARRATI\-E OF MRS. JL'LIA BEATRICE (KINXEYj -METCALF 



[The following narrative, by j\lrs. Julia 
Beatrice ( Kinney ) Metcalf, for whom the city 
of Beatrice was named, was prepared at the re- 
quest of the author of this book. As far as 
known, it is the only contemporary narrative 
of the voyage of the "Hannibal" and the found- 
ing of Beatrice which could be procured now 
from any living person. Mrs. Metcalf when 
a girl became a resident, with her parents, of 
Nebraska City, in May, 1837. Later she be- 
came the wife of Julian Metcalf, a pioneer 
banker of Nebraska City. Until 1893 her 
home was in Nebraska City, when Mr. and 
Mrs. ^letcalf removed to the Pacific coast. 
She is spending her declining years in the city 
of Portland, Oregon.] 

This brief sketch of the founding of 
Beatrice and the events that led to it must 
unavoidably be somewhat biographical. To 
recall the incidents and experiences of sixty 
years ago is not an easy task, as some scenes 
stand out very vividly, while others have faded 
and grown dim. 

My native state is Ohio, and Mount \"ernon 
my native town, where I first saw the light 
October 29, 1839. When I w-as four years 
old my father, J. F. Kinney, dazzled by the star 
of empire which had led him from the .-Vt- 
lantic and was destined to lead him to the far- 
off Pacific, gathered his little family together 
and moved to Iowa. Here, in the small town 
of \\'est Point, we lived until I was in my 
fourteenth year. I w^as always kept in school, 
there being an excellent one in the place, and 
I do not remember ever missing a day either 
by illness or by the spring desire to play hooky 
when the flowers came and the birds sang. 
Not but that 1 had that desire, but we were 
taught obedience in those days. 



At this time my father received the appoint- 
ment of chief justice of Utah territory, which 
he accepted, and a change of base became nec- 
essary. After a family council it was decided 
that my school-life must be continued. My 
sister, two years my junior, now Mrs. J. A. 
Ware of Nebraska City, was to go on the 
wonderful journey across the plains with my 
parents and the three boys, still younger. But 
I was taken by my father to Georgetown, D. 
C, a suburb of Washington, and placed in Miss 
English's seminary, where I found myself in 
a typical southern atmosphere, my companion.s 
being daughters of old soufhern families. I 
was the only western girl there, and at first 
was looked at askance as coming from a dare- 
devil region of wild Indians, tomahawks, and 
stampeding buffaloes. This school during the 
Civil war was converted into a hospital, and 
Miss Alcott wrote her "Hospital Sketches' 
from her experiences as a nurse in this and 
other Washington hospitals. Georgetown 
Heights was the fashionable place of residence 
for government foreign officials in 1854. Here 
General Badiscoe, the Russian ambassador, 
lived, having married a former student of ^liss 
English's school, a beautiful young girl called 
when in Russia "the American rose." 

My school life in Georgetown was both in- 
structive and interesting : I was in Washington 
during part of two presidential administration.s. 
Pierce and Buchanan, and recall Mrs. Pierce's 
sad face, in her deep mourning for the loss of 
her son : and also Miss Lane, President 
Buchanan's handsome niece, who presided at 
the White House during his administration. On 
the President's reception days we of the senior 
class were permitted to attend the state func- 
tions at rare intervals, chaperoned by a teacher. 



123 



124 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



It all looked brilliant and gorgeous to our 
}oung eyes. 

In 1836 I was graduated, being honored as 
valedirtorian and receiving the highest prize 
ill music. My father, having returned from 
I'tah. came on immediately for mc. and once 
irore we were in our old home. — but how 
cliantred evervthintr looked to me. the town so 



week's less time than it took us to reach our 
goal on the Missouri river. 

What a memorable journey that was ! Three 
hundred huinan beings of all nationalities 
crowded the boat to its capacity. The morning 
v.-as a typical .-Kpril one. the sky bright with the 
mists from the two rivers floating away and 
the trees and grasses sparkling from the past 




J ILIA i^KATRlCK (KlNNEV) MetCaUF, 1909 



JiLiA Beatrice (Kinney) Metcalk, 187fci 



mucii smaller than 1 remembered it. ICveii 
our pleasant country home had dwindled. — 
the ceilings were lower, the rooms smaller ; we 
judge all things by comparison. 

The star of einpire still drawing my father 
westward, the farm was sold, and in 1857 we 
all embarked at Fort Madison on the Missis- 
sii)pi for Nebraska the "land of broad rivers." 
The trip down the river was uneventful. On 
reaching St. Louis, the "Hannibal." long to be 
remembered, a large freight and passenger 
boat, awaited us. I suppose it was named 
for the great Carthaginian general who amid 
superhuman difticulties crossed the Alps in a 



night's shower. All were in higli spirits as 
we started from the wharf, saluted by boats as 
we passed : one having once heard the "Han- 
nibal's" tremendous blast as she answered the 
signals can never forget it, — hoarse, deep as 
the lowest trombone tone, it thundered with 
impressive self-importance. Thus with waving 
hands and handkerchiefs we passed u]) the river 
on our journey to the unknown. 

When night came the "Hannibal" rested 
from her labors, liot daring to brave in the 
darkness her vicious enemies, the great snags 
and sandbars that surrounded her, thick as the 
"Thousand Islands" hut without their beautv. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



125 



Remember, there were no brilliant search- 
lig-hts in tliDse faraway days. The first and 
last impressions of the "Big Muddy" were 
.snags, ugly, cruel-looking things, grotesque in 
shape, and countless sandbars, while ever float- 
ing swiftly by were ashen gray logs, hurrying 
to the end, wherever that might be. It gave 
one a dizzy, sickening feeling to watch them, 
tint turn your eyes from this treacherous, 
mighty river to the banks on either side, where 
were vine-covered trees, the tender spring ver- 
dure, the early flowers, the waving grasses ; — 
all of which delighted us; at night the whip- 
poorwills sang, and at dawn we heard innu- 
merable birds hidden in the tree-tops. 

Sometimes when the boat landed we went 
exploring along the shore, gathering the early 
wild flowers but always keeping our ears open 
for the tremendous blast which hurried us 
back to our floating home. Once on landing 
at a small town, two boys, eight and ten years 
old, went ashore to buy some shoes which they 
sadly needed. After the purchase a most ex- 
citing dog-fight took place ; the boat whistled, 
but the boys, oblivious to all but the absorbing 
event at hand, heard it not, and the boat went 
on its way. Soon however the mother, missing 
her children, raised a cry of despair, and the 
mightv "Hannibal," after a mile or so, re- 
versed her course and picked up the penitent 
boys, who explained that they "wanted to stay 
and see the end of the fight." 

The chief amusements among us were chess, 
checkers, and dancing the old-fashioned 
quadrilles, for round dances were not con- 
sidered proper in those days, and cards were 
forbidden ; in fact, I believe that not one of us 
young ]3eople knew one card from another. 
So the days dragged on. It was always inter- 
esting to watch the great spars as they worked 
to free us from the sandbars, to hear the 
signals ring and the shouting of the men as 
as orders were given; there was great rejoic- 
ing when we were on our way once more, until 
the creaking and quivering of the boat told us 
we were again aground. 

It was when our steamer was on one of these 
sandbars, the worst we had yet encountered, 
that the organization was formed for the pur- 



pose of locating a town in Nebraska ; a written 
constitution and by-laws were signed by some 
thirty-five men, and an exploring committee 
was appointed. Little did they realize then 
that they were making history and that a 
beautiful city was to spring magically on the 
virgin soil of the then unknown land. 

These gentlemen were men of sterling worth, 
possessing all the energy, mental attainments 
and courage necessary for a frontier life, as 
time has proved. Their names are all em- 
blazoned in the annals of the State History of 
Nebraska, so it is not necessary for me to 
name them here. I distinctly remember the 
Towle family as adding so much to our social 
life on the steamer, and afterward being most 
active in all good works and hospitality in 
Beatrice. 

After three long weeks we reached Ne- 
braska City, where we landed with joy; we 
drove at once to the "City Hotel," a small, 
frame, two-story building which afterward 
fell down and was replaced by a substantial 
brick hotel. The next thing to do was to find 
a house to live in, not an easy matter, as 
houses were few and far between. We found 
a small frame house with one room and a shed 
at the back, which served for kitchen and din- 
ing room. This rented for twenty-five dollars 
a month. Here we took up our new life. We 
partitioned the one room with a curtain, and 
this recess was my sanctum. I enjoyed play- 
ing stage effects going in and out of that cur- 
tain, and on the whole found it more interest- 
ing that a well appointed bedroom. 

On July 4, 18.i7, the interesting ceremony 
of christening the new city which the com- 
pany organized on the boat and had located 
on the Blue river, was to be celebrated, and 
our family, with many others, started well 
equipped for the land of promise. We had all 
the comforts and conveniences necessary for 
camp life, and were in joyful mood and high 
anticipation as we left Nebraska City behind 
us. The weather was perfect, for where will 
you find more sunshine or purer air than in 
our noble state? The vast, gently rolling 
prairies seemed like petrified waves of a gen- 
tle sea. The waving grasses, often as high 



126 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 






as our heads, gave a wonderful effect of light 
and shade in their graceful undulations as 
the light winds passed over them. 

As we journeyed we halted to gather the 
wild flowers, so beautiful and abundant. Here 
we found the blue and yellow violets, the fra- 
grant wild roses ranging in color from the 
deepest tone of pink to the white, their color 
kissed from them by the sun. We decorated 
our horses and wagons with the Indian paint- 
brush, flaming like fire in the grass, and the 
golden rod, now our national flower. Sun- 
flowers were everywhere, giving a vivid touch 
of color to the landscape ; we went through 
avenues of them, ^'elllnv and purple seemed 
to predominate. 

Who of us can forget the first sunset on 
that vast uninhabited plain ? As the sun sank 
the air was filled with a radiant glow, the hills 
were touched with red and violet and purple 
tints. A silence fell upon our little party as 
we gazed ; the sweet song of a thrush thrilled 
us as though it were an evening hymn of 
l)raise. Mow small and material seemed our 
petty lives in so much grandeur! But alas. 
we were awakened from this poet's dream by 
the rattling of dishes, the steam of the coffee, 
the buzz of talk and the care of the hor.ses. 
and as the sunset faded we ate our supper, 
for mortals must eat, so "it readeth in the 
law." Soon our camp in that vast wilderness, 
with no human beings but ourselves to dese- 
crate nature's primitive domain, rested in sweet 
and refreshing sleep. 

We were early awakened by the birds. They 
seemed to fill the air with melody ; ineadow- 
larks led the chorus, but over and above them 
all, poised high in mid-air, a bird hovered, 
pouring forth the most delicious trills, ca- 
dences and sparkling scales. The song floated 
down to us like liquid music. I think it must 
have been the Missouri skylark. Neocorys 
Spraguei. descrilx^l by .\udubon and bv El- 
liott Coues.' "Xo other bird music heard in 
our land compares with the wonderful strains 
of this songster : there is something not of 
earth in the melody, coming from above, yet 
from no visible source. The notes are some- 

» See Coues, Birds of the N'orthwest, pp. 42-45. 



thing indescribable, but once heard they can 
never beforgotten ; their volume and pene- 
tration are truly wonderful ; they are neith- 
er loud nor strong, yet the whole air seems 
thrilled with the tender strains, and the de- 
lightful melody continues long unbroken. It 
is only uttered when the birds are soar- 
ing." They make their nests in the prairie 
grasses, but are very difiicult to find. We 
could do nothing while this heavenly song 
lasted, and when it ended we turned reluct- 
antly to our morning tasks. \\'e had an early 
start, hoping to reach our destination that 
evening. The wild flowers seemed more and 
more abundant. The purple vetch, columbine, 
phlox, coloring great fields with blue. There 
was blue-eyed grass, and. as if to enhance the 
delicious blueness, we heard the quiet little 
song of the blue-bird. Overhead flew great 
flocks of blackbirds, all varieties, the red- 
shouldered ones, the yellow-headed, and the 
bronze variety. Then further on we found 
great patches of the Prairie Snow, Euphorbia, 
making the ground white with a very faint 
tinge of pale green. We did not reach the 
Blue river as soon as we had hoped, so we 
had another glowing sunset, another song of 
birds, and through the night we heard the 
whippoorwill. 

The morning brought us to our goal. The 
view was entrancing, the valley with its 
glistening river, the wooded banks, the slop- 
ing hills. No narrow outlook met our gaze, 
but far as the eye could reach was the limit- 
less range of beauty, calm, peaceful with the 
smile of God resting upon it. .Ml involun- 
tarily exclaimed "Could a more beautiful spot 
for a city be found anywhere?" 

On the 4th of July we assembled for the 
formal presentation of the nation's flag given 
by tile ladies of the company. I had the 
honor of making the presentation. I well 
remember going down by the river, sitting 
among the willows and invoking the muse, 
which resulted in some four short verses of 
salutation to the town to be. Of course if 
I had dreamed that the occasion was to be 
historic I would have preserved them, un- 
worthy as they were, but after the ceremony 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



127 



was over they were thrown on the bright, 
dowing- river, which, unHke the traditional 
"Sweet Afton," Isore the song of praise away 
from its inspirer. Mr. Pike, a cultured }0ung 
lawyer, replied, somewhat embarrassed 1 
thought ; probably the combination of the Star'^ 
and Stripes and a young lady overcame him. 
Beatrice was christened, and my name for- 
ever honored. A shaking of hands and con- 
gratulations followed, and plans of future 
work were talked over by the company. All 
these particulars have been told so well in 
historical sketches of Nebraska that I will not 
attempt them. Our return was uneventful, 
but with the little pioneer party we had formed 
lifelong friendships which I recall to this dis- 
tant day with pleasure. 

Of course the habits and customs of many 
of the early settlers in Gage county, breaking 
the sod and building their cabins, impressed 
me as somewhat peculiar ; as all nationalities 
were represented, this was to be expected. I 
remember driving with my father far out on 
the prairie and stopping at a cabin for din- 
ner. Boiled potatoes in their jackets and fried 
pork ( a good deal cheaper then than now ) , 
with saleratus biscuit very yellow with the 
superfluous amount of soda, made our bill-of- 
fare. \\"hen the good woman of the house 
asked me if I would take "long shortening or 
short shortening" in my coffee I deliberated 
as to what this might mean, but thought the 
safest way was to say "short" as that would 
mean less of whatever it might be, and some 
very coarse looking brown sugar was put into 
my cup. My father not liking the looks of 
this, said in his polite, old-school manner, "I 
will take long shortening. Madam, if you 
please" ; whereupon a couple of tablespoons of 
very black looking molasses were poured into 
his coffee. The look of consternation on his 
face and of mirth on mine fortunately were 
unobserved by the hostess. Useless to say 
the coffee was left untasted. Here too I 
first heard the expression "powerful weak." 
speaking of a man suffering with ague, then 
very prevalent in some parts of the country. 
The phrase struck me as being comically con- 
tradictory, but jihysiologically it means I sup- 



jjose that the weakness holds the man power- 
fully ; at least it might be so explained. These 
same people in course of years developed a 
fine farm by their thrift and industry, and 
educated their children, who are now doubtless 
driving their autos and enjoying all the lux- 
uries of modern life. 

In 1861 I did what young ladies have done 
since the world began, — I married. My hus- 
band Julian Metcalf was a banker and greatly 
interested in our growing state. 

My first visit to Beatrice was in 18f>l-. I 
think: it was with my father, who, with a 
light top-buggy and a pair of mettlesome 
horses, invited me to accompany him. It 
was a perfect October day and I was more 
than delighted to go and see my beautiful 
namesake again. We made the drive in one 
day ; the fast livery team seemed as fresh when 
we reached Beatrice as when we started. I 
found great changes in these few years, the 
town developing substantially and rapidly. We 
spent only a day there, as my father's business 
required no longer time, and we started early 
so as to reach Nebraska City before dark. 
This proved a memorable drive. When we 
had driven several miles we saw a vast sea 
of fire sweeping toward us with a terrific 
roar. We were on a hill which gave us a full 
view. The grass, dry as tinder, eight and 
even ten feet high, made rich fuel for the 
flames. It was a race for life. My father 
turned the horses and urged them to their 
utmost speed. The flying, blackened cinders 
of the burnt grass flew by us and over us. we 
could hear the rushing of the fire-storm and 
even feel its heat as it gained upon us. The 
horses seemed to understand the danger and, 
maddened by the crackling and roar of the 
flames, they raced as they had never raced 
before. In places, burning wisps of grass 
carried by the fierce wind started fires on eith- 
er side of us, but fortunately not near the 
road. With great relief we reached Beatrice 
in safety, for it was out of the immediate 
path of the fire ; only the little school house 
was endangered, and as the fire swept over 
it we watched with fear and trembling for its 
fate. For a moment it was enveloped bv the 



128 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



flames, with the roar and speed of a railroad 
train, and as tiiey passed we saw the httle 
frame school house unharmed ; the very fury 
and swiftness of the fire saved it. We re- 
sumed our journey, and for twenty miles we 
traveled through a black, smoking country. 
In places we saw deer that had been chased 
by the fire lying by the roadside too exhausted 
to move as we drove by. 

.\s night fell, one of the traces became un- 
fastened and hitting the horse frightened him. 
and they both started on a wild run. They 
left the road and. dashing over hillocks and 
rough places, nearly upset the light bugg)-. 
My father was thrown out. This left the 
reins under the horses" feet and they plunged 
madly on through the darkness. My only 
tiiought was to cling to the buggy. In a short 
time, long to me. they broke away from it 
and I was left sitting in it. unharmed. .\t 
once I started in search of my father, whom I 
found unconscious: he had struck on his head 
and it was bleeding. Rubbing him and calling 
him, 1 succeeded at last in rousing him. and. 



urging him to walk, we started toward a dis- 
tant light, which proved to be a farm house. 
There we were able to find a wagon and driv- 
er to take us to Nebraska City, only three 
miles distant. 

Thus ended my first and last visit to 
Beatrice. But I have always kept in touch w^ith 
its ])rogress and development, and have 
I)ictures of its handsome homes and fine busi- 
ness buildings. If I ever go eastward again I 
shall certainly visit the beautiful city by the 
Blue, of which I am naturally proud, as I appre- 
ciate the honor conferred on me by its name. 

In 1893 we moved to the Pacific coast, 
where my three children, two daughters and 
a son, were living, also my parents. We 

made San Diego our home, and at times Los 
.\ngeles and Portland, Oregon. At the latter 
place my beloved husband passed away in his 
eighty-third year. Blessed with perfect health 
and strength, surrounded with loving chil- 
dren, I am indeed most thankful to the Giver 
of every good and perfect gift who guides 
ns all in love and wisdom. 



CHAPTER XVI 

FOUNDERS OF BEATRICE 



JoHx Fitch Kixney — John McConihe — Albert Towle — Joseph Rutherford Nel- 
son — Obediah Brown Hewett — Gilbert T. Eoomis — Oliver Townsend — Har- 
rison F. Cook — Dr. Bavard T. Wise^ — Joseph Milligan — Bennett Pike — 
Jefferson B. Weston — William H. Brodhead — Dr. Herman M. Reynolds 



It was no ordinary body of men who in 
April, 1837, while passengers on the old riv- 
er boat "Hannibal," resolved to cut loose 
from civilization and seek fortune and hap- 
piness in that region of our country which 
was even then designated in the school geo- 
graphies as the "Great American Desert." Al- 
though there were many other river boats be- 
side the "Hannibal" plying between St. Louis 
and the Upper Missouri, we nowhere else 
have any account of the formation from their 
passenger lists of any organization similar 
tc the Nebraska Association. 

It took courage of no mean order and op- 
timism of large proportions to hold men of 
learning and ability, such as for the most part 
composed the membership of the Beatrice 
Townsite Company, to what must have ap- 
peared to a reflecting mind a forlorn hope. 
As far as we are acquainted with their his- 
tory, we must accord to them the qualities of 
the true pioneer, who, scorning the hard, 
uninviting surroundings of the moment, 
sees, in the changing years, mighty com- 
monwealths develop from primeval con- 
ditions. On the date of the actual found- 
ing of Beatrice, July 27, 1857, there were 
not to exceed, besides themselves, twen- 
ty-five white men in Gage county as original- 
ly created. There had never been a bushel of 
wheat, a bushel of corn, a potato, or an\' sort 
of product raised from the soil of the countv 
by the hand of man outside of the Otoe and 
Missouri Indian reservation. The first fur- 



rows had been drawn through the virgin soil 
in the spring of that year, by John Pethoud. 
There was not a government mail route or 
carrier, not a single stage line, not a broken 
road traveled by white men in the county ; ex- 
cepting Gideon Bennett's Indian trading post, 
a mile and a quarter southwest of the present 
town of Liberty, there was not a single place 
within the boundaries of Gage county where 
a man could buy a knife or any other article 
of common use, or a meal, or a garment. 

A number of those who subscribed to the 
articles of association, or who were afterward 
added to the membership by the board of di- 
rectors, never came to Beatrice or attempted 
tc profit by their connection with the com- 
pany, and under the eighth section of the ar- 
ticles of association they forfeited their mem- 
bership. They were Edward Stewart, Jesse 
Spielman, E. AL Drake, Jacob Zolinger, Wil- 
liam E. Buffington, Richard Northup, Norman 
Colson, J. P. Cadman, Alex. McCleary, Phin- 
eas W. Hitchcock, George W. Robb, John 
Henn, Jacob Talman, John B. Kellogg, A. 
Nelson, W. C. Barr, and George W. Dripps. 
The subsequent history of most of these per- 
sons is unknown to this historian. John B. 
Kellogg finally settled at Tabor. Fremont 
county, Iowa. Phineas W. Hitchcock, who 
seems never to have acted with the old town- 
site company after the "Hannibal" tied up to 
the Missouri river bank at Omaha, was repre- 
sented at the meeting of the association July 
17 , 1837, on the townsite of Beatrice, by John 



129 



130 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



McConihc, who held his proxy. Mc was a 
young lawyer who found in the growing city 
of Omaha a most attractive field for the exer- 
cise of his talents and calling. He early ob- 
tained prominence as a politician, and in \S(tO 
he was a delegate to the national Republican 
convention, at Chicago, which nominated Abra- 
ham Lincoln for President of the United 
States. Afterward he was United States mar- 
shal of Nebraska territory and territorial del- 
egate to congress. In 1871, he was chosen as 
a Republican senator from the state of Ne- 
braska, and served six years in that exalted 
position. He died of appendicitis, at Omaha, 
in 1881, in the forty-ninth year of his age. 
For several years he was proprietor of the 
Omaha Republican, the mouthpiece of the Re- 
publican party in Nebraska, and one of the 
leading newspapers in this state. His son, 
Gilbert M. Hitchcock, is now serving his sec- 
ond term in the United States senate from Ne- 
braska. Whether J. P. Cadman, who was one 
of the original townsite company and dropped 
out at Omaha or Nebraska City, was the John 
Cadman who, in 1859, settled in the neigh- 
borhood of Yankee Hill, in old Clay county, 
who was a prominent member of the terri- 
torial legislature in 1864, and who, after the 
partition of Clay county, became a prominent 
citizen of Lancaster county, is imknown to 
this writer. The first president of the Ne- 
braska Association, John Fitch Kinney, at the 
time of its formation was a man of mature 
years, and ntjt only the most experienced in 
human affairs, hut probably, also the most 
variously endowed of all members of that or- 
ganization. 

Joii.v Fitch Kinney 

Ijorn in Now Haven, Oswego county. New 
York, April 7, 1816, Judge Kinney was a trifle 
past forty-one years of age on the 22d day of 
1857, when he was chosen as the president of 
the Nebraska Association. He obtained his 
elementary education in the public schools of 
western New York, and at the age of fifteen 
entered a private school in New Haven, where 
he remained six months, after which he en- 
tered a private school at Hannibal, New York. 



After a year spent there, he enrolled himself 
as a student in the Rensselaer .\cademy at Os- 
wego, a famous institution of learning in its 
day, where he remained two years. Forty 
years afterward he attended a reunion of its 
old teachers and pupils on the classi: grounds 
of his alma mater. This ])roved to be a no- 
table gathering of several hundred ])ersons, 
including lawyers, judges, doctors, authors, 
ministers, lawmakers, and teachers, the occa- 
sion being the fiftieth anniversary of the found- 
ing of the academy. At this meeting Judge 
Kinney was chosen president of the alumni as- 
sociation. 

In 1835 Judge Kinney began the study of 
the law, as a student in the office of Judge 
Orville Robinson, in the city of Mexico, state 
of New York. After eighteen months' appli- 
cation to his studies, in September, 1837, he 
removed to Marysvillc, Ohio, where he form- 
ed the acquaintance of Augustus Hall, a ris- 
ing young lawyer of that city, with whom he 
studied law for a year; he was then admitted 
to the bar in Ohio. On January 29. 1839. he 
married his preceptor's sister. Miss Hannah D. 
Hall. 

In 1842, another brother-in-law, Orville 
Hall, left Ohio and settled in the territory of 
Iowa, and in 1854 he was appointed by Frank- 
lin Pierce, President of the I'nited States, to 
the office of chief justice of the supreme court 
of the territory of Nebraska. He died at 
Ucllevuc. in January, 1861, leaving two daugh- 
ters and a son. The latter was the late Rich- 
ard S. Hall, who for many years was a promi- 
nent lawyer of the Omaha bar and was at one 
time a (lartncr in the practice of law of the 
late John .M. Tliurston. a former United 
States senator from Nebraska. 

In 1840 Judge Kinney began the practice 
of his profession at Mount \'ernon. Ohio, 
where his success was immediate. But the 
lure of the great west descended upon him 
and in 1844 he too migrated to the territory 
of Iowa, where he entered at once upon an 
active professional and political career. The 
mere enumeration of the ])rofessiona!. civic, 
and political honors that fell to him would 
be lengthy and imjircssive. He was an hon- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



131 



ored member of the national Democratic 
party, was one of its most trusted advisers, 
and was frequently its candidate for impor- 
tant offices. Hefore he had attained to the age 
of thirty-three years he had been twice secre- 
tary of the legislative council of Iowa, prose- 
cuting attorney of his judicial district and 
justice of the supreme court. His opinions 
as a judge are found in \'olumes I. II, III 
and W of Green's Iowa Supreme Court Re- 



residence amongst the few pioneers that had 
gathered at that spot since May, 1854. Here 
for thirty-three years, and until the spring of 
1890, he made his home. He engaged in the 
practice of the law, with other occupations, 
during the greater portion of his life, and 
during the formative period of Nebraska's 
history he was not only active in his profes- 
sion, but he was also one of the most useful 
and valued citizens of the entire state. He 




John Fitch Kinney 



Hann.\h D. (Hall) Kinney 



ports. In 1853 the I'resident of the United 
States appointed him chief justice of the 
supreme court of Utah, a position which, 
though attended with much danger, was ably 
and conscientiously filled by him for two 
years. In the spring of 1856 he returned to 
Iowa, and in April, 1857, as we have already 
seen, he and his family were passengers on 
the old river boat "Hannibal," bound for the 
great new territory of Nebraska. 

Judge Kinney's destination was Nebraska 
City, and on the arrival of the "Hannibal" at 
that little hamlet, nestled amongst the Miss- 
ouri river bluffs, in the latter part of April, 
1857, they went ashore and took up their 



was a warm personal friend of the late J. 
Sterling Morton, and in the early days these 
two men bore the heat and burden of the 
Democratic politics in Nebraska. In 1890, he 
removed with his wife and a portion of his 
family to San Diego, California, where in 
1895, Mrs. Kinney passed away, at the age 
of seventy-nine years. August 17, 1902, she 
was followed to the grave by her distinguish- 
ed husband, ripe with years and clothed with 
honors worthily achieved and modestly worn. 
Judge Kinney to the last moment of his 
life remained a steady friend of the little city 
of Beatrice. He retained his interest in the 
townsite till it had passed the experimental 



132 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



stage and was a frequent visitor here until 
he removed to California. The existence of 
our lovely city is much indebted to his pre- 
vision, ripe judgment, and persistent energ)-. 

John McConihe 

The first secretary of the townsite associa- 
tion, John McConihe, was a member of an old 
New York family. He was born in the city of 
Troy. Rensselaer county. New York. Septem- 
ber 4, 1834. When sixteen years of age he 
entered Union College at Schenectady. New 
York, from which famous institution he 
graduated in 1853. He studied law with his 
father at Trov for a few months, and then 




General John McConihe 

entered the .Albany Law School, from which 
he graduated in 1855, and immediately opened 
an office in his native city. He had already 
established a practice and had been elected 
a member of the school board of Troy when 
he became imbued with a desire to try his 
fortunes in the "Far West." Bidding fare- 
well to his ancestral home and making his 
way to St. Louis, we find him on board the 
old Missouri river boat "Hannibal", in April, 



1857. bound for the new territory of Ne- 
braska. He attended the preliminary meeting 
of the Nebraska Association, and was chosen 
its secretary. He participated actively in the 
meeting and was a member of the committee 
appointed to prepare the articles of associa- 
tion. After the organization was perfected ho 
was chosen as a member of its board of di- 
rectors and the minutes both of the organiza- 
tion itself and of the official board are in the 
scholarly handwriting of John McConihe 
from April 27, to July 28, 1857. these being 
signed by him as secretary. 

Before coming to Beatrice from Omaha 
with the other members of the association, he 
had arranged to enter upon the practice of the 
law there. Although Omaha was at that 
time little more than a western village, perched 
on the bank of the Missouri river, it was the 
capital of the new territory and a most promis- 
ing location for a young lawyer, .\fter July 
28. 1857, his name no longer ajjpears in the 
records of the proceedings of the Nebraska 
.Association or of its board of directors, but 
he complied with all the requirements of the 
organization, received his distributive share 
of the town lots of I'eatrice, and it was only 
in recent years that his interests in the city 
were finally disposed of by his relatives. 

Having assisted in placing the infant town 
ujjon its feet, he returned to Omaha and en- 
tered upon the practice of his profession. He 
was a man of many activities. In 1858 he 
formed a copartnership with some one of the 
numerous freighters or freighting concerns 
then to be found at every Missouri river town 
in eastern Nebraska, and he seems to have 
participated in the business until the breaking 
out of the Civil war. in 1861. Politically he 
was a Democrat, and in 1858 he was appoint- 
ed private secretary to Governor Richardson ; 
he afterward held the same position under 
Governor Black until the end of the latter's 
term. In 1860 he was an unsuccessful candi- 
date for mayor of Omaha, and within the 
same year he was appointed adjutant general 
of the territory, subse(|uently leading an ex- 
pedition against the Pawnee Indians. 

On the breaking out of the Civil war he 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



13.1 



raised a company for the First Nebraska 
Regiment, and as its captain he participated 
with the regiment in its Missouri campaign, 
lie was detailed to attend to certain military 
matters connected with tlie Department of 
Missouri at Washington. While tliere in the 
discharge of his duty, he became ill. in Feb- 
ruary, 1862, and immediately left for his home 
in Troy, where he was critically ill with 
typhoid fever for several weeks. On recov- 
ering his health, he rejoined his regiment, the 
(lay before the great battle of Shiloh, and 
participated with it in that terrible conflict. 
He was severely wounded in the left arm and 
while at home slowly recovering from his 
injury, he was appointed lieutenant colonel 
of the One Hundred and Si-xty-ninth Regi- 
ment of New York \'olunteers. In October, 
1862, he went with his regiment to Washing- 
ton. He later saw service in Florida, North 
Carolina, Bermuda Hundred, and other places. 
On the resignation of Colonel Buell he w-as 
made colonel of his regiment and later be- 
came a brigadier general. While leading his 
brigade in a desperate charge agamst the 
■'Bloody Angle" at the battle of Cold Harbor, 
this gallant young officer was shot through the 
heart. With an involuntary exclamation, he 
died instantly. His last orders, given in the 
heat of battle a moment before his death, were 
"Cease firing. Fix bayonets. Charge. Dress 
up on the colors. Do not leave the colors." 

Thus perished the gallant, handsome, schol- 
arly John McConihe, a man greatly admired 
liy all who knew him, greatly loved bv his 
friends and kindred and deeply mourned by 
his native city. His remains lie vmder the 
monument in the McConihe family burial 
Ijlot which overlooks the lordly Hudson from 
a height near the busy city of Troy. During 
the brief period in which he participated in 
the founding of Beatrice, he exhibited a 
genial, friendly nature that won the kindly 
regard of every member of the association. 
The great Civil war deprived Nebraska of one 
its ablest and most promising citizens when 
John McConihe gave his valuable life to his 
country. 



Albert Towle 

One of the most influential members of the 
Nebraska Association was .\lbcrt Towle. 
"Pap" Towle as he was familiarly called by 
nearly every one of his acquaintance. Like 
Judge Kinney, ^Fr. Towle was a man of ma- 
ture years and large experience in the affairs 
of life at the time the Nebraska Association 
was organized on board the "Hannil)al," in 
April, 1857. As far as the records show, he 
was the only member of the organization who 
claimed to possess any personal knowledge of 
Nebraska territory or any portion of it. 




Albert Towle 

Mr. Towle was born in 1817. and most of 
his early life was spent in the state of Illinois. 
He had acquired a good usable education and 
throughout tlie early history of Beatrice and 
Gage county he was the most all-around 
servicable member of the entire community. 
No man devoted his life more exclusively to 
the interests of the public and the upbuilding 
of the embryo city of Beatrice than Albert 
Towle. By nature he was highly optimistic, 
and there were times when but for him the 
venture would have entirely failed. He pos- 
sessed a singular power of infusing into 
others his own enthusiasm and hopeful cour- 
age. His age and experience in the affairs 
of life gave him great influence over the young 



134 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



men with whom he was associated in fonnd- 
\u^ and building up our city. He was pres- 
ent and answered to his name when the roll 
of members was called in the office of the 
territorial secretary of state May 20th and re- 
sponded to his name when the roll was again 
called, on the Beatrice townsite, July 27. 
\R57. From that time till the day of his death 
he was rarely outside Gage county. 

Mr. Towle assisted in erecting the company 
house and on the arrival of his family, in the 




K.\TiE Towle 
First white child born in Gage county 



late summer or fall of 1857, this log cabin 
was donated to him. For many years he oc- 
cupied it as a home. It became widely and 
familiarly known as "Pap's Cabin." and for 
a decade besides serving as a wayside inn it 
was the postoffice, w-hile its main room became 
a place for holding public meetings of almost 
every character. It was here that Mr. Towle's 
youngest child. Katie, was born. She was the 
first child born of w'hite parents in the county 
and, growing to lovely womanhood in her na- 
tive city, she became the wife of George M. 
Ayres, of Deadwood. South Dakota, who had 
spent most of his life in Beatrice. She died at 
Deadwood on the 28th day of March. 1890, at 
the age of 32 years. Her remains rest by the 



side of those of her parents in the Beatrice 
cemetery, near the city of her birth. 

Mr. Towle was the second postmaster of 
Beatrice, having been appointed to that ])Osi- 
tion May 22. 1860, succeeding Herman '\\. 
Reynolds who was commissioned first post- 
master, in 18.^7. ISy successive appointments 
he held the office till his death. In addition to 
the office of postmaster Mr. Towle was fre- 
quently honored by election to various county 
offices. On the organization of the count), 
in August. 1837, he. with George Bonham. was 
elected county commissioner of the countv. and 
he retained the office three years, — until all 
([uestions respecting the organization of the 
county and the location of the county seat had 
been settled. He was county judge from 1861 
to 1867 : county treasurer in 1858-59-60 and 
again in 1864-65-66-67-68-69. He was for many 
years a notary public and a justice of the peace. 
The second instrument recorded in the office 
of the register of deeds of the county is his 
bond in the sum of two hundred dollars as 
a notary public, with John McConihe as his 
surety. It is dated October 9. 1857, and was 
filed for record June 3. 1858. 

Mr. Towle early in life married Catherine 
Holt, a woman of ability and great force of 
character. She strongly su]>ported her hus- 
band's ambitions and efforts as respected the 
upbuilding of I'lcatrice. and her practical good 
sense rendered her an e.xcecdinglv useful 
member of the community. She survived her 
husband ten years and rests at his side in 
the family burial lot in I'eatrice cemetery. To 
this union there was born Helen, who be- 
came the wife of Jefferson B. Weston and 
who recently passed away at her home in 
lieatrice: Emer. who. about 1868. Ix'came the 
wife of Joseph Saunders, the first mail carrier 
from the Missouri river to P.eatrice and one 
of the early and successful merchants of our 
city (Mr. Saunders died recently, at his home 
in Reynolds, Jefferson county and lies with 
his wife in his burial lot in Beatrice cemetery) ; 
Adelia, who became the w^ife of Richard C. 
Davis and who died in Chicago, in 1916; Mary, 
who became the wife of Dr. lohn G. Davis 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



135 



and who now lives in Chicago ; and Katie, 
of whom mention has just been made. 

The family of Albert Towle was one of the 
best known and most highly esteemed of the 
jiioneer families of our county. The head 
of tlie family more than any other man is en- 
titled to be known to posterity as the "Father 
of Beatrice." This beautiful city is in a large 
.sense his enduring monument. He died on the 
8th day of March. 1879. at his home, the story 
and a half lirick cottage erected by him in 
1869, at the corner of Fourth and Ella streets 
this city. 

Joseph Ruthkrford Nelson 

Nelson was but little past twenty-one years 
of age in 1857, when he became a member 
of the Nebraska Association, and was probably 
the youngest man in the organization. He re- 
sponded to his name when the roll of mem- 
bership was called in Omaha May 20th, and 
again on the townsite of I'eatrice, July 27. 
1857, but he does not appear to have ever 
been active in the affairs of the association or 
to have accepted his distributive share of the 
townsite of Beatrice. It is not known to this 
writer how long he remained here nor where 
he went after leaving Beatrice in August, 
1857, but in 1860 he is known to have made a 
trip across tlie plains to the Colorado gold 
fields. From there he went to Minnesota, 
tlience to Wisconsin, and finally to Chicago, 
Illinois, where we find him in 1862. He at- 
tended a commercial college for a while in 
Chicago, and then found employment with 
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway 
Company until 1867, when he returned to 
lieatrice. In 1868, in co-operation with 
Nathaniel Howard, he established at Beatrice 
the first newspaper in Gage county, known as 
the Blue J 'alley Record. The history of the 
venture will be found further in this volume, 
in the chapter devoted to the newspapers and 
newspaper men of Gage county. On the 8th 
day of SeiJtember, 1869, he married, at Wayne, 
Wisconsin, Miss Mary Eastman. Five chil- 
dren were born to this union, of whom only 
one is living, a son, Amos A. Nelson. In 
1881 ;\lr. Nelson engaged in the general mer- 



cantile business in DeWitt, Saline county, 
Nebraska, where he resided until 1884, when 
he removed to Texas. During the great Gal- 
veston flood he lost nearly all his property and 
in 1901 he again returned to Beatrice. About 
1910 he removed to the state of Washington, 
where he has ever since resided, and he is 
reported to be a helpless invalid, at the age 




Joseph Ruthehford Nelson 

of eighty-two years. As far as known, he is 
the last, survivor of the old Nebraska Associa- 
tion. 

Obedi.vh Browx Hewett 

Judge Hewett was admitted to memljership 
in the Nebraska Association April 29, 1857, 
at the first meeting of the board of directors 
on board the "Hannibal," and was thereafter 
for several years an active ami an efficient 
member of the organization. He was the only 
one of the seven law}'ers who were members 
of the company who engaged in the practice 
of his profession in Beatrice, in those far off, 
early years. He was tlie first county judge 
of Gage county and his name frequently oc- 
curs in the minutes of the county commis- 
sioners' court as having performed some 
service for the county. 

He was born at Hoi^e, Maine. September 
18, 1828, and was educated through his own 
efforts. He entered Bovvdoin College and 



136 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



srraduated with the class .if 1835. He then 
went to Chicago, Illinois, where he was em- 
ployed for two years as a teacher. While so 
employed he read law and he was admitted 
to the bar in tlie spring of 1857. by the supreme 
court of Illinois. Almost immediately there- 
after he set out for St. Louis, where we find 
him a passenger on board the "Hannibal" in 
.\pril of that year. After the founding of 
Beatrice he went, in 1858. to Hrownville. Ne- 
braska, where he engaged in the practice of 
his profession for a short time. He spent a 
few months of 1859 prospecting for gold in 
Colorado. In October, 1862, he joined the 
Second Nebraska Cavalry, as a private in 
Company F; he was later elected captain of 
Company M, which he commanded until it 
was mustered out, in December, 1863. He was 
secretary of the last territorial council, in 1867, 
and secretary of the senate in the second state 
legislature. During the years 1868 and 1869. 
he was the county superintendent of schools 
for Nemaha county and he was the third mayor 
of Hrownville. Beginning with 1868. he serv- 
ed the people as district attorney for four 
years, at a time when the district embraced 
nearly the whole of Nebraska south of the 
Platte river. 

Judge Hewett was always interested in the 
work of education and during the greater part 
of his life he was active in the support and 
encouragement of every educational agency. 
He was president of the first meeting of the 
Nebraska State Teachers' Association and a 
member of the first board of education of the 
State Normal School at Peru, Nebraska, con- 
tinuing several years in its service. Judge 
Hewett was an ardent Presbyterian and in his 
later years he was especially active in the 
establishment of Hastings College, of which 
institution his son was the first graduate. He 
continued in the practice of the law at I'.rown- 
ville until 187f). when he removed to a farm 
near .Vuhurn. Xeiiraska. from which, in 1880, 
lie went to Hastings. There he was engaged 
in the practice of the law until 1893. when he 
removed to Riverside. California, where he 
again engaged in the jiractice of law. after- 



ward locating on a fruit ranch in Chino. where 
he died, November 10. 1898. 

At Brownville. Nebraska, Judge Hewett was 
married in October, 1857, to Miss Mary W. 
Turner, who was the first milliner of that 
western village. She died at Hastings. Ne- 
braska, March 22, 1891. Three children of 
this marriage are living. James H. H. Hewett. 
chief clerk of the L'nited States land office at 
Alliance, Nebraska; Mrs. Katherine L. Davis, 
of Long Beach, California ; and C. William 
Hewett, of Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr. 
Hewett was again married, at Riverside. Cali- 
fornia, in 1893, to Mrs. ]\Iary Nance, who 
survived him but a short time. 

Personally Obediah Brown Hewett was a 
man of unusually large stature ; he was delib- 
erate of speech, a good, clear thinker, and a 
man whose whole life was dominated by ab- 
solute integrity of purpose. 

Gilbert T. Loom is 

Gilbert T. Loomis was one of the younger 
members of the Nebraska Association. He 
was a large, good-looking, pleasant gentleman, 
with brown eyes and brown curling hair and 
beard. He settled upon the northeast quarter 
of section twenty-six. Midland township, now 
owned by Markus and Jens Jepson. It was at 
this ])oint, almost due east of the quarter sec- 
tion line running east and west through this 
tract, that the old Brownville, Beatrice, Fort 
Kearney road forded Bear creek for many, 
many years. He lead the uneventful life of a 
farmer and was never very active in the affairs 
of the Nebraska Association, though he main- 
tained his membership to the end in that his- 
toric organization, and on March 3, 1859, he 
went so far as to trade a yoke of oxen for the 
distributive share of Richard Northrop in the 
Beatrice townsite. The assignment describes 
Northrop as a resident of Tabor, Fremont 
county, Iowa. It bears the above date, is re- 
corded in Book A. page 1, of the deed records 
of Gage county and is the first instrument of 
any description to be made a matter of record 
in the office of the register of deeds. Mr. 
Loomis. in 1861 or 1862. in connection with 
X'olnev S. W'hitemore. bought a new tlireshin>j: 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



13; 



outfit, and for a year or two these gentlemen 
(lid all the threshing by machinery in the 
county. It was an old-fashioned, horse-power 
affair and was the first threshing machine 
brought to Gage county. Loomis kept with 
his teams and machine a large, vicious dog 
and there was always more or less trouble be- 
tween him and the hands about the machine 
over this faithful but dangerous canine. He 
sold his farm many years ago and with his 
family removed to Washington, in which state 
both he and his wife recently joassed away. 
Mrs. Loomis was a kindly, gentle woman, the 
sister of Thomas W. Brown, who in 1866- 
1867 was sheriff of Gage county and who now 
lives in Tumwater, Washington. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Loomis left none but pleasant mem- 
ories behind them in Gage county. 

Oli\'i:r Towxsexd 

The reader may have noticed the name of 
Justus Townsend amongst those who originally 
subscribed to the articles of association of the 
Nebraska Townsite Company. Justus Town- 
send was a young physician, who with his 
sister. Miss Jennie Townsend, was also a 
passenger on board the "Hannibal" from St. 
Louis bound to the new territory of Nebraska, 
lie took an active interest in the affairs of the 
association from the time of its organization 
until the founding of Beatrice, in July. 1857, 
and his name is frequently mentioned in the 
minutes of the association's meetings. Later, 
returning to New York, he transferred, by as- 
signment, his interest in the townsite to his 
brother (Jliver, who joined the organization 
in October, 1857, and who never, as long as 
he lived, claimed a home anywhere but at 
lleatrice, where he became one of the most 
active and useful citizens of our countv. The 
lure of the west must have been very great 
to have held a refined, scholarly gentleman like 
( )liver Townsend in the forlorn hamlet of 
Beatrice during its earliest years. When 
Townsend first saw it, it consisted of a single 
two-room log house, "Pap's Cabin," and a 
wheezy old steam saw mill, ]ierched on the 
bank of the Big Blue river. All the brilliant 
company who, in July, had assisted in found- 



ing the future city, e.xcept Albert Towle, J. B. 
Weston, Bennett Pike, Gilbert T. Loomis, and 
M. W. Ross, had returned to Missouri river 
points or elsewhere to spend the winter and 
to earn a little money. The privations of that 
winter were very, very great, and these few- 
pioneers who had been left to guard this new 
outpost of western civilization frequently arose 
in the morning with gnawing appetites and at 
night retired hungry to bed. But with more 
accurate knowledge of the food resources 
afforded by the prairies, the woods, and the 




Oi.ivKR Townsend 

streams, all fear of hunger was ultimately dis- 
pelled, and returning spring brought increase 
of numbers and reviving hope. 

Several of the colony availed themselves of 
the benefits of existing land laws and located 
claims about the embryo city, the cultivation 
of which soon yielded abundance. Mr. Town- 
send himself established a claim upon the tract 
of land which now comprises Glenover Addi- 
tion to Beatrice. This he fenced and farmed 
in part for four years before disposing of it. 
With the development of the city and the 
settlement of the county, honors, such as they 
were, came to ^Ir. Townsend. He was four 
times elected county clerk of Gage county, and 
served in that office from 1862 to 1870. He 
was a member of the first state legislature, 



138 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBRASKL\ 






having been elected to that office in 1867. He 
served acceptably for two years and as a legis- 
lator he participated in the stirring events 
which accompanied the effort to remove the 
capital of the state from Omaha to Lincoln. 
As coimty clerk he was ex officio one of the 
earliest superintendents of the common schools 
of Gage county, serving in that office from 
1862 to 1868. When the first one-room frame 
school house was erected in Beatrice, in 1862, 
Mr. Townsend was hired to teach the first fall 
and winter school in that building. He was, in 
fact, for many years active in the civic, social, 
political, and scholastic life of this city, county, 
and state. 

Mr. Townsend was widely known as a 
pioneer merchant, and for several years was 
a member of the firm of Blakely. Reynolds & 
Townsend. which erected the old part of the 
stone building now owned by Kilpatrick 
Brothers at the corner of Fifth and Court 
streets, north of the Burwood Hotel, and which 
conducted a general merchandise business 
therein for a number of years. After the dis- 
solution of this firm by the death of Dr. 
Reynolds, in 1875. Mr. Townsend engaged in 
business on his own account, maintaining for 
a number of years a men's clothing and furn- 
ishings store on the north side of Court street. 
just east of Fifth street. 

In 1880 he was married, at Nebraska Cit\-. 
to Miss Kate Monce, and with her he spent 
the latter part of his life on a small farm east 
of the city, on the road to the State Insti- 
tution. To this union six children were born, 
three sons and a like number of daughters. 
The sons died in infancy, and the daughters 
are Jean, Ruth and Catherine. Hte died in 
April, 1914. in the eightieth year of his age. 
His devoted wife survives him, and, with her 
younger daughters, Ruth and Catherine, oc- 
cupies tlie homestead, the object of the af- 
ectinn and tender regard of all who know her. 

Oliver Townsend by disposition was open, 
friendly, and genial. He was a man of great 
])ers()nal worth, thoroughly honest and reli- 
able in all the relations of life. He was from 
the very first the recipient of universal con- 
fidence and esteem from the early settlers of 



this portion of our state, and he retained the 
affectionate regard of the entire community to 
the last moment of his life. 

Harrison F. Cook 

Mr. Cook became associated with the 
Beatrice Townsite Company immediately on 
the arrival of the steamboat "Hannibal" at 
Nebraska City, April 29, 1857, where he was 
awaiting events. Learning of the locating 
committee and its intended search for a town- 
site, he offered to hire himself as a driver for 
the livery team with which a part of the com- 
mittee, Weston. Pike, and Ross, intended to 




H,\RRISOX F. C(H)K 

explore southeastern Nebraska. Mr. Cook 
accompanied these members of the committee 
on their long drive across green stretches of 
unbroken prairie, until they finally reached the 
townsite of Beatrice. Early in June he came 
to Beatrice and was admitted into membership 
in the association. He returned to Nebraska 
City in the latter part of July and remained 
there until the spring of 1858. He was again 
in Beatrice during that year and possibly as 
late as the spring of 1859. He then left for 
Connecticut and did not return to Gage county 
again until about the year 1867, having been 
absent eight years. He engaged in farming 
for a while on his land, a mile and a half 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



139 



north of the city, on Indian creek, which is 
still owned by a member of his family, but 
later he established himself in the furniture 
business in Beatrice. 

Mr. Cook carried on this business until his 
death, which occurred at Beatrice, on the 17tli 
(lay of January, 1908. He had witnessed the 
transformation of the bare, naked townsite of 
r.eatrice into the beautiful city which it has 
Ljrown to be. Not only had he witnessed but 
he had also been part and parcel of the growth 
and development for more than half a century 
of what was a prairie waste in 1837. No one 
can remember the time when he was not an 
enthusiast over the prospects of the city of his 
affections. He died universally respected by 
the comnnmity. 

Harrison F. Cook was born at Norridge- 
wock, Somerset county, Maine, November 4, 
1830. lie was married, at Stafford Hollow, 
Tolland county, Connecticut, March 15, 1860, 
to I.ucinda H. Harvey, a native of that place. 
This pioneer husband and wife lie side by side 
in the old Beatrice cemetery. 

Although abrupt in manner and very terse 
in statement, quick to take offense and slow 
to forget an injury, real or fancied, Harrison 
F. Cook was a wholesome, genuine, true man, 
and will live in the memory of his fellow citi- 
zens who knew and deeply loved him. 

Dr. B.wARi) T. Wise 

Dr. Wise was a young physician who found 
himself on board the "Hannibal" in April, 
1857, bound for the territory of Nebraska. 
Me was active in the organization of the Ne- 
1)raska .\ssociation, served as its first treasurer, 
was a member of the locating committee, was 
])resent at the call of the roll of the members 
ir ( )malia. May 20th, in the office of the ter- 
ritorial secretary of state, repaired with the 
others to the Beatrice townsite in June, 1857, 
took an active part in the Fourth of July cele- 
bration, and answered to his name when the 
roll was called on the Beatrice townsite July 
27, 1857. He remained here, however, only a 
few days after that time, but appears to have 
visited Beatrice again in 1858, while located 
in i'lattsmouth, Nebra.ska, in the practice of 



his profession. From there he removed to 
P^ort Madison, Iowa, where he remained until 
the breaking out of the great Civil war, in 
which he served as surgeon of the Fifth Iowa 
Cavalry. After the close of the war, he re- 
turned to Fort Madison, and resumed his 
practice for a short period of time. But 
Dr. Wise found more congenial and perhaps 
more profitable employment as the state agent 
for the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company of 
Brooklyn, New York. For twenty-seven years 
he served this company as its field man in the 
great state of Illinois, with headquarters at 
Springfield. He died in the Deaconess Hospi- 
tal at Indianapolis, May 16, 1908, of harden- 
ing of the liver, at the age of seventy-three 
years. His remains lie by those of his wife, 
in the beautiful Elmvvood cemetery in the city 
of Fort Madison, Iowa. 

Dr. Wise was survived by three sons, 
namely, Edward P. Wise, state agent of the 
Agricultural Insurance Company for the states 
of Kansas and Nebraska ; Frederick T. Wise, 
state agent for Illinois for the Home Insur- 
ance Company of New York; and Gus M. 
Wise, state agent and field man for the Agri- 
cultural Insurance for the state of Indiana. 

Dr. Wise was known to be a kindly, good 
man and a very useful man. 

Joseph Milligan 

Joseph Milligan joined the Nebraska Asso- 
ciation after its organization, his name ap- 
pearing among those who answered the roll 
call on the Beatrice townsite July 27, 1857. 
He did not maintain close relations with the 
association and appears to have gone, in the 
late summer of 1857, to some Missouri river 
point, where he remained until about the year 
1860. He then returned to Gage county, set- 
tled on a claim on East Mud creek, and resid- 
ed in that vicinity, with his wife Sallie, until 
1863. when he, with William E. Mudge, es- 
tablished Buffalo Ranch, on the old Oregon 
Trail, at the western terminus of the stretch 
of roadway know as Nine Mile Ridge, on the 
Little Blue river, where the village of 
Deweese is now located. At this time the 
travel on the old trail had attained its maxi- 



140 



HISTORY OF GAGE COl-XTV. NEBRASKA 



immi and tlie partners flourished amazingly. 
P>iit on the afternoon of the 7th day of August, 
1864, a stage driver halted his panting horses 
in front of the ranch and shouted a warning 
that the Indians were murdering the ranchmen 
further down the road, hurning the ranches and 
destroying property, and advising them to fly 
at once for their lives. Hastily attaching a 
team to a wagon and placing therein a few 
provisions and clothing, they loaded their 
families in the wagon and drove rapidly to 
Pawnee Ranch, eight miles up the road, passing 
the body of Patrick Burke, the first blacksmith 
of Beatrice, who had been killed by the Indians 
two hours before. They remained at Pawnee 
Ranch, which was then leased and managed by 
Charles X. Emery, throughout a determined at- 
tack made upon it by the Indians the same day, 
a few hours after their escape. Later they 
returned to Gage county, by way of the Ne- 
braska City branch of the Oregon Trail, bring- 
ing with them Patrick Burke's team, which they 
turned over to his widow, Mary E. Burke. In 
1865 the Indian war having been quelled, they 
returned to P.uffalo Ranch, but the building of 
the Union Pacific Railway in 1866. across Ne- 
braska from east to west, put an end to the 
freighting and ranching business along the old 
trail and the ]iartnershi]j was dissolved. W'il- 
liani E. Mudge returned to Gage countv, and 
in 1866 he took a homestead in Elm township, 
where he lived for many years, his death having 
occurred in Beatrice, in 1917. Joseph Milligan 
and wife went to Te.xas to live, where they both 
died many years ago. They were fine-looking 
people and would have been valuable accessions 
to any community. They were Irish and were 
endowed with the ready wit and good humor 
w liicji characterize that race. They were lx)th 
much loved and highly respected by the old 
settlers of Gage county. 

P.KN.NETT Pike 

Perhaps no man was more active in the af- 
fairs of the Nebraska .Association while identi- 
fied with it tiian P.ennett Pike. The minutes 
of the organization show that much of its earlv 
success was due to his clear, logical and vigor- 
ous intellect, lie was a member of the im- 



portant "Locating Committee," and with Jef- 
ferson B. Weston and M. W. Ross selected 
the townsite for Beatrice. He prepared the re- 
port of the committee and presented it at the 
meeting of the organization in Omaha. May 20, 
1857, in which the advantages of the site se- 
lected by the committee were set forth in de- 
tail and with great clearness. While in Omaha 
the company selected him as the mill agent to 
transport to the proposed townsite the steam 
saw mill which had previously been purchased 
and which formed practically the only asset of 
the association. 

Mr. Pike answered to his name when the 
roll was called on the Beatrice townsite July 
27 , 1857. He took a very active part in the 
preliminary work of founding Beatrice. With 
Weston, Reynolds, Towle, Townsend, and 
Loomis, he remained on the townsite until late 
in the fall of 1858, over fifteen months. In the 
meantime he preempted and purchased of the 
government the northeast quarter of Section i}>, 
township 4, range 6 east, joining the townsite, 
north of Grant and west of Sixth street. On 
leaving the territory he seems to have gone to 
Rockport, Missouri, and during the year 
1859 he engaged in the practice of law at that 
point, but later he removed to Saint Joseph. 

-Mr. Pike was the son of John and Elvira 
(Check) Pike. He was born in the town of 
Cornish, state of Maine, January 6. 182''. 
and died at .\rcadia, Missouri, July 15, 1892. 
He was educated at Bowdoin College. Bruns- 
wick, Maine. He was colonel of the 
Fifty-eighth Regiment of Missouri State Mil- 
itia during 1863 and 1864, at the same time 
representing his district in the house of rep- 
resentatives of the state legislature: he was 
also appointed brigadier general of militia. 
.\bout the time the Civil war closed he was 
appointed federal district attorney for the 
Northern District of Missouri, and he served 
several years in that office. He was elected 
to congress from the Saint Joseph, Missouri, 
district in 1870, but was counted out : he was 
elected district judge for the P.uchanan coun- 
ty district and afterward became the general 
attorney for the Iron Mountain Railroad 
Company, with headquarters at Saint Louis, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, NEBRASKA 



141 



-Missouri. Five days after liis death the disposition that marked him as an important 

Saint Louis bar held a memorial meeting in influence in his community. Personally and 

which a preamble and resolutions in regard ^"^^'f^^ ''^ ^™' &™;^' ^"^l f"" °^ sympathy, 

,,,,., . ^^'tn a great heart full of love; he stooijed to 

to Judge 1 ike were unanmiously adopted, kigg the wounds of the sorrowing, and, with 



^^*^^^S?!^v'?^^;^?iSy^s M';i^^j:?;if'\^ • ■:■''' -X- '''-''i?^^?..:'' 



■•'■11! 




m 



Bexxktt Pike 



Amongst other things are the following re- manly generosity, rejoiced with those who 

citals respecting him : deservingly won life's laurels. He was a 

Judge P.ennett Pike died July 25, A. D. ''^'P^'' °^ '"« ^^llow kind. Distinctions came 

io(")T TT 1 • .1 I i 4.1 to him and he bore them with modestv, die- 

ISvJ. lie ran his mortal course, and at the • , , w l;., m^, 

II I • 1 <- .1 1-^ r nity and honor, 

end bowed unmurmunnglv to the arbiter ot :;^ 

all human destines. ' ^'^ ^^^* ^ member of the house of repre- 

His was a race of varied experiences. Xa- sentatives of this state, and his eflforts were 

ture had endowed him with talents and a (as in all his other walks) to the upbuilding 



142 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBRASKA 



of the public welfare and happiness, upon a 
broad, strong- and intellin^ent basis. 

He served as federal district attorney in 
this state at a time when passion ran high 
and prosecution was prone to take the form 
of persecution, but with a heart incapable of 
embitterment, an impartial and scrupulous 
mind, he stood, at once, the protector of rights 
and the just defender of violated law. 

As a judge upon the state circuit bench he 
challenged the deference and confidence of 
the lawyers and people, neither fawning to 
the leadership of the one nor cringing to the 
impulse of the other. He was just, discrim- 
inating, learned and courageous. 

For many years he was with us as a prac- 
titioner at the bar. I lis integrity was im- 
pregrmble. his demeanor calm, gcitle and 
dignified. His humor in conversation sprang 
freely as from a fountain of good nature, and 
if weakness he had it was his admiration and 
veneration for his chosen and conslantlv pur- 
suer! profession. 

Ji:i-ki-:ks()x iU-R.xs Weston 

Xo other man connected with the Xebraska 
Association became as thoroughly identified 
with the history of the state of Xebraska as 
Jefferson liurns Weston. From the moment 
of arriving in the new territory of Xebraska 
to the end of his long career he was a loval 
and useful citizen of our state. He w-as wide- 
ly known and was universally honored and 
respected throughout our commonwealth. 

^Ir. Weston was born March 23, 1821, in 
the little town of Bremen. Lincoln county, 
.Maine. He was tlie son of EHphaz and Eliz- 
abeth Longfellow Weston, natives of the Pine 
Tree state and both highly respected mem- 
bers of old New England families who traced 
their ancestry back to Puritan days in this 
country. Mr. Weston obtained his elemen- 
tary education in the common schools of 
.Maine and. having- prepared himself for a 
collegiate course of study, he, about 1852. en- 
tered L'^nion College, now Union I'niversity. 
at Schenectady, Xew York, which under the 
presidency of Dr. Eliphalet Knott ( 1804-1866) 
had become one of the foremost educational 
institutions in the western world and drew 
bright, capable young men from every ]xir- 
tion of the country. Mr. Weston graduated 



in the classical course froni the college in 
1856, and lending ear to the call of the great 
west, he came first to Chicago, and, still fol- 
lowing the Star of Empire to the cry "West- 
ward Ho." he went, in the spring of 1857, 
to St. Louis, where on a soft April morning, 
in 1857. he joined Judge John Fitch Kinney, 
John McConihe (a fellow alumnus of his 
alma mater), Albert Towle. Herman M. 
Reynolds, Bennett Pike, and the rest on board 
the '"Hannibal" in her memorable voyage to 
the upper Missouri. He became a leader in 
that band of intrepid spirits who, on the 23d 
day of April, entered into a written compact 
to remain together and found a city somewhere 
in the new territory of Nebraska. From 
the moment of its organization Mr. Weston 
was most active in furthering this venture into 
what was, in fact, little more than a prairie 
waste. He was member of the locating com- 
mittee, and w^ith Bennett Pike, iL W. Ross, 
and Harrison F. Cook, reported to the or- 
ganization at Omaha, May 20, 1857, their 
selection of the original townsite of Beatrice 
as the most eligible site for the prospective 
city. 1 le never for a single moment waver- 
ed in his loyalty to this enterprise and 
throughout his life he was an efficient force 
in the upbuilding of Beatrice — child of his 
courage and brain. From May 29, 1857, 
when the first stake was driven on the town- 
site of Beatrice, with the exception of about 
nine years spent in Lincoln during; and im- 
mediately following his si.x years" service as 
a state official, this city was his home. He 
retained his distributive share in the original 
townsite of Beatrice until it became valuable 
and he, more than any other of the Xebraska 
Association, profited from this venture. 

Mr. Weston remained with Townsend. 
Towle. Pike, and Loomis, throughout the 
summer and fall of 1857 and the following 
winter, as a component part of the guard left 
behind to protect the interests of the Townsite 
Company. Some time in 1858. or possibly as 
late as 1859, he returned to Chicago and took 
a course in the study of the law. He was 
admitted to the bar and on his return to 
Beatrice he engagetl for a brief time in the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



143 



practice of his profession. But he soon turned 
to a more adventurous, a more profitable and 
(to him at that period of Hfe) a more con- 
genial field of activity. About 1860 he en- 
gaged in the business of freighting across the 
plains along the old Military Highway from 
Beatrice to Denver and other western points. 
Later he engaged in mining and other enter- 
prises about the gold fields of Colorado, but, 
returning to Beatrice in 1868, he resumed the 
practice of the law. His prcffessional card 
appears in \'olume I, No. 8 of the Blue J 'al- 
ley Record, the first newspaper published in 
Gage county. It reads as follows : 

J. B. Weston. 
Notary Public and Conveyancing. 

Real Estate Agency and Law Office. 

Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska. 

He continued in the practice of law at 
Beatrice till 1873, when, having been elected 
auditor of public accounts for the state of 
Nebraska, he removed his family to Lincoln. 
He served the people as their auditor from 
January 1, 1873 to January 1, 1879, — six 
years. 

On the 18th day of November, 1883, Mr. 
Weston, having with Daniel W. Cook and 
others purchased the stock of the Gage County 
Bank, organized the Beatrice National Bank, 
of Beatrice, Nebraska. He was chosen the 
l)resi(!ent of this institution by the first board 
of directors, a position which he held for over 
twenty years, and until his death. Of those 
who were associated with him at the time, 
namely, Daniel W. Cook, Hiram W. Parker, 
Cyrus ,\Iden, Silas P. Wheeler, Nathan Blake- 
ly. and William Lamb, of Beatrice, and Na- 
than S. Harwood, of Lincoln, all have passed 
away, Mr. Cook, the last survivor, dying in 
March, 1916. 

On the 30th of April, 1860, Mr. Weston 
married ^liss Helen Towle, the eldest daugh- 
ter of .Albert Towle. To this union four 
children were born, namely Ralph A., Eliza- 
beth L., Katherine, and Herbert T. Weston. 
Mr. \\'cston died September 15, 1905, in the 
seventieth year of his age, and in 1917 his wife 
followed him to the grave. Their remains 
rest in the beautiful Evergreen Home Ceme- 



tery, as do also those of their younger daugh- 
ter, Katherine. To every loyal citizen of our 
county, and to every man who values worth 
of character, the turf that wraps their clay 
should be hallowed mold. 

No sketch of the life of Mr. Weston would 
be complete which failed to take account of 
the remarkable influence which, without con- 
scious effort on his part, he exercised over 
others. From first to last he was an important 
factor in the affairs of the territory and state. 
He was a just man, kind and sympathetic. He 
was remarkably deliberate and conservative in 
judgment, and was accustomed to take an ac- 
curate and comprehensive view of human af- 
fairs. His clear, inclusive way of looking at 
things made him one of the most useful citi- 
zens the state of Nebraska has ever possessed. 

In his habits and association, Jeliferson Burns 
Weston was the most democratic of men. His 
charity was large, his integrity above question. 
With a generous, open-hearted faith in human- 
ity and a deep-rooted faith in Almighty God, 
he reached the end of his long journey in an 
atmosphere of hope, courage, and cheer that 
was infectious to all who came under his in- 
fluence. 

WiLi.rA:\i H. Brodhe.\d 

Though not a member of the Beatrice 
Townsite Association, William H. Brodhead 
was so intimately connected with the enterprise 
as to deserve a place amongst the founders of 
our city. In 1857 he was the best known and 
perhaps the most competent surveyor and 
topographical engineer in the territory of 
Nebraska, and for this reason he was employ- 
ed by the directors of the Beatrice Association 
to survey and make plats of the original town 
of Beatrice. During his entire life Mr. Brod- 
head took a keen interest in Beatrice, and to 
friends here he frequently expressed an ap- 
preciation of the fact that he had been in- 
strumental in the founding of the city. 

Mr. Brodhead was born near Milford. Pike 
county, Pennsylvania, August 25i. 1832. He 
died at Hailey, Idaho. October 21, 1898. At 
Honesdale, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, June 
11, 1867, he married Eliza .\very. Surviving 



144 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



him are his widow and their son. W. A. Hrod- 
head, who is a prominent lawyer of Mackay, 
Idaho, and the chairman of the Idaho state 
highway commission. 



his professions, having been admitted to prac- 
tice before the courts of the territory June 4, 
1857. In 1859 he was elected a member of 
the house of representatives of the territory, 




William H. Brodheap 
Surveyor original townsite of Beatrice, 1857 



William H. Brodhead. in addition to a very 
accurate and useful education in civil entjineer- 
ing, was a lawyer of ability, having been ad- 
mitted to the bar of Pennsylvania November 
21, 1856. The same year he came to the ter- 
ritory of Nebraska, where he practised l)oth of 



from Otoe county, and he served during that 
session. His friend, the distinguished Ne- 
braskan. J. Sterling Morton, also was a mem- 
ber of that legislature. In 1861 Mr. Brod- 
head went to Utali territory to live : there he 
served for a while as the federal district at- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



145 



torney. Although a non-Mormon in belief 
and practice, he was a warm personal friend 
of Brigham Young and was frequently the 
recipient of the Prophet's favor. In 1863 he 
located at Carson City, Nevada, where he 
practiced law for a few years, but, being drawn 
into the maelstrom of the mining excitement 
then rife in Carson City, he dropped the law 
and sought wealth as a miner. He followed 
this business until the fall of 1879, when he 
moved to Hailey, Idaho. In 1894 he was ap- 
pointed register of the United States land of- 
fice at Hailey, and he died just after he had 
completed his four years' term of office. 

Mr. Brodhead was six feet four inches in 
height and was proportionately a large man. 

As a surveyor, j\Ir. Brodhead was required 
to make three plats of the original town of 
Beatrice, one of which was filed in the local 
land office at Brownville on the 12th day of 
August, 1859, and one was forwarded to the 
General Land Office at Washington to be kept 
as a part of its files. The third was, of 
course, delivered to Herman M. Reynolds, as 
mayor of the city. Some dissatisfaction ex- 
isted for a while over Brodhead's survey, and 
about the year 1875 Anselmo B. Smith was 
employed to resurvey the original town of 
Beatrice. These surveys dififer slightly ; the 
Smith survey showing a deviation from the 
true lines of less than three feet in some parts 
of the city. When we take into account the 
crudeness of the time and the probable haste 
with which the original survey was made by 
]\Ir. Brodhead, it is evident, assuming that the 
error did exist, that his work was well done. 
A careless chain carrier might easily account 
for this error. 

Dr. HERxr.\x ^Iyer Reynolds 

It would be difficult for any one to speak the 
whole truth about Dr. Herman Myer Reynolds 
without appearing to be his panegyrist. But 
seven days past the age of twenty-five years 
when he joined with Kinney, McConihe, 
Towle, Weston, Wise, Pike, and the others to 
form the Nebraska Association, on board the 
old steamboat "Hannibal," he was already a 
man of affairs and for some time had been a 



successful practicing physician. He was a 
native of Sullivan county. New York, and was 
a son of Andrew and Catherine Reynolds, both 
natives of the state of New York. The father 
was of English lineage, and the mother was 
the daughter of Garrett Van Benscoten, a 
Hollander and a soldier of the Revolution. Dr. 
Reynolds obtained his elementary education in 
the common schools of his native state, and in 
his youth entered an academy at Liberty, New 
York. He afterward pursued a course of 
study in the State Normal School at Albany, 
with the view of fitting himself for a teac'her, 
and he did for a while engage in that occupa- 
tion. When still a very young man he began 
the study of medicine, at Pittsfield, Massachu- 
setts. His final course was taken in the great 
medical college at Albany, from which institu- 
tion he graduated May 31, 1853, and he at 
once entered upon the practice of his profes- 
sion at Barryville, in his native state. After- 
ward he removed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, 
where he remained two years, engaged in the 
practice of his profession. Dr. Reynolds was 
not the man to yield to the wanderlust, as his 
subsequent history clearly shows, but the call 
of the great west was in the air. The 
romance, the spirit of adventure and its excite- 
ment, proved to him as to many other young 
men, irresistible, and him too we find, on a soft 
April morning, in 1857, aboard the old steam- 
er "Hannibal," headed for the new territory 
of Nebraska. 

With characteristic modesty, his name first 
appeared in the records of the townsite com- 
pany amongst those who signed the articles 
of association, following the names of Dr. 
Wilmans, Dr. Wise, and Albert Towle. It is 
next found when the membership roll was 
called by the scholarly secretary, John 
McConihe, in the office of the territorial sec- 
retary of state, in Omaha, May 20, 1857, and 
when the roll was again called on the townsite 
of Beatrice, July 27, 1857, Dr. Reynolds was 
one of the members who answered "Here." 
Prior to coming to Beatrice, it had been ar- 
ranged that the members of the association 
should observe some sort of order in locating 
claims on the public domain with respect to 



146 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



the townsite, so as to avoid rivalry and contests 
over the matter, and the first i)iil)lic service 
Dr. Reynolds was calletl iijion to perform was 
to act as a member of a committee of tliree 
persons '"to draft resolutions for a claim as- 
sociation," evidently to be given jurisdiction 
over tliis delicate subject. The imjxirtance at- 
tached by the members of the asso:iation to 
the subject of claims is evidenced by the fact 
that tliis committee was the first one appointed 




Hkrman M. Ki:vN"oi.t>s 

at Beatrice, July 17 , IS.^7. At the adjourned 
session in the afternoon of that day, on the 
coming in of the report of this committee, Dr 
Reynolds was chosen as secretary and treasur- 
er for this claims association, and the next 
day Bennett I'ike was selected as president, 
the other members beinc; David P. Taylor and 
H. F. Cook. Their duties were i^lainly out- 
lined by the proceeding of May 28. 18.^8. when 
it was resolved that "Each individual hold his 
own claim as at present staked out. regardless 
of the valuation of the same, but subject to 
the location of the town." and it was further 
"resolved that the claim club settle boundarv 



lines of claims and that the same be referred 
to them." and it was at this meeting also 
"resolved that no one individual be allowed to 
hold more than one hundred and sixty acres 
within one mile of town." 

.\fter these meetings, the name of Dr. 
Reynolds frequently occurs in the association's 
record. At a meeting of the association, held 
May 22. 1858. when sixty votes were cast for 
j)resident of the Nebraska Association, he re- 
ceived fifty-seven, and was at the same time se- 
lected as a member of the board of directors. 
L'nder the federal, townsite act, the govern- 
ment did not recognize individuals but required 
at least a semblance of a village or town organ- 
ization, the mayor of such body alone having 
authority to enter land for townsite purposes. 
Dr. Reynolds was chosen as the first mayor 
of Beatrice, — at a time when there was neither 
councilmen, clerk, treasurer, city attorney nor 
any semblance of civic organization. — in order 
that the law might be complied with and the 
land comprising the original townsite of 
Beatrice be purchased, pursuant to the above 
mentioned act of congress. An assessment 
was levied upon the members of the association 
and a thousand dollars was in some way 
gotten together to pay for the survey and the 
government price of one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre for the land and other 
necessary expeditures connected with the sur- 
vey and entry of the townsite. On the 12th 
day of August 1859, Dr. Reynolds, as the 
mayor of Beatrice, entered at the government 
land office at Brownville the half-section of 
land comprising the original townsite. Most 
of the mayor's deeds for lots in the original 
townsite were executed by him. 

Dr. Reynolds was also very active in the 
early affairs of Gage county. With Mr. Towle 
he served from January, 1858, to January 1, 
1860, as a member of the first board of county 
commissioners, and after the county was divid- 
ed into three commissioner districts he served 
on the board till May, 1860, when he resigned, 
so that J. ^I. Summers of Blue Springs could 
be appointed to represent that part of the 
county on the board. He was county treas- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



147 



urer in 1858 and 1859 and again in 1863 ; he 
was county judge in 1868-1869; clerk of the 
district court in 1866-1867; county superin- 
tendent of school in 1868-1869. He was a 
member of the state constitutional convention 
in 1866, from Gage county, and represented 
our county in the legislature of 1874 . 

Dr. Reynolds was the first resident physi- 
cian of Gage county and one of the first in 
the state of Nebraska. In 1857 there was of 
course but little call for men of his profession. 
But, undeterred by the discouraging outlook, 
he took up his work as a physician amongst 
the settlers, and for several years he devoted 
his time, when called upon, simply to doing 
good, such compensation as he was willing to 
accept being usually in some sort of farm pro- 
duce — butter, eggs, poultry and the like. In 
the first issue of the Blue Valley Record, of 
August 1, 1868, is found this card: 

H. M. Reynolds, M.D. 

Office Blakely, Reynolds & Go's. Store 

Beatrice, Neb. 

Until the last moment of his life Dr. 
Reynolds treasured above his earthly posses- 
sions his ability to relieve the sick, minister to 
the afflicted, console the dying. Until pro- 
strated by disease, he was never known to 
fail, even in his busiest years, the demands up- 
on his professional skill and knowledge. 
Through cold and heat, across desolate prai- 
ries, this pioneer physician went about among 
the people ministering with all kindness to 
those who sought his aid. 

The Doctor frequently engaged in business 
ventures outside of his profession. In 1864, 
he put up a considerable quantity of prairie 
hay, and in the fall and winter he bought a 
large number of cattle. Roughing the cattle 
through the winter, he herded them on the 
prairie until they became fit for market, then 
drove them to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they 
were sold. So many died during the winter 
that his profits, if any at all, were small. A 
number of times he engaged in mercantile 
business of some kind. As early as 1859 he 
had a small grocery and provision store, about 



where the old First National Bank began busi- 
ness in 1872. His goods were kept in a small, 
round-log cabin, with the side next to Court 
street. Finally he and Oliver Townsend open- 
ed a general store here, later the firm be- 
came Blakely, Reynolds & Company, and still 
later Dr. Reynolds and Oliver Townsend 
erected the old part of the stone building now 
owned by the Kilpatrick Brothers at the corner 
of Fifth and Court streets, where the firm con- 
tinued in business until he died, in 1875. Mr. 
Blakely, however, was appointed receiver of 
the government land office at Beatrice, August 
10, 1869, and retired from the firm, being suc- 
ceeded later by I. N. McConnell. This busi- 
ness made money for the various partners and 
was really the foundation of their fortunes. 

Dr. Reynolds was of medium height and 
probably never weighed in excess of one 
hundred and forty pounds. When he was a 
young man his hair was thick, black, and curl- 
ed ; his complexion was dark ; his eyes gray, 
large, and very expressive ; his nose Grecian, 
features regular, forehead broad and high, 
countenance frank and open. He was a most 
kindly, sympathetic man and wonderfully con- 
siderate of the feelings and wishes of others. 

On October 20, 1861, Dr. Reynolds married 
Naomi Barcus, who at this writing survives 
him, and with her daughters, Josephine and 
Ruth, the wife of Corey C. Farlow, occupies 
the two-story, brick dwelling house, at the 
corner of Market and Eighth streets, which 
was erected by the Doctor as a home a few 
years prior to his death. His widowed daugh- 
ter is Mrs. Elsie Loeber, of Beatrice, and his 
other children are Mrs. ^lollie Randall, the 
wife of George Randall, of Morrill county, Ne- 
braska, and Mrs. Hermina Sackett, the wife 
of Hon. Harry E. Sackett, of Beatrice. 

To the last moment of conscious existence 
Dr. Reynolds was a most loyal citizen of the 
city which he was so instrumental in founding. 
He rarely left Gage county and his interest in 
its welfare was such as always to hasten his 
return. He died at Beatrice on the 26th day 
of April, 1875, after a lingering illness, and 
when but a few days past the forty-third year 



148 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of his age. His remains lie in the Beatrice 
cemetery, near the city whose history is in- 
separably linked with his name. He was deep- 
ly loved and universally mourned. On the day 
of his burial, the business houses of the city 
closed out of respect for him. Some one has 
said "To live in hearts we leave behind is not 



to die.'' If this is a true saying, then Dr. 
Reynolds is immortal, for he can never be for- 
gotten while the city of Beatrice lasts. As 
in the case of Albert Towle, Oliver Townsend, 
and Jefferson Burns Weston, the beautiful city 
of Beatrice stands as an enduring monument 
to the memory of Dr. Herman Myer Reynolds. 



CHAPTER XVII 

A ROLL OF HONOR 

■a 

Gage County Territorial Pioneers — Biographical Sketches: Nathan Blakely, 

Charles N. Emery, Joseph Hollingworth, Hiram W. Parker, Charles G. 

dorsey, fordyce roper, albert l. tinkham, horace m. wickham, isma 

P. AND Elizabeth Mumford, James B. Mattingley, Samuel Jones, 

Algernon Sidney Paddock. 



Most of the men and women of our county 
whose heroism made it possible for the lines of 
civilization to be advanced upon these western 
prairies, have long since passed away. Many 
are now unrepresented here by posterity or 
near relatives. As far as possible, it is the 
design of the author of this history to rescue 
from oblivion in this chapter of his work the 
names of the territorial pioneers of Gage 
county. In a few instances names will be 
found here of those who were in the territory 
many years before they became residents of 
Gage county. Appended to the list of names 
will be found brief biographical sketches of 
seme of these heroic dead, who, by public 
service, position in the county, or from worth 
of character, are entitled to a place in any 
history of the county. It is a regrettable fact 
that no accurate catalogue of the names of 
these pioneers is now in existence. The most 
reliable evidence is afiforded perhaps by the 
records of the United States land office. As 
far as possible the writer has supplemented 
these records from the minutes of the meetings 
of the Old Settlers' .\ssociation of Gage coun- 
ty, the early district-court records, the minutes 
of the county commissioners, and the recollec- 
tion of a few pioneers still amongst us. 

Nebraska was admited to the great sister- 
hood of states March 1, 1867. Though pioneer 
conditions still prevailed in many portions of 
the state, it may reasonably be said that with 
railroads built and rapidly building through- 



out Nebraska, fairly accessible markets for the 
bulk of the population, steadily rising land 
values, rapidly accumulating wealth, a grow- 
ing independence on the part of the entire pop- 
ulation and the political freedom which under 
our system of government statehood always 
confers, the pioneer days were at an end 
when Nebraska ceased to be a territory. In 
compiling the following list of names, where 
the date on which the residence of the pioneer 
began in our county is known it is given ; 
where unknown, the date on which the pioneer 
is shown to have entered public land in the old 
Brownville-Beatrice land office is given as the 
year to which residence of the party is credit- 
ed. Names appear in this roll regardless of 
the fact that they are found elsewhere in this 
history. It is hoped that as time advances, the 
years may render more and more apparent the 
value of this 

Roll of Honor 

beatrice 

Alexander, T. J., 1859 

Alexander, William, 1859 

Ashby, William H., 1865 

Ayers, James L., I860 

Ayers, Patience M. 

Blakely, Nathan, July 17, 1857 

Blakely, Margaret Constance (Tinkham) 

Blakely, William, 1857 

Burke, Patrick, 1858 



149 



150 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Burke, Mary E., 1858 

Brown, Thomas W., 1860 

Brown, J. J.., 1860 

Brown, Sidney, 1860 

Bonham, G. \V.. 1857 

Coulter, Theodore M., 1859 

Cartwright, Edward, 1860 

Cook, Harrison F., 1857 

Chandler, Luther B., 1865 

Chase, J. E., 1860 

Cox, M. D., 1867 

Davis, Richard C, 1860 

Dorsey, C. G., 1856 (Brownville) 

Dunbar, John J., 1866 

Emery, Charles, 1860 

Emery, Mary E., 1860 

Emery, Carl, 1860 

Favor, Filetus M., 1859 

Gilbert, John, 1858 

Griggs, L. T., 1865 

Griggs, N. K. 1867 

Hewett, Obediah B., 1857 

Hulburt, George W., 1864 

Hamma, Peter. 1865 

Harrington. Silas B.. 1857 

La Selle, Henry A., 1866 

Loomis. Gilbert T.. 1857 

LePoidevin, Nicholas. 1865 

LePoidevin, Thomas, 1866 

Latham, John \V., 1864 

Latham, Diana, 1864 

Latham, Asa, 1864 

Mumford. Isma P., 1857 

Mumford, Elizabeth, 1857 

Mack, Eugene, 1866 

Maxfield. James B., 1860 

Nelson, Joseph, R., 1857 

Parker. Hiram W., 1857 

Pike, Bennett. 1857 

Paddock, Algernon Sidney, 1857 

Pethoud. Andrew J., 1857 

Reed, Israel 

Roper, Fordyce, 1857 

Roper, Frederick E.. 1857 

Sage, A. D., 1863 

Stevens, Orrin. 1857 

Stevens, Amasa. 1864 

Sibier, Frederick, 1866 

Shaw. Jacob. 1866 



Shaw, Julia, 1866 
Shaw, John, 1866 
Stoner, William Henry, 1860 
Saunders, Joseph, 1855 
Saunders. Emer. 1857 
Steer. William H., 1866 
Snow, A. L., 1866 
Snow, Emilie, 1866 
Towle, Albert, 1857 
Towle, Catherine, 1857 
Tinkham, Albert L., 1862 
Tinkham, Sarah. 1862 
Tobbey, G. H., 1857 
Townsend, Oliver, 1857 
Weston, Jefferson Burns. 1857 
Weston, Helen (Towle), 1857 

ELM TOWNSHIP 

IMudge, William E.. 1866 
Stebbins, Austin E., 1866 
Worden. William A,. 1866 

BLAKKLY TOWXSnir 

Alexander, John W., 1863 
Badley, John W., 1863 
Ball, Lucy A., 1865 
Bailey, Asa F., 1863 
Benjamin, James H.. 1861 
Blakely, William, 1857 
Blakely, Cornelia, 1863 
Claybaugh. John H., 1866 
Claybaugh, Reuben, 1866 
Claybaugh, Rebecca, 1866 
Claybaugh, Josc])h, 1866 
Clyne, Thomas. 1859 
Clyne. Joseph. 1859 
Clync. Margaret. 1859 
Dibble, Richard. 1865 
Dolen, Benjamin. 1864 
Freeman. Daniel, 1866 
Graff. Joseph, 1863 
Jakes, John. 1862 
Kilpatrick. Samuel. 1859 
Kilpatrick, Rachael, 1859 
Kinzie. John, 1866 
:\[yers, Mary. 1863 
McCleve. William H.. 1864 
Odell, Hiram S., 1859 
Rogers, Washington N.. 1865 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



151 



Rogers, W'ilber S,, 1865 
Rossiter, Richard, 1862 
Scheve, Henr\-. 1865 
Scheve, John, 1866 
Scribner, Irving S., 1866 
Sopher, Elijah, 1866 
Suiter, Agnes E., 1865 
Wells, Joel, 1863 
Wells, Christian, 1865 
Wells, Leon, 1863 
W^ells, James, 1863 
Wells, Darius, 1863 
Wells, Cyrus, 1863 
Wells, B. E., 1863 
Wright, Amos L., 1866 
Wickhani, Horace, 1859 

GRANT TOWNSHIP 

Barrett, John, 1858 
Buss, Charles, 1859 
Carnahan, Thomas, 1866 
Carnahan, George, 1866 
Claibourne, 1865 
Claibourne, 1865 
Creed, George, 1865 
Gaston, George W., 1866 
Grant, George, 1858 
Grant. John, 1858 
Grant, James, 1865 
Iladdliick, Alva R., 1865 
Harvey, David, 1865 
Kinsey, James, 1861 
Kinsey, William, 1861 
Lull, H. M., 1865 
Nicholas, Robert, 1860 
Plucknett, William, 1861 
A-an Clief, William, 1863 

CLATONIA TOWNSHIP 

Albert, Henry, 1866 
Kloepper, Henry, 1866 
Pitzer, Frederick, 1866 
Steinmeyer, William, 1866 
Steinmeyer, Henry, 1866 
Steinmeyer, Frederick, 1866 

SICILV TOWNSHIP 

Harvey, Oliver J., 1866 
Harpster, Daniel J., 1862 



Lott, James L., 1864 
Stebbins, Austin E., 1861 



RIVERSIDE TOWNSHIP 

Crites, George B., 1866 
Holt, C. B., 1866 
Parker, John C, 1864 
Shelley, Francis, 1862 

MIDLAND TOWNSHIP 

Brick, Henry, 1866 
Buchanan, Joe, 1865 
Bull, Stephen, 1866 
Barney, Joseph, 1866 
Conley, Michael, 1866 
Dixon, Ira, 1858 
Jones, Samuel, 1857 
Jones, William, 1859 
Jones, Isaac, 1857 
LePoidevin, Thomas, 1866 
Loomis, Gilbert T., 1857 
Martin, Joseph, 1860 
Pierce, H. J., 1857 
Pethoud, John, 1857 
Pethoud, John, Jr., 1858 
Pethoud, F. M., 1857 
Pethoud, Thomas, 1858 
Pethoud, James K. P., 1858 
Sherrill, Thomas, 1860 

HOLT TOWNSHIP 

Austin, Edward C, 1857 
Austin, Homer B., 1857 
Barnhouse, John, 1866 
Chesney, Warren, 1865 

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP 

Michael. Weaver, 1866 

BLUE SPRINGS 

Armstrong, Thomas, 1860 
Anthony, Levi, 1862 
Chambers, Joseph 
Desert, George 
Elliott, Martin, 1857 
Elliott. William, 1857 
Elliott, Henry, 1857 
Elliott, Stephen, 1857 
Hager, Adam, 1859 



152 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Hager. .Margaret. 1859 

Hager, John, 1859 

Fisher, King, 1862 

Fisher, Fred, 1862 

Gary, Patrick R., 1859 

Graham, F. M., 1859 

Johnson, James H., 1857 

Johnson, Martha M., 1857 

Johnson. Rankin, 1859 

Knight. Lynus, 1860 

Knight, Jane A., 1860 

Lett, James, 1860 

Max 

Nichols, James H., 1864 

Noyes, Reiiyl, 1857 

Poff. Jacob, 1857 

Shaw, Samuel, 1859 

Sargent. True, 1859 

Sargent, Wright, 1859 

Summers. J. M., 1859 

Tyler, William P.,. 1859 

Tyler, Rebecca (Woodward). 1859 

Wilson, Robert A., 1861 

ROCKKORI) TOWNSHIP 

Adams, John, 1865 
Andrews, Miles, 1863 
Barnum, H. S., 1859 
Breese, Robert, 1860 
Coffee, Philip B., 1865 
Coffinberry, C. C, 1858 
Davis, Carroll, 1859 
Davis, William, 1859 
Dixon, James, 1858 
Dobbs, F. H., 1858 
Dunn. John H., 1860 
Elerbeck. James, 1866 
Freeman. Humphrey P., 1863 
Graves, II. J., 1860 
Hendy, Eli B., 1859 
Hollingworth. James. 1862 
Hollingworth, Henry. 1862 
Hollingworth. Joseph, 1862 
HolIing\vorth, James. Jr., 1862 
Haydcn, Stephen. 1863 
Hayden, Amos, 1863 
Lily. Henry D., 1863 
Maltingley, James B.. 1857 
Milligan, Joseph. 1857 



Montgomery. John, 1860 

Miller. David, 1863 

Miller, Catherine, 1863 

Mudge, Louis C, 1866 

Mudge, Franklin, 1865 

Nyghart, Stodgell. 1866 

Potterton, John, 1859 

Schullenberger, Jacob, 1859 

Schullenberger, Henry, 1859 

Schullenberger, William McK., 1859 

Shaw, Harley, J., 1865 

Slocumb, Charles H., 1866 

Stark, George W., 1858 

Tidier, John, 1859 

Webber, Cyrene, 1865 

Weigle, Gabriel, 1863 

Welsh, Alex, 1864 

Wild, William, 1862 

Van Boskirk, Asher, 1863 

Van Bockirk, William, 1866 

LOG AX TOW X SHIP 

Armstrong, William, 1865 
Chrisman, David, 1863 
Chrisman, Marion, 1863 
Chrisman, Joseph, 1863 
Graves, Abraham, 1860 
Graves, Louis, 1860 
Graves, Enoch, 1860 
Graves, Henry, 1860 
Hadley, Isaac N., 1862 
Mumford, J. W., 1865 
Mumford. J. B., 1865 
Pheaster, Johnathan, 1865 
Rogers, John, 1863 
Smith, Duncan. 1866 
Smith. Archibald. 1866 
Tanner. John, 1865 
Williams, Thomas, 1865 
Williams, Evan, 1865 
Zimmerman. Thomas, 1862 
Zimmerman, Class, 1862 

NEMAHA 'TOW NSIIIP 

Sykes, George, 1865 

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP 

Cain. Nathaniel D., 1865 
Dunn, William B., 1865 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



133 



Dunn, John C, 1865 
Evans, Stephen, 1866 
Fisher, Sylvester, 1859 
Goin, James K., 1856 
Jimmerson, Allen, 1866 
Jimmerson, John J., 1866 
Muchmore, h. M., 1856 
Muchmore, James, 1866 
MacMains, A .P., 1858 
Palmer, David, 1855 
Palmer, John, 18'66 
Sharp, Johnathan, 1865 
Sharp, Louis, 1865 
Sharp, George, 1865 
Wymore, Cornelius S., 1866 

ISLAND GROVK 

Bolinger, Peter, 1866 
Buckles, Peter, 1864 
Brown, Joel, 1866 
Dewey, Timothy, 1859 
Dewey, William F., 1859 
Fishbaugh, John, 1864 
Garaer, James I., 1866 
Irby, James, 1864 
Mangus, David, 1866 
Marion, Tipton, 1864 
Stuteman, Thomas, 1866 
Tibbitts, Samuel A., 1864 
Tibbitts, Thomas D,, 1864 
Tibbitts. Edward, 1864 
Willis, Scott, 1864 
Willis, Cornelius, 1864 
Wymore, Cornelius, 1864 
Wymore, James, 1864 
Wymore. Frederick, 1863 

SHERMAN TOWNSHIP 

Anderson, Asa. 1865 
Martin, Thomas, 1865 
Smith. Abraham B., 1866 
Wilkinson, George, 1866 

FILLEY TOWNSHIP 

Bendernagle, Andrew. 1866 
Bendernagle. Philip, 1866 
IMakely, Benjamin F., 1862 
Dunn. James W., 1859 
Franklin, George W., 1863 



Kees, John F., 1866 
Norton, Noah, 1866 
Reese, Levi M., 1864 
Scott, Wilson D., 1865 

HOOKER TOWNSHIP 

Fuller, George W., 1863 
Fuller, John, 1863 
Fuller, Mary A., 1863 
Hillman, John, Sr., 1860 
Hillman, John, Jr., 1860 
Hillman, Thaddeus, 1860 
Krause, William, 1865 
Williams, Thaddeus, 1863 

ADAMS TOWNSHIP 

Adams, John O., 1857 
Adams, Nelson, 1857 
Barmore, Henry, 1865 
Curtis, William, 1860 
Drown, George W., 1863 
Golden, Henry, 1857 
Gale, Alfred, 1857 
Gale, George, 1858 
Hildebrand, Jacob P., 1858 
Hildebrand, Leroy. 1857 
Hickock. Charles,' 1860 
Mathews, William. 1856 
Moore, B. F., 1859 
Noxon, George, 1857 
Lyons, John, 1857 
Reynolds, H., 1857 
Shaw, Stephen P., 1857 
Shaw, William, 1857 . 
Shaw, John, 1857 
Shaw. James I., 1857 
Shaw, Stephen V., 1857 
Silvernail. James, 1857 
Silvernail. William, 1857 
Stafford, John, 1857 
Shaw, Egbert, 1857 
Whyman. Charles, 1866 

Nathan Blakely 

Nathan Blakely was born at Roxbury. Con- 
necticut, July 26, 1824. He obtained a good, 
usable education in the public schools of his 
neighborhood and in Roxbury Academy. In 
1844 he besran to teach school in Westchester 



154 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBIL\SKA 



county, New York, and he followed this un- 
eventful but useful calling for a number of 
years, teaching tliirtccn terms in succession at 
Long Branch, the celebrated watering place 
in Monmouth county. New Jersey. He then 
returned to Connecticut and for a w'hile en- 
gaged in newspaper work at Roxbury. In 
1852 he went to Chicago, and finally he lo- 
cated in Iowa, where he again taught school. 
In 1857, in company with his brother. Wil- 
liam Blakely. he came to the new territory of 
Nebraska, and, with Isma Mumford, almost 




Nathan Blakely 

Ijy accident, stumbled upon the ISeatrice 
Townsite Company and found the members of 
this company engaged in building the log 
house which afterward became famous in the 
pioneer history of the county as "Pap's Cabin." 
He never identified himself directly with the 
townsite company, but a few days after his 
arrival he entered the tract of land where 
Zimmerman Spring is now located. He lived 
there from July, 1857, to the spring of 1865, 
and the walnut grove north of the spring was 
planted by him. He then sold his land to 
Nicholas LePoidevin and moved to Beatrice, 
where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and 
for a few years was the most active and prom- 
inent business man in the village. 

In 1858 he w-as elected county clerk of Gage 



county and the first minutes of the board of 
county commissioners, or the county court 
as that board was then called, are written by 
'Sir. I'.lakely's hand. In 1859 he was reelected 
to the office of county clerk, and during his 
entire incumbency of that office he was ex 
officio county superintendent of public instruc- 
tion, while for a brief period, in 1858-1859, he 
filled the office of county judge. In 1861 Mr. 
Blakely was elected the representative in the 
territorial assembly for the district composed 
of Gage, Johnson, Clay, and Jones (now Jef- 
ferson) counties, and in 18t)6 he was again 
elected, to what proved to be the last terri- 
torial legislature. Before the adjournment of 
the session, in June. 1867, Nebraska had be- 
come a state and it became necessary to elect 
two L'nited States senators to represent her 
in congress. Mr. Blakely steadily supported 
for these offices Thomas W. Ti])ton of Brown- 
ville. and Algernon S. Paddock of Omaha. 
Tipton was elected, but instead of Paddock, 
General John M. Thayer was chosen. Mr. 
Blakely was elected to the first state legisla- 
ture in the fall of 1868, from our county, and 
while still a member of that body he was ap- 
pointed receiver of public moneys for the Unit- 
ed States land office at Beatrice : he took charge 
of that office October 1, 1869. He served the 
government in this responsible position for 
.<ix years, handling thousands of dollars of 
public money, and at the close of his service 
it was found that the government was slightly 
in his debt. 

In November, 1868, Mr. Blakely married 
Margaret Constance Tinkham. the daughter 
of .-\lbert L. and Sarali Tinkham. who were 
also among the earliest settlers of Gage coun- 
ty. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Blakely had 
been one of the active and successful school 
teachers of Gage county. Her first school was 
at Blue Springs, and her pupils were: Carter 
C. Coffinberry and Hugh J. Dohbs. from w'hat 
i'^ now Rockford township : John Shaw, from 
the Otoe Indian .Agency : and from Blue 
Springs. Thomas. James. Richard, and Martha 
Johnson. Maria Knight (afterward Mrs. 
Louis W'ehn). Retta .\nthony (now Mrs. F. 
M. Graiiam'). her brotlier Isaac, and two 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



155 



younger sisters, children of Dr. Levi Anthony. 
These, with Sarah Fisher and her sister, 
daughters of King Fisher, constituted one of 
the earliest schools taught in the county. 

Mr. Ulakely's death occurred at his home 
in Beatrice on his birthday anniversary, July 
26, 1906, and his wife passed away, at her 
home, December 6, 1908. At the time of his 
decease he had attained the age of eighty-two 
years, and ]\lrs. Blakely had reached the age 




M.ARG.ARET C0XST.\NCE BwKELY 

of sixty-five. Mr. Blakely was a shrewd busi- 
ness man and at the time of his death was 
one of the wealthy men of our county. His 
fortune was all in Beatrice real estate and 
farm lands in Gage, Thayer, Nuckolls, and 
other Nebraska counties. After his widow's 
death this fortune descended to their only son, 
Charles, who is now a resident of Omaha. 
This pioneer husband and wife lie side by side 
in their own burial plot in Beatrice cemetery, 
in, as yet. unmarked graves. 

From the moment of its origin until the 
last moment of his life, Beatrice never pos- 
sessed a more loyal, enthusiastic, hopeful 
friend than Nathan Blakely. 

Charles N. Emerv 

Charles N. Emery was born in Industry, 
Franklin county, Maine, August 13. 1836. 



Early in 1856, with the great influx of free- 
soil immigration, he came to Kansas, and 
made his home at Lawrence, which, from 
1854 to 1863, was the rallying point of the 
free-soilers and the headquarters of John 
Brown, Jim Lane, Redpath, Parsons, Eldridge, 
Pomeroy, and other anti-slavery leaders. His 
first occupation was to drive stage on the old 
Santa Fe Trail from Leavenworth to Topeka, 
Kansas, and in this capacity he made the ac- 
quaintance of nearly every prominent leader 
of the anti-slavery movement in the territory 
of Kansas. 

In 1864 he came to Nebraska territory, 
where he was for a while in the employ of 
the Overland Stage Company and had charge 
of the station at Thirty-two Mile Creek. Later 
he came eastward on the Oregon Trail to 
Liberty Farm, and he had charge of that im- 
portant station at the time of the great Sioux 
Indian raid on the Little Blue river in August, 
1864. On the afternoon of that day a stage 
driver halted his team at Liberty Farm long- 
enough to warn the inmates to fly for their 
lives. Mr. Emery and his family made their 
way quickly to Pawnee Ranch, a large station 
of the Overland Stage Company, so located as 
to be easily defended. They went through the 
siege from three or four hundred savages, and 
when the danger had subsided they made their 
way to Atchison, Kansas. From that point, 
for a year or two, Mr. Emery engaged in 
freighting across the plains to Colorado. In 
July, 1867, he came to Beatrice, and for a 
while he was engaged in farming and stock- 
raising, but on the completion of the old stone 
hotel building at the corner of Fifth and Court 
streets, he, on January 1, 1871, became its 
landlord. This famous old hostelry was 
known for years as the "Emery House,!' and 
is to this day in favor with the traveling pub- 
lic, under the name of the "Burvvood." Be- 
ginning with 1878, Mr. Emery owned and 
ran a livery barn, which was located directly 
east of the hotel. 

While driving stage over the old Santa Fe 
Trail, Charles N. Emery met Mary Benson, 
and on May 4. 1858, they were married, at 
Lawrence, Kansas. Here their two children 



156 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



were born, George E. and John C. Emery. 
This pioneer family from the first was prom- 
inent in the social and business affairs of 
Beatrice. Charles and Mary Emery were 
genial, optimistic, friendly people and were 
much loved and highly respected by the en- 
tire community. 

He reached the boundaries of life when 
venerable in years, and on the 6th day of 
January. 1907, the passing Death Angel with 
his wing touched his companion of over forty 
years, and she passed peacefully from the 
earth forever. After their long pilgrimage 
together, they lie side by side, in everlast- 
ing repose, near the beautiful city which they 
both loved and which loved them. 

Joseph Hollincsworth 

Joseph Hollingworth was born in the man- 
ufacturing town of Melbourne, Derbyshire, 
England, November 2, 1836. He was the 
youngest of twelve children born to his par- 
ents. Jame.s and Elizabeth Hollingworth. In 
1848 these fine English parents, accompanied 
by their four youngest children, came from 
England to the United States of America and 
settled in the then new state of Wisconsin, 
where the father engaged in farming and in 
the manufacture of lumber from the pine for- 
ests of that state. After the parents had been 
in this country some years they were followed 
by most of their other children. They were 
James, the eldest son; Henry and Robert; also 
their married daughters Elizabeth, wife of 
William Wild, and Frances, wife of Francis 
Shelley. In 1861 all these families except 
Robert numbering probably twenty-five souls, 
migrated from Wisconsin to Gage county, Ne- 
braska. All found homes in Rockford town- 
ship except Robert, who came on later and set- 
tled in Thayer county, where he became very 
prominent both in publi: and private life. They 
became at once useful and valued citizens of 
our county and state and though all but Eliza- 
beth Wild have answered the summons of 
death their posterity is to be found in numbers 
in the city of I^eatrice, in Gage county and 
elsewhere in Nebraska, engaged in many voca- 
tions in the world of work. Joseph Holling 



worth and his brothers, as well as Wild and 
Shelley, were successful farmers and belonged 
to the cultivated English rural class. These 
families all possessed the manly and womanly 
virtues that distinguish high-class English peo- 
ple wherever found. 

Shortly after coming to Nebraska Joseph 
Holling-\vorth met and, on July 13, 1862. mar- 
ried Wealthy, the good and accomplished 
daughter of Rev. Albert L. Tinkham and his 
wife Sarah, pioneers, too, of Gage county. She 
was a successful school teacher. She taught 
the village school in Beatrice in 1861 and was 
teaching the second school taught in Blue 
Springs, in 1862, when she first met her future 
husband. Their marriage was from first to 
last a complete exemplification of perfect con- 
jugal happiness and domestic felicity, broken 
only by the husband's death. 

Joseph Hollingworth maintained a continu- 
ous residence here till 1882, when he went to 
Nuckolls county to live, on a section of land 
which he had purchased. In 1887 he returned 
to his farm in Rockford township, and in 1895 
he came to Beatrice to live. After a few years 
spent in this city he removed to University 
Place and after a short time he went to Cali- 
fornia, whence eventually he went to Portland, 
Oregon, where he died October 23, 1914. His 
wife, though nearing life's boundary, still 
survives, — the object of the tender affection 
and solicitude of her children and friends. 

To Joseph and Wealthy Hollingworth there 
were born five .sons and three daughters. The 
sons are Arthur, Thomas, George, Albert, and 
.Archie : the daughters are .■\lma, Arvilla, and 
.\imee. All reside in Portland, Oregon, except 
.Mbert, who for many years has made his home 
in Beatrice. He served during the Spanish - 
.\mcrican war as captain of Company C of the 
First Nebraska Regiment of \'oluntcer Infan- 
try, a company composed largely of Gage coun- 
ty men. He was severely wounded in battle 
in the Philippines but returned with his regi- 
ment in 1899, and on February 27, 1906, he 
was appointed postmaster of- Beatrice, an office 
which he most ably and acceptably filled for 
more than eight years, maintaining, however, 
in some capacity a connection with the military 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



157 



organization of the state. When the United 
States entered the present world war, in 1917, 
he was among the first to offer his services to 
his country, and he is now lieutenant colonel 
of one of the Nebraska regiments in training 
for service in France. 

Hiram W. Px\rker 

In the history of Gage county, few men have 
played so important a part as Hiram W. Park- 
er. He was born in Worcester. Massachusetts, 
December 17, 1827 ; he died at Beatrice in 1899. 
Mr. Parker came to Nebraska from Ironton, 
Ohio, in April, 1857. and in 1858 he located a 




Hiram W. Parkkr 

claim in old Clay county, near the present vil- 
lage of Pickrell, and engaged in farming and 
stock-raising. In 1865 he removed to Camden, 
in Seward county, Nebraska, where he built a 
saw mill, and followed this, in 1871, by adding 
a grist mill. On the 2d day of June, 1871, he 
was appointed register of the government land 
office at Beatrice, and by successive appoint- 
ments he held this office until April 1, 1884. 
He was county judge of old Clay countv. and 



was the clerk of that county in 1864, when 
Clay was partitioned between Lancaster and 
Gage counties. In 1860 Mr. Parker was elect- 
ed to represent Gage, Clay, and Johnson coun- 
ties in the territorial assembly, and he was al- 
so a member of the state constitutional con- 
vention in 1871. 

Mr. Parker was married, at Austinburg, 
Ohio, in October, 1852, to Almira T. Dole, a 
native of that state. His living children are 
Franklin H- Parker of Santa Rosa, California, 
and Louis C. Parker of Chicago, Illinois. Mr. 
Parker for a long time was vice-president of 
the First National Bank, and was also president 
of a brick manufacturing company and a large 
canning company, in both of which he lost 
money, and of an early-day telephone company 
of Beatrice. For a number of years he was a 
member and president of the school board of 
the city of Beatrice ; he was also a long-time 
official of the Gage County Agricultural 
Society. 

The remains of both Mr. and Mrs. Parker 
lie in the old Beatrice cemetery, where two chil- 
dren preceded them many years, and the spot 
is marked by a fine monument. 

Though rather abrupt in manner, Mr. Parker 
at bottom was a good, reliable citizen, and to 
tb.ose who broke through his reserve he was a 
good friend. 

Ch-arlES G. Dorsey 

Charles G. Dorsey came to Brownville from 
Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1856, and engaged in 
the practice of the law, principally, however, in 
such litigation as grew out of land contests 
l)efore the register and receiver in the Brown- 
ville land office. He combined with his 
practice a general real-estate business. On 
the 25th day of July, 1865, he was appointed 
register of the land office, and he held this 
position till March 7, 1867, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Henry M. Atkinson, who was af- 
terwards surveyor general of New ]\Iexico. 
The land office was moved from Brownville 
to Beatrice July 7, 1868. and Mr. Dorsey 
removed from Brownville in 1869. and 
continued his practice before that of- 
fice. His brother. George Dorsev, also 



158 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



came from llrowiivillc tu liealrice. and the 
brothers, witli 1. X. .McConnell. for a inimber 
of years practically monopolized the litigation 
before the register and receiver of the Beatrice 
land office, at the same time doing a very large 
real-estate and insurance business, from which 
all the partners rea|>ed large profits. In the 
late 70s Mr. Dorsey engaged in the hardware 
business in Beatrice, and abont the year 1882, 
he erected the double, three-story, brick build- 
ing in block si.xty-four of the original town 
of Beatrice, west of the Burwood Hotel. Mr. 
Dorsey continued in the hardware business 
in one of these storerooms for a number of 
years, but during the liard times in 1893 to 
1898, he lost his ])ropcrt\' largely, and, with 
a mere remnant of his pro])erty, he moved to 
Kansas City, Missouri, where he made an 
heroic struggle to recoup his fortune. He 
again engaged in the hardware business and 
was gradually achieving success, when his 
death occurred. 

Mr. Uorsey was for many years active and 
prominent in the affairs of Beatrice and Gage 
county. He was an able man and very con- 
siderate, as well as conservative in judgment. 
He was an esteemed and valuable citizen. 

Before coining to lieatrice, Mr. Dorsey had 
been a member of the territorial legislature. 
While here, he was frequently a member of 
the city council. He was married at Peru, 
Nebraska, in the fall of 1871, to Mary E. 
Majors, a daughter of S. P. Majors, a promi- 
nent citizen and pioneer of Nemaha county, 
whose son, Colonel Thomas J. Majors, is a 
widely known citizen of the state of Nebraska. 
Three children were born to this husband an<l 
wife, namely: William C, Edith, and Harry 
Dorsey. Harry, the second son, died in 
Beatrice a number of years ago. The elder 
son, William C. Dorsey, resides at Blooming- 
ton, Nebraska, and is at the present time serv- 
ing as district judge of his judicial district of 
the state. 

FoRHVCF. RoPKR 

Fordyce Roper was one of the early settlers 
of old Clay county, having established his 
residence on Indian creek, twelve miles north 



of Beatrice, in 1857. He accompanied Judge 
Kinney, Dr. Wise, Dr. Wilmans, Dr. Reynolds, 
J. B. Weston, and others to the Beatrice 
townsite, the last of May, 1857. He became 
a resident of Beatrice in 1859, but in 1860 he 
went to Pike's Peak on a prospecting expedi- 
tion for gold. He returned that fall and pur- 
chasing the buhrs of Austin's mill he removed 
them to Beatrice. Having acquired some in- 
terest in the saw mill at that time being oper- 
ated on the bank of the Big Blue river (where 
Black Brothers merchant mill is now located) 
by one Waldripp, he proceeded to put in a 
dam across the river and erect a grist mill, 
I)uth to be driven by water power. For 
some reason this venture did not prove a suc- 
cess, but Mr. Roper persisted in the enterprise 
and ultimately produced a very fair grist mill. 
In connection with this he developed a very 
efficient saw mill, planing mill, and lath and 
shingle industry. He was not only the first 
miller of Beatrice, but was also for many years 
one of its most important and most consid- 
ered citizens. He was active in community 
affairs, serving the county as a commissioner 
from 1862 to and including 18CA, and was 
chairman of the Gage county board when 
Clay county was divided, in 1804, between 
Lancaster and Gage counties. In 1869, on the 
resignation of Nathan Blakely as representa- 
tive for Gage and Jefferson counties in the 
state legislature, Mr. Roper was elected to fill 
the vacancy, .\bout the year 1875 he sold his 
mill to Henry Weatherald and his son Newton, 
and retired from the milling business. About 
the same time he sold his residence and re- 
moved from Nebraska to California, settling 
finally in Bakersfield, that state, where he died 
a few years ago. 

Mr. Ro])er was the tirst miller of Beatrice. 
He had the business acumen to forsee the 
necessity for such an enterprise and the energy 
and enthusiasm which urged forward to its 
accom]jlishment. His old home stood and still 
stands facing South Second street where it 
terminates on Scott street. It is practically 
unchanged from what it was when he left it. 
It is now occupied by Henry \'on Reisen as a 
residence. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



159 



Ri:\'. Alwcrt L. Tixkham 

If worth of character and a long life devoted 
to the betterment of mankind are in themselves 
sufificient to perpetuate the memory of man, 
then no history of Gage county could be com- 
plete without some account of the Rev. Al- 
bert L. Tinkham. 

This writer knew this good man long and 
well ; many of the happiest recollections of his 
life are inseparably connected with him and 
his, and this sketch is written for the purpose 
of commemorating the life and character, and 
the noble and unselfish services to the pioneers 
of Gage county, of this heroic man. 

Mr. Tinkham was born almost at the open- 
ing of the nineteenth century. He died in 
Beatrice at the age of seventy-eight years. He 
was derived from good New England stock 
and was endowed with all those qualities of 
heart and brain which win and retain the 
esteem of mankind. He was of a deeply reli- 
gious nature and as a minister of the Gospel, 
he spent the greater part of his life in simply 
doing good. He exemplified perfectly in his 
long life as a Christian minister the sentiment 
contained in Tennyson's verse : 

"Howe'er it be, it seems to me 
'Tis only noble to be good : 
Kind hearts are more than ccjronets 
And simple faith than Xorman blood." 

ATr. Tinkham came to Beatrice in 1860. He 
had been ])receded here by his eldest son, Gil- 
bert, who died among strangers, in the lonely, 
almost desolate hamlet of Beatrice, in the 
winter of 1859. On arriving here with his 
familw .Mr. Tinkham became at once a useful 
and an intlucntial member of the community. 
He found Beatrice a mere village of log and 
board shanties, where people hibernated in 
winter and vegetated in summer. It required 
courage of no ordinary character to bring a 
young and growing family, in what seems now 
that far-off day, to this outpost of civilization. 
He was jMcsented by the townsite company 
with the two lots on Ella street, in block forty- 
nine, where the three-story building know'n as 
the Penner P.lock is located, and he proceeded 
to build iherccin a two-room, hevved-Iog, clap- 



board-roofed house, which in its day was per- 
haps equal to any other residence in Beatrice. 
It was the furthest out of any of the houses 
and was located on the broad, open prairie. 
Here he dwelt with his family during four 
busy years and here his son Edward v\'as born. 
He was a carpenter by trade and in addition to 
his pastoral duties he was accustomed to labor 
assiduously with saw and plane. He and his 
son Elias built the old frame school house on 
the block where the old high-school building, 
now Central grade-school building, stands. Mr. 
Tinkham was a Methodist clergyman and pos- 
sessed the fire and enthusiasm of the early 
ministers of that church, — the Wesleys, Whit- 
field, Cartwright. For many years he was the 
best known minister of the Gospel in Gage 
county, extending his gentle ministrations far 
and wide amongst the hardy pioneers, officiat- 
ing at marriages, funerals, and other services 
performed by clergymen ; he was known by all 
and loved by all. In the lonely dugouts and 
log cabins he was a familiar figure and a wel- 
come guest. People traveled far to hear him 
preach. At his maximum his voice was as 
mellow and resonant as a bell. No preaching 
could have been more simple and direct, more 
free from rant and cant. He possessed traits 
of character which disarmed enmity and left 
him without foe or detractor in all the world. 
He was gentle and considerate and endowed 
to a remarkable degree with the charity that 
envieth not, is not pufTed up, that vaunteth not 
itself, that suffereth long and yet is kind. 
Strictly honorable and exact in his dealings 
with his fellow men, he expected Almighty 
God to be exact with him. Not ambitious of 
v.-orldly wealth or honors, he was content with 
a life severely simple and plain. 

In early life Mr. Tinkham married Sarah 
Wilson, at Wilsonville, Ohio. To this couple 
there were born Gilbert, Wealthy, Elias, Mar- 
garet Constance, James Leroy, Thomas, Alice, 
Edward, and Albert Tinkham. Both Wealthy 
and Margaret were amongst the first school 
teachers in Gage county. The former married 
Toseph Hollingworth, the latter Nathan Blake- 

iy. 

In 1864, Mr. Tinkham was prevailed upon 



160 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEBRASKA 



by his friends to avail liiinself of the benefits 
of the homestead law, and he entered the 
quarter-section of land on Bear creek on the 
south side of the Scott-street road, extending 
from Cottonwood Grove school house a little 
way beyond the bridge. This tract of land 
continued to be the family home until his 
death. His remains, with those of his wife and 
other members of his family, lie in the family 
Inirial lot in the Beatrice cemetery. 

HoR.KCH M. \\1CK1I.\.M 

Horace ]M. Wickham was born in Licking 
county, Ohio, September 2, 1832. His early 
life was spent in Andrew county, ^lissouri. 
He spent the years of 1855-1856 in Iowa, and 
on March 20, 1859, he became a resident of 
Gage county, Nebraska. During most of the 
intervening years up to the time of his death, 
September 4, 1906, he made this county his 
home and was by occupation a farmer. In 
1867 he was elected a county commissioner of 
Gage county, and he served continuously in 
that responsible office till the year 1877, — the 
longest continuous service in that office of any 
of its numerous incumbents. On the 8th of 
May, 1859, Mr. Wickham was married, at 
the home of a Mr. Woodrow, on Bear creek, 
three miles northeast of Beatrice, to Lavinia 
Young, by Nathan Blakely, then acting probate 
judge of this county. Some years ago, on the 
occasion of a farewell party to Mr. Wickham 
at his home in Blakely township, Mr. Blakely, 
who performed this first marriage ceremony 
in Gage county, sent to Mr. Wickham a letter, 
which is not only self-explanatory but also 
sheds much light on the crude conditions of 
those early days. The letter reads as follows : 

Horace M. Wickham, 

Hoag, Gage County, Nebraska. 
My Dear Friend : 

I regret that my health is such that I can 
not avail myself of a kind invitation to meet 
you and your old friends in this county before 
you make your departure for your new home in 
the Platte valley, in this state. We have al- 
ways known you long and well, and we think 
you should have remained with us the few 
remaining days of our earthly pilgrimage, to 
cheer and comfort one another. 



We have all had many joys and sorrows 
since we located in this wild, unsettled country 
so many years ago. We found many good and 
true friends among the old settlers of this 
county. We cherish the memory of many de- 
parted ones and the hearty handshake of 
others, who, with us, will soon bid adieu to 
all earthly scenes, we hope for a brighter and 
better life. 

I have always felt a special interest in you 
and yours, for, in the spring of 1859, you asked 
me to marry you to Miss Lavinia Young. As 
there was no minister in this part of the 
country, and I being the only county official 
that seemed to have authority, I was compelled 
to perform the operation. There had never 
been a marriage in this county, so I could not 
get any information just what to say or how 
to proceed. I lay awake a good share of two 
or three nights trying to learn my piece; then 
I wrote it down and used to declaim it out on 
the prairie — a mile from any huinan being. 
.\s the audience neither applauded or hissed, 
I decided it was good. 

The ordeal came, and one pleasant Sunday 
in May (8th). 1859, I started for Bear creek, 
where Mr. Woodrow and family lived, near 
Fulton's Spring, Miss Young living with them. 
On the green grass, under a new tent, I tried 
my very best to make Mr. Wickham and 
Miss Young husband and wife, and, as far as 
I have ever learned, I succeeded. 

I don't know what I said and I never dared 
ask you or your wife, but as you appeared to 
be so smiling, I could not tell whether it was 
from what I had said or from your inexpres- 
sible happiness of being made a husband. 

May the blessings of Heaven rest upon you 
and your family henceforth and for evermore, 
and evermore. Your friend, 

Nathan Blakelv. 

The reader has now looked upon the first 
marriage solemnized in Gage county, and its 
commemoration by a man of keen intellect and 
imquestioned veracity. 

Shortly after this marriage, Mr. and Mrs. 
Wickham went to the state of Colorado with 
a view of making their home there. Here the 
young bride was taken ill and dietl. at South 
Park. Colorado, August 7, 1860. Mr. Wick- 
ham later married, at St. Joseph, Missouri, 
Mrs. Lsabellc Bcebe, who passed away in 1873, 
leaving two children, Clarissa and I'ranklin P. 
Wickham. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



161 



ISMA P. MUMFORD 

Isnia P. and Elizabeth Mumford were 
anions^st the first pioneers in Gage coun- 
ty. Isnia P. Mumford was born in the 
state of Maryland, while Elizabeth Alal- 
lock. was born in Adams county, Ohio, 
in 1830. She was the granddaughter of 
a Revolutionary soldier and the daughter of 
a man who bore arms for his country in the 
war of 1812. When twenty-one years of age 
she became the wife of Isma P. Mumford. 
Shortly after their marriage, in 1853, they mi- 
grated from Ohio to the new state of Wis- 
consin, and in 1857 they came seeking a home 
in the new territory of Nebraska. On the way 
out they were joined at Plattsmouth by Wil- 
liam and Xathan Blakely, and together these 
heroic pioneers of Gage county made their slow 
way across the unmarked, trackless prairies of 
southeastern Nebraska. Hearing that the Big 
I Hue river valley offered great advantages to 
settlers, on account of the abundant timber 
and rich bottom land which Hned its course, 
tiiey traveled thither, and on the 17th day of 
July, almost by accident, stumbled upon the 
)iiembers of the Beatrice Tmvnsite Company, 
who were engaged in erecting a company 
liouse on their townsite, which building later 
became the property of Albert Towle and 
widely famous as "Pap's Cabin." They also 
found a cluster of covered wagons and tents, 
in the neighborhood of the Kees Manufactur- 
ing plant, a little above the junction of Indian 
creek and the Big Blue river. Learning that 
the representatives of the townsite company 
had founded a tow'n and purposed to remain 
and carry their enterprise to fulfillment, and 
pleased both with the prospect and company, 
the little party resolved to cast in its fortunes 
with that old guard which then and for many 
succeeding years held this remote outpost of 
civilization against all hardships, privations 
and discouragements. 

For several months Mrs. Mumford and a 
Miss Bailey, who accompanied the party, were 
the only white women in the settlement, and 
probably the only white women in the county. 
Of Miss Bailey this writer is unable to give 
anv further account, but Mrs. Mumford en- 



joyed the distinction of being the sole repre- 
sentative of her sex in Gage county until the 
arrival of Mrs. Catherine Towle, in the 
autumn of 1857. The names of both these 
good ladies must l)e forever spoken with 
reverence by those for whom the early history ■ 
of Beatrice and Gage county has the slight-est 
interest. Both possessed unusual mental 
vigor; both were endowed with those traits 
of personal character that always command 
and retain the respect of mankind : both have 
long since passed to their rest. One sleeps 




Ei.iz..\BETH Mumford 
The first white woman settler in Gage county 

beside her honored husband in the old ceme- 
tery, near this city, and the other is wrapped 
in kindred earth of a sister state. To Mrs. 
Towle belongs the honor of being the mother 
of the first child born in Gage county, a 
daughter, Katie Towle, and to Mrs. Mum- 
ford, the honor of being the mother of the 
first white male child born within the boun- 
daries of our county. Both these children, 
liaving reached the age of maturity, were 
long ago gathered to the bosom of Mother 
Earth. Katie Towle became the wife of 
George V. Avers, of Deadwood, South Dakota. 
She died on the 28th day of March 1890. aged 
thirty-two years. Her remains lie with those 
of her parents in the faiuily burial ground in 



162 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the Beatrice cemetery, while the turf that en- 
folds a father's and a brother's clay wraps 
also the dust of Dawson Mumford, he having 
perished in an accident, at the age of twentv- 
two years — the age when most men begin 
life. 

Shortly after his arrival, Isma P. Mum- 
ford began the erection of the building which 
in his hands became, and long afterward con- 
tinued, to be a leading public inn of the 
struggling village of Beatrice. "Pap's Cabin" 
consisted of an unhewn story-and-a-half log 
structure, which stood about where the 
baggage room of the Burlington station is 
located. It was the first structure of any 
kind erected in Beatrice, and Mumford's inn 
the second. Mumford's building differed 
from Pair's Cabin, in being a hewed instead 
of a round log house. It still stands. 

The remaining history of Isma P. and 
Elizabeth Mumford may be briefly told. On 
August 7, 1857, at an election attended prin- 
cipally by the members of the Beatrice Towu- 
site Company for the purpose of organizing 
Gage county by electing a complete .set of 
county officials. Mr. Mumford was chosen 
county treasurer, and he held that office one 
year. lie bears the distinction of being the 
first county treasurer of Gage county. Dur- 
ing the great Indian panic of 1864, which 
swept over this portion of Nebraska with ir- 
resistible force, the Mumfords, with many oili- 
er families, left the territory, some never to re- 
turn. But in the spring of 1865 Isma P. and 
Elizabeth .Mumford. with their children, es- 
tablished a home near what was know as the 
"Steam Wagon Road," six miles west of Ne- 
braska City. Here, in 1873, Isma died, and 
his wife, in 1875. removed permanently from 
the state, taking up her residence with a son, 
in Nodaway county. Missouri, where she died 
in March, 1897. They were the parents of 
nine children, seven sons and two daughters. 
One son, James, became a prominent Congre- 
gational minister, and as far as known to this 
writer, all their children who reached ma- 
turity became useful and worthy members of 
society. 



J.\MKS B. .M.XTTI.NGLV 

James B. IMattingly was born in the state 
of Kentucky, on the 8th day of April, 1818, 
near Elizabethtown, Harden county. In 1841 
he migrated to the territory of Illinois and 
settled in Moultrie county. He was of a rov- 
ing disposition, and leaving Illinois, about 
1847, he moved to Iowa ; from there, in 1849. 
to Platte county, Missouri. In 1857 he left 
Missouri and started west along the Oregon 
Trail in an aimless search for a new location. 
At Ash Point, a station on the old highway, 
he struck a dim trail and followed it to the 
Otoe and Missouri Indian village. Guidied 
by reports of desirable locations further north, 
he passed the site of Blue Springs, and finally 
selected a quarter-section of land in the south- 
west corner of Rockford township, on Mud 
creek, in June 1857. .\bout the year 1866 he 
sold his homestead to James Millard, and 
moved to Jeflferson county. Nebraska, where 
he entered a tract of land, eighty acres of 
which now form the most populous and 
wealthy portion of the city of Fairbury. 
Shortly after arriving in Jefferson county he 
engaged somewhat extensively in the freight- 
ing business, along the Oregon Trail, for a 
few months, an occupation which he had fol- 
lowed also while residing in Gage county. 
\\hcn, in 1867, the construction of the Union 
Pacific Railroad put an end to the freighting 
business along the old trail, Mattingly 
established himself on the Little Blue river, 
within pistol shot of the court house in Fair-^ 
bur)-, in the saw-mill business, and while en- 
gaged in sawing luinber for homesteaders 
who were rapidly flowing into that section of 
country, he was visited one day by Woodford 
G. McDowell, a resident of Fairbury. Illinois. 
The St. Joseph & Grand Island Railway was 
pointing up the Little Blue river, and 
McDowell, with keen previsi(Mi, had selected 
the present site of Fairbury as the location 
for the county seat of Jeflferson countv. Mat- 
tingly possessed in a remarkable degree the 
imagination which always goes with adven- 
ture, and McDowell had no difficultv in 
getting him to enter into his scheme to found 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



163 



a town, to be called Fairbury, which should 
he the chief city of that entire section of 
country. McDowell had obtained title to 
eighty acres adjoining ]\Iattingly's. They 
jointly laid out and platted the town of Fair- 
bury, the history of which has more than 
fulfilled the dreams of both its founders. 

James Bartholomew Mattingly belonged to 
that class of men which is ever adrift in the 
forefront of advancing civilization. After in- 
vesting some money in the town of Endicott, 
in the vain endeavor to boom it into a city 
of importance, and losing heavily in the ven- 
ture, he, with his son, Joel Thomas, his wife, 
and daughter Polly, migrated to the Pacific 
slope. All are dead now but the son, Joel 
Thomas, who lives at Condon, Oregon, in 
fairly comfortable circumstances. Mr. Mat- 
tingly himself died October 19, 1907, aged 
eighty-nine years. At the time of his death 
he was a resident of a little town in northern 
Washington. 

James B. Mattingly was a wonderfully ac- 
tive man ; his occupations were diverse ; he 
was at once a soldier, a freighter on the Ore- 
gon Trail, a speculator, a farmer, a miller, .x 
carpenter, and dabbled in many other occu- 
pations. With many faults of character and 
of mental equipment and attitude, he was at 
bottom a reliable citizen and active in the 
public welfare. He was county commissioner 
of Gage county in 1861-62-63; he was 
deputy sheriff, bailiff of the courts, justice of 
the peace and occupied other civil positions of 
trust, if not of profit, in Gage county. He 
taught the first Sunday school in Rockford 
township and one of the first in our county. 
This Sunday school was organized in April. 
1859. The writer of this volume, with his 
brother, and Joel Thomas Mattingly were his 
only pupils, although the school lasted two 
or three years. 

James B. Mattingly was as eccentric a char- 
acter as he was a picturesque one, and when 
he died, the world could have better spared 
a better man. 

S.AMUEL Jones 

Samuel Jones was born in Grayson coiui- 
tv, \'irginia. in 1826. When he was eight 



years of age his parents moved to Ohio, and 
settled near Gallipolis, Gallia county, where 
he grew to manhood. In 1845 he married Re- 
becca Pethoud, daughter of John Pethoud, one 
of the first settlers of Gage county, Nebraska. 
In 1855 he moved from Ohio to Platte county, 
Alissouri, and after six months' residence there 
he moved to Jefferson county, Kansas, locating 
thirty-three miles west of Leavenworth. In 
In September, 1857, he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska territory, and in the spring of 1858 
he made preemption filing and settlement on 
the northeast quarter of section 15, Midland 
township. He built a log house on his pre- 
emption claim that year, the carpentry work 
being done by H. F. Cook, one of the founders 
of the city of Beatrice. With some additions 
to this rude structure, to accommodate his in- 
creasing family, the building constituted his 
home for several years, but in 1866, he began 
the erection of a large stone house, near the 
old pioneer log cabin. This was finished by 
1868 and was probably the most commodious 
farm residence in the county. The wood work 
was done by Tom Redpath, who was after- 
ward drowned while bathing in the Big Blue 
river above the dam, when that stream was in 
flood. 

Samuel Jones was a farmer all his life, but 
during the pioneer days in Nebraska Territory 
he engaged in freighting and ranching to some 
extent, along the old Oregon Trail, and was 
one of the best known freighters and all- 
around business men in the county. He was a 
very active man, good natured, kindly, and was 
heartily liked by the early settlers. He died 
February 8, 1872, and with his father, William 
Jones, and sister, Mrs. Elizabeth McDaniel, 
and daughter Helen, aged five years, is buried 
on the hill a quarter of a mile south of the old 
stone dwelling. His wife. Rebecca Jones, died 
at Gooding, Idaho, about 1901, while making 
her home with a daughter, and was buried 
there. 

To these pioneer parents there were born 
fourteen children — eight sons and six daugh- 
ters. Seven of these children are numbered 
with the dead. The living are William R. 
Jones, the eldest son, who resides in the city 
of Beatrice and has made his home in Gage 



164 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



county since September, 1857, when he was 
eleven years of age; the third daughter, Sarah 
A. Drew, wife of Lorenzo L. Drew, also lives 
in Beatrice ; John T. Jones and Elizabeth 
Dwyer, son and daughter, live at Gooding, 
Idaho; Leroy C. Jones, another son, is United 
States marshal of Idaho and lives in the city of 
Boise ; Albert Jones, a son, lives at Baker City, 
Oregon ; Rebecca (Jones) Pethoud, daughter, 
lives at Cotopaxi, Colorado. 



the county. With them are rapidly disappear- 
ing the traditions and the romance of the past. 

.Vlger.no.v Sidnev P.\ddock 

Algernon Sidney Paddock was born at Glens 
Falls, New York, November 9, 1830. He died 
at Beatrice, Nebraska, October 17, 1897. He 
was the son of Ira A. Paddock, a well known 
and prominent lawyer of Glens Falls. He 
received his elementarv eduration in the com- 




PioNKKR Resthe.nce of S.\muel Toxf.s 



The old stone mansion erected as a family 
home by Samuel Jones in 1866 is in process of 
demolition and will soon be a thing of the past. 
Time was when this pioneer residence was a 
place of great interest and importance. It was 
the abode of hospitality, generous, ungrudg- 
ing, and was a center of the social forces of 
the surrounding community. It stood, staunch 
and inviting, near one of the old trails that led 
from Beatrice up Indian creek bottom and on 
past its portals to the head of Salt creek, and 
down that stream to the salt basin, where it 
connected with the old trails from Nebraska 
City, Plattsmouth and Omaha. One after an- 
other the pioneer homes have disappeared, un- 
til at the present moment there are probably 
not twenty of these ancient buildings left in 



mon schools of his native city. and. preparing 
himself for college in the academy of Glens 
Falls, at the age of eighteen years he entered 
L'nion College (now university), at Schenec- 
tadv. New York, where so many of the able 
men of the nation have received their educa- 
tion. On account of financial affairs he was 
compelled to leave the college when just en- 
tering upon his senior year. For a while he 
taught school, reading law at the same time, 
and, having been admitted to the bar in his 
native state, he, in May. 1857, came by steam 
boat from St. Louis, ^lissouri, to Omaha. 
He was a ma)i of great amiability and pleas- 
ing address, and these and other qualities won 
him influential friends in Nebraska from the 
moment of his arrival. He was alwavs an 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



165 



ardent, unflinching and loyal Republican, and 
in 1860 he was a delegate from Nebraska, to 
the national convention of his party which 
nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. 
In the convention Mr. Paddock, however, sup- 
ported his friend William H. Seward for that 
office, a service which that able and good man 
never forgot, and in 1861, through his influ- 
ence, Mr. Lincoln appointed Mr. Paddock 
territorial secretary of state for Nebraska, an 
office which he both adorned and exalted for 
the period of six years, retiring only upon the 
admission of Nebraska to the Union, March 
1, 1867. At the first state legislature Mr. 
Paddock was a candidate for United States 
senator, but was defeated by General John M. 
Thayer, a Civil war hero of Nebraska. In 
1869 he became interested in the construction 
of the Burlington Railroad system in Ne- 
braska, and for a while maintained business 
relations with the officers of that railroad 
company. In 1872 he moved from Omaha to 
Beatrice, which was his home for the remaind- 
er of his life. 

Mr. Paddock was elected United States 
senator for Nebraska in 1875, in place of 
Thomas W. Tipton, for the term of six years. 
In 1881 he was defeated for that office by 
Charles H. Van Wyck, and in 1882 he was 
appointed a member of the very important 
"Utah Commission" by his friend President 
Arthur, upon which body he served with great 
distinction until October 1, 1886, when he 
resigned. In 1887 Mr. Paddock was again 
chosen LTnited States senator for the state 
of Nebraska, serving until 1893, when his 
place was taken by William V. Allen. 

On entering the United States senate few 
western senators were as well equipped as Mr. 
Paddock for serving their section of the coun- 
try. He was familiar with western conditions, 
versed in the land laws under which title 
could be obtained to land in the public domain, 
he was acquainted in detail with questions 
growing out of Indian depredations, school- 
land selections, surveys and re-surveys of pub- 
he lands. Indian and military reservations, and 
tlie necessary military equipment for all the 
great west. He was indefatigable in his ef- 
forts to secure proper legislation for the en- 
tire country and particularly for the western 



states and territories. Perhaps it is no more 
than just to say that Nebraska has never had 
in either house of congress an abler, more con- 
scientious and more faithful and intelligent 
servant than Senator Paddock. 

For many years Senator Paddock was not 
only a citizen of Beatrice l)ut he was also a 
force in this community. In 1887-1888 he 
built the Hotel Paddock, whicli in many re- 
spects is the most important private property 
in the city of Beatrice. He platted and laid 
out Fairview and Paddock additions to 
Beatrice, and in other ways exhibited his in- 
terest in the destiny of the fair city of 
Beatrice. 

In his personality Senator Paddock was one 
of the most attractive of men. He was ex- 
tremely optimistic in temperament and his 
faith in Nebraska was unbounded, — and this 
through good, as through evil report. Mr. 
Paddock stood four-square to all the world, 
and, though often subject to adverse criticism 
by his political opponents, no man ever had 
the temerity to attack him in his private life. 

On the 22d day of December, 1859, Mr. 
Paddock married Anna L. Mack, of St. Law- 
rence county. New York, a daughter of Daniel 
Mack, an honored citizen of that state. It 
was a most felicitous marriage, covering a 
period of thirty-eight years. His devoted wife 
still ( 1918) survives him, and makes her home 
in Lincoln. The children of this marriage 
were Daniel Mack and Susan, both of whom 
died at an early age ; Harriet, wife of O. J. 
Colman, of Lincoln, Nebraska ; Francis 
Amelia, now deceased ; and Franklin Algernon 
Paddock, of Kansas City. Missouri. 

Both time and space forbid the further ex- 
tension of these sketches of territorial pioneers 
of our county. The reader will find in the 
biographical department of this work and else- 
where, the life history in more or less detail 
of a large number of these pioneers. The 
chief aim of the writer in these sketches has 
been to show the kind of men and women who 
were the first to people our county, and who 
set in motion those forces and influences which 
eventuated in the creation of a great, free 
commonwealth, one of the most attractive and 
interesting in the sisterhood of .states. 



chaptp:rxviii 



NARRATIVE OF GEORGE GALE. WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



George Gale was born in Columbia county. 
New York, May 17, 1828, and died at his 
home in Adams township. Gage county, Jan- 
uary 9, 189^), He was descended from a well 
known family of the Empire state, members 
of which had participated in both the Revo- 
lutionary war and the war of 1812. His par- 
ents were Alonzo and Phoebe (Peck) Gale, 
both natives of Dutchess county. New York. 
His father was of Irish descent, his mother a 
Hollander. When he was six years of age 
his parents moved from New Y'ork to Con- 
necticut, where he was reared and educated. 
March 2(>. 1850, Mr. Gale married Margaret 
M. Shaw, the daughter of Stephen P. Shaw-, 
himself a well known pioneer immigrant to 
Gage county. 

Shortly after his marriage George Gale 
moved to the new state of Michigan, and in 
1854 he went still further west, settling in 
Neosha county, Wisconsin. From Wiscon- 
sin, in 1858, with his family and household 
effects, carried in two ox-drawn wagons, he 
migrated to Otoe county, in the territory of 
Nebraska. He remained in that county until 
18r)0, when he came to what is now Adams 
township. Gage couiitw bvit then part of old 
Clay county. Here he purchased land, and in 
1863, under the homestead law, he added to 
his i)urchase one hundred twenty acres more. 
Mr. (^lale was a most reliable, conscientious 
man. He had a keen sense of right and was 
accustomed to follow the inner light of con- 
science wherever it led. By occupation he 
was a farmer, and was content with that 
simple, uneventful life. He was well and 
favorably known in Gage county and esteemed 
as a man of strong common sense and sturdy 
integrity of character. Four children were 



born to Mr. and Mrs. Gale, namely, Edward 
B., Mary A., Charles F. and Margaret. 

^Ir. Gale was the second assessor of Gage 
county, having been elected to that office in 
1869. For over twenty years he was a mem- 
ber of the school board of his school district 
and filled other neighborhood positions. Not 
only was George Gale himself thus accredited 
but members of his family also have been 
useful and esteemed citizens of our county. 
His sister Carrie was one of the early and 
successful school teachers of the county. In 
1865 she taught the Beatrice summer school 
and in 1866 she taught both the fall and 
winter terms in the old cottonwood, frame 
school-house in Beatrice, this writer having 
been much honored in being one of her pupils 
at the winter term. She became the wife of 
Louis T. Griggs, and though long since gath- 
ered to the bosom of Mother Earth both she 
and her husband are represented in the world 
of work by their children, George. ClifTord, 
Albert. Kirk, and Mollie, all honored and use- 
ful members of .society. Mr. Gale's son, 
Charles F., but recently deceased, was for 
many years prominent in the social and busi 
ness life of the city of Beatrice. 

The following narrative was written by 
Mr. Gale in 1876. Primarily it was intended 
as a history of old Clay county, but it is so 
largely devoted to the various phases of 
pioneer life as he saw and lived it as to im- 
part to it historic value of a high order. It is 
first-hand matter and probably .stands alone 
as a contemporary narrative of pioneer condi- 
tions in our county. It supplements to some 
extent other chapters of this volume, and as 
evidence it has the weight of an eye witness 
on most of the subjects considered by its 



166 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



167 



author. For all these reasons, as well as from 
respect which the author of this work bears 
to the memory of Mr. Gale, his narrative is 
given place here. The interesting article is 
reproduced without formal marks of quotation. 

History of Old Ci,av County from its Set- 
tlement UP TO 1876 

BY GEORGE G.\LE 

In writing a history of this section of Ne- 
braska, that is to say that jiart of it once 



settlement under the policy usually known as 
popular sovereignty, by which the c|uestion 
of freedom or slavery was left to a vote of 
the people at the time of forming state con- 
stitutions. 

All this is necessary to be understood in 
order to vmderstand why Nebraska, with a 
superior soil, climate and geographical posi- 
tion, was comparatively neglected by settlers, 
who agreed by common consent to make 
Kansas the battle-ground between freedom 
and slavery, and who rushed to that territory 




Mr. and Mrs. George Gale 



comprised within the limits of Clay county 
and now attached to the counties of Lancaster 
and Gage, it will be necessary, or at least 
proper, to go back to the organization of the 
territorial government, and also to touch some- 
what on the history of other and adjoining 
counties. 

As is well known, the act of congress or- 
ganizing the territories of Kansas and Ne- 
braska was passed in the spring of 1854, thus 
opening up at once these two territories to 



in order to assist in establishing such institu- 
tions as they personally approved. 

Very little permanent settlement was made 
in Nebraska this year. Some towns along the 
Missouri river w^ere located by parties who had 
been watching the land for years and waiting 
for it to come under the provisions of the 
preemption laws. Omaha, Plattsmouth, Ne- 
braska City, Brownville. and ]x'rha])s other 
towns were laid out this year. 

The first session of the legislature of Ne- 



168 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



braska was held this year, some surveying was 
clone, and some few farm claims were taken 
near the river, but many of the settlers went 
back to Iowa or Missouri to winter. 

In 1855 some farm claims were taken fif- 
teen or twenty miles from the river, but 
nothiuf^ in tlie way of provisions was raised 
in this or the following year. 

hi IS.V) i)coi)le in search of first-class loca- 
\/ lions explored tiie country on the Nemaha, 
and as far west as upper Salt creek, but few, 
however, of the claims then taken were ever 
occupied by them, but were afterward taken 
up by others. 

The first permanent settlement in Clay 
county was made on Salt creek by the Preys 
— father and sons — Mr. Davison, the W'al- 
lini^fords, and others whose names are not now 
rtniembered, all of whom are now gone ex- 
cejn the I'reys. 

These settlers were all driven out by the 
Indians in the fall of 1857. They wintered at 
Nebraska City and returned to their claims in 
the spring of 1858, but the Indians troubled 
them more or less for several years, as we 
shall have occasion to relate further on. They 
laid nut the town of Olatha this year. 

In 1857 a great many settlements were made 
in. Clay county. On the Nemaha, Mr. John 
O. .\dams settled early in die spring and put 
in and raised a crop of sod corn. Mr. John 
Stafford came this spring and also raised a 
crop. Mr. Golden and sons, Mr. H. Reynolds 
and brother, Charlie Hickock and, farther 
down the east branch, Mr. John Watson, Mr. 
William Freeborn, R. Swallow. C. J. Baker 
.'ind others. 

In July nf this year came Stephen P. Shaw 
and sons — ^\'illiam, John, James, and 
Stephen — anil James and William Silver- 
nail. They located on the branch above Mr. 
.\danis at La:on:i. Jacob and Lerov llilde- 
brand also came this year, and settled on the 
branch known as Jake's creek, near .Adams. 

.About the same time a settlement was made 
on Indian creek by E. C. Horner. Charley 
.\ustin, a gentleman named Phelps, II. W. 
I'arker, besides others wlio proceeded to lay 
out the town of .Austin, which now exists only 



on paper, if anywhere. Also, further down 
in Gage county, the Pethouds — father and 
son. Beatrice was also located and surveyed 
this season by what was and still is known as 
the Beatrice Town Company. 

In November the Nemaha settlement was 
further augmented by the arrival of Egbert 
Shaw and John Lyons and their families. 
There was another settlement made this year 
(in the head of the little Nemaha, by Mr. 
Noble, Mr. Rodencamp, Mr. Meecham and 
others, and I think they laid out a town near 
where Bennett now stands. 

.At the time these settlements were made 
in Clay county there had been raised in the 
state nothing of any consequence toward sup- 
porting the people. Everything had to be im- 
ported from the east. Those who had money 
could buy at the Missouri river anything they 
wanted but many had very little money, while 
some had to sell their best team or cow in 
order to live until a crop could be grown. 

Some few who had their houses built went 
to the river and worked for those who had 
work to do and money to pay for it. How- 
ever, the most of these supposed when they 
came that they had money enough to keep 
their families until they could get a crop and 
then make enough by farming or in some 
other way to pay for their land, for it must 
be borne in mind that there was no home- 
stead law then. Their land was taken under 
the preemption law and they did not expect 
the land would be brought into market for 
many years, and that perhaps before that time 
came congress would pass a homestead law and 
save them all further trouble. In this they 
deceived themselves, as they found to their 
great disgust a year or two afterward. 

Although land could be taken from the 
first under the preemption law it could not 
be entered at private sale until it had first been 
offered at public sale to the highest bidder. 
This being the case, the settlers felt perfectly 
safe with regard to their claims as long as 
the land was withheld from market. Rut in 
the summer of 1858, to their great astonish- 
ment and consternation, the land from the 
Alissouri river to range 8 was advertised to be 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



169 



offered for sale in September. Only a few 
of the settlers were prepared to pay for their 
land, while most of them had no recourse but 
to hire a land warrant at forty per cent, in- 
terest, for such were the very moderate terms 
of the gentlemen who petitioned the President 
to bring the land into market. 

Of course they had the choice of selling their 
teams and fighting the battle bare-handed, or 
letting the matter take its own course and run 
the risk of their claims being bid on by specu- 
lators, and losing their land, and in some 
cases costly improvements besides. But as 
nearly every man thought his claim was the 
center of the universe, the very pivot around 
which all the rest of the world revolved, and 
that consequently it offered an irresistible 
temptation to some speculator to buy it, near- 
ly all were frightened into buying land war- 
rants on time, at forty per cent, interest, and 
proving up their claims. 

After this little game had been successfully 
played, the land was withdrawn from sale for 
one year. The next year, however, in 1859. 
it was all oft'ered for sale as far west as to 
include Clay county. This produced very 
little excitement, people having recovered from 
their fright, and very little land was sold • — 
perhaps none that was held under the pre- 
emption law. Some proved up and paid be- 
fore the sale, and some let it run and took 
their land under the homestead law, in 1863. 

We may as well say here that most of 
those who located borrowed land warrants 
on their claims lost them with all their im- 
provements, and in some cases after paying 
interest at forty per cent, for several years. 

There were no roads at this time except 
Indian trails, nor bridges on the streams, and 
when they were obliged to go to the river or 
anywhere else, three or four would go to- 
gether, traveling on the divides as much as 
possible, and when a stream had to be crossed 
they would take all the teams across except 
one, then run one of the wagons down the 
bank into the creek, then hitch on all the 
teams with chain enough to reach to the top 
of the bank, then pull the wagon out and then 



repeat the process on all the rest of the 
wagons. 

But this was too much trouble for an every- 
day business and nearly every settler soon had 
a good bridge or a ford for his own use, which 
were always and for many years used by the 
public. 

At the time of which we are treating, the 
settlers all used ox teams, and there were very 
few horses in the country. 

The possession of a riding nag was an 
indication of the wealth of its owner, and the 
man who owned a horse team was set down 
at once as a blooded aristocrat. 

In making long trips on the road they 
always carried their own provisions and 
bedding, and in winter feed for their teams. 
If the weather was fine they always camped 
out nights, but if it was cold or stormy they 
vv'ould always be welcome to spread their beds 
on the floor of some kind-hearted settler — 
Joe Sanders', the widow McKee's, Solonberg- 
er's, Brownell's, or almost any house from 
here to Nebraska City. But in the winter 
time Brownell's was the most popular place 
to stop of any on the road and your historian 
and nearly all of the Nemaha settlers have 
many times had experience of the hospitality 
of this genial, kind-hearted old gentleman. 
The old settlers of the Nemaha will never for- 
get the nights they have lain on his floor, be- 
fore the broad, open fireplace piled with blaz- 
ing logs, and listened to the old gentleman's 
stories, and told others to match them until 
sometimes they would all fall asleep in the 
midst of a story, only to resume it at the same 
place in the morning. 

Those were pleasant times to look back up- 
on, but they seemed not so pleasant then, and 
probably if the same times were offered us 
now we should decline with many thanks. 

These trips to the river, though not strictly 
pleasure parties, were occasions of consider- 
able fun and enjoyment, provided the weath 
er was good, but if the weather proved bad 
and stormy, the situation offered but few at- 
tractions, even to an old settler. 

They always started on these trips in good 
weather, with the intention of making certain 



170 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



well known |)oinis each night to camp, and if 
no accident hai^pened and the roads were good 
and if the weather was not too hot for the cat- 
tle, the points were sure to be made. Some 
of the most popular camping places with the 
Nemaha |)eoi)le were Syracuse ford. Hrow- 
neirs. Rock ford. Delaware City, and after- 
ward at Solenberger. Nursery Hill. Wilson 
r.ridge. etc. 

They generally managed to camp near 
enough to Nebraska City to go in, and get out 
again at night to the same place or. at least 
out of town. While a part of the men. and 
perhaps .some of the women (for they liked to 
go to town just as well then as now), were 
gone, those left in the settlement looked after 
the families and stock of those who were gone. 
.\n<l when it was time for the absent ones to 
return, those at home would watch for the 
teams coming over the hill and w-oukl some- 
times gather at the first house on the road to 
meet them and get the first news, receive their 
letters from friends east, and the children to 
receive their presents, for, in spite of poverty, 
something for them was sure to be found in 
some of the packages that came from the city. 

As we have before remarked, there was a 
little sod corn raised in Clay county in 1857. 
Nearer to the river there was considerable, 
and it was sold for a good price to those who 
hafl not yet raised any. This served to dem- 
onstrate the fact that corn would grow in Ne- 
braska, and to encourage the settlers to plant 
all they could the next year, when most boun- 
tiful cro))s (if corn, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, 
.squashes and all manner of garden vegetables 
were grown, and this was the last one and 
only good cro]i of sod corn grown in this 
section of country. 

This success in farming solved the provision 
question so far as the raw material was con- 
cerned, luit mills were needed to grind the 
corn. Several small mills were established at 
different places along the river this year or the 
year before, but the people here who were out 
of flour and out of money could not wait for 
the new croj) to mature and dry sufficiently to 
grind. Thus they commenced living on the 
new corn as soon as it was in roasting ears. 



and as soon as they could get it dry enough to 
grind they hauled it to the river and had it 
ground, if they could find a mill that was in 
running order, for they were generally out of 
repair and sometimes our people w'ould have 
to wait a week for their grinding; sometimes 
they would return without it and make an- 
other trip for it : and in the meantime they 
would borrow meal or tlour of each other until 
the entire stock of the whole settlement was 
exhausted — and then all would go to making 
hominy, grinding in coffee mills and pounding 
ill mortars or grating on tin pans, sometimes 
for weeks together until grinding could be had. 

When the .Austin inill started there was great 
rejoicing on the Nemaha, for now grinding 
could be had within from fifteen to twenty-five 
miles, and the trip could be made in two days. 
This mill only ran one day in a week and 
sometimes only one day in two weeks, but it 
proved a very convenient thing for us until we 
began to raise wheat, when we were again 
obliged to go to the city, or some other point 
on the river, or into Iowa. Your historian 
and many others have been to Iowa to mill 
and been gone on the trip ten days. 

The Beatrice mill was built in 1861 and 
burned in 1862, but it was rebuilt in 1863, antl 
since that time there has been very little 
trouble about mills. 

There are peo]i!e who think we are not now 
very well provided with mill facilities, but it 
was worse during the days of the first settle- 
ments. One W'Ord more about the Austin mill. 
If from any cause the mill could not be started 
on the regular day, or the day had not been 
appointed, Mr. Austin would either ride over 
to the Nemaha or send a man to let us know 
when it would start, so that no one would 
come to the mill and be disappointed. Such 
men were millers in those days, but they are 
all dead, and they died poor. 

The settlers commenced farming on a very 
small scale at first, raising garden vegetables, 
potatoes, etc., for their own use but nothing 
for sale for several years except corn, for 
which there was a market at Nebraska City, 
though after the first good crop prices were 
low. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



171 



In the meantime they had tried wheat to a 
small extent and it had not proved successful, 
and people had got the idea that the country 
was not adapted to wheat. 

In the year 1858 news came of the discov- 
ery of gold near Pike's Peak, and this greatly 
raised the hopes of the people with regard to 
markets for their produce, which would not at 
this time pay the expense of hauling to an 
eastern market, but it was two or three years 
before their hopes Were realized and the gold 
fields afforded a market for anything of con- 
sequence. In the meantime many of the set- 
tlers had become discouraged and had gone 
hack to the east, to the mountains or to the 
war, and those who remained looked dubious- 
ly at the prospect of making homes here, with 
th.e result that there were actually less people 
in the territory in 1862 than there were in 
1859, by about ten thousand, fully one-third 
of the people having left the territory. 

The opening of the war had a very depress- 
ing influence on the aiifairs of Nebraska, es- 
pecially the financial and l)usiness affairs. 
Coming as it did after a general failure of 
crops in I860, on account of drouth, it found 
our people with little or nothing to sell and 
no market for that. It seemed as if the world 
had come to a stand-still. There were times 
when produce could not be exchanged for 
goods at Nebraska City, and even toward the 
close of the war, when confidence had become 
somewhat restored, it would take two bushels 
of wheat to buy a pound of coffee or a yard 
of brown sheeting, and many other things 
in proportion. Of course we did not put on 
much style in dress or live very luxuriously 
in any way. This state of things drove us 
from the Missouri river as a market and 
obliged us to look to the westward for the sale 
of our products. 

There was at the opening of the war quite 
a large increasing population in Colorado that 
must be fed with produce from the east, and 
the people of Nebraska were quick to take 
advantage of this new market. 

To illustrate to what expedients our people 
were driven during the war, take such in- 
stances as these. In the fall of 1862, I think 



it was, wheat was worth at Nebraska City, 
thirty-five cents and salt was eight dollars a 
barrel. How were the people to get salt? 
This is the way ; they hitched up their teams 
and went to the salt basin on Salt creek, near 
where Lincoln now stands, scraped up the salt 
that rises to the surface and is crystalized by 
the action of the sun, hauled it home, dissolved 
it, purified it, boiled it down and made a very 
tine article of salt. 

Not only were the people of this section. Init 
of all South Platte, a part of Iowa, and the 
country westward to the mountains, to a great 
extent supplied with salt from this source. 
In fact manufactories of salt of considerable 
extent and capacity were established there, 
and quite a town was built up, all of which 
has long since disappeared. 

They could not pay two dollars per pound 
for tobacco so they raised their own tobacco. 
They did not use cofifee or tea every day. 
Sorghum syrup took the place of sugar, which 
was at one time two and a half pounds for a 
dollar. 

Some farmers who had heavy teams hauled 
their produce to Denver or went into a regular 
freighting business ; others moved on to the 
lines of travel, and established ranches for the 
accommodation of the travel, while others 
staid on their farms and raised produce and 
hauled to the ranches and sold it, the produce 
being mostly corn, potatoes, pork, eggs and 
butter. At this time hundreds of farms were 
abandoned and left uncultivated in all parts 
of the territory. 

The west was our principal market until the 
building of the Union Pacific Railroad, which 
destroyed the market for corn and drove the 
people of this county to raising wheat, for 
which we had now a pretty good market east- 
ward. 

The early settlers had the idea that wheat 
would not do well here until, in 1862 or 1863, 
some astonishingly large and good crops were 
raised, but for the want of a paying market 
very little was raised for sale until about 1866. 
Since that time wheat has been the principal 
crop grown for sale, and it was for many years 



172 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



considered the surest and best paying crop 
that could be grown. 

The war found our people almost unanim- 
ous for sustaining the government. Some few 
secessionists were found along the river, but 
they speedily left Nebraska for more con- 
genial climes. In this county a few opposed 
the coercion of the states, but they were gen- 
erally very mild in the expression of their 
views. 

During the winter of 1860-1861 the legisla- 
ture passed a law for organizing the militia 
of the territory into companies, regiments, bri- 
gades and divisions, for purposes of defence in 
case of danger. .Accordingly an election was 
called by proclamation, and those persons lia- 
ble to military duty were required to meet at 
their respective county seats and organize one 
or more companies, according to population, 
by electing officers. In Clay county the able- 
bodied men met at Austin some day in June, 
1861, and organized a company by electing for 
captain, Delos I\Hlls, of Salt Creek; first lieu- 
tenant, James Silvernail, of the Nemaha ; sec- 
ond lieutenant, H. W. Parker, of Austin ; and 
a full set of non-commissioned officers. 

Clay county had, at this time, a population 
of about one hundred and fifty or perhaps a 
trifle more, of whom about forty were voters. 
At the first election after the organization of 
the county, Nemaha precinct, composed of 
about one-fourth of the territory of the coun- 
ty, cast seven votes, being the full vote of the 
precinct, and as late as the division of the 
county the highest number of votes polled was 
thirteen ; most of the other precincts had more. 

We do not know the number or the names 
of all those who enlisted in the army at the 
difTerent times under the different calls 
of the president for volunteers, but Clay 
county, although a frontier county, furn- 
ished a large number of .soldiers, and the 
territory kept her quota full under all calls, 
without resorting to the draft. Among those 
who enlisted under the first call for three hun- 
dred tbou.sand, were John Hilman, Jr., William 
Shaw. Egbert Shaw, James I. Shaw. William 
Hand, Charlie .Austin (who went east and 
enlisted in an Ohio regiment"). William Rud- 



ruff, and two young men on the Blue whose 
names are forgotten. These all, with the e.x- ii 
ception of Charlie Austin, enlisted in the || 
Nebraska regiment and went to the front. 
None of them was killed in the service except 
William Shaw, who was killed by an accident, 
at St. Louis, in 1863. 

Many others served for the defense of the 
frontier for different terms and at different 
times, among whom were Thaddeus Hillman, 
John Stafford, Nelson Adams, two young men 
named Etherton, on Salt creek, James Her 
and several others whose names are not now 
known, as they were new comers and did not 
return to the country after their term of ser- 
vice expired. One son of John Hilman enlist- 
ed in an Iowa regiment and was killed in the 
first battle he was engaged in. 

A history of this section would not be com- 
plete without an account of the division of 
Clay county and the distribution of its terri- 
tory between the counties of Lancaster and 
Gage. All history has for its object the in- 
struction of the present and future by the les- 
sons and experiences of the past, and for this 
reason the history of the division of Clay coun- 
ty must be written. 

As early as the fall of 1863, rumors of a 
plan for dividing Clay county began to reach 
the people of the several settlements of the 
county, but this did not arouse much interest, 
from the fact that no one seemed to know 
anything definite about it, or where the rumors 
came from, and further it was well known 
that scarcely any one in Clay county favored 
such division. But soon men in Beatrice 
would drop a hint now and then to feel the 
pulse of our people in this matter, but they 
found them all against any such scheme and 
for some time we heard nothing more about 
it, and we supposed the thing was dead. But 
in the fall of 1864 the matter took such shape 
that there could be no mistaking the fact that 
there were only two or three in the extreme 
southern and about the same number in the 
extreme northern part who favored the plan 
or assisted in carrying it out; and they were 
all interested in town-site speculations which 
the scheme was supposed to favor. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



173 



At this time Clay, Gage, and Johnson coun- 
ties formed one representative district, and 
John Cadman managed to get the nomination 
for representative from this district. All this 
was apparent, still but few knew that this was 
a part of the plan to defraud the people of 
their rights. The plan was soon discovered, 
but too late to do anything of any consequence 
toward defeating Cadman's election. In fact, 
nothing could have been done under any cir- 
cumstances. 

This man Cadman lived on Salt creek at 
Sahiilo, on the extreme north side of the coun- 
ty. He owned a town-site further down the 
creek, where the insane asylum has since been 
built, and this, if Clay county was divided, 
would be very near the center of Lancaster 
and of course would be likely with shrewd 
management to become the county seat of 
Lancaster, which was not yet located. 

On the south the proprietors and people of 
Beatrice never felt quite sure that they could 
hold the county seat of Gage county at that 
place, because it was within six miles of the 
north line of the county and considerably to 
the west of the center of the county, while the 
geographical center lay on the Big Blue river 
and was in every ,\vay as good a place to 
buikl a town as at Beatrice. Consequently 
the people of that town took an active interest 
in the conspiracy and worked for Cadman's 
nomination and election. 

-A nomination by the Republican party was 
at that time nearly equivalent to an election, 
hut Cadman did not feel safe to keep still, so 
he made a canvass of the three counties, telling 
the people of Clay and Johnson counties that 
if elected he would do nothing in the legisla- 
ture looking to a division of the county unless 
he had a petition (which he felt doubtful of 
getting) to present, from at least two-thirds 
of the legal voters of the county, asking such 
division. The people of these counties know- 
ing that there were not, altogether, a dozen 
people who would sign such a petition, he 
was elected. 

At that time the capital was at Omaha, 
there were no facilities for travel as there are 
now, and in the winter we scarcely ever heard 



what was going on in the legislature until the 
session was over. So it was this time. Some 
time in March, 1865, we learned that the leg- 
islature had adjourned and one of the acts 
passed was an act to divide Clay county, giv- 
ing the territory to Gage and Lancaster coun- 
ties. The people of Clay county were thun- 
derstruck. They had not expected such a 
thing. There had been no petition circulated 
or signed and the people were unable to con- 
ceive of such infamy and political rascality as 
this act revealed. It seems that the legisla- 
ture had obliterated this county from the map 
of Nebraska at the demand of a small ring 
of speculators, without the consent or even 
knowledge of the people of the county, thus 
adding insult to the other wrongs consum- 
mated by this outrage. 

In justice to the senators and representa- 
tives from other parts of the state, it should 
be stated that, in answer to our reproaches, 
they said that there was a petition presented 
properly signed and which appeared to be per- 
fectly regular, asking them to pass such an 
act and they supposed that they were doing a 
favor to the whole people of Clay county — 
which proves that a forgery was committed. 

The people of the county did not propose 
to submit to such treatment as this, but sup- 
posed that on a true representation of all the 
facts to the next legislature, supported by a 
petition of nearly the whole of the legal voters 
of the county, that the act would be repealed 
and the old county restored. Acting upon this 
supposition and in this belief, in the winter of 
1866-1867 some of our people started out and 
secured the signature of very nearly every legal 
voter in the old county, but the work was 
hindered by the inclemency of the weather, by 
high water in the streams and by lack of facil- 
ities for traveling over the country, so that by 
the time the work was done and the petition 
was ready to send ofif, the legislature was ad- 
journed and we were disappointed. 

This so discouraged some that, though they 
most earnestly wished the old county restored, 
they could not be induced to take any trouble 
upon themselves for this purpose on the 
chances presented. Others never gave up their 



174 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



hope of remedy or ceased their efforts to at- 
tain it. 

Another effort to obtain justice was made 
in the winter of 1868-1869, when our petition 
was denied, at the demand of Lancaster and 
Gage county delegations. Still another effort 
was made in 1871, when a petition signed by 
over four hundred legal voters was presented 
by Colonel H. Rhodes, representative from 
Johnson county, while the measure was sup- 
])orted by members from other counties ; but, 
although the justice of our cause was unques- 
tioned, we could not offer the inducement to 
members for votes for our measure, that Beat- 
rice and Lincoln could for votes against it, and 
they refused to grant our petition. From 
that time all hope seemed to have died out until 
the session of 1875, when another effort was 
made for the lost cause, but with no better 
success than before. 

In giving a history of the county division 
and efforts for restoration, through a period of 
ten years or more, we have neglected many 
topics of interest, which we will now proceed 
to take up under separate and appropriate 
heads. 

Education 

As before stated, the cause of education in 
Clay county looked very discouraging in the 
early days. The people were poor ; there was 
no public-school fund to draw from then and 
very little taxable property, the land being 
nearly all in the hands of Uncle Sam. 

The subject was taken up by the several 
settlements and treated according to the means 
and ability of the people. The first step was 
to form and organize school districts. The 
first school districts were composed of pre- 
cints of from three to five government town- 
ships, each with a township board of education 
whose duty it was to form sub-districts, the 
law not permitting the formation of a sub- 
district with kss than ten children of school 
age. 

There was no fund for building school 
houses, but the people subscribed according 
to their means and built log school houses, 
made caves or sod houses in which to teach 
the young idea how to shoot. Teachers' 



wages were low and were paid by subscription 
or rate bill. There were three districts laid off 
in Clay county in 1862 — one on the Nemaha, 
one on Salt creek, and one on Indian creek and 
the Blue river — which were organized. The 
one on the Nemaha was divided into three 
sub-districts in the course of the years, but 
for various reasons they did not get schools 
running in any of them until 1864. 

The first school taught on the Nemaha was 
taught, in the old log school house, until 
lately standing near James Silvernail's, by Miss 
Carrie Gale, now Mrs. L. T. Griggs, of 
Beatrice. School cost something in those days 
when the expense was wholly borne by three 
or four in each sub-district. Since that time 
schools have been taught regularly in nearly all 
the districts, both before and since the county 
division. 

Since 1865 and 1866 the. country has set- 
tled up more rapidly than before, and schools 
and school houses have been multiplied ac- 
cordingly, and people coming to this state 
now need have no fears that their children 
need go without instruction, as our public 
schools will compare favorably with those of 
any state. 

Sbttlements 

The settlement of this state was very slow 
during the war; from 1861 to 1864 a few 
came, mostly from Missouri, being run out by 
bushwackers or leaving to escape the draft. 
A few of these stopped in this county but 
most of them stayed near the Missouri river. 
They are nearly all gone now, some to one 
place and some to another. Mr. Isaac Mayo 
is the only one left on the Nemaha. There 
are a few yet on Salt creek and near Firth, 
of whom we may mention the Grims, Jack- 
sons, Montgomerys and a few others. Also 
about this time or a little before, came from 
Indiana Mr. William McLane and brothers 
and other relatives. Further down Salt creek, 
!Mr. Delos Mills, Mrs. Boydston, Mrs. W'arner, 
Mr. Keyes, D. S. Brown, Fred and Carl Krul. 
Mr. Huskin and others. On the Nemaha, 
George Drown. William Curtis, II. C. Barmole, 
and a little later the Moore Brothers, J. H. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



175 



Lynch, George Lykes and Henry Stoops, and 
soon after James Sykes. 

On Indian creek and the Blue, the settlers 
were George Grant and sons, who for some 
time resided at Austin, and who moved to 
Turkey creek about this time; and near him 
Robert Nicholas, James and William Pluck- 
nett, and, on Clatonia and the Blue, William 
\'an Cleit, James Krnsie, Alfred Snell, and 
others. 

After the war the settlement was rapid, and 
your historian was unable to keep an account 
of all who came, much less to name them. 
For several years after the war a great many 
soldiers found themselves, to use a vulgar but 
significant expression, loose-footed, and the at- 
tractions of Nebraska as an agricultural state 
becoming known at the east, Nebraska receiv- 
ed a large accession of this honored class of 
citizens from other states. 

Through all this immediate section all the 
■claims on the streams containing bottom land 
or timber, were taken up in 1866 or before, 
and the next year prairie claims were taken, 
in fact early all the homestead land in the 
county was taken. 

One thing that delayed the settlement of the 
section of country about Firth was the with- 
drawal of large tracts of land from market by 
the government, for railroad purposes, but 
this is now seen to be an advantage to the 
country in keeping it out of the hands of 
other speculators who are still holding in Gage 
county large tracts, above the means of set- 
tlers. 

Since 1867 the improvement of the country 
has been very rapid, embracing the building 
of towns and railroads, which properly comes 
under another head, to which we will now 
refer. 

Towns .\xd R.mlroads 

As has been already stated, a number of 
towns were laid out in Clay county at an early 
dy, but none of them ever amounted to any- 
thing. They were generally located without 
reference to any natural advantages of posi- 
tion except, perhaps, a beautiful site for build- 
ing purposes, but as such sites could be had 



anywhere, it was not of sufficient importance 
to build up a town. 

There was not at that time, or for many 
years afterward, anything in the county to 
build up towns. There was no water power 
in the county to encourage manufacturing 
operations, there was but one route of travel 
overland through the country, viz ; through the 
Salt creek settlement from Nebraska City to 
Denver, Colorado, but the travel was too light 
and too transient to build up the town Olatha. 
But the principal trouble was that here were 
not people or capital enough to give anything 
a good start. 

When Clay county was divided, and for 
years afterward, there was absolutely no town 
of any kind in the county. Nebraska City 
was the only town that could be called a 
market for the people of this section until 
about 1868. 

John Adams, on the Nemaha, used to do 
some blacksmithing for the neighbors. He 
got so that he could do a good job of almost 
any kind, and was always willing to oblige 
his neighbors. John W. Prey, of Salt creek, 
used also to do some blacksmith work, and 
mend plows and wagons for his neighbors. 
John Stafford, on the Nemaha, made and 
mended shoes and boots. George Gale used 
to make ropes and twine, Alfred Gale used to 
make baskets and John B. Shaw used to make 
brooms. Aside from these mechanical arts 
practiced at home, all business had to be done 
a long distance from home. 

After the location of the capital at Lincoln 
there was a market there for some of the 
lighter kinds of produce, and most kinds of 
merchandise could be bought there nearly as 
cheaply as at Nebraska City, but did not afford 
us a market for grain or other heavy produce, 
from the fact that there were no railroads to 
get it away, and up to the time of the com- 
pletion of the Midland Pacific Railroad to 
Lincoln, in 1871, the farmers hauled all their 
grain to Nebraska City, and bought all or 
most of their heavy goods, lumber, and build- 
ing material, salt, hardware, machinery, im- 
plements, etc., there. The people of this sec- 



176 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tion never did much business at Beatrice until 
within a few years past. 

The first town within the limits of Clay 
county that was of any use to the people was 
Bennett, on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. 
This town afforded a market for grain and 
made a fair trading point for the farmers of 
the northeastern section of the old county. 

When the Burlington & Missouri River 
Railroad was built, a little station and trading 
point was established on Cheese creek, in the 
northwestern part of tlie old county, and called 
Highland. Other little towns were started 
on the Beatrice branch of the lUirlington & 
Missouri River Railroad just outside of the 
limits of Clay county, and Crete, Wilber, and 
DeWitt are a great accommodation to many 
of the people of the county. 

Some years previous to this, a mill was 
built and a town laid out in Johnson county 
by \V. H. Mann, of Sterling, Illinois, and 
called Sterling, but the town never made much 
growth until the building of the railroad. It 
was and still is of great advantage to some of 
the people of the southeastern part of the 
county. None of these roads run through old 
Clay county except to cut across a corner of 
it. 

In 1869 the legislature offered, as a bounty 
for the building of railroads in Nebraska, to 
give twenty thousand acres of land to any com- 
pany who should, by the first of January, 1871, 
l)uild and operate ten miles of first-class rail- 
road in Nebraska. About this time a com- 
pany was formed and incorporated, called the 
Nemaha Valley Railroad Company, for the 
purpose of building a railroad from Rulo to 
Lincoln. This company and several others 
commenced building railroads and built ten 
miles of road and claimed the bounty of 
twenty thousand acres of land. 

Tlie legislature being in session at that 
time, a board of commissioners was appointed 
to examine and report on the several roads 
claiming the bounty, and on their report the 
legislature, while it accepted some of them, 
rejected the claim of the Nemaha Valley 
Company on the ground that it could not be 
rated as a first-class railroad. About this 



time the company became bankrupt, the work 
was abandoned, and the hopes of the people 
were frustrated. 

But is was not long that this rich valley was 
to languish for want of railroad facilities, for 
a company having the means to do the work 
took hold of the matter and the result 
was the building of the Atchison & 
Northern Railroad from Atchison, Kansas, 
to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1871-1872, thus 
opening up the entire valley of the Big 
Nemaha to the commerce of the world. Be- 
fore this time this section had become pretty 
well settled, large farms had been opened and 
the want of an outlet by rail for the immense 
quantities of produce grown was severely felt ; 
and when the road was completed, its benefits 
were immediately felt and appreciated by the 
people of the valley. The effects of the build- 
ing of this road were to cause new farms to be 
opened, and old ones to be enlarged and im- 
proved, as well as the building of towns and 
the rise of real estate along the whole line to 
the distance of many miles. 

Among the towns built on this road are 
.\dams. Firth, and Hickman, all in old Clay 
county and consequently within tlie limits of 
this history. These towns were located and 
surveyed by the company. 

Ad.vms 

Adams was laid out on the north half of the 
northeast quarter of section 27 town 6, range 
8, in Gage county, in the spring of 1873, John 
O. Adams giving the company a half-interest 
in the land. William Curtis built the first 
house the same spring and this has been used 
by B. W. Anderson for a store and dwelling 
to the present time. After harvest of the same 
year Messrs. Adams and Curtis built the ware- 
house which is now used by R. A. Kenyon for 
shipping grain. 

In the fall of 1874 R. A. Kenyon built and 
opened a store and in the fall of 1875 he en- 
larged his house and moved his family there, 
where he still keeps a store and does a good 
business buying grain. 

The postoffice was established in 1872. with 
William Curtis postmaster. Mr. Burget op- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



177 



ened a blacksmith shop there in the spring of 
1875. Adams is a good point for business 
and would do a great deal if the railroad 
company would improve the facilities for do- 
ing it. 

Firth 

Firth was laid out on the northwest quarter 
of section 35, town 7, range 7, in July 1872, 
on land belonging to the Burlington & Mis- 
souri Railroad Company in Nebraska, which 
gave the Atchison & Northern a half-interest 
in the town. 

The company commenced making improve- 
ments and others commenced building almost 
immediately. The first building aside from 
the company's improvements was a small house 
which was used as a saloon. Then followed 
the section house and depot, and A, Ellsworth's 
store, which was the first store in Firth. Then 
Lyman Wood's dwelling, then Lon Mor- 
gan's house and blacksmith shop, Cham- 
pion's dwelling, Clement & Everest's store, 
Sweeney's dwelling, and Champion's ware- 
house. Albert Brown was the first sta- 
tion agent and operator for the railroad com- 
pany. D. E. Champion commenced buying 
grain the 30th of September, 1872. Sweeney 
commenced a few days later and they soon 
bought together and continued together for 
about two years, when Champion concluded to 
retire from business and is not doing anything 
now except running a livery stable, a land 
agency, building houses to rent, selling im- 
plements and machinery, and running a hard- 
ware store. 

Improvements from this time were rapid. 
Dwellings and business houses sprang up as 
if by magic. First one and then another 
branch of business was introduced, but these 
could scarcely keep pace with the wants of 
the country in their several lines. The Chi- 
cago Lumber Company established a lumber 
yard early in the year 1873. J. B. Hawley 
was agent, and was succeeded in 1875 by T. 
B. Barnes. 

Dr. Feilds, the station agent, was the first 
physician to locate in Firth, followed by Dr. 
Murphy, and later by Dr. Robinson. Dr. 
Murphy brought on the first stock of drugs 



and started a drug store in the building now 
occupied as the postoffice. He sold out the 
stock to William Phillips, who took the stock 
to Hickman and sold out there. Murphy and 
Jewell had previously opened with a larger 
stock of drugs, oils, paints, etc., in Champion's 
new building, and sold out to W. H. Moore, 
who later ran the business in another building. 
Clement & Everest opened the second store 
in Firth, occupying the stand on the corner of 
First and May streets east of Ellsworth's store, 
which was burned in November 1873, with a 
part of the stock. 

Clement & Everest sold out to Bailey & 
Barnhouse. Bailey sold out to Barnhouse, 
who for a while ran the business alone, then 
sold out to Bailey & Flickinger. 

The first hardware store in Firth was opened 
by the Reed Brothers, who sold out to Cham- 
pion & Hoisington. In the spring of 1874 
John and George Brownell opened a new store 
and after a number and variety of changes they 
were still found in the business. In 1873 L. R. 
Horrum started a harness shop. He ran it 
for a while, and was succeeded by Charlie 
Flickinger, and he again by Mr. Horrum. 

Spellman commenced business in Firth early 
in 1874. Henry Golden built and kept the 
first hotel. Smith & Mellinghouse started the 
second lumber yard in 1874 but sold out and 
went into the grain business. Witzig Broth- 
ers started the second blacksmith shop and 
later Mr. William Cook the third. In 1875 
Mr. Phinney put up the first and only mill in 
Firth, then sold out to John Brooks, who still 
runs it. In the spring of 1875 Clement & 
Davis started the first furniture store. 

Firth since its location has grown very 
rapidly, partly from the fact that the country 
was well settled by an energeic and thrifty 
class of farmers who were' greatly in need of 
business facilities, and partly from the fact 
that the business men of Firth were an enter- 
prising set of men, who when they set out 
to build a town meant business. Such men of 
course will always win. 

The buildings of Firth, both public and pri- 
vate, are of a better and more substantial 
character than are usually found in a new 



178 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



town, and the known character of its people 
and everything about the town, its position and 
surroundings point to a career of prosperity 
in the future. 

The public school house is an honor to the 
town, and might be pointed to with pride by 
the citizens of far more pretentious towns than 
Firth. It cost two thousand dollars. The 
building of such school houses is an indica- 
tion of the intelligence, liberality and far- 
sightedness of the citizens. Mr. Beams had 
the honor of being the first to teach in this 
house. 

T. S. Elsworth may be said to have been 
the first resident in Firth, as he was the first 
postmaster and merchant. Henry Golden built 
and kept the first hotel, D. E. Champion was 
the first to buy grain, Dr. Fields was the first 
doctor. L. N. Morgan was the first black- 
smith. The first birth and the first death 
also occured in his family. The oldest man in 
Firth is Mr. Clement, aged seventy-five years. 
The largest man is Mr. Champion, weight 
four hundred pounds. The best looking is 
Mr. Wood, the postmaster. 

Firth has so far been remarkably free from 
disasters or calamities. The burning of Mr. 
Elsworth's house is the only fire to record since 
the foundation of the town. The unprece- 
dented rise of the Great Nemaha in July, 1875, 
did some damage to the residents of the town, 
as well as to the farmers along the creek. 
Such a flood had never been known before 
since the country has been settled. The 
water was four or five feet deep on the bot- 
toms. 

Indi.vxs 

When Nebraska was first settled there were 
several tribes of Indians in the territory. 
These Indians were settled (if Indians can 
settle) on reservations, supported and under 
the care of the government agents and mis- 
sionaries, and were generally supposed to be 
friendly to the settlers. They were not al- 
lowed to leave their reservations without a 
permit from their agents, but being generally 
peaceable they were generally permitted to 
hunt over the country the greater part of the 
time. 



These tribes were the Pawnees, Otoes, 
and Omahas, and they were friendly to each 
other (although they would steal each other's 
ponies) and were much afraid of the Sioux, 
Arapahoes, Kiowas. Comanches and Cheyen- 
nes, who roamed over the country to the north, 
southwest and west, and who occasionally 
made a raid on the reservation Indians, scalped 
a few and ran off their ponies. These were 
called wild Indians to distinguish them from 
the reservation Indians, who were supposed to 
have made some progress in civilization. 

The most trouble the settlers had with these 
Indians was through their frightening the 
women and children, for they supposed that 
an Indian was an Indian anyway, and indeed 
they needed watching whenever they were 
around, for they would steal anything they 
could lay hands on, sometimes in the presence 
of the owners, and whenever they had been 
unsuccessful in hunting, they would steal 
cattle and hogs, or anything eatable. They 
would dig up seed potatoes and eat them, even 
after they were up and had made considerable 
growth. They would scarcely offer any 
violence to the whites unless they were nearly 
starved, and they were resisted in their thefts. 
A man could generally drive off any number 
of them, and women have been known to do 
it, but generally they were so much frightened 
at the sight of the Indians that they would 
give them anything that they demanded. The 
settlers on Salt creek had more trouble with 
them than any others in Clay county, because 
the Pawnees claimed that they had not had 
their pay for the land on that. In April. 18.^7. 
the Pawnees came on to that settlement and 
drove the settlers all away and they did not 
return to their claims until toward the spring 
of 1858. Again, in May, 1859, they became 
troublesome and stole some cattle, and the 
whites killed and scalped one of them and 
drove the rest away, but the settlers always 
lived in fear of them. 

Soon after this the Arapahoes drove the 
Pawnees across the Missouri river into Iowa, 
where they remained some time, not daring to 
return. They also burned the Pawnee village 
on the Platte. When the Arapahoes returned, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



179 



a part of them came through the Sah creek 
settlement and committed some depredations, 
steaHng- stock, burning houses, etc., and tried 
to carry off Miss Rebecca Prey, now Mrs. 
Henry Stoops, but were forced to give her up 
after carrying her about eighty rods. 

On the Nemaha, Alfred Gale's house was 
attacked by Otoes in June or July of the 
same year, when he was alone in it, forcing 
the door and overpowering him and a part of 
them holding him ' while the others robbed 
the house of every thing that was eatable, and 
did not leave him enough for breakfast. The 
attack was made in the dusk of the evening. 
He had just lent his revolver and had not the 
least thing in the house to defend himself with. 

The next day they went to John Lyon's 
place and tried to run off his stock, but he 
and J. I. Shaw were breaking prairie about a 
mile from them and saw them driving the 
cattle. They started after them and saved 
the stock, but one cow had two arrows shot 
into her about eighteen inches, but she lived 
and was a good cow for many years. 

In 1860 seven Otoes came to the house of 
your historian, who would not let them in but 
loaded his gun with buckshot and drove them 
away from his stock, when they went to John 
E. Shaw's and finding his cattle out of sight, 
ran them off and killed one of them. 

On Indian creek and the Blue, they were 
very troublesome, stealing stock and robbing 
houses that happened to be left alone. 

In July, 1861, there was a great Indian scare 
on the Big Blue and the Nemaha. Some way 
or another a story came that the Cheyennes 
and Sioux were coming this way, killing and 
burning everything they met. What the story 
sprung from this writer does not remember, 
but it created some excitement on the Nemaha. 
A meeting was called at John O. Adams' to 
consult as to what should be done, and it was 
decided to load up our wagons and go to the 
river and camp near some town until it was 
over, and a day was set to start. 

Mr. Adams buried his blacksmith tools, and 
some other things that he could not take were 
otherwise hidden. George Gale hid his cook- 
stove in the brush, and some other equally 



foolish things were done, but before the day 
came to start they all, without consultation, 
concluded not to go and they soon found there 
was no occasion for alarm. 

There was no more trouble with Indians 
in this section until the great Indian scare of 
August, 1864, when the Sioux broke out and 
killed every man and either killed or carried 
away every woman and child that they could 
get at on the Platte and little Blue, for about 
three hundred miles in one day, and ran off the 
stock and burned the ranches. Some of the 
ranches were well armed and defended and 
they escaped with only a scare. 

The news of this massacre reached Beatrice 
and the Nemaha a day or two after it oc- 
curred^ with the addition that the Indians 
were coming on to Beatrice, and meant to 
burn the towns along the Missouri river. 

This news nearly made some people crazy, 
they loaded a few things into their wagons, 
gathered up their stock and started for the 
river. Some, nearly all, I believe, left the 
north branch of the Nemaha before we on 
the south branch heard the news. Some of 
these never came back on the Nemaha again, 
the others returned in the course of the fall. 

None left the south branch at this time. In 
Beatrice the scare was greater than on the 
Nemaha. While some prepared for defense 
and sent out runners and scouts to find out 
the truth and bury those killed at the ranches, 
others never waited for anything, but hitched 
up their teams and started for the east as fast 
as they could go. One man drove so fast 
that he spoiled his team. On Salt creek all 
got ready to leave and some did leave and 
sold their land and did not return for several 
years, and others never came back. 

Old Settlers 

Here is a list of the oldest settlers of the 
territory belonging to old Clay county, by pre- 
cincts, commencing at the northeastern corner 
of the county. 

LANCASTER COUNTY 

Bennett — Messrs. Rodencamp, Meecham, 
and Nobles, 1857. 



180 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Saltillo — J. L. Davison, Joseph Weeks, C. 
L. Bristo, all long since gone, so that Mr. 
Keyes is the oldest permanent settler, 1856. 

Centerville — - John D. Prey and sons, John 
W., Thomas R., William L., and James, 
David E., and George Prey, and J. F. Good- 
win, 1856. 

Highland — George Lougton, 1865. 

Olive Branch — John and Robert Falkner, 
1864. 

Buda — H. Boone and Mr. Rieurd, 1865. 

South Pass — William McLain, Frank and 
William Lorsh, and ^Villiam Greer, 1864. 

Panama — Curren Moore and James Piatt, 
1866. 

GAGE COUNTY 

Adams — John O. Adams, 1857. 



Nemaha — George Sykes, 1865. 

Highland — McCollum or M. Weaver, 1867. 

Clatonia — William \' anCleif, 1859. 

Grant — George Grant and sons, 1860. 

Holt — E. C. Austin. Charley Austin, Mr. 
Phelps. H. W. Parker 1857, now all gone, and 
the oldest permanent settler is not known. 

Bear Creek — John Wilson. 1858. 

Hooker — John Hillman, 1860. 

Alfred Gale is the longest resident in Ne- 
braska of any person on the Nemaha, and, with 
the exception of the Preys on Salt creek, of 
any in the county. He left Kenosha, Wis- 
consin, in September 1856, on foot, carrying 
a knapsack and gun, which he carried on foot 
all the way to Omaha and to Nebraska City, 
averaging thirty-three miles per day. 



CHAPTER XIX 

GROWTH OF BEATRICE- FROM BEGINNING TO 1870 

A Hard Winter — Company Assets — Pap's Cabin — Mumford's Cabin — Entry of 

THE TowNSiTE — Population in 1870 — Coming of the Railroads — First 

School House — First Bridge across the Big Blue — The Government 

Land Office — Improved Conditions — First United States 

Mail — The Stage Routes— Beatrice of the Sixties 



Few of the Townsite Company remained 
in Beatrice during the winter of 1857-1858. 
The enterprise, however, could not be wholly 
abandoned for even a short period of time 
without jeopardizing the rights of the 'as- 
sociation to the land selected as a townsite; 
moreover, as the association had gone through 
the form of organizing the county, with 
Beatrice as the county seat, it was consid- 
ered important that some, at least, of the mem- 
bers of the association, including the county 
officials, should remain on guard. Finally it 
was agreed that Albert Towle, one of the 
county commissioners, should bring his family 
from Nebraska City to Beatrice, and with 
Bennett Pike, Jefferson B. Weston, Gilbert 
T. Loomis, M. W. Ross, and Oliver Townsend 
(who had, by assingment, succeeded to the 
rights of his brother. Dr. Justus Townsend, 
in the townsite, and who had joined the com- 
pany in October), occupy the company build- 
ing. During the long, cold winter Ross died, 
his being the first death in the county. His 
body was buried in the old burial ground, 
between Indian creek and Glenover school 
house, which for several years constituted the 
cemetery for Beatrice and surrounding coun- 
try. 

Those who remained in Beatrice for the 
winter possessed only a meager supplv of pro- 
visions, but it was thought to be sufficient, 
with what nature provided, to last through 
the winter. Besides it was considered that, as 



a trip could be made to Brownville in a week's 
time, there could be no danger of starvation. 
The autumn days were short and a winter of 
great severity soon set in. As the holidays 
approached it became evident that it would be 
necessary to procure a fresh supply of food 
for both man and beast. Loomis possessed 
the only team in the company and he volun- 
teered to make a trip to Brownville, and re- 
turn as soon as possible with such supplies as 
were thought to be necessafy to last through 
the winter. A common purse of such funds 
as the small company possessed was placed 
in his hands, and he was directed to go beyond 
Brownville into ]\lissouri, where it was 
thought supplies might be procured cheaper. 
He was detained by the severity of the weath- 
er and was unable to return to his companions 
for more than a month. The occupants of 
"Pap's Cabin" saw their stock of provisions 
running lower and lower, each day bringing 
a visible diminution in their means of sub- 
sistence. They wondered anxiously if Loomis 
would ever return and went so far as to even 
question his honesty. The seriousness of the 
situation is illustrated by an incident which 
has been handed down from tliat distant day. 

The family of Mr. Towle occupied the east 
room in the cabin and what passed for an 
upstairs, while the young men kept bachelors' 
hall in the west end. The bachelors had or- 
ganized a sort of cooperative association for 
housekeeping purposes only, by which each 



181 



182 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



took a weekly turn as cook and housekeeper. 
The day before Loomis returned was Sunday ; 
the larder in the bachelors' end of the build- 
ing was completely cleaned out ; Mother Hub- 
bard's cupboard was not barer. It was Pike's 
turn at the household duties. At the proper 
hour for assuming his duties, he failed to arise. 
When urged to proceed with the breakfast, he 
very logically argued that in the absence of 
anything to cook, breakfast was out of the 
<|ucstion. An animated conversation ensued 
in which the condition of affairs was thorough- 
ly exposed, to the enlightenment, as well as 
the amusement perhaps, of the occupants of 
the east end of the cabin. Upstairs, or more 
properly in the attic, the provident Mrs. Towie 
had suspended on nails two fair sized pieces 
of dried beef. A conference between her and 
her husband ensued, in which the relief of the 
famine prevailing in the west end of the cabin 
was agreed upon. Mr. TowIe noiselessly 
climbed the ladder to the attic and taking one 
piece of the dried beef, crossed the loose floor 
to a point directly over the bed where Mr. 
Pike lay, and stealthily removing a board, 
dropped the beef on the breast of that gentle- 
man, who, with ready wit, exclaimed, "Thank 
God, the ravens have brought us food." The 
arrival of Loomis removed the fear as well 
as the danger of starvation. It is related, 
however, that on account of the scarcity of 
meat during the latter portion of the winter, 
these young, college-bred bachelors did not 
find it beneath their dignity to search the 
woods for the festive raccoon, whose flesh, 
though eaten with relish, they never mistook 
for a delicacy. Spring brought complete re- 
lief, and the colonists for the first time were 
able to appreciate the fact that the woods, 
the prairies and streams about them abounded 
in food for both man and beast. 

A number of the company returned during 
the spring and summer of 1858, and acces- 
sions were made from homeseekers, such as 
Patrick Burke, the first blacksmith, Ed. Cart- 
wright, the noted fisherman, P. M. Favor and 
others. A little of the prairie on the nearby 
claims of members of the company was brok- 
en and planted to corn, melons and vegetables. 



and when the second winter came, plenty 
smiled on every hand. 

The transition from a few covered wagons 
and a tent, from "Pap's Cabin" and a saw 
mill, in 1857, to a modern city of approximate- 
ly twelve thousand inhabitants in 1918, was of 
course painfully slow. At first there was little 
at hand which by any stretch of the imagina- 
tion could be regarded as valuable material 
for the upbuilding of a city. Supplies beyond 
the bare necessities of life were scarce. 
Brovinville was the nearest trading point and 
between here and there lay sixty miles of 
prairie, practically uninhabited ; the road 
thither was little better than a wandering trail 
across a prairie waste. After crossing Bear 
creek at a point nearly a mile north of the 
State Institution for Feeble Minded Youth, 
there was, as late as 1869 and 1870, not a 
single dwelling house or a place where drink- 
ing water could be obtained until Yankee creek 
was reached, near Crab Orchard. Settlers 
began to come into the county in 1858, locat- 
ing usually along the streams, where wood and 
water could be obtained. They were mostly 
single men, or a husband and wife, and after 
spending a portion of the summer on their 
claims they usually returned to Missouri river 
towns and settlements to await the coming of 
spring. 

At Beatrice the only tangible asset of any 
value possessed by the Townsite Company was 
the steam saw mill purchased in Omaha in 
May, 1857, and even this mill at first figured 
as a liability. At the fourth meeting of the 
association, on July 28, 1857, the following 
financial report was read : 

MILL REPORT 

Dr. 

Original cost of mill $2,750.00 

Freight on the same 566.50 

Cost of hauling mill 548.15 

Cost of truck 75.00 

Cr. 

Paid on mill 500.00 

Paid on freight 542.30 

Paid on hauling 273.15 

For some time this old steam mill was a 
source of worry to the members of the as- 
sociation, and possibly of some contention. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



183 



The chief difficulty apparently was to find 
some one competent to set up and run it, but 
by the beginning of 1858 it was in effective 
operation. On the 28th day of May in that 
year, at a meeting of the members of the as- 
sociation, J. B. Weston, the agent of the 
company having the enterprise in charge, re- 
ported that the lumber sold from the mill 
amounted to $383.38. "Of this sum" he says, 
"five dollars in specie is in the hands of the 
agent." Once in successful operation, the old 
company steam mill, which was the first manu- 
facturing enterprise of the county, excluding 
the government mill on the Otoe and Missouri 
Indian reservation, for many years supplied 
not only Beatrice but also a large area of the 
surrounding country with lumber of every 
kind and dimension, white oak, walnut, hack- 
berry, Cottonwood, the last, however, being 
the main reliance for building purposes. This 
mill did custom work on the toll system ; that 
is, the party who hauled saw logs to it rarely 
if ever paid cash for the services of the 
sawyer, but gave in payment part of the 
lumber manufactured from his logs. This 
system has long since been abolished in Ne- 
braska, either by law or custom, probably on 
account of, its inherent temptation to dishon- 
esty. The owner of the logs frequently de- 
livered them at the mill in the winter, and at 
times when there was great congestion in 
the mill yard he might be compelled to wait 
many weeks before his turn came to have his 
logs made into lumber. He was without 
adequate means for checking the milling of 
his logs and was almost compelled to accept 
what the owner or lessee of the mill turned 
out to him. The settlers were rarely satis- 
fied with what they received. 

But with all its imperfections and the de- 
fects of the tolling system, the old company 
mill was not only a great convenience to the 
settlers but was also a positive asset in the 
settlement and development of the county. 
When Fordyce Roper, in 1861, erected the 
first flouring mill at Beatrice and placed a 
dam across the river by which to obtain power 
for his enterprise, he either purchased or 
leased the old steam saw mill from the town- 



site company and changed it to a water-driven 
mill. He operated it in connection with his 
flouring mill until 1869, when William E. 
Hill, of Nebraska City, opened a lumber yard 
at the corner of Fourth and Court streets and 
placed it in charge of William Survoss. This 
soon put an end to the old saw mill of pioneer 
days. 

As already noted, the first building erected 
in Beatrice was the company house, which af- 
terward became widely and favorably known 
as "Pap"s Cabin." When the association ad- 
journed in Omaha on May 21st, to meet in 
Beatrice, July 27, 1857, a number of the mem- 
bers of the association made their way to the 
townsite in June, and immediately began the 
erection of this building. It was located on 
what was afterward designated on the original 
town plat as block. forty-six, a block which is 
now entirely owned and occupied by the Chi- 
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company 
as a site for its passenger depot. In its ori- 
ginal state the block comprised a tract of 
land which terminated abruptly on the north 
in a steep bank that ran down six or eight 
feet to Ella street, which was then a flat swale 
leading to the river. The south third of the 
block also lay in a wide depression, which ex- 
tended on the south nearly across Court street. 
This depression also led to the river, narrow- 
ing to a deep channel just before it entered 
that stream, where the east abutment of the 
present Court street bridge is located. On 
the south bank of this channel stood the old 
saw mill, a trifle north of where Black Broth- 
ers' magnificent merchant mill now stands. 
On the west side of the block the ground fell 
away rapidly toward the river, but on the east 
it formed part of a beautiful plateau, reach- 
ing to Third street. 

After Mr. Towle moved his family to 
Beatrice, in the autumn of 1857, this building, 
which had been partly completed, was donated 
to him as a residence and was occupied by this 
genial and influential citizen as a family resi- 
dence, postoffice, court room, village inn, elec- 
tion booth, and as the general meeting place 
for the entire community, until 1867, when it 
was sold to Job Buchanan, by whom it was 



184 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



eventually transferred to the Burlington Rail- 
road Company. 

The second building erected in the hamlet 
of Beatrice was Isma Mumford's residence 
and hotel building. This was located on block 
forty-seven, and was a story and a half, hewed- 
log structure, containing five or six rooms. 
Though suffering many modifications, this 
building still remains; it is just north of the 
Butler House and is owned and occupied by 
W. W. Scott as a storage building. 

Beginning with 1858, a number of build- 
ings were erected, some log, some slab and 
some of sawed timber. Orr Stevens had moved 
from the neighborhood of Austin's Mill, on 
Indian creek, at that time known as Stevens 
creek, and had settled on lot one, block forty- 
six. Dr. Reynolds and Oliver Townsend had 
a little log hut on the south side of Court 
street, between Third and Fourth, and near 
them were Patrick Burke's blacksmith shop 
and slab shanty where his family lived. There 
were also a few other rude structures of 
which no one now remembers the use or own- 
ership, and no reliable record exists by which 
their location can be ascertained. In Septem- 
ber, 1859, when this writer first saw Beatrice, 
it was a mere huddle of log and slab shanties, 
with scarcely an effort toward a building of 
any pretensions. Aside from "Pap's Cabin" 
and the Mumford building, the most preten- 
tious structure was the shed that housed the 
steam engine at the mill. Beatrice did not 
contain to exceed fifty actual residents all told. 
The prairie came down to Fifth street and the 
traveled portion of Court street from there to 
the river was a narrow wagon track, like a 
country road. Court was the only street that 
showed signs of being regularly traveled, and 
this was only from Fourth street on to the ford 
across the river just above where the bridge 
is now located. 

In August, 1859, the members of the town- 
site company, after a mighty effort, raised a 
thousand dollars to enable Dr. Reynolds, as 
mayor of the town, an office required by the 
federal townsite act, to enter the half-section 
of land comprising the original town of Be- 
atrice, and to pay the expenses attending the 



surveying and platting of the townsite. On 
September 12, 1859, a certified copy of the plat 
was filed in the government land office at 
Brownville and the entry and purchase of the 
land allowed. Thereafter patent was issued 
to Dr. Reynolds as mayor and trustee of the 
townsite company, and deeds and other con- 
veyances of the lots could then be made. As 
far as a mere paper townsite goes, Beatrice 
from that moment had existence. The growth 
of the town, however, was slow, though con- 
stant. The county itself, in 1860, contained 
but four hundred and twenty-one white in- 
habitants, according to the federal census of 
that year. Of this number probably twenty 
per cent, could properly be credited to Beatrice. 
During the decade which closed in 1870, 
though still a pioneer village, Beatrice in- 
creased its population to si.x hundred and twen- 
ty-four inhabitants. The state of Nebraska it- 
self had come into the Union on March 1. 1867, 
with a population of 123.993. and the old ter- 
ritorial organization had passed away. The 
I'nion Pacific Railroad was completed from 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, via Omaha, to the Paci- 
fic coast. This first great continental railway 
line traverses the entire length of Nebraska 
from east to west. Its construction, together 
with the conferring of statehood upon Nebras- 
ka, was a tremendous uplift to every interest 
of the state. Population flowed in. capital 
sought investment, towns and villages sprang 
into existence, institutions of learning were 
founded, roads established, and all those ele- 
ments of progress as well as of convenience 
and necessity, which a high degree of civiliza- 
tion and refinement implies, had received a 
mighty impetus throughout the entire state. 
The construction of the Burlington system, 
which was ultimately to gridiron a large por- 
tion of Nebraska, was under way across the 
state from Omaha to Denver, via Lincoln, to 
be followed early in the '70s by the building 
of the line of railway known to the early set- 
tlers as the Atchison & Nebraska. Not only 
Beatrice and Gage county, but also all Ne- 
braska east of the one hundredth meridian, was 
pulsing with the energy and enthusiasm which 
a rapidly increasing population and a tremen- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



185 



dous accession of wealth are apt to excite in a 
body politic at any time and under all circum- 
stances. Before the close of 1870, steps were 
inaugurated for the extension of the Burling- 
ton Railroad system to Beatrice. Here 
it is sufficient to say that this extension, 
together with the other activities of the 70's 
here mentioned, went far toward realizing the 
dreams, the hopes, the visions of Kinney, Mc- 
Conihe, Towle, Reynolds, Weston, Pike, Town- 
send, Cook, and the other founders of this 
beautiful city of Beatrice. During this period, 
as if by magic, there was evolved — from the 
old steam saw mill, "Pap's Cabin" and the clus- 



school building erected in the coimty, it was 
the subject of considerable comment by every- 
body. People came from far and near to look 
at it, and when school opened that fall, with 
Oliver Townsend as the teacher, many a man 
breathed a sigh of relief on reflecting that at 
last school privileges were in sight for his 
children. 

By the close of 1870, the hardships of pio- 
neer conditions were rapidly passing away. 
As a member of the first state legislature, in 
1868, Hon. Nathan Blakely had procured the 
passage of an act appropriating one thousand 
acres of land in Gage county, the proceeds of 




CdLKi MKttr IN 1870. 



ter of huts and slab and board shanties that 
earlier comprised this unknown western ham- 
let on the very rim of civilization — under the 
name of Beatrice a beautiful and enterprising 
little city, destined to attain a position of great 
power and influence in the state and nation. 

During this decade living conditions greatly 
improved in Beatrice and Gage county. As 
early as 1862, a small frame school house was 
erected on the block dedicated by the founders 
of the city to school purposes, where the Cen- 
tral grade-school building now stands. This 
building was a one story, single-room struc- 
ture, sixteen by twenty feet in dimensions. It 
was built of cottonwood lumber donated by the 
townsite company and supplied from its saw- 
mill, and the labor required for its erection 
was largelv donated. As this was the first 



which, when sold, were to be used in erecting 
a bridge across the Big Blue river at Beatrice. 
The lands thus donated were a part of a dona- 
tion of five hundred thousand acres of land by 
the federal government to the state of Nebras- 
ka, out of the public domain in the state, to 
be used for internal improvement. Almost 
as soon as Air. Blakely's bill became operative 
steps were taken to carry its purposes into 
effect. 

On May 22, 1869, the county commissioners, 
Ticknor, Wickham, and Pettygrew, ordered an 
advertisement in the Clarion, a newspaper 
which was printed in Beatrice and which had 
just come into existence, calling for bids for 
the construction of a bridge at Beatrice across 
the Big Blue river, to consist of three stone 
piers twenty-four feet high, two spans, each 



186 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



one hundred and thirty feet in length and 
sixteen feet high, to cost not less than six 
thousand nor more than eight thousand dol- 
lars, and to be completed by August 1, 1870. 
The public lands selected by the county board 
to be applied to the cost of erecting this 
bridge, were: The northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 15, township 2, range 6; the southwest 
(juarter of section 1 ; the southeast quarter of 
the southeast quarter of section 2 : the north- 
east quarter of section 3 ; and the northwest 
quarter of section 12, all in township 4, range 
6; and the north half of section 2, township 
4 north, range 7 east, Gage county, Nebraska. 

There were several bids for this first county 
bridge. Cyrus W. Wheeler for the wood- 
work on the bridge bid $5,000; Micha.el Hinne- 
berry for the piers alone bid $3,000; J. Killian 
& Son for the complete work, $8,000 ; Curtis & 
Peavy, of Pawnee City, bid $7,600 on the com- 
plete structure and were awarded the contract. 
This bridge was located where the old Market 
street ford crossed the river, immediately be- 
low Black Brothers' mill. It was a high, nar- 
row structure, with room for only one vehicle 
at a time, and was perched on abutments which 
were said to have been filled with straw and 
stable manure instead of cement. The first 
spring freshet that took the ice out of the 
river, carried this bridge down with the flood. 
But its brief existence taught the public the 
value of bridges in our county, and this work 
has gone on until now the annual bridge budg- 
et of seventy-five thousand dollars makes the 
Peavey & Curtis appropriation of eight thous- 
and look extremely insignificant. 

During 1870 the old part of what is now the 
Burwood Hotel was erected by Woodford G. 
McDowell and his brother, Joseph B. Mc- 
Dowell, and it was opened to public patronage 
bv a grand ball, on January 1. 1871. Prior to 
this, however, a frame hotel building of some 
pretentions had been erected by George Hul- 
burt, at the corner of Second and Market 
streets, on lots 2 and 3, block 67 of the origi- 
nal town of Beatrice, known at the time as the 
Hulburt House. About 1874 title was ac- 
quired to this property by the Kansas & Ne- 
braska Stage Company, who reconstructed the 



building into a large hostelry and christened it 
the Pacific House. For many years this old 
building discharged the office of a public inn. 
The spot where it stood is now occupied by 
the buildings of the Sonderegger Nurseries 
and Seed House. 

In 1868 the government land office was mov- 
ed from Brownville to Beatrice and for nearly 
twenty years this city was the center of activ- 
ity for the entire Beatrice land district. At 
that time a government land office was an im- 
portant institution in the settlement and de- 
velopment of the country. People from long 
distances were compelled to transact their bus- 
iness largely with the government officials at 
the land office. The counties west of Gage 
at that time were rapidly filling with home- 
steaders and other classes of entrymen, farms 
were being opened in all the eleven counties 
comprising the land district, and particularly 
in Jefferson, Saline, Thayer, Fillmore, Nuck- 
olls, and Clay counties. Supplies of all kinds, 
including farm tools, lumber, meats, groceries, 
dry goods, and the like, were necessary to the 
settlers, and Beatrice merchants and business 
men profited greatly by this temporary trade. 

During the time that had elapsed since that 
July day in 1857 when Judge Kinney directed 
the secretary of the Beatrice Association, 
young, scholarly John IMcConihe, to call the 
roll of the members of the association on the 
townsite of Beatrice, to the close of 1870, the 
people of Beatrice as well as of the county at 
large had accustomed themselves to the incon- 
venience under which they rested as respected 
markets, trade, mails, travel, transportation and 
the like. The transportation of merchandise 
from Nebraska Cit}- and Brownville to Beat- 
rice had become so common as to be taken as a 
matter of course. When wheat became a sta- 
ple crop in the county, the surplus was hauled 
to the Missouri river, where water transpor- 
tation could be had. and the farmer loaded 
back with lumber, salt and other freight for 
Beatrice merchants, who were thus enabled not 
only to supply their trade with better goods 
and in increasing quantities, but also to carrj' 
practically everything demanded by their cus- 
tomers. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



187 



The carrying of the mail for Beatrice and 
practically all of Gage county was at first a 
neighborhood affair. Those whose business 
took them to Nebraska City, Brownville or oth- 
er Missouri river towns where mail was re- 
ceived for the settlers, brought back with them 
letters, papers and other mail for their neigh- 
borhood. But in 1860 a regular mail route 
was established between Nebraska City and 
Marysville, Kansas, via Beatrice. Joseph 
Saunders was the first mail carrier on this 
route. He first rode into Beatrice with the 
United States mail on the evening of October 
3, 1860. At that time a national election of 
intense interest was rapidly approaching, and 
as Mr. Saunders rode up to the postoffice, 
"Pap's Cabin," he was greeted by practically 
the entire population of Beatrice, all eager to 
hear the news. The mail was carried on horse- 
back and the carrier was frequently forced to 
swim the unbridged streams. But no one ever 
heard Joseph Saunders complain of the hard- 
ship of his task and none ever knew him to 
fail in the discharge of his duties. He was, 
in fact, a most faithful and a most efficient 
public servant. 

In 1868 a regular stage route was establish- 
ed from both Nebraska City and Brownville, 
via Tecumseh, to Beatrice. On August 26, 
1868, the Blue Valley Record announced that 
the Kansas & Nebraska Stage Line, of which 
Martin V. Nichols, Cyrus P. Wheeler and 
Cyrus H. Cotter were proprietors, was in per- 
fect working order and made trips regularly 
to Nebraska City every other day ; 4nd later 
the public received the following announce- 
ment, in the way of an advertisement in the 
Record : 

Kansas & Nebraska Stage Company, from 
Nebraska City, Nebraska, to Tecumseh and 
Beatrice, and intermediate points, carrying 
United States ]\Iail, Passengers and Express 
Packages. 

Leaves Nebraska City ]\Iondays. Wednes- 
days and Fridays, connecting at Beatrice with 
a stage line to Lincoln, the Capital. 

Returning, leaves Beatrice on Tuesdays, 
Thursdays, and Saturdays, connecting at Te- 
cumseh with the stage line for Brownville and 
intermediate points, and at Nebraska City with 
the Council Bhiffs & St. Joseph Railroad for 
all points east, north and south. 



The Hulburt House, later and better known 
as the Pacific Hotel, was in those days the 
Beatrice stage station, and its genial proprie- 
tor, George W. Hulburt, was the stage com- 
pany's agent at Beatrice. 

But the aspiring entrepot of southeast Ne- 
braska was not long satisfied with a tri-weekly 
mail from Brownville and Nebraska City. 
Strenuous efforts were made early in 1869 to 
secure through the stage company a daily ser- 
vice. In the Blue Valley Record for Feb- 
ruary 20, 1869, voice is given to this longing 
in a brief editorial, which reads as follows: 

The country needs a daily mail between 
this point and the river towns. This want, 
already a pressing one, is growing more so 
every day, and the increased amount of busi- 
ness which will be transacted here in the 
spring, and the rapid growth of the country 
will render it a demand of such a nature as 
not to be much longer resisted. The question 
of Iiaving it is only a question of time, how 
soon we shall have it is one which our citizens 
can in the main determine for themselves. 
Petitions should be gotten up and circulated 
along the route, and we, who are most inter- 
ested, should be the first to move in it. Brown- 
ville and Nebraska City have already shown 
a willingness to assist in having it established, 
for they well know the importance of having 
close connections with this country and will 
not be wanting in efforts to accomplish it. 
The matter should be attended to at once. 
The roads are becoming good , che days longer 
and the trip can be easily made in a day. Let 
us for once lay aside old fogyism and inhale 
enough of the spirit of the age in which we 
live to show some energy in so important a 
matter. 

This agitation was evidently successful, as 
the first number of Vokmie I of the Beatrice 
Clarion, issued on the 8th day of May, 1869, 
announced a daily mail over the Kansas & 
Nebraska Stage Line from Nebraska City and 
Brownville to Beatrice and intermediate points, 
connecting at Beatrice with the stage line to 
Lincoln and leaving Beatrice on its return trips 
every morning at seven o'clock, Sundays ex- 
cepted, for Brownville and Nebraska City ; and 
connecting at each point with the Council 
Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad for eastern, north- 
ern and southern destinations. 

These old advertisements act as little win- 



188 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBfL\SKA 



clows through which we may see into the very 
heart of things as they were in those far off 
pioneer days, half a century ago. Through 
them we may behold how a little western vil- 
lage on the bank of the Big Blue river, in a 
trifle more than ten years from the date of its 
founding on a trackless prairie waste, in 1857, 
had become a center for travel and the dis- 
tribution of the United States mails. Nay 
more, they show how effectually the pioneers 
of our county had learned to make the most 
of such advantages as their surroundings af- 
forded. 

Let us take a last glance at the Beatrice of 
the '60s. The county officers in 1868 and 1869, 
most of whom were quartered in Beatrice or 
near it, were: Probate judge, H. M. Rey- 
nolds ; county treasurer, Albert Towle ; sheriff, 
Luther P. Chandler; county clerk, Oliver 
Townsend ; surveyor, A. J. Pethoud ; coronor, 
Daniel Freeman ; county commissioners, Wil- 
liam Ticknor, Horace M. Wickham and James 
M. Pettygrew; while Nathan Blakely repre- 
sented the county in the state legislature. Al- 
bert Towle was postmaster, and the following 
advertisement, undoubtedly prepared by him, 
correctly exhibits the mailing facilities of the 
community on February 20, 1869: 

.M-MLS 

-Arrivals and departures of mails from tiie 
Postoffice of Beatrice, Nebraska. 

Falls City to Beatrice 
Arrives Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 

at 6 P^ M. 
Departs Mondays. Wednesdays, and Fridays, 
at 6 A. M. 
Nebraska City and Brownville, to Beatrice 
Arrives at Beatrice Mondays, \\'ednesdays and 

Fridays at 4 P. ^i. 
Departs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 
at 7 A. M. 

Beatrice to Mary.sville. Kas. 
Arrives Tuesdays. Thursdays and Saturdays, 

at 6 P' M. 
Departs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 
at 6 A. M. 
Plattsmouth via I^incoln. to Beatrice 
.\rriyes ^^'ednesday at 12 M. 
Departs same day at 1 P. M. 

Beatrice to Big Sandy 
Departs Wednesdays at 6 A. M. 
Arrives Thursday at 8 P. M. 

.\lbert Towle. P.M. 



The government land office was located on 
the second floor of Joseph Saunders' brick 
store, on the south side of Court street, be- 
tween Third and Fourth streets, in the build- 
ing now occupied in part by John Pagel's groc- 
ery store. Henry M. Atkinson was the regis- 
ter and John L. Carson, the well known bankei 
of Brownville, was the receiver. The office 
was, however, mainly under the direction of 
"Jack" McFarland, chief clerk of the office at 
that time. 

A semi-annual report of Mr. Towle. as coun- 
ty treasurer, of the affairs of his office from 
April 7 to October 7, 1869, showed total re- 
ceipts amounting to $9,722.00. with a balance 
in the treasury of $3,323.18. 

The legal profession was represented in 
Gage county by Jefferson B. Weston, Silas 
B- Harrington, Nathan K. Griggs, and Hiram 
P. W^ebb. Drs. H. H. Reynolds, Levi An- 
thony, and C. F. Sprague were engaged in 
the practice of medicine. Blakely, Reynolds 
& Townsend ; LaSelle, Buchanan & Son ; and 
Joseph Saunders were the representatives of 
the general mercantile business. The drug- 
gists were George W. Hinkle and George W. 
Brock; the blacksmiths, Jacob Shaw and .\. L. 
Snow ; A. W. Proctor and D. Stewart carried 
on wagon-making shops, while J. W. Wehn, 
Jr., had a paint shop at Court and Second 
streets. Fordyce Roper owned the mill, which 
was advertised as the finest site on the Big 
Blue river, and in connection with it. he had a 
saw mill, a lath and shingle machine, and 
carried a large supply of all kinds of lumber. 
!Mrs. M. F. Buchanan was the dressmaker and 
milliner of the town. Heard & Guffv supplied 
all kinds of cut stone for building purposes, 
from their Rockford quarry. Samuel Myers 
and Volney Rhodes were the harnessmakers. 
Warren E. Chesney was the proprietor of the 
Beatrice House, the old hotel erected by Is- 
ma Mumford in 1857. Charles F. Satler and 
Asher \'an Buskirk made boots and shoes for 
the pioneers ; while Artemus Baker, a cabinet- 
maker, supplied the demand for work in his 
line. William Hagy^ was just beginning to do 
a thriving business as a manufacturer of brick 
for building purposes. 



•% 



CHAPTER XX 

BEATRICE CONTINUED 

Incorporation OF Towns BY County Board — Petition to Incorporate Beatrice — Order 
Incorporating Beatrice — First Board of Trustees — Incorporation of Beatrice as 
A City of the Second Class — First City Council — Population of Beatrice — 
Incorpor-'M'ion of Beatrice as a City of the First Class — Additions to Be- 
atrice — Changed to Commission Government — First County Court House — 
Location — • Old "Public Square" — Description — Cost — Abandoned — 
Demolished — A New Court House — Court House Bond Litigation — 
County Jail — The New Jail — First United States Postoffices — 
Present Postoffice Building — Postmasters — Beatrice City Hall — 
Fire Department — Lighting Plant — Sewers — Paving — City 

Water Works 



From the date of its founding, in July, 
1857, to September, 1871, Beatrice had ex- 
isted as an unincorporated hamlet or village. 
Under the law regulating the incorporation of 
towns, the county commissioners of any 
county in Nebraska were empowered, and in 
fact required, by proper order to incorporate 
any town within their county whenever a ma- 
jority of its taxable inhabitants should pre- 
sent a petition praying for its incorporation. 
The corporate powers of every town were by 
law vested in a board of trustees of five mem- 
bers, to be elected, after the first board, by 
the qualified voters residing within such town ; 
and the county commissioners at the time they 
declared a town incorporated were required 
to appoint as trustees for the town five suit- 
able persons, who should hold their offices 
until their successors were duly elected and 
qualified. Amongst the qualifications required 
by law for a town trustee was that he should 
be a "free, white male citizen of the United 
States." The law vested boards of trustees 
of towns with the usual powers possessed by 
governing bodies of municipal corporations, 
and contained some provisions not now met 
with in similar statutes. 



Pursuant to the requirements of this stat- 
ute, on the 9th day of September, 1871, there 
was filed before the board of commissioners 
of Gage county a petition praying that body 
to incorporate Beatrice as a tozvn and to ap- 
point as trustees thereof, H. M. Reynolds, 
J. B. AIcDowell, Albert Towle, William Lamb, 
and Job Buchanan. Many of the names at- 
tached to this petition will always be promi- 
nent in ever)- history of Gage county. For 
this reason, and because the petition neces- 
sarily represented a majority of the taxable 
inhabitants of Beatrice at that time, the names 
of the signers are here given. They are: 



J. B. Weston 

H. W. Parker 

S. C. B. Dean 

N. Blakely 

I. N. McConnell 

John McGregor, :\I.D. 

C. G. Dorsey 

G. W. Dorsey 

W. J. Pemberton 

F. T. Cliftord 

Oliver M. Enlow 

J. F. King 

H. A. LaSelle 



John G. Davis, M.D. 
G. H. Gale 
C. C. Freil 
L. M. Korner 
J. S. S. Wallace 
John M. Hayes 
William Hothan 
Byron Bradt 
N. K. Griggs 
Israel Blythe 
W. D. Knowles 
J. Buchanan 
Tames Van Buskirk 



189 



190 ^-. 


A. 


s. 


Marsh 


H. 


p 


Webb 


W 


illiam P. Hess 


C. 


X. 


Emen' 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



W. A. Presson 
George W. Jackson 
L. Y. Coffin 
G. F. Sprague, M.D. 

George W. Ilinkle Ford Roper 

J. Q. Thacker Peter Tern' 

J. H. Halliday A. P. Hazard 

Daniel Freeman J. A. McMeans 

William H. Walker M. L. McMeans 

George W. Place C. A. Pease 

William Hewerkcl Orrin Stevens 

Blauser Brown Joseph Saunders 

H. M. Reynolds James Boyd 

H. L. Wagner Artemus Baker 

James Charles J. Fitch Kinney. Jr. 

Peter Brauner George L. Lamkin 

C. H. Cotter M. T. Wetherald 

Fred Wenger J. L. Webb. M.D. 

Oliver Townsend William Lamb 

William H. Lamb Albert Towle 

Leroy Tinkham S. W. Wadsworth 

John Yohe S. Meyers 

C. R. Rogers S. W. Allen 
E. H. King Milton Rhodes 
H. Broughton Paul Hailman 
G. B. Reynolds C. Rosenthal 

D. E. Marsh Sherman P. Lester 
M. W. Beam William A. Wagner 
A. L. Snow 

Of these eighty-three petitioners, as far as 
known to this writer, all have passed to the 
great beyond, save G. B. Reynolds, H. A. 
LaSelle. William H. Walker, Byron Bradt, 
and George W. Hinkle, of Beatrice ; A. L. 
Snow, of Milford, Nebraska; Sherman P. 
Lester and J. Fitch Kinney, Jr., of Portland, 
Oregon ; and Samuel Meyers, of Bassett, Ne- 
braska. 

On the day the foregoing petition was pre- 
sented to the commissioners — Solon M. 
Hazen, Horace M. Wickhain, and James Pet- 
tigrew — that body, after declaring that it 
was fully satisfied that a majority of the tax- 
able inhabitants of said town of Beatrice had 
signed the petition and that they had consid- 
ered the same and were fully advised in the 
premises, ordered, "That the inhabitants re- 
siding upon the southeast quarter of section 
33 and the southwest quarter of section 34, in 



township 4 north, of range 6 east of the 6th 
])rincipal meridian, Gage county, Nebraska 
the same being the originally surveyed town- iii 
site of Beatrice, and all the legal additions || 
which may now or may hereafter be attached 
to the said town of Beatrice, be and are here- ir 
by declared incorporated, a body politic and \f 
corporate by the name and style of the town 
of Beatrice. 

"And it is further ordered that H. M. 
Reynolds, J. B. McDowell, Albert Towle, 
William Lamb and Job Buchanan be and are 
hereby appointed as a board of trustees of 
said town of Beatrice, to hold their offices 
until their successors are elected and quali- 
fied." 

The county clerk was instructed to notify 
forthwith in writing, under the seal of his 
office, each and all of the board of trustees of 
their appointment as such and to transmit to 
ihem a certified copy of the order. 

On the same day the trustees thus appoint- 
ed held a meeting in the rear room of Hinkle 
& Pease's drug store, and, having taken the 
oath of office, as provided by the statute, en- 
tered at once upon the discharge of their duties 
by electing Herman M. Reynolds chairman of 
the board, and appointing William A. Wagner 
clerk, Albert Towle treasurer, and Gilson H. 
Gale constable for the term of the trustees 
and until the successor of each was elected 
and qualified. 

On March 18, 1H73, a change was efTected 
from town to city organization by an ordinance 
of that date, which reads as follows : 

WiiERE.^s, The town of Beatrice, in the 
State of Nebraska, was organized as such on 
the 3rd day of October, A. D. 1871, under and 
by virtue of the provisions of chapter 53 of 
the Revised Statutes of the State of Nebraska, 
entitled "TOWNS"; and 

WherE.\s. The said town now contains 
more than five hundred (500) inhabitants; 
and 

WhERE.\s, Said town is desirous of becom- 
ing incorporated as a city of the second class, 
under the provisions of the act of the legisla- 
ture of tlie State of Nebraska, approved 
March 1, 1871, entitled, "An act to incor- 
porate cities of the second class, and to define 
their powers," and of the amendments there- 
to ; therefore. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



191 



Be It Ordained by the Board of Trustees of 

the Tozmi of Beatrice 

That the said town be, and the same is here- 
by, incorporated as a city of the second class, 
by the name of the "City of Beatrice." 

This ordinance shall be published in the 
Beatrice Express, a newspaper in said town, 
for two (2) weeks, successively, and to 
take effect and be in force from and after the 
5th day of April, 1873. 

At the ensuing municipal election for that 
year, S. C. B. Dean, a lawyer of great ability 
and learning, was elected mayor; E. S. Chad- 
wick, an able young lawyer, police judge; O: 
A. Avery, marshal; William A. Wagner, city 
clerk ; Samuel C. Smith, city treasurer ; Wil- 
liam Bradt, C. G. Dorsey, J. E. Hill and Wil- 
liam Lamb councilmen, of the city of Beatrice. 

At this time, the population of the city had 
materially increased since the census of 1870, 
when it stood at 624. At the time the first 
city council was elected, in 1873, it probably 
exceeded 1,500. It' was growing rapidly ; the 
census of 1880 showed a population of 2,447, 
and it had begun to assume the proportions 
and attributes of a flourishing western city. 

The street shown furthest north in the ac- 
companying birdseye view of Beatrice in 1874 
is Washington, the one furthest south is 
Scott, while Tenth instead of Thirteenth is 
shown as the eastern boundary of the city. 
The bridge in the foreground is the Curtis & 
Peavey bridge, on Market street ; the first lo- 
cation of the Burlington depot is shown where 
Grant street apparently terminates. Roper's 
mill, with the dam, is properly located above 
the bridge. "Pap's Cabin'' appears south of 
the string of empty cars. The old court house 
appears in its proper place. West of it by a 
little north is the original Episcopal church 
building. The church, with spire, in the mid- 
dle foreground is the first church building of 
the Presbyterians. Southwest across the block 
is seen the old stone Methodist church, with 
parsonage, and southeast is the old frame 
school house, on the school block. Further 
east by south is the first high-school building. 
On the south the first Sixth street bridge is 
seen, with winding roads from east and north, 
across the prairie. 



In April, 1891, an act of the legislature be- 
came effective which provided for the incor- 
poration of cities of the first class having less 
than 25,000 and more than 8,000 inhabitants, 
and regulating their duties, powers and gov- 
ernment. Pursuant to this statute, Lorenzo 
Crounse, governor of the state of Nebraska, 
on the 26th day of Januarj-, 1893, issued his 
proclamation declaring that Beatrice from and 
after that date was a city of the first class. 
In his proclamation the Governor recites the 
fact that the census of 1890 showed that the 
city possessed a population of 13,825. It can 
not be doubted that the actual population of 
Beatrice in 1890 was far short of the number 
of inhabitants returned by the census enu- 
merators, and probably less even than the 
minimum figure for cities of the class to which 
this proclamation assigned Beatrice. That 
census has been the subject of much just 
criticism, which applied not only to the cities 
but to the entire state of Nebraska. That it 
was a gross exaggeration of the facts respect- 
ing the population of the state and its cities is 
an admitted fact. 

Since the original incorporation of the town 
of Beatrice, in 1871, which included only the 
three hundred and twenty acres of land com- 
prising the original townsite, a great many 
additions have been made to the superficial 
area of the city, until to-day it embraces ap- 
proximately thirty-two hundred acres of land. 
The principal additions to the city are Crop- 
sey's Addition, Weston's Additions, Smith 
Brothers' Addition, Fairview Addition, Pad- 
dock's Addition, Green's Addition, Grable & 
Beachley's Addition, Grable & Beachley's Sec- 
ond and Third Additions, Yule & Son's Park 
Addition, and Glenover Addition — on the 
north and west ; Lamb's Subdivision, Henry 
H. Lamb's Subdivision. Barney's Subdivision, 
and Wittenberg Addition — on the east; the 
town of South Beatrice and the First and Sec- 
ond Additions to the town of South Beatrice, 
Cole's Addition, Riverside Park Addition, 
Brumback's Additions, Belvidere Heights, and 
Highland Park Addition — on the south; 
Harrington's Subdivision, McConnell's First 
and Second Subdivisions, West Park Addition, 




a 



ra 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



193 



Scheve's Addition, Milligan's Addition and 
McConnell's Addition — on the west. The 
city also contains numerous small subdivisions, 
places, and irregular tracts, which by ordi- 
nance have been incorporated into the city. 
These additions were largely made between 
the years 1885 and 1890 — a period which 
witnessed tremendous growth and expansion 
in all directions in Beatrice, as well as in the 
state at large. 

From the date of its organization into a 
city, March 18, 1873, to May 1, 1912, the mu- 
nicipal government of Beatrice had been 
strictly representative in character. The first 
act of the first city council was to divide the 
city of Beatrice into three wards. The city 
government consisted of a mayor and of coun- 
cilmen elected from each of the wards. 
Though modified to include four, five, and 
even six wards, the principal of representative 
municipal government was preserved, and the 
citizens at large, through their councilmen, 
had direct representation in the aft'airs of the 
city. The clerk, treasurer, police judge, and 
other administrative officers were elected by 
the people at the time the mayor and council 
were chosen. The chief of police, policemen, 
street commissioner, city attorney, and some 
other minor officers were appointed by the 
mayor, with the advice and consent of the 
council. Speaking generally, this form of 
municipal government up to a score of years 
ago was universal throughout the United 
States, and it is still the form under which the 
vast majority of cities are governed, including 
the great metropolitan cities of New York, 
Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh. Chicago, 
and St. Lx)uis. 

About the year 1900 there arose in many 
of the states a system of municipal govern- 
ment designated commission government or 
government by commission, which in a large 
measure did away wholly with the old repre- 
sentative form of municipal government. This 
heresy spread with some rapidity in the west 
and mid-west portions of the country. In 
1911 the legislature of Nebraska passed an act 
providing for the commission form of govern- 
ment in all cities having more than 5,000 



population, and at the election held in Beatrice 
in 1912 it was voted to abandon the repre- 
sentative form and adopt the new method of 
government. The centralizing of power in a 
few hands may possess some advantages as 
applied to civic ari:'airs, but any form of gov- 
ernment, municipal or otherwise, which aban- 
dons in whole or in part the representative 
principle, lays an ax at the roots of free insti- 
tutions, and this because it is evident that if 
delegated powers may be given to two, three 
or five men, they can be conferred upon one, 
and a free community pass into the hands of a 
dictator. The weakness of commission govern- 
ment as applied to cities, and its unrepresenta- 
tive character, must in time become manifest, 
and it is doubtful whether the people will long 
continue a system which in eftect bars the 
active participation of the public to an appre- 
ciable extent in municipal aft'airs. 

Toward the close of the period marked by 
the year 1870, it became apparent that the 
growing needs of the county demanded facili- 
ties for transacting public business. The 
county possessed neither court house nor jail. 
The county offices were housed around 
town, wherever quarters could be had. If the 
incumbent of the office happened to live in the 
county seat, he carried his office around with 
him, or kept it at his dwelling or place of 
business. The board of county commission- 
ers, or the county court, as that body was 
legally designated for many years, was com- 
pelled to hold its meetings at the residence of 
the member in Beatrice or the places of busi- 
ness at the county seat willing to accommodate 
them. The courts were held first at "Pap's 
Cabin," but when the Griggs & Webb building, 
on Court, between Third and Fourth streets, 
was erected, in the fall of 1868. the upper floor 
of that edifice was used for several years as a 
court room. 

That a movement should be made in a rap- 
idly growing town to secure a court house and 
jail was the natural outcome of these condi- 
tions, and on August 20, 1869, a petition was 
presented to the county court, or board of 
county commissioners, signed by H. M. Rey- 
nolds, Nathan Blakely, Orrin Stevens, and 



194 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



sixty-eight other electors of the county, pray- 
ing for the submission to a vote of the people 
at the next general election of a proposition to 
bond tlie county in the sum of ten thousand 
dollars, for the erection of a county court 
house and jail at Beatrice, the county seat. 

On the 1st day of September, 1869, the 
county clerk was directed to include in the call 
for the annual election to be held October 12, 
1869, the proposition for the issuance of such 
bonds, and the ballots at the election fairly 
submitted this question to the voters of the 
county. The canvass of the votes showed a 
majority in favor of issuing the bonds, and in 
Januar)', 1870, the matter of erecting the court 
house was taken up in earnest by the county 
board. On the 6th day of that month, the 
county clerk, Oliver Townsend, was directed 
to advertise in the Beatrice Clarion for bids 
for the erection of both a court house and a 
jail, costing not less than ten thousand dollars, 
all bids to be accompanied by plans and speci- 
fications. 

About this time the question arose as to 
where the new court house should be erected. 
The founders of Beatrice had provided for 
county buildings by dedicating the block 
bounded on the north by Ella, on the east by 
Ninth, on the south by Court, and on the west 
by Eighth street; but when it became appar- 
ent that the county commissioners were about 
to act in the matter of locating the county 
buildings, A. J. Cropsey, of Lincoln, who had 
been a state officer in Nebraska and who had 
laid out an addition on the north of the origi- 
nal town of Beatrice, designated and known 
as Cropsey's Addition, appeared upon the 
scene and made an oft'er to the county board, 
composed of H. M. Wickham and others, to 
donate block 24 of his addition to the county 
for court-house purposes, and the south half 
of block 11 for the purpose of a jail. Mr. 
Cropsey included also in his offer certain other 
inducements. The county commissioners ac- 
cepted these offers and abandoned to the first 
comer the "public square" which the founders 
of Beatrice had dedicated to court-house pur- 
poses. Daniel Freeman, who was sheriff ot 
the county in 1870-1871, quickly saw the weak- 



ness of this move and took possession of the 
square, fenced it and placed a couple of small 
dwelling houses on it. In 1873 the legislature 
passed an act entitled, "An Act to Quiet Title 
to Certain Portions of the City of Beatrice." 
Section 3 of the act reads as follows: 

That the dedication to the county of Gage 
of the block known as the "public square" in 
the said city of Beatrice, lying between block 
52 on the east, and block 51 on the west, is 
hereby ratified and confimied, and the legal 
and equitable title thereto, in fee-simple, is 
hereby vested in said county of Gage, to be 
used as a site for public buildings, either for 
the said Gage county, or for the said city of 
Beatrice, or othenvise, as may seem proper. 

In August, 1874, through the agency of a 
distress warrant for taxes, an effort was made 
by the county treasurer to dispossess Free- 
man. This proved abortive and in the end 
served to strengthen his hold on the property. 
{freenmi vs. Webb et al, 27 Neb., 160.) No 
effort appears to have been made by the county 
at any time by direct suit to assert its title to 
this property, either under the act of dedica- 
tion or the above described act of the legisla- 
ture, and in process of time Freeman's pos- 
session, as the law then stood, ripened into a 
perfect title. 

On the 19th day of August, 1870, the con- 
tract for the erection of a court house at Be- 
atrice on block 24 of Cropsey's Addition to 
the city, was let to Binns & Fordham. The 
contract price of this structure was $11,196.01, 
and -it was to be erected in accordance with 
the plans and specifications furnished by the 
contractors and adopted by the county board. 
The building was a two-story, brick strticture, 
with stone foundation and trimmings ; it was 
about forty feet square, with both north and 
south frontage, connected by a straight hall- 
way, six feet wide, through the entire build- 
ing. 

The lower floor of this old court house was 
wholly occupied by the county offices, while 
the upper story was used exclusively as a dis- 
trict court-room, with two connected jurj- 
rooms. This floor was reached by a stairway 
which started from the lower hallway at the 
middle of the east side and led directly to the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



195 



second floor, terminating in a short hall which 
led westward to the district court room. 

Before the work was completed the con- 
tractors suggested modifications of the plans, 
which they agreed to make for one thousand 
dollars in addition to the contract price of the 
building, and which were accepted by the 
county board. The work progressed rapidly, 
and on April 19, 1871, the first court house of 



county offices were moved to the stone building 
at the corner of Fourth and Court streets, 
then occupied by the Nebraska National Bank. 
The county court and the sherifif's office were 
later moved to the basement in the Masonic 
Temple building, at the corner of Sixth and 
Court streets, the present site of the Beatrice 
National Bank. In the latter part of 1889 
the court house was wholly abandoned, dis- 





FiRST Court House at Be.\trice 



our county was turned over to the county and 
formally accepted by the commissioners — •■ 
James Pettigrow, Solon M. Hazen, and Hor- 
ace jM. Wickham. The total cost of this old 
building, including a vault for the county 
treasurer, and all extras, was $13,914.00. The 
grounds about the building were planted by 
Mr. Cropsey with Cottonwood, maple and other 
forest trees, and for many years serv^ed to 
some extent the purposes of a park. 

This first court house, product of the neces- 
sities of the pioneers, remained in constant use 
until the spring of 1887, when several of the 



trict court being held at first in an old frame 
opera house at the comer of Fifth and Ella 
streets, where the fine two-story Kilpatrick 
building now stands, and later in a hall on the 
third floor of the Nebraska National Bank 
building. 

No sooner had the county abandoned the 
property in part than A. J. Cropsey, who after 
a long absence from the state had returned to 
Lincoln, began in the United States district 
court at Omaha an action in ejectment against 
the county, to obtain possession of the court 
house square, alleging that the property had 



196 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



been conveyed to the county for court-house 
purposes only, and, setting forth its abandon- 
ment by the county, charged that the title to 
this property had reverted to him as the gran- 
tor. After considerable evidence had been 
taken by deposition on both sides, the case was 
compromised and settled by this writer, as 
county attorney of Gage county, in March, 
1889, by and with the approval of the county 
board, and a quit-claim deed taken from Crop- 
sey and his wife for both the court house 
square and the half block where the county 
jail was located. 

In 1889-1890, after arrangements had been 
made to erect the present court house, the old 
building was demolished and became a thing 
of the past. But to those whose memories 
cover its history this old building will never 
cease to possess a deep interest on account of 
the part it played in the early development of 
our county and state. Here many of the law- 
yers who are now practicing at the bar of 
Gage county, and many others who have died 
or moved away, gained their first experience 
in the trial of causes; here much of the im- 
portant litigation, both civil and criminal, 
arising in our county was tried, including the 
two Marion murder trials (1883 and 1886), 
the Bradshaw murder trial (1883), the Reed 
murder trial (1883), the first Carson murder 
trial (1889), and many other cases of public 
interest and importance. Here also the county 
business was transacted from April 19, 1871, 
to April 1, 1887; here at desk and ledger toiled 
men, many of whose names are inseparably 
connected with the early history- of our 
county. .Among these names may be noted 
the following: Hiram P. Webb, John Ellis, 
J. F. King, E. J. Roderick, county treasurers ; 
the lamented Daniel E. Marsh, William D. 
Cox, John E. Hill, A. J. Pethoud, and George 
E. Emery, county clerks ; Oliver M. Enlow, 
John E. Hill (ex-officio), A. V. S. Saunders, 
and Frank H. Holt, clerks of the district 
court; Daniel Freeman, Leander Y. Coffin, 
Eugene Mack, Nathaniel Herron, and E. F. ■ 
Davis, sheriffs of our county; C. A. Pease. J. 
W. Carter, Alfred Hazlett, Peter Shaffer, 
Joseph E. Cobbey, Ernest O. Kretsinger, and 



Oliver M. Enlow, county judges; Lucius B. 
Filley, J. R. Little, Matthew Weaverling, and 
M. D. Horham, county superintendents of 
public schools. 

Few are living now of all those who in the 
days of the old court house were prominent in 
the affairs of our county. All of the old trea- 
surers are gone; all of the old clerks but 
George E. Emerj' ; all of the clerks of the dis- j 
trict court except A. V. S. Saunders ; all the 
sheriffs except Davis ; and all the judges ex- 
cept Hazlett and Kretsinger, while not a single 
one of the old county superintendents is left. 

All the days of the years of the old court 
house were great days for the citizens of Be- 
atrice and Gage county. In those days were 
laid broad and deep, and for all time to come, 
the foundations of one of the most progres- 
sive, homogeneous and patriotic counties in 
the entire state of Nebraska. 

In the year 1887 our county abandoned the 
commissioner system of county government 
and adopted the super\'isor system, and at a 
meeting of the board of superv-isors held in 
February, 1889, steps were taken for the erec- 
tion of the present court house, on the site of 
the old, and a special election was called for 
May 7th of that year, in which a proposition 
for the issuance of the bonds of the county in 
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars for 
the purpose of erecting a court house at the 
county seat, was submitted to the voters of 
our county. Of the 5,059 votes cast at this 
election, 2,589 favored the proposition and 
2.470 opposed it, leaving a clear majority for 
the bonds of 139 votes. Steps were about to 
be taken for the issuance of these bonds and 
the erection of the court house, when proceed- 
ings were inaugurated by citizens of Wymore 
to enjoin the work on the ground that the act 
under which the board of supervisors had pro- 
ceeded in calling the election was unconstitu- 
tional and therefore the election was void, and 
that the county board was without jurisdiction 
to bond the county for the purpose of erecting 
a court house. In the district court, Hon. A. 
D. McCandless, of ^^'ynlore, represented the 
plaintiffs in the action — Robert Fenton, A. 
Perkins, John Mordhorst, Michael Keckley,. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



197 




Federal Building. 



a 






lO 


Rj^^=*«##tx' 


4 


M^^ 




W" 






1 


1 


1 « 




MHr^ 


Kl4l^^^H 







(jAoE COUNTY Court House. 



198 HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 

Patrick Muq^hy, and J. W. Bridenthal — • crime, the county was compelled to rely on 
while the writer of this history, as county at- Nebrasi<a City, which was the nearest point 
tomey, represented the defendants — Thomas within the state where jail privileges were 
Yule, as chairman of the board of super\isors, available. This involved not only a charge 
and George E. Emery, as county clerk of Gage for maintenance of the prisoners while in jail, 
county. The cause was instituted July 8, but also the cost of their transportation to 
1889, and a temporary restraining order was Nebraska City, and back again to Beatrice 
granted until a hearing could be had. On July ever)' time the district court set or until the 
15th a demurrer was filed to the petition, on criminal charge was finally disposed of. This 
the ground that it did not state facts sufficient is well illustrated in the case of the State of 
to constitute a cause of action against the de- Nebraska vs. Lydia Armstrong, a woman who 
fendants; and on July 17th Judge Jefferson H. had been bound over to the district court by a 
Broady sustained the demurrer, dissolved the justice of the peace on a common peace war- 
injunction and dismissed the bill at the cost of rant sworn to by her husband, W. W. Ann- 
plaintifTs. The cause was then appealed to the strong. At a session of the county board held 
supreme court of Nebraska, where it was ad- October 23, 1869, the following bills in this 
vanced and came up for hearing at the open- case were audited, allowed and paid : 
ing of the September term of that tribunal, j^ p Chandler. sherifT, board of pris- 

At this hearing Mr. McCandless was assisted oner at Hulbert Mouse $ 4.50 

by Judge Oliver P. Mason; and the writer, as A. L. Hurd, guarding prisoner 1 day. . 2.00 

attorney for the defendants, by G. M. Lam- "^^'- W. Brock, guarding prisoner 1 day 2.00 

bertson. On October 30, 1889, the case was L- P- Chandler, guardmg prisoner 6 

. ,.,,., r , ,. ,. r , davs 12.00 

agam decided in favor of the validity of the otoe County jail, 4 days at $4 per day 16.00 

bonds, by the court of last resort in Nebraska, Feed for team 4 davs 8.00 

(Fenton, et al. vs. Yule, et al., 27 Neb. 758), Board for prisoner 2 days at $1.50. . . . 3.00 

and the wav opened for the erection of the Expense for prisoner at Otoe County 

new court house. , j^'' "u ' " J " r r : " ' ^^'^^ 

. . r ,r,r^^ ■ , , , , A. L. Hurd, for team for convevmg 

At Its Januar)', 1890, session the board of prisoner from Otoe Countv jail to 

supervisors adopted the plans and specifica- Gage County court, 4 days at $4 16.00 

tions for the present court house, prepared Feed for said team for 4 days 8.00 

and submitted to them bv Gunn & Curtis, of Board of prisoner 2 days 3.00 

T^ ^■, A I- " , . J- . 1 J Guarding prisoner 6 days 12.00 

Kansas Lity, Missoun, and immediately adver- " *^ ■' 

tised for bids for its erection. On the 29th Total $117.08 

dav of March, 1890, the bid of M. T. Murphy, , . ' ' .' ' ' ' [' c • •, 

r' , , , , , , , , Action looking toward the erection of a jail 

of Omaha, for the sum of one hundred thou- c ^ . , \. .u . u j t 

. . ,, , was first taken by the county board Januarj' 

sand dollars was accepted, upon his executing 3^^ j^-2, when one W. W. Watson was ap- 

a bond, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, ^^-^^^^^ ^. ^^e commissioners to prepare plans 

to be approved by the county board, for the ^^^ specifications for a jail, and the county 

faithful performance of his contract. After ^j^rk at the same time was directed to adver- 

some vicissitudes the building was finally com- tise in the Beatrice Express for proposals for 

pleted, was turned over to the county board the erection of a jail at Beatrice, in accordance 

and was accepted by that board in Januarj', ^vith such plans and specifications. But on 

1892. February 24, 1872, all proposals were rejected, 

The erection of a county jail was, after the and, on account of cost and lack of funds, the 

first court house, the next most urgent public building of a jail for Gage county was in- 

need. The administration of the criminal law definitely postponed, by commissioners Solon 

was reduced to almost a farce by lack of facili- N. Hazen, Horace M. Wickham, and Elijah 

ties for enforcing it. \\'henever it became Filley. 

necessar>' to imprison persons accused of But the subject was not allowed to rest. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



199 



Steps were taken by the county board to sup- 
ply funds for this building, and at the regular 
annual election held on the 8th day of Oc- 
tober, 1(S72, a proposition to bond the county 
in the sum of $7,000, the proceeds of which 
were to be used in the erection of a county jail 
at Beatrice, was carried by a decisive majority. 
On the 9th day of January, 1873, the county 
clerk, William D. Cox, was again directed to 
advertise in the Beatrice Express for three 
consecutive weeks for bids for a county jail, 
all bids to be accompanied by plans and speci- 
fications, the building to consist of stone and 
iron, and to cost not more than $6,000 — the 



it by Andrew Miller, of this city, for the erec- 
tion of a jail in conformity with the Anyan 
plans and specifications, for the sum of $6,400, 
conditioned, however, upon his executing a 
bond to the county in the sum of $12,800 for 
the faithful performance of his contract. But 
on March 22d following. ]\Iiller appeared be- 
fore the board and confessed his inability to 
give a bond in sufficient sum. The contract 
with him was thereupon cancelled, and a read- 
vertisement ordered for bids. On April 21, 
1873, the contract for the erection of a jail in 
accordance with the Anyan plans and specifi- 
cations was awarded to T. J. Patterson for the 




Oi.D County J.^ii,, 1874, ix Phchkss ui- Demuuhiun, 1918 



commissioners reserving the right to reject all 
bids, plans and specifications. Whether any 
bids, or plans and specifications were filed with 
the county board on the $6,000 basis is un- 
known to this writer, but, evidently growing 
weary of putting the cart before the horse, 
that body, on the 8th day of February', 1873, 
adopted plans and specifications for a county 
jail, prepared and submitted to them by Wil- 
liam Anyan, a well known resident and home- 
steader of Elm township, a fanner, a practi- 
cal builder and contractor, a politician, an Eng- 
lishman of talent and ability. The county 
clerk was a third time directed to advertise 
for bids for the erection of a county jail at 
Beatrice, in the Beatrice Express for three 
consecutive weeks, and on March 15, 1873, 
the county board accepted a bid submitted to 



sum of $6,364, and at a special session of the 
county board held May 11, 1873, the pros- 
pective jail was, by formal order of the board, 
located on lots 16, 17, and 18, block 11 of 
Cropsey's Addition to the City of Beatrice. 

This old building was constructed wholly of 
native stone, on the corner of Lincoln and 
Seventh streets. It was a single story, with 
basement under the part devoted to the jail- 
er's residence. The entrance was from the 
south, and a hall led past the living rooms to 
a corridor in the rear, where prisoners were 
allowed to exercise; beyond the corridor were 
the cells. 

The building was completed and turned 
over to the county board in the early part of 
1874, and for forty-four years it ser\'ed the 
people as a county prison. It lacked almost 



200 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLNTY, NEBRASKA 



every convenience for a modem jail. For 
years ever)' grand jurj- was accustomed to 
condemn it as unsanitary and unsafe. In this 
old building all the desperate criminals of our 
county have been held awaiting trial, execution 
or removal to the penitentiary. In the old 
jail yard occurred the only legal execution 
ever had in Gage county, when Jackson Mar- 
ion paid the penalty on the gallows, in March, 
1886, for the brutal murder of John Cameron 
in 1873. Hundreds of criminals have sighed 
behind its iron bars, and to some it was the 
end of hope. If ghosts could walk and all the 



awarded to F. L. Robertson, as general con- 
tractor, the building to be erected pursuant to 
plans and specifications drawn by Richard \V. 
Grant, of Beatrice. C. W. Werner, of \Vy- 
niore, was awarded the plumbing contract, 
Baker-Hartzell Company, of Beatrice, the 
contract for electrical wiring and electrical 
appliances, while the Pauly Jail Building 
Company, of St. Louis, Missouri, was award- 
ed the contract for cells and other equipment. 
The following table exhiljits the total cost of 
the building, exclusive of grounds and grad- 




.XtW ClU'NTV IaII., i"i.N 



past be revealed, strange tales might be told of 
those incarcerated within its walls. In the 
spring of 1918, on the completion of the new 
jail, this old county bastile was demolished, 
beam by beam, bar by bar, rock by rock. The 
very place where it had stood so long is 
plowed, graded and filled, and not a trace of 
this sad, gloomy structure is left. 

As early as 1916 the building of a modern 
jail was taken under consideration by the 
county supervisors, and a levy of one and one- 
fourth mills on the total valuation of the 
county was levied that year for the purpose 
of creating a fund to build a new jail. In 
1917 also a levy was made for the same pur- 
pose, one and two one-hundredths mills, 
and on the 28th day of May, 1917. a contract 
for the erection of the new building was 



Paid Richard W. Grant, Architect. $ 1.220.00 
Paid F. L. Robertson, Contractor. . 14,841.36 
Paid C. \V. Werner, Plumbing Con- 
tractor 2,102.00 

Paid Baker-Hartzell Co., Electrical 

Contractors 275.00 

Paid The Pauly Jail Building Co.. . 7,700.00 

Paid for extras 87.45 

Total cost $26,225.81 

This fine, commodious jail building, which 
includes also a residence for the jailor or 
sheriff, was completed and accepted by the 
county board November 27, 1917. Few, if 
any, counties in Nebraska can boast a more 
handsome, complete, modem jail building 
than Gage, the great third county of Ne- 
braska. 

The first United States postofifice of Be- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



201 



atrice was the pioneer residence of Albert 
Towle, commonly called "Pap's Cabin," but 
in 1866 the postoffice was moved to a single 
room in the rear of the twenty-five-foot-front, 
frame hardware store owned by Rainboldt & 
Company, on the corner of Third and Court 
streets, where the building of the Blue Valley 
Mercantile Company (wholesale grocery) 
now stands. The little room containing the 
postoffice fronted on Third street. About 
1870 Mr. Towle, the postmaster, erected a 
narrow frame building immediately west of 
Saunders' two-story brick store building on 
Court street. The business of the office in- 
creased so rapidly that more commodious 
quarters became necessary, and about 1872 
the postoffice was moved to the west store- 
room in the Burwood hotel, where at this 
writing, H. P. Claussen has his shoe store. 
In 1886 the office was moved from the hotel 
building to the east room of the old Masonic 
lemple Block, on the corner of Sixth and 
Court streets, which was destroyed by fire in 
1902, and on the site of which the Beatrice 
National Bank building now stands. In 1887 
Algernon S. Paddock was elected United 
States senator from Nebraska, and in 1891 he 
secured an appropriation from congress, in 
the sum of $65,000, to be used for the pur- 
chase of a site and the erection of a postoffice 
building in the rapidly growing city of Be- 
atrice. Of this sum, not to exceed $15,000 
was to be used in the purchase of a site for 
the building. The northeast corner of the 
intersection of Seventh and Ella streets was 
considered the most eligible site ; one hundred 
twenty feet of this property was selected for 
the site of the new postoffice building, and in 
July, 1891, it was purchased at a cost to the 
government of $15,041.74. Thereafter the 
United States proceeded to erect the old part 
of the present postoffice building on this 
ground, at a cost of $49,934.37, and in Oc- 
tober, 1893, it was occupied for postoffice 
purposes. The material used in this structure 
is from the great sandstone quarries of War- 
rensburg, Missouri. 

The business of the office increased rapidly, 
and in 1911 congress appropriated the sum of 



$62,000 for the purpose of purchasing addi- 
tional land and increasing the capacity of the 
office. The sum of $11,000 was paid for the 
eighty feet of ground adjoining the original 
site, and an extension, with other improve- 
ments, was added to the original building, at 
a cost of $49,877.50. The total cost to the 
government of this building, including site, is 
the sum of $125,853.61. 

The postofiice in every community is to its 
members the visible sign of the power and 
beneficence of the government. Its impor- 
tance cannot be greatly exaggerated. It forms 
a connecting link between the citizen and the 
outside world. Until recent years the postal 
department was the sole representative in the 
United States of the paternal or social idea of 
government. It may be that the present 
period of the great world war will eventuate 
in government-owned facilities of every de- 
scription, from postal to transportation and 
shipping. 

The patrons of the Beatrice postoffice have 
been fortunate in the character of the men 
who have occupied the important position of 
postmaster. Since its establishment, July 16, 
1857, to the present time, the following named 
persons have been appointed postmasters at 
Beatrice, on the dates here given : 

Herman M. Reynolds, July 15, 1857; Al- 
bert Towle, May 27, 1860 : Jacob Drtmi, Sep- 
tember 1, 1879; Samuel E. Rigg, March 18, 
1886; Charles M. Rigg, November 7, 1889; 
George P. Marvin, September 11, 1893; Alex- 
ander Graham, January' 14, 1898 ; William H. 
Edgar, January 20, 1902 ; Albert H. Holling- 
worth, Februarv' 27, 1906 ; John R. McCann, 
Augvist 19, 1914. 

Some years ago the postoffice department 
at Washington, pursuant to acts of congress 
authorizing such action, established in Gage 
county the system of rural mail deliver)', and 
about the same time the system of city car- 
riers was inaugurated for Beatrice. The 
rural routes radiate from the Beatrice office 
in even,' direction and are served by seven 
carriers, while the city of Beatrice gives em- 
ployment to ten carriers of United States mail 
within its boundaries. 



202 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



In 1896 the city of Beatrice purchased lot 
ten in block sixty-four of the original town- 
site and erected thereon a small, two-stor^-, 
plain brick city hall. This structure, though 
undergoing various changes, modifications, 
and additions, is still too small for public re- 
quirements. It lacks nearly every appoint- 
ment of a modem, up-to-date municipal build- 
ing and is almost offensively wanting in archi- 
tectural style and beauty. 

It supplies a place, however, for a jail, the 
meetings of the city council, offices for the 
police magistrate, and chief of police and his 
subordinates, and several of the elective and 
appointive officers of the city. The day is not 
far distant when the growing city of Beatrice 
will demand a city building which besides af- 
fording ample room and facilities for the 
housing of the public records of the city and 
the transaction of municipal business will add 
to civic attractiveness. 

Allied to the City Hall is the fire depart- 
ment, which includes four volunteer hose com- 
panies and a salaried force of firemen. This 
important branch of the public service had 
its origin with the organization of the volun- 
teer companies June 8, 1886. From then 
until a comparatively recent date the non- 
salaried volunteers valiantly defended against 
the ravages of fire the property of the citizens 
of our city, in a most faithful and efficient 
manner. Notwithstanding the fact that since 
the creation of the salaried fire department 
the volunteer companies have been relegated 
to the position of reserves, they have main- 
tained their organization intact and hold them- 
selves in readiness to respond instantly to 
every call for aid. At present these com- 
panies number one hundred and thirty brave 
and public-spirited citizens of Beatrice. 

On the first day of September, 1908, the 
volunteer hose companies purchased the north 
forty-six and two-thirds feet of lots 7 and 8, 
block 63, Beatrice, and, at a cost of more than 
thirty thousand dollars, erected thereon a fine, 
two-story, pressed-brick fire station, which 
forms headquarters for all the firemen of the 
city. 

In this building is housed the fire-fighting" 



apparatus of the city, at the present time con- 
sisting of a motor truck, which is a combined 
hose and chemical engine, a horse-drawn truck 
of like character, hose reels, and the hook and 
ladder equipment. 

The volunteers also, in 1907, in commemo- 
ration of their dead, erected a splendid monu- 
ment, which, fronting its main entrance, over- 
looks beautiful Evergreen Home Cemetery. 

In many other ways this organization has 
written its own indelible record in the history 
of Beatrice. The fire chiefs have been Na- 
thaniel Herron (the first leader of the brave 
volunteers), John Schick, John Walker, H. L. 
Harper, Rudolph Woelke, John Scharton, and 
Henry Whiteside (the present chief). 

In 1912 the authorities of the city of Be- 
atrice installed in connection with the water- 
works system a municipal lighting plant, from 
which the streets and city buildings are now 
well and beautifully illuminated. Eft'orts have 
been made to secure the application of this 
plant to commercial purposes, but so far the 
voters have failed to endorse this plan. The 
future may see a complete revolution of senti- 
ment with respect to the activity of the city 
along commercial lines. 

Beatrice is also well supplied with storm 
and sanitary sewers, work which had its be- 
ginning about 1886, and which has been re- 
cently extended to cover large areas of the 
city. Perhaps no city of its size in the west 
exceeds our city with respect to these public 
utilities. 

No other improvement in the city has added 
so much to the beauty of the city and the com- 
fort of living in Beatrice as the street paving. 
This work was inaugurated in the autumn of 
1886, and was largely confined to the business 
districts of the city. Since 1913 the paving of 
the streets and alleys of Beatrice has been 
greatly increased and been extended to in- 
clude much of the residence portion of the 
city east of the river. This work has gone 
steadily forward until at the present moment 
Beatrice possesses approximately sixteen 
miles of paved streets and is probably the best 
paved city of its class in the state. 

The outstanding indebtedness of Beatrice on 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



203 




City Water Works. 




City Hai.l. 



204 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



account of the paving, exclusive of interest 
and the cost of paving the intersections of the 
streets, is $101,930, which is assessed against 
the property comprising the several paving 
districts. 

In 1885 steps were taken by the city council 
to inaugurate a waterworks system in Be- 
atrice. That year, on the twenty-first day of 
December, an ordinance was passed by the 
mayor and council which provided for holding 
a special election Januar}' 22, 1886, upon a 
proposition to issue bonds of the city in the 
sum of eighty thousand dollars, for the pur- 
pose "of constructing, operating and maintain- 
ing a system of waterworks for said city of 
Beatrice." At the election thus provided for, 
this proposition was carried by a decisive af- 
firmative vote, and steps were at once taken 
, to put into efifect the wishes of the voters. 
The work went vigorously forward and be- 
fore the closing of the year 1888 the city 
water-works were in operation. 

The plan adopted was that known as the 
direct-pressure system, by which, through the 
agency of powerful force pumps, the water is 
elevated through main lines and sen'ice pipes 
to the consumer. In 1890 additional bonds 
were voted to cover the extension of the water 
mains. The water used by the consumers was 
taken directly from the Big Blue river, in an 
unfiltered and impure state. During the greater 
portion of the year it was utterly unfit for 
drinking or culinary purposes. In 1891 a 
serious effort was made to remedy this condi- 
tion, and at a special election, held in Beatrice 
on the second day of September of that year, 
called for the purpose of voting on a proposi- 
tion to issue additional bonds, the city council 
was authorized to issue the negotiable bonds 
of the city "to the amount of thirty-five 
thousand dollars ($35,000), for the purpose 
of constructing, maintaining and operating a 
system of water\vorks for said city, to pur- 
chase land for the site of a water plant, and 
otherwise improve the waterworks system of 
the city of Beatrice and appurtenances, in the 
extension of and connection with the present 
system of waterworks of the said city." 

At the time these bonds were voted, a series 



of experiments had been conducted by the 
water commissioner in what was then known 
as "Paddock's Pasture," a tract of land where 
the Lang canning factor)' and the Kilpatrick 
stock and storage yards are now located. 
From the test wells put down, the city coun- 
cil was led to believe that an abundance of 
pure water could be here obtained at a shallow 
depth. These bonds were issued, placed upon 
the market and sold for approximately their 
face value, and a contract for installing this 
plant was let to the firm of Godfrey & Means, 
of Fremont, Nebraska. But these contractors 
failed to obtain a satisfactorj' supply of water, 
though it developed that a considerable quan- 
tity of pure, wholesome water did in fact ex- 
ist at that point. The money invested in this 
movement was wholly lost and the small brick 
building which was erected as a pumping sta- 
tion and which still occupies the small tract of 
ground purchased by the city, is a melancholy 
reminder to the tax-payers of Beatrice of this 
failure to secure the necessary supply of pure 
municipal water. 

For several years after this costly experi- 
ment, the question of an adequate supply of 
potable water for Beatrice was suffered to 
rest, though it still remained an ever-present, 
urgent problem to every lover of his city. 
About 1910 the city authorities again took up 
the matter and a short distance east of the 
PaddoL'k pasture several test wells were put 
down to water bearing gravel. These, it was 
thought, indicated the existence of pure water 
in sufficient quantities, if properly developed, 
to meet the requirements of the city. Four 
large wells were put down by the city, electri- 
cal pumping apparatus was installed in them, 
and. in 1911, a small reservoir was built, at 
considerable cost, on the northern boundary 
of the city. Water from these wells was pumped 
into this reservoir and conducted by gravity 
through mains to the pumping station of the 
city waterworks. It soon became apparent 
that the water problem of Beatrice had not 
been solved, the supply from this source being 
painfully deficient. 

At the election in 1912 a change was ef- 
fected from the old plan of ward representa- 



t 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



205 



tion in the city council to the commission fonn 
of f^overnment, and the new administration 
applied itself at once to a solution of this ever- 
present, perplexing problem of wholesome 
water for Beatrice. Finally, on the 10th day 
of August, 1912, the commissioners advertised 
in the city press for sealed proposals "for the 
construction of a sufficient number of wells to 
supply the city of Beatrice with five hundred 
thousand (500,000) to seven hundred and 
fifty thousand (750,000) gallons of water per 
day of twenty-four hours, also the pumps, 
electric motors, pipe fittings, and all other ma- 
terial and equipment, including all labor nec- 
essary to install same and to deliver the above 
amount of water into the present water 
mains." Bidders were to furnish their own 
plans and specifications and the cost of the 
work to the city was to be based on the num- 
ber of gallons of water that the wells and 
equipment should be capable of pumping into 
the mains for twenty-four hours. 

On the 20th day of August, 1912, the Demp- 
ster Mill Manufacturing Company, of Be- 
atrice, submitted a "proposal for wells, pump 
and motors for the city of Beatrice" accom- 
panied by plans and specifications and a blue- 
print illustrative of the proposed wells and 
their equipment. This proposal was accepted, 
and the company entered immediately upon the 
work of putting down wells in the neighbor- 
hood of the Paddock Pasture, on North Sixth 
street. The limitations of this volume render 
it inexpedient to follow the details of this 
movement further than to say that the com- 
pany failed to develop a sufficient quantity of 
water from its wells to meet the requirements 
of its contract. 

Finally it turned to the well known spring 
located on the farm of John H. Zimmerman, 
on the west side of the river, a short distance 
northwest of the city. The existence of this 
spring had been known since the first settle- 
ment of Gage county. Without development 
or artificial aid it sent forth a considerable 
stream of pure, cold water. To the Dempster 
Mill Manufacturing Company generally, and 
to its president, Charles B. Dempster, par- 
ticularly, belongs the entire credit of develop- 



ing this fine living spring, which is now almost 
the sole source of the city water supply. 

The history of this venture, with its result, 
is well set forth in a letter by the company, 
signed by its president, addressed to the mayor 
and city commissioners of Beatrice. The gen- 
eral statements of this letter are pertinent to 
the object and purpose of this history and for 
that reason it is here given in full. It reads 
as follows : 

Beatrice, Neb., Aug. 6, 1913. 
Hon. Mayor & City Commissioners, 

Beatrice, Neb. 
Gentlemen : 

Without going into details with refer- 
ence to our efforts to secure the city of 
Beatrice a sufficient supply of water, 
which we have been endeavoring to do since 
last November, we are now pleased to re- 
port that we have finally secured what we 
believe to be not only an ample but a last- 
ing supply of good, pure, soft water at Zim- 
merman Springs, joining the city on the north- 
west. 

We also have an option from Mr. John H. 
Zimmemian for the lease of these springs, to- 
gether with the right of way over the land 
adjacent thereto, for a term of ten years, 
for an annual rental of $300.00 per year, 
with further option to purchase the springs 
at any time within ten years at the price of 
$6,000.00, together with such land as may 
be required, up to ten acres, at a price of 
$200.00 per acre. This contract or option 
is made direct to the Dempster Mill Manu- 
facturing Company, but can be assigned by 
them to others. We believe this option is a 
valuable one to the city of Beatrice. 

We further believe that we have secured 
and can deliver to the city over one and one- 
half million gallons of water every twenty- 
four hours, taking the Zimmerman Springs 
and the wells we put down north of the 
city together. The wells north of the city 
were put down under our contract with the 
city of Beatrice, dated August 20, 1912, 
with later amendments. 

After having put down these four batter- 
ies of wells north of the city, you will re- 
member that we were unable to secure the 
required amount of water to complete our 
contracts and that, by mutual consent, the 
contract was suspended until w-e had an op- 
portunity to make a test of the supply of 
water at the Zimmerman Springs. 

The test and purchase of the option 
of the Zimmerman Springs, as you well un- 



206 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



derstand, were made at our expense and our 
risk, the city taking no chances in our 
abihty to secure the water supply whatso- 
ever. We stated that we would take the 
matter up with you again after we had 
made the tests. 

Now, Gentlemen, we have not only made 
the tests, but have completed a perma- 
nent well, walling it up with a twelve- 
inch brick wall, laid in cement. We have 
been pumping the springs almost continual- 
ly for two months and the amount of water 
pumped increased steadily from the time we 
began pumping until it is now capable of 
furnishing 1,200,000 gallons of water per 
day and, at the same time, leaving three to 
three and a half feet of water still in the 
bottom of the well. 

The well is dug down thirty feet deep. 
We also drilled five holes in the bottom of 
the dug well an additional twenty feet. 
The first two of these holes we drilled in- 
creased the flow of the water in the well 
about fifty per cent. It is our opinion, al- 
so the opinion of Professor E. H. Barbour, 
Head of the Geological Survey Department 
of the University of Nebraska, that by 
blasting and taking out the rock an ad- 
ditional sixteen or eighteen feet, we can in- 
crease the supply of water up to at least one 
and a half million gallons per day. 

Professor Barbour made a special trip here 
at our request, while we were sinking the 
wells. He made a careful investigation of 
the formations and all conditions surround- 
ing the springs, and stated that it was the best 
prospect for an ample supply of water that he 
had seen in the state and that it was, in his 
opinion, a permanent supply. He was also 
here yesterday, making measurements and 
taking photographs of the flow of the water 
and surroundings, and was very much pleased 
with the amount of water we were getting. 

Now, Gentlemen, we have been to a coi>- 
siderable expense in our endeavor to secure 
the city this supply of water and, at last, we 
have the satisfaction of being able to say to 
you and to the citizens of Beatrice that we 
have been successful and that we have se- 
cured a supply of water sufficient to take care 
of the city's requirements for many years to 
come. 

We never had figured on making a profit 
out of securing for the city a sufficient supply 
of water and we are willing at this time to 
turn the wells and springs over to the city of 
Beatrice, which shall include the option for the 
lease or purchase of the Zimmennan Springs 
together with the completed well, also the 



wells north of the city and the pumping ma- 
chinery and equipment connected with same, 
also the cancellation of our contract for the 
water supply, and all we ask in return is that 
we be paid just what it has cost us to secure 
it, charging nothing for the risk which we 
have taken by virtue of the fact that had we 
not secured the water, we stood to lose what 
we had spent or invested. 

The total cost amounts to $15,867.26, to 
which we will have to add six per cent interest 
from August 1, 1913. 

This proposition is made to the city of 
Beatrice, through you as their representatives, 
and will hold good until September 15, 1913, 
which we believe will give you ample time to 
investigate the matter and decide whether the 
city wants to accept the proposition or not. 

Hoping that this proposition will meet with 
your approval and that steps may be taken at 
an early date to close the matter up, in order 
that the main may be run into the city and the 
people supplied with this spring water before 
winter sets in, we are 

Yours very truly, 

Dempster Mill Mfg. Co. 
C- B. Dempster, Pres. 

At a special election held in the city May 5, 
1910, the voters of the municipality had au- 
thorized the issuance of $70,000 of the bonds 
of the city, the proceeds thereof to be used in 
constructing, maintaining and operating a sys- 
tem of waterworks for Beatrice. On Oc- 
tober 10th of that year these bonds had been 
issued and sold, and the money realized from 
their sale had been applied by the city au- 
thorities in enlarging the building and plant 
of the waterworks, installing additional ma- 
chinen,-, including an electric pumping plant 
and lighting system, and in covering the ex- 
pense of the various efforts put forth by the 
commissioners in trying to develop a sufl^icient 
water supply by the system of wells. After 
the development of the Zimmerman Springs 
proposition as set forth in the foregoing let- 
ter of the Dempster Company, it became 
necessary to raise money to cover the cost of 
acquiring the spring and the ten-acre tract 
where it is situated, as set out in the letter. 
For this purpose the special election was held 
in the city on the 5th day of November, 1913, 
at which the issuance of $30,000 of the bonds 
of the city was authorized, the proceeds 



II 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



207 



thereof to be used to complete the waterworks 
system of the city by acquiring title to the 
spring and the ten-acre tract of land where it 
is located and of connecting it to the existing 
waterworks system of the city. 

By these various steps Beatrice has finally 
acquired a supply of pure spring water suffi- 



cient, as far as tried, for the demands of the 
city, at a total cost of approximately $225,000 
to the taxpayers of the municipality. After 
many years of operation at a steady loss, 
which was annually met by additional taxa- 
tion, the Beatrice city water plant has reached 
a point where it is easily self-supporting. 



CHAPTER XXI 

BEATRICE CONTINUED 

The Free Public Library — First Board of Directors — Carnegie Library Building — 
First Librarian — Public Parks — The Old Stone Church — The New Methodist 
Church — The First Presbyterian Church — The Episcopal Church — First 
Christian Church — United Brethren Church — Trinity Lutheran Church — 
First Catholic Church — First Baptist Church — St. John's Lutheran 
Church — German Methodist Church — LaSalle Street Church — Sev- 
enth Day Adventist Church — First Church of Christ, Scientist — 
First Congregational Church — Mennonite Church — Beatrice School 
District — Old Frame School House — First High School Building — 
Second High School Building — Third High School Building — 
Grade School Buildings — City Superintendent of Schools 



The public library of the city of Beatrice, 
which in the afiflux of time has become a fac- 
tor of inestimable importance in the intellect- 
ual life of the city, is the direct outgrowth of 
the activities of an organization known as the 
Beatrice Literarj' Club, founded about the 
year 1890, by Carroll G. Pearse (superintend- 
ent of the Beatrice city schools), Ossian H. 
Brainard. Alexander R. Dempster, Edward 
Sinclair Smith, Dr. Edward Bates, Leander 
M. Pemberton, Samuel S. Peters, Joseph E. 
Cobbey, Jr., Marion T. Cummings, Hugh J. 
Dobbs, and others. Prior to the founding of 
the library, the ladies of the Woman's Chris- 
tian Temperance Union of Beatrice had for 
many years maintained a small circulating li- 
brary in the city, this being poorly supported 
by voluntary contributions and paid subscrip- 
tions. It had a very limited use, on account of 
the small number of books of value and of 
the expense to patrons using it. For several 
years its sponsors had frequently endeavored 
to persuade the city to take their library and, 
with it as nucleus, found a municipal librarj' 
suported by public tax ; in this, however, they 
had been unifomily unsuccessful. 

In the spring of 1893 the Beatrice Litcrar}- 



Club found itself in the possession of a con- 
siderable sum of money, the product of some 
very successful lecture courses given under its 
auspices, and resolved to undertake the service 
to the community of inducing the city council 
to acept the offer of the ladies of the Wo- 
man's Christian Temperance Union, to relieve 
them of the burden of carrying on a library 
which met the demands of the community to 
a very limited degree, and to found a munic- 
i]5al library to which every citizen of Beatrice 
might, under proper regulations, have full and 
free access. As a slight inducement to favor- 
able action on the part of the city council, the 
luembers of the Literarj' Club proposed to 
turn over to the city the money in its treasury', 
to be used for library purposes. The city 
council gave ear to the persuasive eloquence 
of Carroll G. Pearse, president of the Liter- 
ary Club, and, after canvassing the matter, de- 
■cided to act favorably upon his suggestions. 
The money tendered by the club was accepted, 
the books and library effects of the ladies of 
the Woman's Christian Temperance L'nion 
were taken over by the city, and, in June, 
1893, the city council, formally and in the 
manner provided by law, established a free 



208 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



209 



public libran' for the citizens of Beatrice. A 
board of directors was thereupon appointed 
and for the support of the Hbrary a levy of 
two mills on the dollar was made upon the 
grand assessment roll of the city. The first 
board of directors was composed of the fol- 
lowing well known citizens of the city of 
Beatrice: Jefferson B. Weston, three years: 
Cornelius Jansen, three years ; Leander M. 
Pemberton, one year; Joseph E. Cobbey, one 
year : Samuel Rinaker, two years ; LeRoy F. 
LaSelle, three years : George P. Marvin, two 
years : Charles G. Gilespie, one year ; Hugh 
J. Dobbs, three years. 

This board of driectors organized by choos- 
ing Jefferson B. Weston, president ; Leander 
M. Pemberton, vice-president ; and Cornelius 
Jansen, secretary. Mary E. Abell, who had 
been prominent in the affairs of the former 
library, was elected by the board of directors 
as the first librarian of the municipal librarv'. 
Quarters for the new library, together with a 
reading room, were secured on the upper floor 
of the new postoffice building on its comple- 
tion, in October, 1893, and the Beatrice Free 
Public Library was formally opened to public 
patronage. 

In December, 1902, application was made 
by the library board to Andrew Carnegie for 
an allowance out of his millions for the pur- 
pose of erecting a suitable building for the 
librar}'. The application was favorably re- 
ceived by the great iron master, who offered to 
donate to the city of Beatrice the sum of $20,- 
000 for the erection of a librarj' building, pro- 
vided a suitable site were procured and the 
city council would agree to make an annual 
levy upon the taxable valuation of the prop- 
erty of the city for the purpose of supporting 
the library. The money to purchase the pres- 
ent site of the library building was raised by 
private subscription, and lots 5 and 6 in block 
36 of the original town of Beatrice, the 
present site of the library, were purchased for 
$1,600. 

George A. Burlinghof, an architect then re- 
siding at Beatrice, was selected to draft plans 
and specifications for the librarj' building. 
Contracts were let for its construction and the 



work entered upon in the spring of 1903, al- 
most exactly ten years from the date of found- 
ing the library. The work progressed rap- 
idly. The material used was Warrensburg, 
Missouri, sandstone and terra cotta. While 
not fire-proof, the building is constructed on 
the principle known as slow combustion. This 
building, with its grounds, is now practically 
included in the Charles Park, and together 
they form perhaps the most interesting and 
beautiful spot in Beatrice. 

On the completion of the building, Jilr. 
Carnegie, being again appealed to, contributed 
$3,000 to be used in the purchase of suitable 
furniture, shelving and other fixtures for the 
library'. The book stacks and furniture were 
bought of the American Library Association 
and were duly installed. On the first day of 
Jaiuiary, 1904, the Beatrice Free Public Li- 
brary was opened to public patronage in its 
new and beautiful building. 

Since its founding, the patrons of the li- 
brary have been served by a number of effi- 
cient librarians, but by none more able or 
devoted than the first, Mar>' E. Abell. This 
good lady, who had been a citizen of Beatrice 
for many years, died while serving as libra- 
rian, on Saturday, April 4. 1903, and of the 
original librarj' board, Weston, Cobbey, La- 
Selle, Marvin and Gillespie also have passed 
away. But the institution which they were 
instrumental in organizing remains and will 
long remain to radiate its beneficent influence 
throughout the beautiful city which it serves. 

The public parks of Beatrice are Charles 
Park, Nichols Park, the Athletic Park, and the 
Chautauqua Park. 

Charles Park is situated between Fifth and 
Sixth streets, immediately south of the old 
high-school building. It was purchased in 
part with a bequest in the will of James 
Charles, a pioneer resident of Beatrice and vi- 
cinity, the purchased lots being 1. 2. 3 and 4 
in block 36 of the original town of Beatrice. 
To these were added lots 5 and 6, where the 
public library stands, and also Elk street be- 
tween Fifth and Sixth streets, which was va- 
cated by the city council for park purposes, 
and all that part of the school-house square 



210 



HISTORY OF GAGE COU.XTY. NEBRASKA 



south of the walks about the old high-school 
building. 

Nichols Park is located a little west of the 
Court street bridge across the Big Blue river. 
It is a beautiful spot, comprising about three 
acres of ground between Court street and the 
river. Most of the land fonning it was do- 
nated by Martin V. Nichols, an old and highly 
esteemed resident of Beatrice. 

The .\thletic Park is an adjunct of the city 
school system. The founders of this jilay 



large assembly hall and the other structures 
now found there were placed on the grounds 
by this organization. For a dozen years or 
more the programs given at this place were 
well patronized by the people of .southeastern 
Nebraska. Many eminent men and women 
have here contributed to the instruction, 
amusement and entertainment of large au- 
diences. Amongst these were Thomas De 
Witt Talmage, a noted clergyman of the past 
generation: e.x-President Hayes; Sam Jones; 




ground were the late Daniel Wolford Cook, 
the Kilpatrick Brothers and S. \V. Collins. 
After its completion, it was donated and by 
warranty deed conveyed to the Beatrice school 
district, to be forever dedicated to wholesome 
school sport, and other scholastic and public 
gatherings. 

The Chautauqua Park comprises about 
thirty acres of land, for many years known 
and used as Chautauqua grounds. Beginning 
about 1888. the Chautauqua organization, 
composed of several public-s]iirited citizens of 
Beatrice, annually for several years gave a 
Chautauqua program on these grountls. The 



Bishop Vincent : Frank Robinson, the trav- 
elouge entertainer ; William J. Bryan ; Frances 
Willard : Congressman Horr ; Mary Ellen 
Lease; Edward Rosewater; Dr. Robert Mc- 
Intyre : Susan B. Anthony ; Dr. Henson, a 
noted Bajitist clergyman, of Chicago; Robert 
LaFoUette ; and many others of wide reputa- 
tion as speakers, lecturers, and entertainers. 

After an interesting and profitable record 
covering many years, the organization, on ac- 
count of the decrease in attendance, finally 
suspended operations in debt, and an action 
was brought agfainst it in the district court of 
Gage county to foreclose a mortgage on its 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



211 




212 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



property, when, by an arrangement with the 
board of directors, the city of Beatrice inter- 
vened, paid the indebtedness, took over the 
property and converted it into a beautiful citv 
park. 

An important adjunct to the public-park 
system of the city is the use which has re- 
cently been made of the Big Blue river as a 
source of recreation. \Miile always a favored 
means of entertainment it has grown in favor 
since W. E. Garrett, in August, 1907, acquired 
riparian rights on the river above Black 
Brothers' mill dam and installed a line of 
pleasure boats, including flat boats for pic- 
nickers. For a number of years he has given 
an annual evening festival on the river locally 
known as "Venetian Night" which attracts 
large and appreciative crowds, many coming 
from considerable distances. 

The Nehaunchee canoeing club is an or- 
ganization of canoe enthusiasts whose purpose 
is to develop a taste for this fine sport and in- 
crease the usefulness of the river as a pleasure 
resort. 

Nothing perhaps shows the steady growth 
of Beatrice from a mere village of a few hun- 
dred inhabitants to a modern city of probably 
12,000 people more than its church histon-. 
No movement to erect a church building in the 
village was inaugurated prior to the year 1S68. 
The Methodist Episcopal denomination had 
possessed organizations in Beatrice, Blue 
Springs and other localities in the countv prior 
to that time. Early that year steps were taken 
to erect in Beatrice a church for general use. 
The idea seemed to be that it should be open 
and free to all denominations ; it was in effect 
a citizens' movement for a free church build- 
ing. The location for this structure was fixed 
at the corner of Fourth and Elk streets, lots 7, 
8, block 20 of the original town of Beatrice, 
and work was begun probably in the late 
spring of 1868. The building planned was to 
be a stone edifice, appro.ximately twenty-five 
by fifty feet in dimensions, with a single 
room, — a plain building both inside and out. 
The stone was hauled from the quary of Ilurd 
& GufYey, at what is now Holmesville, and 
the work appears to have progressed rapidly. 



as things went in those days. Under date of 
October 28, 1868. the Blue J'alley Record 
says "Our free church edifice is beginning to 
loom up. Carr, the contractor, is a smasher 
to drive business. However it is no wonder, 
for he has the best material in the world to 
use in his contract." The same paper an- 
nounces also that Mr. Carr, who superin- 
tended the stone work at the capitol building 
at Lincoln, had located permanently in Be- 
atrice. 

As the church approached completion the 
plan of a free church building was abandoned 
and the property turned over to the Methodist 
church organization, which completed it and 
occupied it for religious services in the early 
part of 1869. May 17, 1870, to the trustees 
of the church a deed was given to lot 8, block 
20. by J. W. and J. B. Mum ford, and on May 
23, 1871, J. B. Weston conveyed to the trus- 
tees of the church lot 7 in this block, which 
was afterward occupied by a parsonage. This 
old stone structure was the first building in 
Gage county erected for church purposes and 
dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. 
For many years, with the parsonage, it stood 
at the corner of Fourth and Elk streets. Re- 
cently both lots have been purchased by the 
Beatrice school district and the old stone 
church, which had fallen into disuse, ^\"as 
wrecked, the parsonage moved away and the 
lots included in the high-school grounds. This 
old pioneer church building played a most in- 
teresting and useful part in the religious and 
social life of Beatrice for many years. In ad- 
dition to the services of the church, Sunday 
school was held within its walls, marriages 
performed at its altar, the dead buried from 
its doors, and many a penitent found rest for 
a troubled heart through confession of sin and 
profession of faith. 

The old church delighted to open its doors 
in hospitable welcome to religious, social and 
educational gatherings. The first confirma- 
tion service of the Episcopal church was held 
here, in April, 1S71, and the first meetings of 
the Presbyterians were in this building, in 
1869. Here the writer himself, in the unfor- 
gotten past, attended not only the religious 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



213 



services of the church but also debates, lec- 
tures, educational meetings, social gatherings. 
When its rugged walls were taken down, 
stone by stone, much of the past history of 
Beatrice may be said to have disappeared for- 
ever. 

The first Methodist minister to hold service 
in the church as pastor was W. A. Presson, a 
veteran of the Civil war. After him , not 
strictly in order perhaps, were Revs. J. W. 
Wilson, David Hart, John W. Stewart, and 
Wesley K. Bean. 

The congregation grew rapidly from the 
first, and the old building became inadequate 
to its needs. Under the ministry of Rev. 
W^esley K. Bean, in 1885, steps were taken to 
erect a new church edifice and parsonage, and 
as a result of that movement the fine brick 
house of worship located at the corner of 
Sixth and Elk streets, known as the Centen- 
ary Methodist Episcopal church, was erected, 
and it was dedicated to the worship of God in 
the spring of 1886. 

About the year 1906 a fine pipe organ was 
installed in the church, the gift of Mrs. Ra- 
chael Kilpatrick and Mrs. Margaret Constance 
Blakely, both pioneer residents of our county. 
In 1915 the church was enlarged and other- 
wise extensively improved. The membership 
of this church has grown from a mere hand- 
ful in 1869 to a body of nine hundred com- 
municants. Amongst its organizations are 
the Ladies' Aid Society, Epworth League, the 
Home and Foreign Missionary Societies and 
the Standard Bearers. 

Amongst the ministers who have occupied 
the pulpit of this church and given it power 
and influence are Wesley K. Bean, John W. 
Stewart, C. S. Dudley, Duke Slavens, H. T. 
Davis, L. J. Guild, B. F. Thomas, N. A. Mar- 
tin, Ulysses G. Brown, and Benjamin F. 
Gaither. The present pastor is Rev. Clyde 
Clay Cissell. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Beatrice 
was organized March 12, 1859, under the au- 
spices of the Missouri River Presbytery. The 
charter members in the organization were 
Mrs. Sarah Ann Blodgett, Mrs. IMary T. 
Griggs, Miss Anna Griggs, Robert H. Weed- 



en and Mrs. Lydia Weeden. Of these Mrs. 
Blodgett is the only survivor. The first 
board of trustees comprised Henry A. La- 
Selle, Robert H. Weeden and R. L. Blodgett. 
Mr. LaSelle was also clerk and treasurer of 
the church. In 1869 a church edifice thirty- 
seven by thirty-seven feet in dimensions, brick, 
two stories, was erected on the southwest 
corner of Fifth and High streets. It was 
completed at a cost of about $10,000 and was 
dedicated as a house of public worship some 
time in 1870. The first minister of this pio- 
neer church was Benjamin F. McNeil, who 
was also county superintendent of schools. 
Following him there came James A. Griffith, 
Thomas S. Hale, L. W. b". Shryock, W. H. 
McMeen, H. F. White, A. B. Irving, John W. 
Mills, William H. Hood, John D. Counter- 
mine, William H. Kearns, L. D. Young, N. P. 
Patterson, and E. C. Lucas, the present pas- 
tor. Perhaps no church in the west has been 
served by an abler, more learned or more de- 
voted line of ministerial leaders. Some of 
them, having acquired reputation and in- 
fluence in Beatrice, have been called to 
broader fields of labor, while the present pas- 
tor, with patriotic self-denial, will soon en- 
gage in the work of his calling in distant 
France, dtiring the great world war. 

In 1893 the present beautiful church and 
parsonage were erected, at a cost of $24,000. 
The membership now exceeds five hundred, 
the attendance -at Sunday school averages two 
hundred and fifty. The present bench of 
elders are: Rev. Edgar C. Lucas, Moderator; 
F. B. Sheldon, clerk ; E. F. Kimmerly, trea- 
surer ; Dr. W^ C. Pur\'iance, G. H. Van Horn, 
Charles Elliott, Paul D. Marvin, J. W. 
Beard, J. R. Spicer, J. E. T. Dickinson, H. A. 
LaSelle, and Dr. C. A. Spellman. The ac- 
tivities of the church are many and varied. 
Its societies are the Young People's Society 
of Christian Endeavor, Intermediate and 
Junior Christian Endeavor Societies, Wo- 
men's Missionary Society, Ladies' Aid So- 
ciety, Delta Alpha Chapter of Westminster 
Guild, Life Bearers and Mission Band. 

In Arpil, 1871, the first confirmation of the 
Episcopal church was held at the old stone 



214 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



Methodist church and the general services of 
the church began in that year. The parish 
was organized and admitted to the union of 
the diocese in. 1873. The minutes of the 
meeting at which the parish was organized 
show that S. C. B. Dean was elected senior 
warden and John E. Smith junior warden ; 
vestrymen, J. W. Carter. Alfred Hazlett, and 
A. G. Spellman. Of the incorporators only 
one is now identified with the parish. Mr. 
John E. Smith, who in 1874 was elected sen- 
ior warden and who has been annually re- 
elected since that time. The first record in 
the parish register is the baptism of Sarah 
Isabella Landy, August 13. 1871. by the Rev. 
Arthur E. Wilson. 

The first rector of the parish was the Rev. 
Joseph F. Cotton, who continued in charge 
until 1876. The Rev. Robert \\'. Jones served 
as rector from 1877 to 1880. the Rev. \\\\- 
liam G. Hawkins sened from 1880 to 1882 
and was succeeded by Rev. C. L. Ful forth, 
who remained until 1885 ; the Rev. Robert 
Scott took charge of the parish at the begin- 
ning of 1886 and remained until 1891 : Rev. J. 
O. Davis became rector that year and served 
until 1895; the Rev. W. P. N. J. \\'harton 
served one year and was succeeded by the 
present rector, Rev. W. A. Mulligan, in 1896. 

At the time of the organization, a wooden 
church was built on the site where the pres- 
ent church now stands. Prior to this the 
congregation worshiped in a -small wooden 
school-house which stood on the block where 
the Central ward school now stands. During 
the rectorship of the Rev. Robert Scott, the 
present handsome stone church was built, at 
a cost of about $40,000. The comer stone 
was laid in 1889 and the church opened for 
service on Easter Day, 1890. In the year 
1892 an excellent pipe organ was installed in 
the church, this being the first pipe organ in 
Beatrice. In 1904 the present commodious 
rectory was built, at a cost approximately of 
$5,000. In 1908 the parish was cleared of in- 
debtedness, and the church was consecrated 
June 16th of that year. In 1916 a handsome 
stone chapel was built in the rear of the 
church edifice, at a cost of $6,000. 



The organizations of the church are the 
Altar Guild. Daughters of the King, Junior 
Auxilliary. St. Mary's Auxilliary, Red Cross 
Auxilliary. and Women's Auxilliary-. 

The following are men of Christ Church 
parish who have enlisted in the present world 
war: J. Edmund C. Fisher, Philip \\'. 
Clancy. Allen B. Ellis, Robert J. Emer}', 
Royal Green. Edward Hackstadt, Fulton 
Jack. Jr.. Ernest D. Kees, Clarence F. Kil- 
patrick. Russell A. Phelps. Samuel L. Roe. 
Herbert T. Schaetter. William T. Rogers, 
John F. Schick, Ralph C. Scott. Frank Hobbs, 
Donald N. \"an Arsdale. George St. Clair 
Preston, Harold R. Mulligan, Clifford Rock- 
hold, John J. Kilpatrick. Allen W. Mulligan, 
George W. Maurer, and Harold D. Burgess 

The Episcopalians have contributed to the 
beauty of the city of Beatrice in a memorable 
way liy the erection of their stone church. 
No building in the city compares with it in 
architectural grace and churchly character. 
From the surrounding country on every hand, 
the white, beautiful spire of this sacred edi- 
fice forms the most impressive object in the 
landscape. 

The First Christian Church of Beatrice, 
Nebraska, was organized the first Lord's Day 
in October, 1872. Rev. R. C. Barrow, labor- 
ing under the General Christian Missionary 
Convention, had visited the place at intervals 
prior to this date and baptized a few persons. 
Among the number thus brought together 
were Dr. H. M. Reynolds and wife and Mrs. 
Emily O. Snow, and these with a few others 
formed the nucleus of the congregation. 
-\mong these were John C. Past and wife, 
from Newcastle, Indiana ; \\'illiam Bradt and 
wife, from Rockford, Illinois: and John L. 
Rhodes and wife, from North English, Iowa. 
In the fall of 1872 John C. Past attended the 
state missionary convention, at Lincoln, to se- 
cure aid in holding a meeting and through this 
means effect an organization ; the state board 
recommended that the brethren at Beatrice 
proceed to hold a meeting and if possible es- 
tablish an organization, and the services of 
John W. .\llen were secured to hold a pro- 
tracted meeting, which was commenced at 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



215 




Methodist Church. 



216 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



once. After about two weeks a church was 
organized with about twenty members. They 
were J. C. Past, Mrs. J. C. Past, WilHam 
Bradt, Mrs. William Bradt, Dr. H. M. Rey- 
nolds, Mrs. Reynolds, John L. Rhodes, Mrs. 
John L. Rhodes, Edwin Pheasant, ^Irs. Ed- 
win Pheasant, Mr. and Mrs. Headley, G. W. 
Hinkle, John Ellis, Mrs. Dr. C. C. Sprague, 
Mrs. Chesney, Mrs. A. L. Snow, A. W. Bradt, 
Mrs. A. W. Bradt, and Miss ^Maggie Murga- 
troyd. J. C. Past and William Bradt were 
elected elders, and Dr. H. M. Reynolds and 
John L. Rhodes were made deacons. The 
elders and deacons constituted the official 
board. The first meetings were held in Rey- 
nolds & Townsend's Hall, in the second ston,- 
of the building at the northwest corner of 
Court and Fifth streets. 

In 1874 a movement was started to l)uild a 
church and $250 was paid for a lot at the 
northeast comer of Sixth and Ella streets. 
A church building was built, twenty-eight by 
forty-two feet, with an addition in the rear 
for vestry rooms, ten by twelve feet and a 
baptistry under the pulpit, at a cost of about 
$2,000. But the grasshoppers came and de- 
stroyed the crops before the building was 
completed, leaving the organization with a 
debt of seven or eight hundred dollars, be- 
cause the people could not make good their 
pledges. In 1889 an addition was built on the 
north, thirty-two by forty-four feet, giving 
the building a T shape, with a seating capacity 
of five hundred. The same year they pur- 
chased the two lots at the east end of the 
block, M'here the present church building 
stands, and considered the construction of a 
new church on this site. In 1S91 the United 
States government purchased, for a postoffice 
site, the lot on which the church stood, and 
this necessitated the removal of the church 
building to the lots at Seventh and Ella 
streets. A basement story was built level with 
the street under the entire building and the 
parsonage was moved to the north of the 
church. This was the home of the congrega- 
tion until 1907, when the present beautiful 
edifice was erected, at a cost of $40,000. 

At the present time the membership of the 



church is over twelve hundred. The number 
enrolled in the Sunday School is twelve bun 
dred, with an average attendance of five hun- 
dred and twenty-five. 

The first minister was the Rev. J. Madison 
Williams, now of Des ^Moines, Iowa. Those 
following him were Samuel Lowe, Joseph 
I, owe, \\'illiam G. Springer, Eli Fisher, R. H. 
Ingram, J. D. Dabney, A. D. McKeever, F. A. 
Bright, Edgar Price, J. E. Davis, and C. F. 
Stevens, the present pastor, who has been 
here about si.K years. 

The present official board is composed of J. 
L. Rhodes, honorary elder ; D. W. Carre. H. 
E. Sackett, A\'. H. Davis, H. S. Souders, Hen- 
ry Essam, J. L. Riecker, F. K. Klein, O. J. 
Lyndes, O. A. Burket, elders ; and A. H. 
\'oortman, Henry Fishbach, William Thomas. 
H. M. Smcthers, P. J. Smethers, Henn,- Wil- 
liamson. F. E. McCracken, E. L. Hevelone, 
W. W. Duncan, N. Thompson, Fordyce 
Graf, John Connor, D. G. McGaft'ey, H. S. 
Vaught, and J. W. Baumgartner, deacons. 
W. H. Davis is superintendent of the Sunday 
school. There are three Christian Endeavor 
Societies, senior, intermediate, and junior. 
There are also the Young Ladies' Circle, the 
Triangle Club, and the Ladies' Aid Society. 

A society of the United Brethren church 
was organized December 14, 1874, with the 
Rev. W. H. Shepherd as minister in charge. 
Meetings were first held, on alternate Sun- 
days, in the Baptist church, which stood 
where the Knox liver}- barn is now, on Mar- 
ket street between Fifth and Sixth streets. 
On the 20th day of October, 1876, a church 
was organized with the following named mem- 
bers : Elias Rhodes, Margaret Rhodes, Mrs. 
Eli Miller, Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Elizabeth Salts, 
IMichael Beam, Mrs. Michael Beam, Elizabeth 
Meyers, Mary Reed, Mr. and Mrs. A. Q. 
]\Iiller. The first board of trustees was com- 
posed of Elias Rhodes, Leander Swain, 
Michael Beam, and A. Q. Miller. Of the 
charter members Mrs. Eli Miller is the only 
one now residing in Beatrice. In 1875, by 
devise of Mrs. Elizabeth N. Joseph, of Aetna, 
Ohio, the church came into possession of one 
hundred and sixtv acres of land near Be- 



1 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



217 



atrice, which they traded with W'ilHam Lamb 
for building them a church at the southeast 
corner of Eighth and Ella streets. This 
building was enlarged in 1891 and again in 
1905. The church has a membership of 
eighty, the Sunday school of ninety-one. The 
ministers who have served this congregation 
are \V. H. Shepherd, J- H. Embree, Byron 
Heal, Rev. Aumiller, Robert Floyd, Rev, Lan- 
dis A, Oliver, C. O. Robb, S. E. Floyd, Wil- 
liam Burwell, Philip Surface, J. M. Haskins, 
E. F. Bowers, F. M. Bell, E. T. Root, J. 
Powers, F. M. Miller, W. F. Brink, E. A. 
Sharp, T. P. Cannon, W. S. Lynde, T. S. 
Swan, H. F. Hoffman, and S. S. Turley, the 
latter since February, 1918. 

The Trinity Lutheran Church was organized 
December 9, 1883. The corner stone of the 
brick church belonging to this organization, 
at the corner of Ninth and Elk streets, was 
laid November 9, 1884, and the church com- 
pleted and dedicated in December, 1885. It 
had a membership of forty-five. The min- 
isters who have served this organization are 
George H. Albright, W. L. Remsburg, J. L. 
Motchman, W. W. Hess, J. A. Lowe, Roy M. 
Badger, and A. M. Reitzel. Mr. Reitzel came 
to the church in 1915; recently he resigned 
and the pastorate at this writing is vacant. 
The church has a membership of two hun- 
dred and fifty, and a Sunday-school enroll- 
ment of one himdred and forty, with J. H. 
Fletcher, superintendent. 

The board of trustees of this church con- 
sists of the elders and deacons. The elders 
now are E. Feldkirschner, J. P. Naumann, 
Andrew Anderson, and T- J. Trauernicht ; 
the deacons are F. H. Kimmerling, August 
Schmidt, L. K. Stevens, and C. S. Overbeck. 

The first Catholic to settle in Gage county 
was Joseph Graff, who, in 1860, located on a 
claim four miles west of Beatrice. At that 
time the nearest priest w-as in Nebraska City, 
sixty-five miles away. Father Hoffmayer 
visited Gage county in 1859 and mass was of- 
fered in the log cabin of Joseph Graff, in a 
room sixteen by sixteen feet, and three of Mr. 
Graft's children were baptized. The next 
priest to visit Gage county was Father Ferdi- 



nand Lechleitner, who was located in Crete. 
He first visited Beatrice September 15, 1874, 
and again December 6, 1874; May 4, and 
June 15, 1875; May 16, 1876; May 29 and 
October 30, 1877. On all the above dates he 
held service at the residence of Joseph Graff. 
In July or August of 1877 Father Lechleitner 
presided at a meeting held at Mr. Graff's, at 
which it was arranged to build a church. A 
lot was then purchased in the block north of 
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific depot, on 
South Sixth street, and a church forty by 
forty-six feet was erected thereon at a cost 
of $1,000. It was dedicated in 1878, and this 
is the first Catholic church in Gage county. 
The members of the organization at that time 
were Joseph Graff, Francis Leonard, Franz 
Grussel, John Russell, Thomas Grace, Anna 
and Marie Samletzki, Joseph Meyer, Charles 
Hentges and wife, Frank Hiebeler, and 
Charles A. Graff. The church was called St. 
Joseph's and was attached to the Tecumseh 
church until 1884. Down to this time it had 
been served by the following named priests: 
Father McNally, Father Madden, Father 
John Crowley, and Father A. Havestadt, who 
held mass occasionally. In the spring of 1884 
lots were purchased at the northeast corner of 
Sixth and High streets and the old church 
was moved to this location. Father A. Have- 
stadt was the first resident priest, 1884-1886, 
and was followed by Father Thomas Quick, 
1886-1889. The first parsonage was built in 
1885. At the close of 1886 the number of 
families within the pale of the church was one 
hundred and eleven, or five hundred and ten 
souls. At the close of 1887 there were one 
hundred and sixty-six families; at the close 
of 1888, one hundred eighty-six families, or 
three hundred and eighty-seven persons over 
eighteen years of age and four hundred and 
eighty under that age. In 1888 a school room, 
thirty-eight by twenty-two feet, was added to 
the old church. In September, 1889, a home 
was opened for L'rsuline Sisters, who had 
come from York, Nebraska, to take charge of 
the school. It was called St. Joseph's Con- 
vent. In December, 1889, Father A. J. Co- 
pellen assumed charge of the parish. In 1890 



!18 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



a tract ot ten acres of land was purchased 
three miles north of the city, and this was 
consecrated as a Catholic burying ground. 
September 1, li>93. Father Copellen was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Michael Merkl. During the 
hard years of 1894-1895-1896-1897, member- 
ship in the church decreased fifty per cent.; 
the sisters gave up the school, and at the close 
of 1898 there were but one hundred and thirty 
families. Father Merkl was succeeded by 
Father Petrasch, who came in 1907. He pro- 
ceeded to tear down the old church, and the 
present brick church, school house and par- 
sonage were erected. In 1912 Father E. Boll 
succeeded Father Petrasch, but the latter re- 
turned for a few months in 1916, when Father 
Boll left. In December, 1916, Father Bickert, 
the present priest, took charge of the parish. 
There are now one hundred and seventy-tive 
families on the church roll, and eighty-four 
pupils in the school, which is in charge of 
three Dominican Sisters, from Racine, Wis- 
consin. Philip GrafT, Henry Lang, John Plu- 
beck, John Scharton, Hugh Carmichael, and 
Arthur W'oclkc constitute the present board 
of trustees. The following organizations af- 
filiate with the work of the church : Knights 
of Columbus, Society of the .\ltar. Sewing 
Circle, Ladies' Social Club, and Blessed Virgin 
Mary Sodality. 

The First Baptist Church of lieatrice was 
organized December 6, 1873, and for a while 
it was served by Rev. J. N. Webb, the state 
su]ireintendent of Baptist chur:hes. June 27, 
1874, Rev. Thomas J. Arnold became its pas- 
tor. He was succeeded April 9, 1876, by Rev. 
L. P. Nason, w'ho, in June, 1877, was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. L. D. Wharton, and the latter 
was succeeded, November 1, 1878, by Rev. 
George Scott. The first church building was 
where the Knox livery- barn now stands, on 
the north side of Market street, between Fifth 
and Sixth streets. About 1880 it w-as moved 
to the north side of Pllla street, between Fourth 
and Fifth streets, w-here Kimball's laundry 
now stands. A few years afterward this 
church was moved to Grant street, between 
Seventh and Eighth streets. .About twelve 
vears ago the church was again moved, to 



Sixth street, and placed on the alley, occupv- 
ing what is now the southeast comer of 
Charles Park. When it was decided to locate 
the park upon these lots the city bought the 
old church property and paid the Baptists 
$6,000 for it, and they in turn purchased the 
L'nitarian church building, on the northwest 
corner of Sixth and High streets, which they 
have since occupied. 

The charter members of the church were 
John Kerlin, Elizabeth Kerlin, Mary C. Ker- 
lin, S. -V. Smith. Rhoda Smith, Josiah .A. 
Smith. T. J. Smith, and Job Buchanan, who 
was also first church clerk. The trustees were 
John Kerlin, S. A. Smith, and Job Buchanan. 
The deacons of the church now are Grit^th 
Evans, R. Davis, George Sexton, Henry Fair- 
child, H. M. Garrett, Fred Lloyd. F. N. 
Crangle. C. H. Aylesworth. The board of 
trustees are G. W. Thomas, Walter D. \N'right, 
Dan Crosby, Walter .\ndrews, Argre Fryer; 
the church clerk is S. R. Jamison. 

St. John's Lutheran Church of Beatrice was 
organized in 1880, with fifteen members. It 
met in various halls until the erection of its 
church at the corner of Fifth and Bell streets. 
The first minister was the Rev. Lynch. The 
present minister. Rev. Leonard Poeverlein, 
has served the church continuously since 
1883. The church has a membership of fifty 
families. Fred Damrow, Julius Harter, and 
Fred Paul are trustees, John Roschefski is 
church clerk, and F. S. Kuhl is treasurer. 

The German Methodist Church, located at 
the northwest comer of Eighth and Scott 
streets, was organized in 1886, and a church 
was erected in 1887, at a cost of $2,000. It 
had a membership of twelve when organized 
and now has twenty-four. As pastors E. T. 
Treibler, G. M. Zwink, John Lauer, C. G. 
Meyer, Conrad Eberhart, John Mueller, and 
Edward Beck have served this church, Rev. 
Edward Beck being the present pastor and 
having been with the church since 1904. M. 
Buehler, Albert Eckel, and Henr>' Wipper- 
man constitute the board of trustees. 

LaSalle Street Methodist Church was or- 
ganized in 1887, and its church was dedicated 
November 6th of that year, with Rev. H. C. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



219 



Wells, pastor in charge. There were fifty- 
four charter members, and the present mem- 
bership is one hundred and seventy-four. 
Pastors, H. C. Wells, 1886-1887; James K. 
Maxfield, 1887-1889; James Darby, 1889- 
1892; T. S. Fowler, 1892-1893; H.'d. Wil- 
cox, 1893-1895; G. W. Selby, 1895-1896; J. 
W. Royce, 1896-1898; D. C. Phillips.- 1898- 
1899; A. W^ Coffman, 1899-1900; E. L. 
Barch, 1900-1903; F. W. Bean, 1903-1905; 
George M. Jones, 1905-1906; J. W. Lewis, 
1906-1909; B. F. Hutchins, 1909-1911; J. A. 
Ronslev, 1911-1912; J. B. Darby, 1912-1915; 
Henn' Bell, 1915-1916; A. L. Pratt, 1916 to 
the present time. The church has been rebuilt 
and was rededicated in June, 1914. 

The Church of the Brethren merits definite 
consideration in this work. This branch of 
the Brethren church, located at the corner of 
Fourteenth and Grant streets, was organized 
in 1881, and the church was built in 1888, at 
a cost of $3,000. Its ministers have been J. 
E. Young, J. H. Mohler, L. D. Bosserman, A. 
D. SoUenberger, A. P. Musselman, and W. W. 
Blough. At the present time the deacons are 
Charles H. Price, E. J. Kessler, and C. J. 
Lichty ; the trustees are C. H. Price and E. J. 
Kessler; the treasurer is Miss Rebecca Essam. 
and the clerk is E. J. Kessler. The church 
has a membership of ninety-five. 

The following record concerning the First 
Church of Christ, Scientist, in the city of 
Beatrice, was prepared by Leonard A. Em- 
mert : 

Interest in Christian Science was first 
aroused in Beatrice in the fall of 1884. A 
lady who had been confined to her bed several 
months was invited by a friend to visit her in 
Boston, Massachusetts. While there she was 
induced to take Christian Science treatments, 
with the result that she was healed. L^pon re- 
turning to her home (Beatrice) she told of 
the wonderful "new religion" in Boston 
known as Christian Science, and of its heal- 
ing power. Her recovery and the story she 
told interested others suffering from diseases 
that the doctors had pronounced hopeless. 
Several decided to go to Boston, and in writ- 
ing to Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of 



Christian Science, were informed that a stu- 
dent of hers just finishing metaphysical college 
would be in Omaha in a few weeks. As soon 
as this student arrived in Omaha, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Buswell, given up by the doctors as in- 
curable, went to her, in May, 1885, and she 
was healed in a week's treatment. This was 
the reason for many others going. All came 
back healed or greatly benefited. 

Within a few weeks, when it was sufficient- 
ly known that the new method of healing, 
called Christian Science, purported to be a 
practical and scientific application of the 
truth taught and practiced by Jesus and His 
disciples, a number who had been interested 
and benefited began meeting together in the 
difl'erent homes. The first public meeting was 
held in the Masonic Hall — First National 
Bank Building — Easter Sunday, 1886. A 
charter was granted from Boston May 15, 
1886. November 24, 1888, services were 
moved to what was then known as Gibbs Hall 
and on this date the First Church of Christ, 
Scientist, was organized and incorporated 
under the laws of the state. This was the first 
Church of Christ, Scientist, organized west of 
the Missouri river. 

In the winter of 1890, on account of fire, 
the church was obliged to move again, this 
time taking up quarters in the LePoidevin 
Block. In April of the following year (1891) 
it became possible to secure the Brethren 
church edifice, located in the 1200 block of 
Court street. This last move proved to be an 
important one for the growth of the church, 
for shortly after locating here every depart- 
ment of work advanced rapidly. At a meet- 
ing of the board of directors, held June 14, 
1891, it was decided to purchase a lot at the 
corner of Ninth and Elk streets, for the pur- 
pose of some day erecting a building. This 
was successfully accomplished the following 
month, on July 31st. It was secured from 
Maggie C. Blakely for a consideration of 
thirteen hundred dollars. 

The next important step in the march of 
progress was the buying of the Brethren 
church, in the fall of 1900. It was planned 
that this church building was to be moved to 



220 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the lot purchased, but in working out this 
program it developed that a more desirable 
location presented itself, which resulted in the 
directors disposing of their first purchase and 
buying a lot, fifty by one hundred and fifty 
feet, on the comer of Eighth and Ella streets. 
This was purchased from Cora jM. Woolridge, 
September 22, 1900, consideration being eight 
hundred dollars. 

In March, 1901, meetings were again held 
in the LePoidevin Block, while the church edi- 
fice was being moved to its new location. 
There it was remodeled, enlarged and refur- 
nished throughout. This home was dedicated 
May 26, 1901, and remained unchanged, ex- 
cept for a few minor improvements, until 
September, 1916, when it again became pos- 
sible to remodel and enlarge the structure. A 
beautiful foyer was added, and several large 
columns were placed at the entrance, which 
seems to be so characteristic of Christian 
Science churches. Meetings were resumed in 
the church edifice November 26, 1916. Ser- 
vices were held in the Commercial Club rooms 
while the work was being done. 

Three authorized teachers have taught 
Christian Science in Beatrice. The first class 
taught west of Chicago was conducted in Be- 
atrice, October 5, 1885. 

The history of this church would be incom- 
plete without mention being made of the 
nation-wide attention which was directed to- 
ward Beatrice in February and March, 1893, 
when a student and teacher of Christian Sci- 
ence was indicted, under the statutes of the 
state of Nebraska, for practicing medicine 
without legal authority. Quoting from one of 
the local papers, dated February 27, 1893, we 
find the following records made of the case : 
"The case of E. M. Buswell, who is charged 
with practicing medicine without legal autho- 
rity, will be called up in the district court to- 
morrow. It is a peculiar case, perhaps unlike 
any that has gone before in the courts, and it 
will excite widespread interest." Quoting 
again from the same paper, dated March 5, 
1893 : "The great trial is over. The jur)- in 
the case of E. M. Buswell, charged with ille- 
gal practicing of medicine, which went out at 



eighty thirty yesterday afternoon, came in 
about nine o'clock in the evening with a ver- 
dict of acquittal. The defendant was there- 
upon discharged. The verdict is generally re- 
garded as what might have been expected in 
the face of the evidence presented." This was 
a victory for Christian Science which was felt 
throughout the United States and wrote a 
memorable page for the growth of the church 
here, and for the cause. 

The history of this church is like that of 
most churches which started in the west — 
the record of a small beginning, a slow but 
sturdy progress, perseverance in the face of 
discouraging obstacles, defiance at times that 
seemed almost defeat. But what is here to- 
day is a testimonial of Courage — Faith — 
Hope — Love. 

The Seventh Day Adventists of Beatrice 
held their first meeting July 7, 1894, and they 
organized a church in August, 1895, with 
twenty-two members. The meetings were 
held in homes of the members until the church 
was built, in 1897, on the northeast comer of 
Ella and Tenth streets. The first minister 
was Elder J. H. Rogers. The local elder is 
A. E. Putnam. George Stout is treasurer, 
and Mrs. A. E. Putnam is clerk. 

The First Congregational Church of Be- 
atrice was organized June 1. 1884. The 
charter members were J. M. and Matilda 
W'ilber, Dr. Edward S. Bates and Jennie N. 
Bates, Gray Warner and Carrie L. Warner, 
W. B. Hotchkiss. Lewis R. Thomas, Ruth A. 
Thomas, H. S. Cox, A. R. Dempster, Jennie 
C. Dempster, Dr. Calvin Starr, Dr. Julia C. 
Starr, Man- Starr, L. E. Walker, Bessie Yule 
\\alker, Henry D. Gates, Nellie W. Gates, 
Clara Bewick Colby. At a business meeting 
held July 20, 1884, steps were taken to pro- 
vide the organization with a house of worship. 
On October 10, 1884, the church purchased, 
from Isaac N. McConnell, lots 1 and 2, block 
6 of the original town of Beatrice, and began 
the erection of a commodious church building 
on the east seventy feet of these lots. It was 
pushed to completion and on Thursday, June 
30, 1885, it was formally dedicated to the pub- 
lic worship of Almighty God as a Congrega- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



221 



tional church. From that date to about the 
7th day of August, 1914, it was occupied by 
the Congregationahsts of Beatrice as a house 
of worship. Prior to the 7th day of August, 
1914. the church acquired by purchase lots 9, 
10, 11, 12, block 29 of Cropsey's Addition to 
Beatrice, as a more suitable location, and on 
that date, by warranty deed, conveyed the old 
church property to the Evangelical Lutheran 
church, which has since owned and occupied 
it as their church. Long prior to that date 



been fortunate in the character and ability of 
the men who have served it as pastors during 
the thirty-four years of its existence. Its 
first regular pastor was William O. Wheedon, 
who served from 1884 to 1886, when he was 
forced to resign on account of ill health. His 
successor, E. H. Ashman, held the pastorate 
from August 18, 1886 to February 1, 1888, 
and was succeeded by E. St. Clair Smith, 
Februarj' 24, 1888, who very ably served the 
church as its pastor to July 31, 1892, when he 




New Congregation.'^l Church 



the church had sold the west seventy feet of 
their property to Rev. E. S. Smith, one of its 
early pastors, who erected thereon a dwelling 
which he occupied as a parsonage during his 
pastorate. The property is now owned and 
occupied as a home by Miss Marie Upson. 
Following the sale of its property to the Lu- 
therans, the church began the erection of a 
handsome brick structure on the lots pur- 
chased by it in Cropsey's Addition, on the 
corner of Sixth and Grant streets. This 
church was completed at a cost of approxi- 
mately $20,000, and on the 4th day of June, 
1916, it was. with appropriate ceremonies, 
dedicated to the worship of God. 

The Congregational church of Beatrice has 



resigned to accept a charge in Indiana. The 
church thereupon extended a call to George 
W. Crofts, of Council BluflFs, Iowa, and for 
twelve years this good and saintly man was 
not only a forceful factor in the Congrega- 
tional church of Beatrice but also in the 
churches of the state and in the community at 
large. No minister of the Gospel ever exem- 
plified in a greater degree the graces of its 
precepts than the poet-preacher George W. 
Crofts. In 1912 he passed to his reward, and 
all that is mortal of this beloved man lies in 
the cemetery at Council Bluffs. November 2, 
1904, Mr. Crofts was succeeded by Edwin 
Booth, Jr., who continued in the pastorate 
until May 15, 1908, when he resigned, to take 



222 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



charge of the First Congregational church 
at Norfoli<, Nebraska, of which he is still the 
pastor. He was succeeded by Fred I,. Hall, 
whose ministry terminated July 1, 1910. Rev 
T. \\". Femer, of Shenandoah, Iowa, was called 
to the service September 23, 1910. and re- 
signed November 8. 1914. to accept a call to 
the First Congregational church of Aurora, 
Nebraska. He was succeeded by the present 
pastor, \'ictor F. Clark. 

This church, though small in numbers, en- 
ters actively into the religious and social life of 
the community. 

Gage county has had one religious immi- 
gration, and the stor\- of that immigration is 
set forth in the following narrative, prepared 
for this work by the Hon. Peter Jansen : 

"Mennonites, called after the founder of 
the church, Menno Simons, a former Roman 
Catholic priest in Holland. Principal char- 
acteristics : Baptize only adults, upon confes- 
sion of faith ; opposed to all war, like the 
Quakers : avoid law suits ; members are to be 
strictly honest ; do not make oath, but affirm. 

"They are called 'Prussian Mennonites,' 
which is a misconception. Their ancestors 
came from the Netherlands (Holland) to 
Prussia in search of religious liberty, espec- 
ially freedom from military service, which was 
abrogated during the early 70s of the past 
century, after the Franco-Prussian war (and 
to avoid military service were forced out of 
Prussia.) 

'■.\l the instigation of Cornelius Jansen and 
his son Peter, the latter having settled in Jef- 
ferson county in 1S74. a delegation visited Ne- 
braska during the summer of 187r\ and finally 
selected Gage county as the most promising 
and suitable place for their settlement. A 
dozen or more families moved to Nebraska 
that fall and located temporarily in Beatrice, 
then a frontier town of a thousand or so in- 
habitants. By the spring of 1877 thirty to 
forty families had arrived and settled within 
a radius of ten miles of Beatrice : most of 
them bought farms and grass land at from 
six to ten dollars per acre. The names of the 
most prominent families were Penner, ^Viebe, 
Reimer, Thimm, Goosen, Claussen, Janzen, 



etc. Others joined them during the next few 
years, so that eventually a large and very- 
prosperous settlement has sprung up. 

"They built a commodious meeting house a 
few miles west of town, and later another 
one in this city. Still later they bought the I 
old Kilpatrick church, about ten miles west 
of Beatrice. All three meetings are under 
one bishop, Gerhard Penner, now eighty-two I 
years old, living in West Beatrice. 

"At the time .Kmerica entered the world 
war they of course were subject to the selec- 
tive draft, like all other citizens: however, the 
government recognized their conscientious 
scruples against bloodshed, and designated for 
them, as well as for the Quakers and Dunk- 
ards, noncombatant service, under the new 
military law, by which they can ser\-e their 
country without violating their conscience." 

Beatrice Schools 

The Beatrice school district was the first 
district organized in Gage county. An un- 
fortunate fire which, in 1902, destroyed the 
old Masonic Temple building, destroyed also 
all the previous records of the city schools, the 
superintendent at that time having his office in 
that building. The records of the county su- 
perintendent's office show that the Beatrice 
school district was organized May 10. 1868. 
and the school district is there luimbered 15, 
iiut that date cannot represent the actual date 
of the organization of the district. About 
that time all the school districts in the county, 
some thirty in nmnber, were put through a re- 
organization process, and numbered. The 
numbering began with the northeast comer of 
the county and without respect to the date on 
which the districts were organized, the aim ap- 
parently being to secure uniformity in num- 
bering only. 

Beatrice was the oldest community in the 
county and the most compact. Its founders 
were at the head of public affairs and they 
showed great aptitude in advancing the inter- 
ests of the town. One of the first officers 
elected by the colony was the county superin- 
tendent of schools, and this office, through 
every change of the law was perpetuated in 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



223 



some fonn. It is certain that Beatrice was an 
organized school district under the laws of 
the territory of Neljraska as early as 1862, 
when the old frame school building was 
erected and the first public school was taught 
by Oliver Townsend. 

The area of the school district in those early 
days is a matter of conjecture. In 1858 the 
territorial legislature passed an act making 
each government township a school district, 
and, under this statute, what is now Midland 
township then constituted a single school dis- 
trict, with the village of Beatrice included. 
This statute, however, provided for the for- 
mation of sub-districts in the township, and 
by various subdivisions and legislative enact- 
ments the area of the original district was re- 
duce,d to its present proportions. In addition 
to the corporation itself, Beatrice school dis- 
trict now embraces several tracts of farm 
land, some adjacent to the city and some not. 
The school history of Beatrice begins with 
a subscription school taught by Miss Frances 
Butler, in 1860, in a small frame building be- 
longing to Fordyce Roper. In 1861 Wealthy 
Tinkham (later Mrs. Joseph Hollingworth ) 
also taught a subscription school in Beatrice. 
After the erection of the old single-room, 
frame school house in 1862, on the block of 
ground dedicated by the founders of the city 
to school purposes, the public school of Bea- 
trice became a pemianent institution. This 
pioneer school house, the first school building 
in Gage county, was for many years freely 
used for nearly every sort of gathering, and it 
continued to afiord the chief educational 
facility in Gage county until the year 1870. 

It first became necessary to em])loy two 
teachers for the growing village in the year 
1869. That autumn and the following winter 
a Mr. Hodson taught the older pupils, some 
thirty-five in number, in the old frame school 
house, and Mary L. Blodgett (later Mrs. 
William A. Wagner) taught the primary 
classes in an upstairs room in an old stone 
structure at the corner of Fourth and Market 
streets, on lot 12, block 65 of the original 
townsite. The Beatrice Clarion, the second 
newspaper printed in Beatrice, and the imme- 



diate predecessor of the Beatrice Express, oc- 
cupied the ground floor of the building, below 
the schoolroom. Miss Blodgett's school num- 
bered fifty-six pupils, and they, with those 
under Mr. Hodson"s instruction, comprised 
the school population of the entire Beatrice 
school district. 

In 1870 a small two-story, brick school 
house was erected at the corner of Eighth and 
Ella streets, on lots 9 and 10, block 33 of the 
original townsite. The building originally 
cost about $5,000, and, as first planned, con- 
tained four schoolrooms, two on the first and 
two on the second floor. Later a two-story 
addition was built on the north, comprising 
two fair sized schoolrooms, and an entry was 
constructed on the south, from which a stair- 
way led to the upper floor. 

This was the first school building of any 
pretentions in Beatrice. It was both a grade 
and a high school and was used as such for 
many years. By December 1, 1870, the two 
ground floor rooms of this building had been 
so far completed as to permit their use for the 
opening of the winter term of school, with H. 
J. Chase as principal and Mary L. Blodgett as 
primary and intermediate teacher. All told 
there were about one hundred pupils in the 
school, nearly equally divided between the 
two instructors. Mr. Chase, the principal of 
this early school, performed a man's work 
as a teacher of the older pupils. There was 
almost no such thing as classification, but he 
made a serious effort to elevate the Beatrice 
schools to something more than an ordinary 
district school. The most advanced subjects 
taught were higher arithmetic, algebra, book- 
keeping, grammar, and physical geography. 
The writer was a pupil of Mr. Chase, and it 
afTords him pleasure to record his appreci- 
ation of this scholarly young teacher of that 
early day. 

On the 5th day of January, 1878, this his- 
torian entered upon his duties as superintend- 
ent of the schools of Beatrice. At that time 
the old frame school house . was still in use, 
as a primary school. In the following year 
another small frame school room was erected 
among the cottonwoods and maples at the 



224 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, NEBRASKA 



northeast corner of the school-house square, 
and this also was devoted to primary instruc- 
tion. By the opening of the fall term of 1S79 
the schools had been as carefully graded as 
circumstances permitted, and a printed out- 
line course of study placed in the hands of the 
teachers. The lioard of education then con- 
sisted of Thomas 11. Harrison, president; 
Oliver Townsend. clerk ; H. \\\ Parker, treas- 



line Ehvood, of Los Angeles, California. The 
enrollment for the school year in all depart- 
ments was six hundred and eighty pupils. 

This illy constructed first high-schofil build- 
ing served its puqiose until 1884, when, upon 
the completion of a modem, high-school 
building, it was demolished and every vestige 
of its existence effaced. The new building 
was erected at a cost to the Beatrice school 




First High School Buildixc 



urer; Peter Shaffer. Benjamin Palnicrton. and 
O. N. \Mieclock. The teachers were Hugh 
J. Dobbs, superintendent; Fannie B. Outcalt, 
assistant in the high school ; Henry X. Blake, 
head of the grammar department: and S. W. 
Dodge, Amelia Marston, Mary F. Price, Mary 
C. F. Hlake, and Mirian P.lake (Mrs- R. j. 
Kilpatrick) as the grade teachers. .At the 
close of the spring term of 1880 the first 
graduating exercises of the Beatrice schools 
were held, the graduates being Oliver B. Ges- 
sell, Ida Lumbeck, (both deceased) and Caro- 



c, 18/0 



district of $40,000, where the old frame school 
house had stood since 1862, and on its occu- 
pation, in the fall of 1884, it became the cen- 
ter of the educational system of the city of 
Beatrice. 

\\'hen the present high-school building was 
erected this old building became a grade school 
for the central portion of the citv. But no 
change of destiny can rob it of 'the simple 
dignity of its proportions or minimize its rec- 
ord of scholastic usefulness. It stands in the 
center of the old school-house square and dom- 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



225 





226 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



inates beautiful Charles Park, the public li- 
brarj' and its other immediate surroundings, in 
a way that satisfies the mind as to what a 
building with its history should be. 

In the year 1908 the qualified electors of the 
Beatrice school district, at a special election 
called for that purpose, voted to issue the 
bonds of the district in the sum of $80,000 for 
the ]nir])ose of erecting a high-school build- 
ing, and in 1909, the present high-school 
building was erected, pursuant to plans and 
specifications prepared by architect Richard 
W. Grant. It stands at the comer of Fifth 
and I{lk streets, an imposing, three-story struc- 
ture with a basement. The original cost of 
the site, building and furniture was $81,886.00. 

The remaining school buildings of the city 
of Beatrice are as here noted : The Harring- 
ton school building was constructed in 1885- 
1886. at a cost of approximately $7,500: the 
South school building was constructed in 1886, 
at a cost of $8,000 (bonds) ; the East school 
building and the West school building, built 
on the same plan, were constructed in 1888, 
at a cost of $11,000 each (bonds) ; the Bel- 
videre school building, at first one room, later 
two. was constructed in 1889: the Fairview 
school building and Glenover school building, 
built on the same plan, were constructed in 
1891, at a cost of $7,500 each (bonds) ; ad- 
dition to the West school building, four rooms, 
constructed in 1916, cost $13,000. 

But the marshaling of physical assets, how- 
ever impressive the array, can at most indi- 
cate only the wealth and power of the com- 
munity. They are not the glory of our 
schools. For this we must look to the char- 
acter of the men and women who here have 
received their training for the affairs of life 
iVIeasuretl by this standard alone the record 
is most excellent. Students from the public 
schools of Beatrice are to be found every- 
where in the world of work: they honor the 
professions as lawyers, physicians, preachers, 
teachers, and they swell the ranks of those 
who. in the great world war. are fighting for 
human libertv. 



The heads of the Beatrice city schools, be- 
ginning with Hodson in 1869, are H. J. Chase. 
Charles B. Palmer, John Ellis, John N. Fuller, 
H. L. Wagner, Mrs. Clara B. Colby, John N. 
Rhodes, Hugh J. Dobbs, L. B. Shryock, \\\\- 
liam H. Elbright, Carroll G. Pearse, J. W. 
Dinsmore, W. H. Beeler, Ossian H. Brainard, 
W. L. Stephens. C. A. Fulmer. E. J. P.odwell. 
and A. J. Stoddart. 

Some of the men who have brought renown 
to the Beatrice public schools because they 
were at one time connected therewith are as 
follows : Carroll G. Pearse. superintendent 
back in the '80s and early '90s, has since been 
superintendent of schools in Omaha and Mil- 
waukee, is now president of the Milwaukee 
Xormal school, and is considered" one of the 
few foremost educators of America. W. I.. 
Stephens, superintendent of schools in the 
'90s, has since been superintendent of the city 
schools at Lincoln, and is at present in a simi- 
lar j)osition at Long Beach. California. J. W 
Crabtree, one-time principal of the Beatrice 
high school, has since passed from normal- 
school presidencies to the highest position in 
the National Educational Association, and as 
its secretary wields an influence undoubtedly 
greater than any other educator in America. 
In later years, C. A. Fulmer, for five years, 
and E. J. Bodwell, for nine years superintend- 
ent, have placed the schools at the top in the 
state of Nebraska. A. J. Stoddart is now 
superintendent, and the future will undoubt- 
edly see the present standard maintained. In 
addition to these, Beatrice has enjoyed the ser- 
vices of many distinguished men and women 
who have gone far and wide through other 
fields. No chronicle of the Beatrice schools 
would be complete without mentioning Miss 
Juletta O. Rawles. who has been assistant 
principal of the high school during a period 
of time of such duration that the community 
will long know and feel the good effects of 
her fine personality. 

Through the years old residents have seen 
the number of teachers grow from a small 
nucleus of two or three until we now have 
twenty-two in the high school and forty-eight 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 227 

in the grades ; and the school enroUment grow from one httle building of one room until we 

from a few pupils in one or two rooms until now have eight ward buildings and one big 

last year we had 1109 boys and 1124 girls en- central high-school building. In addition to 

rolled in the schools. The high school ranks this, through the public-spiritedness of some 

third in size in the state, having now an en- of the citizens of Beatrice, we have the finest 

rollment of 490. The physical plant has grown athletic park in the west. 



CHAPTER XXII 

BEATRICE CONCLUDED [ 

Banks — Factories — Wholesale Houses — Rawlins Post — Hospitals and Sanitar- 
iums — Newspapers and Newspaper Men. 



For many years after the settlement and 
organization of our county the pioneers were 
wholly dependent upon foreign banking insti- 
tutions in all business transactions requiring 
the intervention of a bank. One of the six 
"wild-cat" banks established in Nebraska ter- 
ritory in 1856, by legislative charter, was the 
Platte Valley Bank, at Nebraska City. It was 
organized with S. F. Nuckolls as president 
and Joshua Garside as cashier. On account 
of the high character of these men, this bank 
secured a good patronage, and it was the only 
territorial bank of the "wild-cat" type that 
sunived the terrible financial panic of 1857. 
In 1859 it liquidated its obligations and was 
succeeded at Nebraska City by the private 
banking house of James Sweet & Company, 
which was organized September 19, 1859. The 
honorable record as bankers established by the 
Platte Valley Bank under Mr. Nuckolls' man- 
agement, together with the confidence inspired 
by James Sweet and those associated with him 
in his private banking enterprise, drew to Ne- 
braska City a great volume of banking business 
from many of the South Platte counties, in- 
cluding Gage. Through the cooperation of 
the pioneer merchants of Beatrice with these 
banking concerns, a regular banking business 
of a sort was established for Beatrice and 
vicinity. The process was in the main as 
follows : A citizen wishing to borrow a sum 
of money would go to Joseph Saunders or to 
Blakely, Reynolds & Townsend or to some 
other Beatrice merchant, offer his security, 
make his note at twelve per cent, annual in- 
terest, payable in advance, and secure the 



money. The lender, by endorsing the note or 
guaranteeing its payment, could turn it in at 
his correspondent bank at Nebraska City and 
take credit for it. 

But with the coming of the railroads, in 
1872, all this was completely changed. To 
every property-owner in the county the ad- 
vent of the iron horse was equivalent to un- 
claimed treasure-trove. That which before 
had possessed no market value, became market- 
able. Land advanced almost over night from 
a nominal sum to five dollars or more per 
acre, and found purchasers. Business quickly 
adjusted itself to new conditions. Grain and 
live stock and other products of the fann 
found a ready market at reasonable figures. 
In fact the coming of the railroads ended the 
pioneer days in Gage county. 

In 1871 Nathan Kirk Griggs and Hiram 
Peter Webb began a banking business in a 
small way, as private bankers, in the two- 
story, brick building erected by them on lot 
10, block 47 of the original town of Beatrice, 
described as No. 314 Court street. Neither 
member of the fimi possessed sufficient capital 
for any but the most meager banking oper- 
ations, but they did have the most desirable 
of all wealth, — youth, enthusiasm, self-con- 
fidence and, to a very remarkable degree, tlie 
confidence of the community, — a confidence 
which both well deserved. Both were well 
educated, both lawyers without briefs, both 
with character and abilities which promised 
much for the future. At the election in No- 
\ember, 1869, \N'ebb was elected treasurer of 
Gage county, and by successive elections he 



228 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



229 



held the office from January, 1870, to Jan- 
uary, 1876. There were then no restrictions 
upon the use of the funds of the county by 
the treasurer, nor was he required to account 
for interest on such funds. ]\Iany a pioneer 
bank in Nebraska had its inception with the 
election of the county treasurer. The bank 
was known as the Griggs & Webb Bank and 
it did a large business for those crude days ; 
it was successfully managed by Webb until 
1878. In 1874 they built a two-story, stone 
bank building at the corner of Fifth and 
Court streets, and transferred the bank to this 
building. In 1876 Mr. Griggs, who had by 
that time become a prominent and successful 
lawyer and politician, was appointed United 
States consul to Chemnitz, Saxony, and on 
accepting this office he withdrew from the 
bank. Webb retired from the county treas- 
ury in January, 1876, and thereafter devoted 
his time exclusively to the alTairs of the bank, 
which then became known as H. P. Webb & 
Company, he having associated with him in 
the bank Nathan Blakely and Silas P. Wheeler. 
Had he confined his activities to legitimate 
banking he no doubt would have built up a 
very strong institution. He was a genial, 
clever, accommodating man, much esteemed 
in the community, and drew about him a host 
of the warmest of friends. In an evil mo- 
ment, he formed a copartnership with a man 
named Holt, bought both the Beatrice and De- 
Witt mills, and with him engaged in the mill- 
ing and grain business at DeWitt and Bea- 
trice, using the funds of his bank to finance 
these transactions. He was cruelly deceived 
and cheated by Holt, and both mills were 
finally destroyed by fire. The banking house 
of H. P. Webb & Company closed its doors 
in May, 1878, its assets passed into the hands 
of W. H. Ashby, as assignee, and Gage 
county's first banker, Hiram Webb, having 
lost what in those days was a fortune and the 
opportunity of great success in the banking 
world, broken in spirit while still a young 
man, left Gage county and went to Oregon, 
where, being deeply religious, he engaged in 
works of piety, and died many years ago, far 
from his friends. The annals of Gage county 



present no more pathetic ending of what might 
have been a brilliant and a useful life. 

Following the failure of the Webb banking 
concern, William Lamb, having acquired the 
old Webb banking house, August 1, 1879, or- 
ganized a private bank bearing his name. In 
1881 the Lamb banking establishment was 
purchased by Erastus E. Brown, of Lincoln, 
and reorganized June 14, 1881, as the Gage 
County Bank; capital $50,000, with Brown, 
president, Lamb, manager, and Oliver M. 
Enlow, cashier and attorney. In 1884 the 
stock of this bank was purchased by Daniel 
W. Cook, Jefferson B. Weston, Nathan H. 
Harwood and their associates, and it was then 
reorganzied, as the Beatrice National Bank, 
with a capital of $50,000. President, Jeffer- 
son B. Vv^eston; vice-president, Daniel W. 
Cook ; cashier, C. M. Brown. The bank con- 
tinued in business in the old two-story, stone 
building at Fifth and Court streets until De- 
cember 10, 1892, when its directorate having 
acquired the bulk of the stock in the old Ma- 
sonic Temple Building Company moved the 
bank to that building, on the comer of Sixth 
and Court streets, which had been remodeled 
for banking purposes. This building was des- 
troyed by fire December 22, 1902, entailing a 
complete loss of the bank furniture and fix- 
tures. The vaults and safes, however, af- 
forded perfect protection to the books, records 
and funds of the bank, and at the usual hour 
on the morning of the 23d of December it 
opened for business in the old Nebraska Na- 
tional Bank building, secured for that pur- 
pose while its own was in flames. 

Steps were immediately taken by the officers 
and directors of the bank to erect a modem 
bank building on the spot where the old Ma- 
sonic Temple building had stood. This work 
was begun as soon as the debris of the old 
structure was cold, and it was pushed to com- 
pletion as rapidly as possible. Almost a year 
was consumed in the erection of this building, 
and it was not till the morning of December 
14, 1903, that the doors of the new building 
swung open to the patrons of the bank, and a 
new chapter was begun in its long career of 
usefulness and prosperity. Supplemental 



230 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



data concerning this institution appear in the 
memoir dedicated to Daniel W. Cook, in the 
biographical department of this history. 

In August, 1872, John E. and Samuel C. 
Smith came to Beatrice and on the first day 
of September following they opened a private 
bank at Xo. 409 Court street, in the building 
now occupied by Cullen & Lock as a cigar 
store. The brothers possessed a capital of 
$10,000, and the bank was known as Smith 
Brothers' Bank, of which John E. Smith was 
president and Samuel C. Smith, cashier. Both 
brothers were natives of Ridgefield, Connecti- 
cut ; John E., the elder, was born August 6, 
1842, and Samuel C. was born June 18, 1846. 
They were at an age when, if ever, enthusiam 
and ambition have assumed full sway and they 
entered into the business life of our county 
with a vigor that was most inspiring to all who 
fell under their influence. They brought to 
their business as bankers the powerful sup- 
port of a number of moneyed men both in 
Ridgefield and in Cambridge, New York, 
where the elder brother had served an appren- 
ticeship in the banking business as an em- 
ploye of the Cambridge \'alley Bank, which 

Loans and Discounts $61,574.20 

United States Bonds 30,000.00 

Other Stocks and Bonds 3.073.50 

Real Ivstate 5.978.30 

Furniture and Fixtures 2,006.66 

I'remiums 2,550.00 
Due from Banks and United 

States Treasurer 22,052.74 

Cash on hand 14,339.47 



Total $141,574.87 

Its wonderful growth is shown by its report to 
close of business December 31, 1881 : 



institution he had served three years as cash- 
ier, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the 
business. For nearly forty-six years Smith 
Brothers have been prominent factors in the 
growth and development of the city of Bea- 
trice, the county of Gage and state of Ne- 
braska. 

In 1877 they organized the First National 
Bank of Beatrice, which was chartered and 
commenced business in April of that year. The 
directors of the bank were Hon. Algernon 
Sidney Paddock, Hiram W. Parker. Elijah 
Filley. Charles G. Dorsey, John E. and Sam- 
uel C. Smith, of Beatrice, and James Ellis, of 
New York. John E. Smith was president : 
Hiram W. Parker, vice-president; Samuel C. 
Smith, cashier ; and Frank Graham, assistant 
cashier. The success of this banking enter- 
prise was immediate. The statement of its 
condition at the close of the first nine months 
of its existence comprises not only an instruc- 
tive commentary on the affairs of the bank 
itself, but is the first bank statement ever is- 
sued by any institution in Gage county. It 
is dated December 31. 1877, and is as fol- 
lows : 



Capital Stock 

Surplus and Profits 

Circulation 

Deposits 

Unpaid Dividends 



$50,000.00 

1.603.26 

27.000.00 

60.471.61 

2,500.00 



Total $141,574.87 

the comptroller of the treasury at the 



Loans and Discounts $190,235.22 

United States Bonds 50,000.00 

Other Slocks and Bonds 1.137.51 
Due from Banks and L'nited 

States Treasurer 61,105.35 

Real Estate 6.861.30 

Furniture and Fixtures 2,800.00 

Cash on ii.ind 21.487.00 

Total $333,626.38 



Capital Stock 
Surplus and Profits 
Circulation 
Deposits 
Re-discounts 



$ 50.000.00 

15.074.27 

45.000.00 

204.552.11 

19.000.00 



Total 



$333,626.38 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



231 



About the year 1885 the First National 
Bank building', on the corner of Fifth and 
Court streets was erected, and the bank was 
transferred to the commodious quarters ar- 
ranged for it in this substantial structure. 

This pioneer bank has had a remarkable 
career in the banking history of the state of 
Nebraska. In 1886, the Beatrice Savings 
Bank was organized and operated in connec- 
tion with this institution, and from the be- 
ginning, Smith Brothers, had maintained a 
farm-loan de]iartnient, separately incorporated 
however as the Smith Brothers Loan & Tnist 
Company. All these institutions did a tre- 
mendous business, each in its line. Through 
Smith Brothers Loan & Trust Company the 
funds of the savings bank were largely in- 
vested in mortgages on western Kansas and 
Nebraska land. The business thus trans- 
acted was enormous, was most conservatively 
conducted, and under normal conditions would 
have proved very profitable to all parties con- 
cerned. But the great financial panic of 1893, 
coupled with a series of dry seasons which 
beggared nearly every man in the territory 
where these lands were located and drove thou- 
sands out of the country, caused such shrink- 
age in values as to force the Smith Brothers 
out of business. The savings bank passed 
into the hands of a receiver, and the stock of 
the First National Bank held by them passed 
to L. B. Howey and those associated with 
him in its purchase, and John and Samuel 
Smith, by these transactions, turned over to 
the creditors of their business enterprises all 
their non-exempt i)ro]ierty. The saddest part 
of this business tragedy consists in the fact 
that the assets of the two banks were what 
in common parlance is described as "gilt- 
edge." Even under the wasteful management 
of a receivership the assets of the savings bank 
paid ninety cents on the dollar of its indebted- 
ness, and if the Smith Brothers could have 
been given time, the restoration of values 
which shortly ensued would have left their 
several institutions entirely solvent and them 
with independent fortunes. They were inno- 
cent victims of the times and the lack of con- 
fidence in all financial institutions then widelv 



prevalent. \\'ith sujierb courage, they have 
successfully re-established themselves in a 
profitable farm-loaning business known as the 
Farmers Trust Company, but more important 
than all, through all reverses of fortune, they 
have retained the confidence and esteem of a 
community to whose material, social and re- 
ligious development they have so largely con- 
tributed. 

The reader has now witnessed the begin- 
ing of the banking business in the city of Bea- 
trice and followed the history of its two 
pioneer banks to the present moment. It may 
be of interest, at least to those who come after 
us, to know that these two institutions are to- 
day stronger, more powerful and better than 
ever before. Since the death of Daniel W. 
Cook, in 1916, Wallace Robertson has been 
president of the Beatrice National Bank ; R. 
J. Kilpatrick, vice-president; Daniel W. Cook, 
Jr., cashier; J. H. Doll, assistant cashier. 
Frederick H. Howey is president of the First 
National Bank ; M. V. Nichols, first vice- 
president ; William C. Black, second vice- 
president ; R. B. Clemens, cashier; H. A. 
Reeves, assistant cashier. With its other activi- 
ties the First National Bank, in 1909, organ- 
nized and is successfully carrying on a savings 
bank, under the name of First State Savings 
Bank of Beatrice, Nebraska. 

Numerous other banking ventures have been 
made in the city, some achieving a great suc- 
cess, some a dismal failure. One that in the 
early '80s promised to reach a position of 
great usefulness was The People's Bank, or- 
ganized by John Ellis (a former county treas- 
urer of Gage county), Horace L. Ewing, War- 
ren Cole, Lafayette P. Brown, C. ^^'. Collins 
and others, in 1882. Within a year after its 
organization Mr. Collins removed to Hebron, 
where he became the principal owner and 
president of the First National Bank of that 
city, an institution which he conducted to great 
prosperity. ,\fter the retirement of Mr. Col- 
lins, Ellis and his associates erected a splen- 
did four-stor>', stone building at the corner of 
Fourth and Court streets, now the property 
of Milburn & Scott Company, and reorgan- 
ized the bank into the Nebraska National 



232 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




a 
z 



< 

z 

o 

< 
2; 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



233 




234 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



235 



Bank, with Ellis as president. Cole, vice-presi- 
dent, and Ewing, cashier. But the terrihle 
financial panic of 1893-1896 found the Ijank 
unahle to withstand the demands upon it, and 
it went down in a maelstrom of ruin. Its 
affairs were wound up by E. R. Fogg, the re- 
ceiver, who paid about fifty per u:ent of the 
indebtedness. 

In 1881 W'illiam A. Wolfe founded the Ger- 
man National Bank, .-\ssociated with him 
were George Arthur Alurphy, Andrew W. 
Nickell, Dwight Coit and the W. H. Thrift es- 
tate ; capital $100,000. Wolfe was chosen 
president; Nickell, vice-president; and Coit, 
cashier. After nearly a quarter of a century 
of successful business this bank liquidated in 
1912, sold its building at No. 411 Court street 
to the Union Savings Bank, and retired from 
business. In 1913. Mr. Wolfe, with Dwight 
Coit, Hugo Ahlquist and others, organized the 
Nebraska State Bank, with Wolfe, president, 
and Coit, cashier; capital $50,000. 

Another hopeful banking venture was that 
of the American Bank of Beatrice, organized 
in 1888 as the American Savings Bank, but 
soon changed to the American Bank, capital 
$100,000. The officers were: Charles E. 
White, president ; Charles L. Schell, vice- 
president ; John Henderson, cashier. The in- 
stitution occupied the banking house owned 
by it at No. 110 North Fifth street, and now 
owned and occupied, by the State Savings & 
Loan Association. This bank also was caught 
in the financial storm of 1893, and closed its 
doors on the second day of July of that year. 

About the year 1889 L. E. Walker, Thomas 
Yule and others organized a bank known as 
the Union Savings Bank of Beatrice. After 
a few years Mr. Walker retired and Martin 
V. Nichols and John H. Penner became the 
leading stockholders of this concern, which 
then became a commercial bank, under the 
name of Union State Bank. This bank man- 
aged to exist until quite a recent date, when 
the stock was purchased by Robin B. Nickell, 
who about the same time purchased the stock 
of the German National Bank and consoli- 
dated the two into a strong financial institu- 
tion now known as the Union State Bank, and 



owned by H. C. Arnold, John Anderson and 
others, with Arnold, president, and Anderson, 
cashier; capital $50,000. 

In Februarv', 1892, the Fanners & Mer- 
chants State Bank was organized with a paid- 
up capital of $50,000, liy William P. Norcross. 
Milo Baker, Eugene W. Wheelock, and others, 
and with Norcross, president ; ■ Baker, vice- 
president, and Wheelock, cashier. The bank 
was very- conservatively managed and prom- 
ised a long career of usefulness in the ccm- 
munity. It opened with a fine patronage and 
this was continued until the great financial 
panic of 1893-1896, when banking had be- 
come so hazardous a risk as to be unattractive 
to capital. On the 31st of December, 1896. 
the Farmers & Merchants Bank went into 
voluntary liquidation, its depositors were paid 
in full and the stockholders' money returned 
to them dollar for dollar. 

In 1908 the Beatrice State Bank was or- 
ganized by F. E. Allen, of Auburn, Nebraska, 
J. T. Harden, H. H. Waite, Frank Morrison, 
Alpha Graf and others ; capital $50,000. This 
institution has had a successful career and is 
ably and conservatively managed. F. E. 
Allen is president ; J. T. Harden, vice-presi- 
dent, and H. H. Waite, cashier. 

The city of Beatrice may be said to have 
been a manufacturing center of consequence 
from the date of its origin, in July, 1857. The 
old steam saw mill set up by the Townsite 
Company, employed in the manufacture of 
lumber from native timber for their imme- 
diate use, was supplanted in the early '60s by 
Fordyce Roper's water-power saw and grist 
mill and shingle and lath machines, all doing 
custom work and finally drawing trade from 
considerable distances. From these early 
days and crude beginnings to the present time 
Beatrice has steadily advanced until, in a trifle 
more than three score years from the date of 
her founding, she has gained first place as a 
manufacturing center amongst the cities of 
her class in Nebraska, as respects both the 
variety and the value of her manufactured 
products. 

The mere enumeration of these forms an 
iinpressive and eloquent tribute to the genius 



236 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



237 




238 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



239 



and enterprise of her citizens. The list in- 
cludes valuable agricultural implements, wind 
mills, ga'^oline engines, pumps, machinery for 
handling hay, irrigating and ditching machin- 
ery, well-drilling devices, galvanized steel 
tanks, burial vaults, portable corn cribs and 
granaries, woven-wire fencing, wire and slat 
fencing, cigars, ice cream, butter, tombstones 
and monuments, electricity, flour, meal and 
other cereal products, cement building blocks, 
bricks and tiling, blank books, corn-husking 
pegs and other hardware specialties, shirts, 
and many other articles of daily use and con- 
sumption. 

The figures are not at hand to show the 
value of the manufactured products of the 
city as a whole ; but since the great Dempster 
Mill Manufacturing Company stands at the 
head of the manufacturing industries of the 
city, perhaps of the state, some idea may be 
gained of the value of its products from the 
fact that it has a present capital and surplus 
of more than one and one-fourth million dol- 
lars, that it has over five hundred employes, 
exclusive of its Memphis plant, and an annual 
pay roll of over half a million dollars. 

Several of the other factories of the city 
make a creditable and an impressive showing. 
Some of the more important concerns are the 
Beatrice Steel Tank Manufacturing Coni- 
pan}', Beatrice Iron Works, the John H. von 
Steen Company and the F. D. Kees Manufac- 
turing Company. 

In addition to its manufacturing concerns 
Beatrice has several allied institutions. These 
are the Lang Canning & Preserving Com- 
pany, the Beatrice Cold Storage Company, 
Swift & Company's poultry house, and the 
Beatrice Creamery- Company. 

The limitations of this work make a fur- 
ther enumeration or description of the manu- 
facturing interests of the city inexpedient. It 
is sufficient to say here that as a manufactur- 
ing and distributing center Beatrice has ac- 
quired a prestige and a momentum that as- 
sure her future growth and prosperity. 

Not only has the city acquired reputation 
as a manufacturing center but in recent years 
she has also set the pace for her competitors 



as a wholesaling point. Here are located the 
great Sonderegger Nurseries & Seed House, 
the Pease Grain & Seed Company, the E. S. 
Stevens wholesale grocery, and the Blue Val- 
ley Mercantile Company, also a wholesale 
grocery house. 

Beatrice has latterly come to occupy an en- 
viable position as a retailing center. Her mer- 
chants are enterprising and accommodating, 
their stocks large and varied, and trade is at- 
tracted to the city from long distances. With 
her attractive business houses and her mag- 
nificent system of street lighting, Beatrice cer- 
tainly in its business district approaches the 
"City Beautiful." 

But however attractive the business portion 
of the city, visitors never tire of traversing 
the residence districts, where there are found 
some of the most beautiful homes in the 
west. The extensive paving of the streets in 
recent years has greatly added to the charm 
of Beatrice as a residence city, and latterly 
attention has been given to architectural form 
and beauty in the erection of private resi- 
dences. With the constant increase of wealth, 
the advancing years will witness a continual 
accession of artistic dwellings. 

Both time and space forbid extended notice 
of the secret societies and benevolent orders. 
As it has been the aim of the author to avoid 
anything like a director)' feature in this work, 
it must suffice here to say that almost all the 
societies and different orders found in the 
west are represented in Beatrice. He feels 
constrained, however, to give place here to an 
organization which all delight to honor and 
which is not a secret society nor is it to be 
classed with the benevolent orders. It is a 
list of the living members of Rawlins Post, 
No. 35, Department of Nebraska, Grand Army 
of the Republic, which was chartered in 1880, 
dropped in 1881, reorganized and chartered 
December 27, 1882. 

.\vey, Samuel, Co. A, 10th Ohio Cav. 
Armstrong, Thomas, Co. I, 39th 111. Inft. 
Armstrong, R., Co. F, ISOth Ohio. 
Arnett, Jelt (colored), Co. F, 125th U. S. 
Inft. (colored). 

Bull, Stephen, Co. C, 186th N. Y. Inft. 



240 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



241 




W> 



242 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Brother, Ferd, Surgeon 8th Mo. State Mil- 
itia \'ol. 

Bress. S. W., Co. F, 18th Iowa Inft. 

Black, W. H. H., Co. I. 42cl Ind. 

Brewster, A., Co. L. 15th N. Y. Engineer 
Brigade. 

Brock, C. A., Co. F, 34th 111. Inft. 

Bell, William, Co. C, 1st Tenn. Inft. 

Bevins, S., 1st Ohio Heavy Art. 

Buck, George, Jr., Co. H,'2d \t. Inft. 

Brewster. A. W., Co. E, I28th Ind. Inft. 

Calkins, D. K., Co. E, 34th 111. Inft. 

Craig, J. R., Co. B, lOlh 111. Inft. 

Calland, H. S., Co. D, 92d Ohio. 

Carmichael, John, Co. H, 46th 111. Inft. 

Carter, Frank, Co. A, 102d U. S. Vol. (col- 
ored). 

Crangle. W. F., Co. A, 42d 111. Inft. 

Colby, L. W., Co. B, 8th 111. Inft. 

Couher, R.. Co. I, 104th Ohio. 

Cousins, James, Co. G, 2d Iowa Inft. Died 
Feb. 2i, 1917. 

Confer, Daniel, Co. A, 34th Ind. 

Claypool, J. VV., Co. K. 143d 111. 

Davis, Samuel, Co. B, 8th 111. Cav. 

Dunn, Payson, Co. F, 37th Wis. Inft. 

Decker, George, Co. E, 2d Conn. 

Davis, George W., Co. A, 16th Kan. Cav. 

Evans, G. D., Co. B, Wis. Inft. 

Forbes, J. A., Co. F, 42d 111. Inft. 

Fletcher, J. C, Co. I, 3d Iowa Cav. 

Fielder, William, Co. I. 72d 111. Inft. 

Frederick. John, Co. F, 82d 111. Inft. 

Gilmore, R. G., Co. D, 83d Tenn. 

Gray, L. D., Co. I, 13th Iowa Inft. 

Geddes, Charles, Co. I, 16th Iowa Inft. 

Gardner, R. E., Co. K, 3d Iowa Cav. 

(ilazier, N. Newton, Co. G, 11th Vt. Vol. 
(Lost left arm.) 

Hemphill, R. C, Co. F. 13th Penn. Cav. 
Died Jan. 24. 1918. 

Hutchins, T. E., Co. H. 20th Ind. Inft. 

Hartwell, R. B.. Co. G. 28th Iowa. 

Jackson, J. W.. Co. G, 124th 111. Inft. 

Kimmerly. D. J., Co. A, 13th N. Y. Died 
Jan. 19, 1918. 

LaSelle. H. A., Co. D, 114th N. Y. Inft. 

Lash. S. P., Co. H, 87th Ind. Inft. 

Lilly, W. S., Co. H, 19th Mich. Inft. 



Miller, S. T., Co. A, 34th 111. Inft. 

Mayborn, Thomas, Co. A, 14th X. Y. 

Meeker, George, Co. G, 5th Iowa Inft. 

Munson, Z., Co. H, 3d Mich. Cav. 

McCrea, Ed., Co. C, 10th Mo. Cav. Died 
Nov. 10, 1917. 

McColler)-, (Jrvin, Co. C, 28th Mo. Died 
Jan. 19, 1916. 

McKinney. William. Co. H, 27th Iowa. 

Olsen, Iver .\., Co. A, S8th 111. Inft. 

Pease, G. L., Co. F, 28th Conn. Inft. 

Pfefiferman. S.. Co. B. 129th III. Inft. 

Pagles, John, Co. K, 65th 111. 

Pape, Abraham, Co. F, 92d 111. Inft. 

Rice, Dr. A. T., Co. B, 91st Ind. 

Randell, C. W., Co. I, 13th N. H. 

-Ramsey, J. H., Co. I, 3d Iowa Cav. 

Reedy, A. J., Co. H, 1st Mo. Cav. 

Roller, J. T., Co. D, 110th Penn. Inft. Died 
March 18, 1917. 

Sterne, W. W., Co. K, W. Va. Cav. 

Shafner. J. F., Co. B, 2d Minn. Cav. 

Shottenkirk, W., Co. C, 113th 111. 

Sample, A., Co. C. 8th Iowa Cav. 

Shaw. John. Co. K, 99th Ind. 

Spiker, T. L., Co. G, 118th 111. Inft. 

Salts, Peter, Co. G, 76th Ohio Inft. 

Smith. Charles A., Co. C, 17th Mich. Inft. 

Smith. Edward, Musician 20th 111. Inft. 

Seymour, S. A., Co. E, 189th N. Y. Inft. 

Thomas. Hiram, Co. D, 4th 111. Cav. 

Taylor, W. M.. Co. A, 22d Pa. Cav. 

Tucker, Robert, Co. H, 19th Mich. Inft. 

Wilson. Charles, Co. F, 26th 111. Inft. Died 
July 8, 1917. 

Webb, John. Co. I. 118th 111. Inft. 

Walker, W. H., Co. E, 93d 111. Inft. 

Weston, William, Co. B. 161st Ohio Inft. 

On the first day of July, 1868. there oc- 
curred in the little village of Beatrice an event 
of unusual significance. It was the appear- 
ance of the Blue Valley Record, the first news- 
paper published in Gage county. The pro- 
prietors of this paper were Joseph R. Nelson 
and Nathaniel Howard. It was a sorry little 
aifair, judged by any standard of newspaper 
excellence, yet it is doubtful if any newspaper 
was ever more joyfully welcomed by any 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



243 



community. Air. Nelson, in writing of this 
venture years afterward, says : 

There were, I think, not a thousand people 
in the county, and not half of them in Beatrice. 

Nat Howard and I were talking of the ad- 
vantage to be gained by having a newspaper 
published in Beatrice, and as I had some 
money and Nat the brains, we concluded to go 
into the newspaper business. When a boy I 
had played often in the office of the Pough- 
keepsie (N. Y.) Telegraph, thereby gaining 
the only real knowledge we had with which 
to start our paper. 

We took a sheet of wrapping paper and 
marked out places for ads : then we went out 
to find them. We found everyone interested. 
All subscribed and some took several copies 
to send to friends east. Nat went to Nebraska 
City and I to Brownville, and each got a few 
more ads. We then sent to the Adams Press 
Company, of New York, for a press, and on 
May 27, 1868, they shipped us our little press 
(called now Army press), which arrived in 
Nebraska City sometime in June. 

\\'e hurried to the city to get it, as well as 
the other materials, which we had bought ot 
Tom Morton, who owned and ran the Nebras- 
ka City News. Sterling Morton being the edi- 
tor. As we did not know the boxes, and being 
in a hurry, we concluded to have the cases 
with paper between them, and loaded them 
into our wagon ( wagons then being the only 
means of transportation between Nebraska 
City and Beatrice) and started for home. 

When we arrived in Beatrice we found our 
type somewhat mixed, and it took us several 
days to sort it out. The only way we knew 
the boxes was by the ones that had the most 
of one kind in. We worked early and late, 
copied from Nebraska City and Brownville 
papers, and when we got stuck we slipped out 
of town to see Tom Morton, who kindly helped 
us, and finally we launched our first paper on 
the waves, and were more proud of it than a 
father of his first-born. 

We ex]iected encouragement from the 
papers, and the Nebraska City News and 
Press and Brownville Advocate gave us a 
good "send-of¥," but the galoot that ran the 
Marysville Locomotive said our paper looked 
as though it had been set up by a coal-heaver. 
That made us mad and I wanted him thrashed, 
for I had set it up myself, with the help of Nat 
Baker, a young boy, and thought I had done 
it extra well, but in after years concluded he 
was more than half right. 

We printed one page at a time and had to 
pull type from one ad. to fix up others and 



sometimes made a mixed-up mess of it. We 
sent Warren Chesney to Nebraska City to col- 
lect, and he told us that when he presented 
the bill to one man he ordered him out, with 
a promised thrashing, — said he did not order 
that ad., and another thing he would not pay 
for one with another man's name to it. We 
looked over the paper and found the wooden 
reglet had slipped, and in putting it back we 
had got it in the wrong place. Warren said 
that when we wanted any more bills collected 
we could do it ourselves. 

We sent Silas Harrington to Meridian to 
collect from a man who ran a saw mill, and 
told him to take it out in lumber. We did not 
see him for several weeks after his return, 
till meeting him one day and asking him where 
the lumber was, he pointed to his new house, 
and said, "There it is," and there it was, 
nailed fast. 

We had many such trials and tribulations, 
with plenty of hard work, for nine months, 
when we sold a half interest to Mr. Hogshead. 
We next sold out to Theodore Coleman, and 
thus ended my newspaper experience. 

Upon the sale of the half-interest in the 
Blue J'allcy Record to J- M. Hogshead, the 
name of the paper was changed to the Be- 
atrice Clarion, the first number of which ap- 
peared Saturday, May 8, 1869, with the motto 
"Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they 
may." The publishers' names were given as 
J. AI. Hogshead & Company, and the company 
consisted of J. AI. Hogshead, Joseph R. Nel- 
son, Nathaniel Howard, and Captain William 
H. Ashby. Of these owners all but Nelson 
had seen service in the Confederate amiy, but 
Howard, Hogshead, and Ashby were all fine- 
looking, courtly gentleman, and were a wel- 
come addition to the social and business in- 
terests of Beatrice. The biography and por- 
trait of Joseph R. Nelson appear in Chapter 
XVII of this volume, entitled "A Roll of 
Honor." 

Theodore Coleman, who in 1870 purchased 
the Beatrice Clarion, gives for this history the 
following narrative of his newspaper ex- 
perience in Beatrice : 

"After having, at the age of twenty years, 
broken into the newspaper game in northern 
Wisconsin and carried on the same for sev- 
eral years with a measure of success that 
stopped short, to be sure, of illuminating the 



244 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



northwestern horizon with its glow, I heeded 
a suggestion conveyed hy a letter from Joe 
Nelson ( pardon the colloquialism touching 
Mr. Nelson's name), and went to Beatrice for 
an inspection of journalistic conditions there. 
My entn,- into Gage county was not exactly of 
a triumphant character, since I had to tarr\' 
three days in Iowa before the running ice in 
the Missouri river would allow the primitive 
ferry to operate across to Nebraska City ; and 
upon tin.allv arriving in that metrojjolis, it was 




Theodore Coleman 
Founder of the Beatrice Express 

found that transportation to Beatrice was lim- 
ited to a loaded farmer's wagon, returning to 
his home ten miles north of my objective 
point. However, the walking was good and 
no difficulty was found in negotiating the ten 
miles. 

"This was in 1870. The Gage County Clar- 
ion was the one newspaper of Beatrice at the 
time, — published weekly and carr)ing on its 
title page the rather startling motto (for a 
clarion) "Hew to the Line, Let the Chips Fall 
Where they May." The ownership of the 
Clarion was divided among several embryonic 



Greeleys and Danas and Hearsts and North- 
clifTes, including my friend Nelson, Mr. John 
Hogshead and Mr. Nathaniel Howard. 
\\ hether Captain Ashby was of the syndicate 
I do not know, but he had had some connection 
with newspaperdom in Beatrice, as I remem- 
ber. I suspect there was a holding concert: 
back of these gentlemen, for when it came to 
negotiations for the purchase of the Clarion 
the proposed payment of something like five 
hundred dollars for it on my part caused such 
a flurry in newspaper financial circles that fre- 
quent consultations with an unknown party to 
the deal seemed necessarj'. 

"However, it went through and I acquired 
the property and with it the services of Mr. 
Hogshead, the only printer of the dissolved 
corporation. Changing the title of the paper 
to the Beatrice Express did not wound the 
feelings of the retiring proprietors, and this 
was done. At that time the home of the paper 
was the stone building on Market street near 
Fourth, where the newly christened Express 
was published until removal to the classic 
])recincts of the old frame school-building 
then standing on Fifth street, north of Court. 
There we reinained until the transfer to the 
second stor}' of a business building on Court 
street. 

"Certain primitive conditions obtained in 
Nebraska in the early '70s that somewhat 
hampered the production of high-class jour- 
nalistic work. In the first place, mechanical 
facilities were so limited that in the necessary 
task of casting inkiiig-rollers for our four-page 
forms I was on more than one occasioti 
obliged to make a stage trip to Brownville for 
glue. The Clarion did not boast a job press 
among its assets, but its fonts of type included 
a few that could be used in setting up simple 
handbills and the like, to be worked off on the 
saine hand-lever press from which the paper 
was issued in weekly installments to a waiting 
constituency of some three hundred or more. 
I soon added a rotary job-press and concomi- 
tants, and its manipulation was put into the 
hands of a young southerner named Bailey, 
who, as I recall, was an old friend of Messrs. 
Howard and Hogshead. The former seemed 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



245 



to be at the editorial helm of the Clarion (if 
the mixed metaphor may be used), with Mr. 
Hogshead as chief officer. John was a good 
printer, but it pains me to have to acknowledge 
that the sole effusion of his pen that sticks in 
my memory in connection with the last days 
of the Clarion was to the effect that a darky 
exclaimed as he fled from an angry bull : 
'Millions for de fence.' 

"It may be said without egotism that the 
Express grew apace with the growth of Be- 
atrice, and that it was always generously sup- 
ported by the people who constituted the rap- 
idly developing community. Of these there 
remain with me after the elapsed half-century 
no memories that are not pleasant to dwell 
upon. Among them, I visualize now (using 
the familiar vernacular of that early period), 
Pap Towle, J. B. Weston, John and Sam 
Smith, Lige Filley, Judge Parker, Joe Saun- 
ders, Gil Loomis, Dan Freeman, Uncle Jimmy 
Boyd. Volney Whitmore, Jack Pethoud, 
Charley and Carl Emery, Joe McDowell, Nate 
Blakely, N. K. Griggs, Joe Fletcher, Colonel 
and Captain Presson, Oliver Townsend, Dr. 
Reynolds, George Hurlburt, Thacker, Dan 
and Alvin Marsh, Pemberton, Willard, George 
and Charley Dorsey, Ford Roper, Dean, Davis, 
et al. If Tom Shubert had been able to read 
and if "Old Man Chrisman" could have re- 
mained sober long enough to have achieved 
the same accomplishment, it is certain they 
would have been among the readers of the 
Express. 

"Mentor A. Brown came into the office in 
1873, I think, first as a most competent printer, 
and later as one of my successors in the pro- 
prietorship of the paper. His successful ca- 
reer as a newspaper man for these many 
years is generally known to Beatrice people. 
It is a matter of no little personal satisfaction 
that during all these forty and more years, his 
paper — first the Express and then the Kear- 
ney Hub — has reached my home each publica- 
tion day, with his compliments. Another early 
employe on the Express now lives and thrives 
as a master printer in Los Angeles, ten miles 
from my own residence — John Burke. Anent 
John, let this digression, if you will, creep into 



your veracious annals : On a day in 1884, 
while I was publishing the Santa Clara Jour- 
nal in this state, a strange specimen of the 
now extinct genus homo known as tramp 
printer, walked into my office and asked for 
work. Upon close examination he was re- 
vealed as Johnny Burke. A day's work was 
followed by his complete disappearance, and 
he was not visible to me again until three 
years ago, when he was accidentally 'met up 
with' in the guise of a portly, fine appearing 
foreman in the office of one of the Los An- 
geles dailies. 

"C. B. Palmer came to Beatrice as principal 
of the high school and soon thereafter bought 
an interest in the Express, chiefly as a means 
of printing and distributing a monthly educa- 
tional periodical. When the election of A. S. 
Paddock to the United States senate took place 
in 1875, I conceived the idea of going to Wash- 
ington and helping him nui the government, 
which being done, the Express was soon there- 
after sold to L. W. Colby, and my return to 
Beatrice was indefinitely postponed." 

Theodore ColEJIan was born in Roches- 
ter, New York, January 26, 1842. of New 
England (Nantucket) and Dutch lineage. 

The family removed to Dubuque, Iowa, and 
a little later to Galena, Illinois, the lure being 
the lead mines of those districts. The death 
of his mother at Galena, in 1846, resulted in 
a return of the remaining members of the fam- 
ily to Rochester. 

From Rochester another family trek was 
taken, in 1849, to Toronto, Canada, where Mr. 
Coleman's father had bought a saw mill on 
the shores of the bay. Theodore attended the 
Toronto Model School on King street, Toron- 
to (price three pence per week), until 1852, 
assisting meantime in digging the first sod of 
Canada's first railroad, the Grand Trunk. 

Back to Rochester in 1852, where the enter- 
prising head of the family was, in 1857-1858, 
financially floored by building Main street 
bridge across the Genessee river for the city 
and failing to collect under his $50,000 con- 
tract because of an alleged weak abutment — 
that still, after a lapse of sixty years, sturdily 
sustains the west end of the bridge. Attend- 



246 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 






ance at the public school and work in a flour 
mill, a grocery and on the aforesaid bridge 
filled the period from 1852 to 1859, when an- 
other shift of residence was made, this time 
to Cincinnati. Thence up the Mississippi and 
Chippewa rivers to Chippewa Falls, Wiscon- 
sin, went the family in 1860. There, amidst 
somewhat primeval surroundings, a halt was 
made for ten years, logging and saw-mill 
work occupying the men of the family. Some 
sort of literary work, however, had always 
appealed to the member under consideration, 
so the chance to go into the office of the Chi('- 
pcn'a rallcy Union as printer boy was eagerly 
seized. Two years thereafter Mr. Coleman 
bought the plant, and published the little 
weekly for two years, selling it out in order 
to piece out his disappointed school education 
by going for a year to W'illiston Seminary, 
East Hampton, Massachusetts, and for another 
year to Antioch College. Upon closing this 
agreeable chapter, he returned to Wisconsin 
and helped for a time to keep the saws run- 
ning in his father's mill. Then away to Be- 
atrice and into the newspaper work again, 
soon seeking a little time to go back to the 
northern state upon matrimonial intentions 
bent. The carrying out of this intention was a 
ver)' fortunate achievement for him, as not 
a few of the present population of Beatrice 
who knew Mrs. Coleman would he willing to 
attest. 

The thirty-nine years" residence in Califor- 
nia following the close of four years of gov- 
ernment work in Washington, has been large- 
ly taken up with newspaper publishing and 
editing; but for the last fifteen years Mr. 
Coleman has been occupied with duties of a 
more distinctly business character, first as sec- 
retary and business manager of an educational 
institution in Pasadena — Throop Polvtechnic 
Institute and College — and later as similai 
ofificer of the Pasadena Hospital Association. 
His newspaper work in California was as pub- 
lisher of the Santa Clara Journal and, in Pasa- 
dena, in an editorial capacity on the Pasadena 
Star and the Pasadena Ncn-s. His familv of 



two sons and two daughters, two of them 
natives of Beatrice, are married and all but 
one of the four are living in Pasadena. The 
oldest son is a resident of Arizona. 

Mentor A. Browx, who succeded Theo- 
dore Coleman in the ownership of the Be- 
atrice Exl^rcss. January 7. 1884, has writ- 
ten for this history the following interesting 
reminiscent narrati\e of his connection with 
the paper : 

"My knowledge of the newspapers of Gage 
county dates from the 20th day of Julv. 1871. 
On the evening of July 19th I disembarked 
from a Kansas and Nebraska stage coach after 
a dusty ride from Crete, at the old Pacific 
House, of which George Hurlburt was land- 
lord. The following morning the office of the 
Beatrice Express was discovered in a small 
one-room frame building that had formerly 
housed the public schools of the pioneer vil- 
lage, and it still remained in the center of a 
block of ground with no other building nearer 
than Ella and Fifth streets. This intervening 
space was for several summers afterward 
utilized by the 'fans' as a baseball park. 

"Theodore Coleman was the sole proprietor 
and editor of the Express. He had purchased 
the plant of the Clarion the previous year and 
changed the name to the Express. The shop 
was equipped with a Washington hand-press 
(which served until the fall of 1883) and a 
limited assortment of type and other material. 
There was one printer in the shop, a big six- 
foot Mississippian named Hogshead, with the 
imposing front and the swing of the old-time 
southern colonel, sandy 'complected' and ol 
surpassing good nature. The first 'devil' who 
was initiated soon afterward was 'Johnnie' 
Burke, who is still plying his trade and a mem- 
ber of the typographical union in good stand- 
ing at Los Angeles. They had induced the 
writer to quit a job as a compositor on the 
Council Bluffs Nonpareil, to do the job print- 
ing, set the 'ads,' etc. The projirietor. Mr. 
Coleman, was not a skillful printer, but was 
a capable newspaper man, a versatile and 
graceful writer and also a capable business 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



247 



man. Charles B. Palmer, principal of the 
Beatrice schools, also a practical printer, be- 
came associated with Mr. Coleman in 1871, 
and Coleman & Palmer were the publishers 
until January 1, 1874, when the 'cub' bought 
out Mr. Palmer and the firm name was 
changed to Coleman & Brown. This partner- 
ship and business association was very har- 
monious, but was interrupted when Mr. Cole- 
man accepted a position in Washington as sec- 
retary to Senator Paddock, and by the sale of 
his interest in the paper to Mr. Colby, in 1876. 
Soon thereafter the junior partner also sold 
his interest to Mr. Colby, but he remained in 
charge and conducted the business until the 
winter of 1876-1877, when he purchased an 
interest in the Fairbury- Gazette ; but in the 
early fall of 1877 he returned to Beatrice, 
having purchased Mr. Colby's entire interest 
in the Express, and became sole proprietor. 
The paper grew with the town, and in 1884 
the Daily Express greeted the public. In the 
summer of 1888 the writer disposed of his 
entire interests in the newspaper and printing 
plant to Kilpatrick Brothers, and in October 
of that year he removed to Kearney, where he 
established the Kearney Daily and Weekly 
Hub. 

"The first rival newspaper of the Express 
was the Courier, published by Coulee and 
Ritchie, about 1875. Mr. Ritchie soon retired 
and the paper itself lived but a short time, its 
career being both sensational and temjjestu- 
ous. Mr. Alex W. Conlee was one of the old 
type of 'personal' journalists and a very inter- 
esting character. At a later date, M. B. Davis, 
lawyer, published the Beatrice Republican. 
The Beatrice Democrat was established about 
the middle of the '80s by George P. Marvin, a 
vigorous, aggressive and capable newspaper 
man, father of the present publisher of the Be- 
atrice Sun. which later succeeded the Demo- 
crat. 

"It might be mentioned that Beatrice was 
tlie original home of the educational journal, 
the 'Nebraska Teacher,' which was first pub- 
lished by Mr. Palmer, printed in the ofiice of 



the Express on a hand press, and removed to 
Lincoln in 1877, when the publisher removed 
to the capital to take charge of the preparatory 
department of the Nebraska State Univer- 
sity." 

Mentor A. Brown was born February 19, 
1853, at Janesville, Wisconsin. His mother 
died in his infancy: his father died on Sher- 
man's march to the sea. 

Mr. Brown was reborn as printer's devil, 
office of Nezc Era, Jeflferson, Iowa, June 25, 
1866. "Swarmed" July 17, 1870, and spent a 
year in Nebraska City, Omaha, and Council 
Blufifs. Found himself in Beatrice, Nebraska, 
July 19, 1871. Connected with Beatrice Ex- 
press as printer, partner, publisher, and edi- 
tor, until October, 1888. Nearly fifty-two 
years' service in "print-shop." He married 
and has three sons and two daughters and 
eleven grandchildren living; wife Sophie G., 
daughter of the late Captain C. J. Schmidt, of 
Beatrice. 

The Republican, of which Mr. Brown speaks 
in his reminiscent article, was founded about 
1886 by J. W. Hill, M. B. Davis later acquir- 
ing a half-interest in it. It was conducted sev- 
eral years by them as partners. Mr. Davis was 
a vigorous writer and secured for the paper 
a good circulation. It was a weekly newspaper 
and Republican in politics. About the first of 
May, 1892, Davis sold his half-interest in the 
paper to William L. Knotts and it was con- 
ducted by Hill and Knotts a short time, when 
Knotts acquired full ownership. About 1900 
he sold it to W'infield Scott Tilton, a practical 
newspaper man from Kansas. The name of 
the paper was changed to the Beatrice Times 
and was conducted by him very ably till about 
1909, when he abandoned the field and re- 
moved his press and other newspaper ma- 
terials to Oklahoma. 

More than twenty-one years ago Emil 
Schultz established in Beatrice a German-lan- 
guage newspaper called the Nebraska Post, 
and this has had a continuous existence till 
July 1, 1918, when, out of deference to pub- 



248 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



lie opinion, Mr. Schultz with commendable 
patriotism suspended the publication of his 
paper till the close of the great world-war now 
raging with the utmost fury in all western 



Europe — a war in which our own government 
has plunged with the maximum of energy and 
enthusiasm, in defense of democratic institu- 
tions. 






Court Street, Be.\trice, in 1908 



I 



CHAPTER XXIII 



BLUE SPRINGS 



The historic town of Blue Springs dates its 
origin from the year 1857, at ahnost the iden- 
tical moment that Beatrice was founded. In 
July of that year James H. Johnson, Jacob 
Poff, Martin Elliott and his sons Stephen, 
William, and Henry Elliott, with their fami- 
lies, settled on the public domain at Blue 
Springs and its immediate vicinity, and, in 
conjunction with the government surveyors 
who were then engaged in surveying the pub- 
lic lands in that vicinity, they projected a 
townsite company and marked out into town 
lots three, hundred and twenty acres of land, 
comprising, with other lands, the present 
townsite of Blue Springs. But there was lit- 
tle inducement at that early day for engaging 
in such enterprises, and this company did not 
even go to the trouble of acquiring title to the 
lands they had selected for a townsite. The 
project was finally abandoned, and Reuyl 
Noyes and Joseph Chambers, returning from 
a gold-mining venture at Pike's Peak, took it 
up. They were enterprising young men and 
undertook to develop Blue Springs into an 
attractive frontier town. Amongst other 
things they attempted to divert travel from 
the Oregon Trail at Ash Point, near Rich- 
mond, in Nemaha county, Kansas, to Blue 
Springs and westward about twelve miles to 
the Caldwell ranch, on the old trail. It must 
be remembered that the Oregon Trail was to 
Nebraska territory in that early day what a 
trunk line of railway v.'ould be now to an 
undeveloped section of country. The princi- 
pal crossing of the Big Blue river was at 
Marysville, in a direction south of west from 
Ash Point. From Marysville the trail took a 
northwesterly course across the southern part 
of the Otoe Indian reservation, to the Rock 



Creek stage station ; part way, near the head 
waters of Indian creek, was Caldwell ranch. 
By diverting the travel by way of Richmond 
and Blue Springs the distance was consider- 
ably less. These enterprising proprietors of 
Blue Springs and their friends, having first, 
in 1859, borrowed the necessary money for 
that purpose from Robert A. Wilson, acquired 
by purchase the tract of ground where Blue 
Springs is located, in section 17 of that town- 
ship, giving him a mortgage on it. They 
built a double, story-and-a-half, hewed-log 
ranch house on the northeast corner of block 
5 of the original town of Blue Springs, at the 
intersection of Hazen and Main streets. They 
also built a toll bridge across the Big Blue 
river, and drew a furrow from the point of 
departure on the old trail, past Richmond, to 
Blue Springs and on to the Caldwell ranch. 
But Seneca, the rival of Richmond, defeated 
this project by diverting travel from the old 
trail to herself. Mrs. Rebecca Woodward, 
who in the spring of 1859 was living at 
Richmond, sold her possessions there, and in 
anticipation of the success of the movement 
to divert travel to Blue Springs, moved to 
that place, bought the Noyes & Chambers 
building and immediately became a factor in 
the development of the village. There were 
at that time three other log cabins built under 
the bluffs along Spring creek. This was 
really the origin of Blue Springs. ]\Irs. 
Woodward and a number of others had bought 
lots in the town as originally surveyed, but 
on account of the Wilson mortgage, title could 
not be made. Chambers and Noyes finally 
abandoned their townsite interests and Wilson 
succeeded to their rights. In 1861 in order 
to quiet the demands of those who had pur- 

249 



250 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



chased lots of Chambers and Noycs. \\'ilsoii 
caused the original townsite of Blue Springs 
to be surveyed and platted by Solon M. Hazen, 
and placed the i)lat thereof on record in the 
ofifice of the register of deeds on the 7th day 
of June, 1861, whereupon he deeded to the 
claimants lots in the townsite as platted and 
recorded. Several additions have been made 
to Blue Springs, the principal ones being Hol- 
lister's, Blacknian's. Ca^^ebeer's, and Hill's ad- 
ditions. The city, with its additions, now oc- 
cupies a considerable portion of sections 17 
and 18 of Blue Springs township. 

The growth of Blue Springs was slow. In 
1863. when this writer, a youth of thirteen 
summers, attended school there, the families 
living in the village and its immediate vicinity 
were those of William B. Tyler, Dr. Levi 
Anthony, Martha Johnson ( widow of James 
H. Johnson, a first settler at Blue Springs), 
Robert A. Wilson, Lynus Knight. James Lott, 
Thomas Armstrong, King Fisher, and Herbert 
\'iney. About 1863 Solon M. Hazen opened 
a general store at the corner of Scott and 
Hazen streets, and in 1868 William Tichnor, 
at that time one of the county commissioners 
of Gage county, built a dam across the Big 
Blue river and erected a fine mill, including a 
saw. lath and shingle mill. This enterprise 
imparted to Blue Springs the character of a 
business center, since people were compelled 
to have their grists ground, their logs sawed, 
and their laths and shingles riven. Thereaf- 
ter the village grew apace, and about 1872 
there was quite an influx of immigrants from 
the east to Blue Springs, — the Casebeers, Gam- 
bees. Wonders, Harpsters. Shocks, and 
others, mostly from Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
The territory tributary to Blue Springs was 
well populated by 1870. and the village had 
grown rapidly during the closing years of that 
decade, the federal census of 1870 showing 
a population of 354. In 1880 the population 
had increased to 513: in 1890. according to 
the census, there were 963 inhabitants ; in 
1900 there were 786 and in 1910 the number 
was 712. While these figures show a decrease 
in population from 1890 to 1900. and a small 
decrease between 1900 and 1910. it must be 



borne in mind that the census of 1890, as far 
as population is concerned, was utterly unre- 
liable, and there were probably no more in- 
habitants in the city in 1900 than in 1910; the 
strong probability is that there was no actual 
loss in population after the year 1900. Since 
the last census Blue Springs has grown ma- 
terially and an enumeration would probably 
show a population of nearly a thousand souls. 
Blue Springs always, even in territorial 
days, maintained a most enviable reputation 
on account of its attitude on all moral ques- 
tions, and the worth of character of its citi- 
zenry. Crime is almost unknown in Blue 
Springs. There has never been a murtlcr 
committed in that community, and prosecu- 
tion for even minor offenses is almost un- 
known. The character of the citizens is well 
illustrated by the attitude of the community 
on the question of the licensed saloon, when 
that was a disturbing factor in municipal af- 
fairs tliroughout the state. It never looked 
witli favor upon tiie saloons, although yield- 
ing occasionally to the pressure brought for 
them, but in 1898 this arch enemy of good 
morals and virtuous manhood was by the 
voters of I'lue Springs banished forever from 
the community. This writer testifies with the 
keenest satisfaction to the high moral tone 
that has always characterized the beautiful city 
of Blue Springs. 

The first bridge erected across the Big Blue 
river in Gage county was the Noyes-Cham- 
bers toll bridge, in the spring of 1859, which 
has already been mentioned. As the travel 
on the proposed cut-ofT from .Ash Point to 
Blue Springs and beyond did not materialize, 
the proprietors, in the autumn of 1859. sold 
their bridge to Samuel Shaw, and the sjjring 
freshet of 1861 carried it away, — and nearly 
carried Mr. Shaw away with it. It was not 
rcluiilt, nor was there any effort made to 
erect a bridge at Blue Springs until about the 
year 1870, when Gage county placed an iron 
bridge across the river at the point where the 
present steel bridge is found. The old bridge 
was moved to Beatrice and erected across 
the Big Blue river at the Scott street crossing. 
The flood of 1903 dropped it into the water 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



251 



and it was finally removed and rebuilt across 
the river a mile north of Beatrice, near the 
Zimmerman Springs. 

About the year 1880 John E. Smith, Sam- 
uel C. Smith and Joel C. Williams established 
the Bank of Blue Springs- Williams after- 
ward acquired the stock of the Smith brothers 
and successfully conducted the bank for a 
number of years, but he was unable to with- 
stand the difficulties of the great panic of 



Sr., acquired by purchase the title to the Blue 
Springs mill and dam. This pioneer milling 
property was thoroughly overhauled by the 
new proprietors and, at great expense, one 
of the best mills in the county was evolved. 
Its present owners are William C. Black. Sr., 
and the estate of Cochran S. Black. This 
valuable property is managed by R. W. 
Kanagy. 

In addition to the business enterprises here 




The Bridge .\nii Mill -\t Blue Springs 
Looking up the Big Blue river from the south 



1893-1898, and finally, about 1895, closed the 
doors of the bank and liquidated its obliga- 
tions as far as his shrunken assets would per- 
mit. About the year 1890 the Blue Springs 
State Bank was founded by O. N. Wheelock 
and others, which several years later passed 
into other hands. The present stockholders 
of this bank are Wm. C. Black, Jr., and Ralph 
Clemmons, of Beatrice ; and T. J. Patton, O. 

E. Bishop and George F. Harris, of Blue 
Springs. Mr. Black is president of the boarrl 
of directors and Mr. Patton is cashier. 

A number of years ago the late Cochran 

F. Black and his brother, William C. Black, 



mentioned. Blue Springs has two grain ele- 
vators, a good lumber and coal yard, and 
nearly every retail business common to cities 
of its class in Nebraska is represented. 

In 1896 M. A. Farr began the publication 
of the Blue Springs PVeckly Motor, and from 
that day to this the city has possessed a 
good newspaper. The Motor was succeeded 
by the Sentinel, a paper established, owned, 
and edited by the late James H. Casebeer, 
and now conducted by his son Clarence Case- 
beer. It has always been a remarkably clean 
and reliable newspaper and has rendered in- 
valuable service to its readers as a dissemina- 



252 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tor of information and a pillar of public 
morals. 

The first school in Blue Springs was a sub- 
scription school (in 1861) taught by Miss 
Lucy Johnson, a daughter of Rankin Johnson, 
one of the early settlers of that locality. Fol- 
lowing this, Mrs. Maria Sargent, wife of J. 
T. Sargent, taught a subscription school in 
her own house, a log cabin, and had twelve 
pupils. In 1862 Miss Wealthy Tinkham. af- 
terward Mrs. Joseph Hollingsworth, taught 



As early as 1859 the Methodists organized 
a church in Blue Springs, with John Foster 
as its pastor. This organization was fostered 
and sustained by the pioneers to a man. In 
1879 the citizens assisted in erecting a stone 
church building for the Methodists, a move- 
ment contemporary with the building of the 
old stone church in Beatrice. Besides the 
Methodist church, the Presbyterians, the 
Evangelical Association, -the United Brethren, 
and the Christian churches are represented. 




Bute Springs High Schuul 



the first public school in Blue Springs, and in 
1863 her sister Margaret , afterward Mrs. 
Nathan Blakely, taught the second public 
school, with an enrollment of sixteen pupils. 
During the Indian troubles on the Little Blue 
river and farther west, 1864, 1865, 1866, little 
attention seems to have been given to educa- 
tion, but in 1869 a small school-house was 
erected and thereafter a school was regularly 
taught in Blue Springs. The district now 
possesses a fine, two-stor)', brick school-house, 
containing eight rooms, and employs eight 
teachers, with an enrollment of more than 
two hundred pupils. 



all owning substantial edifices for the worship 
of Almighty God. 

ISoth the Masonic fraternity and the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows have very 
strong organizations in Blue Springs, the lat- 
ter having a membership of upwards of one 
hundred and fifty. A number of the bene- 
ficiary orders also arc represented in Blue 
Springs. 

During the Civil war, in 1863. the village 
of Blue Springs and its tributary territory 
contributed a number of volunteers to the 
Nebraska Second Regiment of \'oIunters. 
The regiment was part of General Sully's 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



253 



command, dispatched by the goveriinient to 
put down the Indian uprising in Minnesota. 
Some of the vohmteers from Bhie Springs 
were Francis M. Graham. George Dessert, 
H. S. Barnum, and Edward Armstrong. 

A government postofifice was established in 
Bhie Springs about 1859, with William B. 
Tyler, ])ostmaster. The mails were at first 
carried on horseback from Nebraska City and 
Brown vi He, and for many years the postoffice 
at Blue Springs served a large portion of 
southern Gage county with mail facilities. 

Blue Springs is electrically lighted with cur- 
rent from the Holmesville plant. It owns its 
own waterworks and by an arrangement with 
Wymore its springs of pure water are utilized 
for both cities at the expense of Wymore. 

The isolation of Blue Springs was broken 
in 1879 by the construction of the Union 
Pacific line of railway from Marysville to 
Beatrice, as well as by the extension of the 
Burlington line from Beatrice to the main 
southern line of the company. At one time, 
in 1880, it seemed as if Blue Springs might 
become the junction point, but by over-con- 
fidence and mismanagement she allowed this 
splendid opportunity to slip from her grasp. 
At first the extension of the Beatrice line was 
more in the nature of a disaster than a bene- 
fit. The Burlington road, for reasons of its 
own, refused to stop its trains or build a depot, 
or to recognize in any way the existence of 
Blue Springs, but rushed across the corpora- 
tion, regardless of its public duty as a common 
carrier, to Wymore, which with this favor- 
itism was growing by leaps and bounds. But 
in 1885 F. W. Mattoon, a citizen of Blue 
Springs, brought in the supreme court of Ne- 
braska a proceeding in mandamus, to compel 
the road to afford Blue Springs railway facil- 
ities. The application was sustained, and 
thereafter the railroad grudgingly complied 
ivith the mandate of the court. 

Blue Springs, though missing this great op- 
portunity, has remained beautiful and attrac- 
tive, as she was in the beginning. No "homier" 
|)lace exists in all the boundaries of the state. 

Amongst the sturdy pioneers who in her 
infancy guided the destiny of Blue Springs 



were William B. Tyler, Rebecca Woodward, 
Robert A. Wilson, Solon M. Hazen, and Dr. 
Levi Anthony. 

Mr. Tyler was familiarly and affectionately 
known as "Pap" Tyler. He was of Holland 
extraction and in many ways possessed the 
shrewdness which characterized the Holland- 
er. He was born in York county, Pennsyl- 
vania, November 16, 1801, at the very thresh- 
hold of the nineteenth century. In early life he 
married Sarah Wilt, of his native village. In 
1842 she passed away, leaving a family of 
four children. After the death of his wife 
Mr. Tyler, in 1843, enlisted in the First United 
States Regiment of Dragoons and he served 
through the Mexican war. His first term of 
enlistment expiring in 1848, he reenlisted and 
remained in the service of the United States 
continuously until 1854, when he was honor- 
ably discharged, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 
He at once entered the service of the govern- 
ment in a clerical position in the quarter- 
master's department, where he remained until 
1859. He then started to Salt Lake City to 
take a similar position under the government, 
but changed his mind and, in March of that 
year, settled at Blue Springs. He purchased 
a quarter-section of land a mile or so up the 
river from the village. In 1860 Mr. Tyler 
married Rebecca Woodward, who, when this 
writer with his parents crossed the Big 
Nemaha at old Richmond, Nemaha county, 
Nebraska, on their way to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, kept the ranch at Richmond which was 
intended to be a station on the Blue Springs 
cut-oflf from the Oregon Trail, and who short- 
ly afterward sold out at Richmond and bought 
the Noyes-Chambers ranch house in Blue 
Springs and came there to live. At the time 
of this marriage Mrs. Woodward was in pos- 
session of considerable means for those days, 
and she was probably the wealthiest person in 
Gage county for several years. Several of 
the first instruments recorded in our county 
represent business transactions in her name. 
At the time of this marriage she was about 
forty years of age and an amiable, accomp- 
lished, and very capable woman. She passed 
away in 1870, mourned by all who knew her. 



?54 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



William 1>. Tyler was county commissioner 
of Gage county during the years of 1862, 1863, 
1864, 1865, 1866, and in 1864, with Fordyce 
Roper and F. H. Dobbs as associate commis- 
sioners, adjusted the affairs of old Clay coun- 
ty after its partition between Lancaster and 
Gage. From 1860 until his death, in 1889. he 
was a judge at every annual election in the 
countv and also the messenger who carried 



his father died while yet a young man. In 
1856 Mr. \\'ilson came to Omaha and later 
he went to Nebraska City, where he met Judge 
John Fitch Kinney, and. being a practical mill- 
wright and miller, he was about to engage 
with Judge Kinney to come to Beatrice and 
set up and take charge of the steam saw mill 
owned by the Beatrice Townsite Company. He 
was deterred from entering into this arrange- 




Mks. Kei:El\'a Tvlek 



\\ iLLiA.M B. Tyler 



the returns of Blue Springs to the county 
clerk. 

He was a kindly, genial soul, and to the 
last moment of his life was one of the most 
public-s])irited citizens of Blue Springs. As 
a youth the writer spent nearly an entire year 
under the roof of William and Rebecca Tyler 
as a member of their household, and he de- 
sires here to testify his appreciation of their 
uniform kindness and goodness of heart. 

Robert A. Wilson was born in Decatur. 
Indiana, on the 4th day of February. 1833. 
In 1848 his parents moved to Iowa, where 



ment, and probably from becoming a citizen of 
lieatrice, by the remark of some friend to the 
effect that the members of the Beatrice Town- 
site Company were all college-bred men and 
knew nothing about saw mills. Mr. Wilson 
and his brother William did, however, about 
that time accept from the United States gov- 
ernment service which took them to the Otoe 
and Missouri Indian Agency, where they 
erected the government steam saw and grist 
mill and ran the same until 1860. In the 
autumn of that year he returned to Iowa and 
married Miss Amelia Darner. Prior to his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



255 



leaving the territory he had loaned Joseph 
Chambers five hundred dollars with which to 
purchase the tract of land where Blue Springs 
now stands, and had taken a mortgage upon 
the prospective townsite to secure this in- 
debtedness. Learning that Chambers and his 
partner Xoyes had disposed of their inter- 
ests in Blue Springs and abandoned the pro- 
jected townsite. Mr. ^^^ilson returned to Ne- 



years ago he retired from his farm and he is 
spending the remnant of his life in the beauti- 
ful little city of which he was the founder 
nearly three score years ago. He is slowly 
recovering from the shock of a serious sur- 
gical operation performed nearly a vear ago, 
and he and his aged wife are the objects of 
the veneration and love of the entire com- 
munitv. 




Robert A. Wilson 
Founder and pioneer resident of Blue Springs 



Mrs. AMtuA Wilson 
Wife of Robert A. Wilson 



braska territory and settled in Blue Springs 
in 1861. Shortly after his arrival he procured 
the services of Solon M. Hazen and surveyed 
and platted the original town of Blue Springs. 
From 1865 to 1868 he was employed in thf- 
mill of Perry Hutchison, at Marysville, Kan- 
sas. During the latter year he was interest- 
ed with \\'illiam Tichnor in building the dam 
and mill at Blue Springs. 

For many years Mr. Wilson led the simple 
life of a farmer, on a fine tract of land ad- 
joining the townsite of Blue Springs. Some 



Robert A. Wilson is a man of heroic stat- 
ure, standing considerably over six feet, and 
is large of frame. Throughout his long 
career, until recently, he was a man of great 
physical strength. He is of a genial, kindly, 
humorous nature, a good friend, an interest- 
ing companion, loyal and true-hearted. 

Solon M. Hazen was born in Denmark, New 
York, August 11, 1829. He belonged to that 
class of patriotic young men who came from 
the eastern states in the year 1857 as followers 
of John Brown in his efi^orts to save Kansas 



256 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



from the curse of human slaverj'. After 
spending the winter of 1857-1858 in Brown 
county, Kansas, he, in 1858, with George W. 
Stark, another anti-slavery enthusiast, came 
to the new territory of Nebraska and settled 
on land in Rockford township, this county. 
He built a log cabin on his land, broke out 
several acres of fertile Mud creek bottom, 
and remained here until after the presidential 
election of 1860, when he returned to New 




Solon M. ]Iazen' 
Pioneer resident ot Blue Springs 

York and resumed his occupation as a school 
teacher. He also purchased a newspaper, the 
J ournal-Rcpublican , at Lowville, New York, 
which he conducted for three years. Later 
he purchased the Watertown Herald, at Wa- 
tertown. New York, and he continued as its 
publisher for several years. On the 24th day 
of December, 1863, he married Miss Priscilla 
Ann Vary, and in 1868 he returned to Ne- 
braska, which was then a state, and settled 
permanently in Blue Springs. Shortly after 
his return he opened a general store at the 
corner of Hazen and Scott streets, and he con- 
tinued for manv years in business in that lo- 



cation. In 1861 he surveyed for Robert .\. 
Wilson the original townsite of Blue Springs, 
and later he was elected one of the county 
commissioners of Gage county, an office 
which he held for some years. In 1884 he 
was elected to represent the people of Gage 
county in the state legislature, where, as a 
member of several important committees, he 
rendered distinguished services to his consti- 
tuents and to the people of the state. He 
served his community as justice of the peace, 
postmaster, member of the school board, 
member of the council and in other capacities. 

Mr. Hazen was a tall, distingjuished-looking 
man, slow of speech, deliberate in judgment, 
and very considerate of the rights and feel- 
ings of others. There were no better men 
than Solon M. Hazen. This historian has 
the kindest of recollections of this good, ben- 
evolent man. When still a mere child and 
at a time when there were no schools acces- 
sible to him the writer got his first lessons 
in numbers by the flickering light of a chip 
fire, in the open air, from Solon M. Hazen. 

Dr. Levi Anthony was, next to Dr. Herman 
M. Reynolds, the earliest practising physician 
of reputation and standing in Gage county. 
He was born at Washington, Jackson county. 
Ohio, November 27, 1835, but from October 
14. 1846, to the fall of 1849 he lived in Jack- 
son county, Missouri. He then moved to 
Mills county, Iowa, and took up the study 
of medicine tmder Dr. Barrett, and he entered 
upon the practice of his profession in Iowa. 
In 1859 he moved to Peru, Nebraska, and, 
forming a partnership with Dr. Perry at that 
western outpost of civilization, he practiced 
his profession there until 1861. While at Peru 
he met Robert A. Wilson, of Blue Springs, 
who pursuadcd him to change his location and 
offered to deed, and did afterward deed, to 
him forty acres of land in the vicinity of Blue 
Springs on the condition of his making such 
change. No time was lost by the Doctor, 
who was an active, decisive man, in reaching 
his new location. Here he soon became wide- 
ly known as a physician of skill and ability. 
His practice extended over a large portion 
of Gage countv and several of the surround- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



257 



ing- counties. He made his professional calls title to this land and made it his home for 

mostly on horseback, carrying his medicine- several years. When the village of Wilber 

chest in large, double, leather saddle-bags, was laid out as a town, in 1872, by Charles 

strapped to the back of his saddle. He was D. Wilber and Jacob Mooney, Dr. James 

a most familiar figure and on account of his Paddock, a young physician, came there seek- 




Dr. Levi Anthony 



genial nature was a welcome visitor in the 
homes of the early settlers. In 1867 he 
moved to Beatrice and engaged successfully 
in the practice of his profession there, but in 
the latter part of 1869 the Doctor located on 
a homestead three-quarters of a mile south 
of the present city of Wilber. He ac(|uircd 



ing a location. Finding Dr. Anthony already 
on the field, he sought and was able to form 
a copartnership with him^ and for many years 
these two pioneer physicians practiced their 
profession together at Wilber, Dr. Anthony 
living upon his homestead until age admon- 
ished him that the period for rest had come. 



258 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEBfL\SKA 



He then purchased a residence in Wilber and 
lived there till December 4, 1891, when he 
passed away, at the age of sixty-six years. 

In the autumn of 1864, following the Indian 
outbreak on the Little Blue river, in August 
of that year, a company of militia was raised, 
consisting of about, one hundred men and 
composed exclusively of residents of Gage 
and Pawnee counties. Dr. Anthony was 



this marriage twelve children were born, 
Xancy Elizabeth. Hannah Retta. Mary A., 
Isaac T.. Martha E., Eliza J., Sarah C, Orpha 
J.. Lydia A.. John F.. George S., and Leon J. 
His wife and two of these children died be- 
fore his own death occurred. 

In his early life Dr. Anthony was an active 
member of the Methodist church. He later 
became affiliated with the Church of Latter 




Francis M. Gr.vham 



Mrs. Hannah Retta Graham 



active in this movement and was elected sec- 
ond lieutenant of the company, which went 
into service in September, 1864. It was sta- 
tioned at Buffalo ranch, on the Little Blue 
river, at the foot of Nine Mile Ridge, on the 
old Oregon Trail, until Feburary, 1865, when 
it was mustered out of service. The com- 
pany performed guard duty along the old 
trail, protecting the overland stage, emigrants 
and commercial travel each way from its 
stockade for a distance of forty miles. 

When a very young man Dr. Anthony 
married Meriba Troth. October 4, 1846. To 



Day Saints, at Wilber. Dr. Anthony was 
below average stature, was endowed with an 
alert mind, was genial, witty and possessed 
other qualities which made him a pleasant 
companion and a welcome visitor every- 
where. 

Francis M. Graham has been so long a 
resident of Blue Springs that few are living 
now who remember the time when he was not 
a citizen of that place. Some time prior to 
his arrival at Blue Springs, he had made his 
home with Rebecca Tyler, at Richmond, 
Xemaha countv. Kansas, and when she sold 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



259 



out there and moved to Blue Springs, in the 
summer of 1859, he came with her, being then 
a youth of fifteen summers. They were much 
attached to each other and the relation of 
mother and son practically existed between 
them until her death. Until his marriage, in 
1865, her home was his. 

]\Ir. Graham was born November 2, 1844, 
in Vermillion parish, Louisiana. His foster 
mother, Rebecca Tyler, was a southern 
woman. He was the son of Samuel Graham 
and Martha (Johnson) Graham. When quite 
small he was taken to Missouri to live, then 
to Kansas and then to Blue Springs, Ne- 
braska. In 1865 he married Retta Anthony, 



the second daughter of Dr. Levi Anthony, and 
these worthy people have ever since made 
Blue Springs their home. Both are highly 
respected and useful members of society. They 
have reared a large and interesting family 
and are spending their declining years with 
their many friends, amid the surroundings 
of their early days. With Robert A. Wilson 
and perhaps one or two members of the James 
H. Johnson family, they are all that is left 
of that heroic company that created Blue 
Springs from a prairie waste. 

Mr. and Mrs. Graham are open-hearted, 
friendly people whose lives are an open book 
to be read by all. 



CHAPTER XXIV 



WYMORE 



The city of Wymore is located at the con- 
fluence of Big Indian creek and the Big Blue 
river, on the main line of the Chicago, Bur- 
lington & Quincy Railroad Company across 
southern Nebraska, from Chicago to Denver. 
Here also the branch line of this company 
from Omaha to Concordia, Kansas, via 
Lincoln and Beatrice, intersects the main 
Denver line, imparting to the city of Wymore 
the characteristics of a railway center. From 
its beginning the city has constituted a divi- 
sion for the Burlington Railroad ; here are 
found the company's roundhouse, machine and 
repair shops, station building and numerous 
other structures required at a railway division 
point. Here also are found the headquarters 
of the division officials, and the various ac- 
cessories necessary to the proper operation of 
the railroad. \\ yinore is the second largest 
municipal coriwration in Gage county and is 
the most important and best city of its popu- 
lation in southeastern Nebraska. It is thirteen 
miles southeast of Beatrice, joins the city of 
Blue Springs to the north, and is located in 
the midst of a wealthy, prosperous farming 
community. 

The founding of Wymore dates from the 
construction of the main line of the Burling- 
ton Railroad upon which it is located. At 
the time of its origin the situation in Ne- 
braska was such as to invite railroad building 
on a large scale throughout the eastern two- 
thirds of the state. The main line of the 
Union Pacific Railway through central Ne- 
braska had proved a surprising success as a 
factor in the settlement and development of 
all the territory tributary to it. By successive 
purchases and consolidations with other lines 
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 



Company had, by 1870, acquired a line of 
railway from Chicago, Illinois, to Pacific 
Junction, opposite Plattsmouth, Nebraska. The 
Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Com- 
pany in Nebraska had been incorporated May 
12, 1869, and in July of that year began the 
construction of a line of railway from Platts- 
mouth to Kearney Junction, Nebraska, on the 
Union Pacific, near where the city of Kearney 
is located. Several years after the comple- 
tion of this route, the company was consoli- 
dated with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
Railroad Company, under date of the 26th 
day of July, 1880, having at that time -836 
miles of trackage in southeastern Nebraska, 
including a railroad bridge across the Mis- 
souri river at Plattsmouth and two miles of 
trackage at Pacific Junction. Amongst its 
other activities it had constructed, in 1878, a 
line of railway from Hastings to Red Cloud, 
and thence up the Republican valley, projected 
to Denver. In 1871 it had also constructed 
a line of railway from Crete, on its main 
Ime between Plattsmouth and Kearney 
Junction, to Beatrice. In 1879 the Union 
Pacific Railway Company, then described as 
the Omaha & Southwestern, had built its 
present line of railway from Marysville, 
Kansas, as far as Beatrice, via Blue Springs 
and the Otoe Indian Agency, which was pro- 
jected to a junction with its main line at 
\'alley. via Lincoln. .Almost the entire state, 
and particularly the South Platte country and 
that portion of central Nebraska which was 
then tributary to the L'nion Pacific Railway 
lines, was in a ferment of activity. Immigra- 
tion was rushing in, following the rails, at an 
unheard of rate : the prairies were disappear- 
ing under the settlers' plows; in every direction. 



260 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



261 



tow^ns and villages were springing up as if 
by magic ; and everywhere in the state the 
railways were taxed to the uttermost to meet 
the demands of the ever increasing popula- 
tion. 

Moreover the local situation by 1879 was 
such as to promote the increase of railway 
trackage in Gage county, and particularly in 
the southern portion. Since its completion, 
Beatrice had been the terminus of the Crete 
branch of the Burlington road. In 1877 the 
western portion of the Otoe and Missouri 
Indian lands had been placed upon the market 
and quickly sold to actual settlers, as by law 
required. This splendid tract of fertile lands 
was without railway facilities nearer than 
Beatrice or, later, than Blue Springs. Under 
tliese circumstances, it created no surprise 
when, in March, 1880, a party of Burlington 
surveyors arrived in Blue Springs from the 
west. They had carried a projected line of 
railway from Red Cloud down the Republican 
river to Hardy, Nuckolls county ; thence across 
country to the head waters of Rose creek, in 
Jefferson county, crossed the Little Blue river 
at the confluence of these streams; led up his- 
toric Rock -creek to the head waters of Big 
Indian creek ; followed down the valley of that 
stream to its junction with the big Blue river, 
and, crossing the river, led away eastward to 
an intersection with the Atchison & Nebraska 
at Table Rock, and still on down the Big 
Nemaha to the Missouri, St. Joseph, northern 
Missouri, western Illinois, Chicago. 

This ambitious and most successful plan 
of railroad building contemplated the exten- 
sion of the Crete-Beatrice branch to a junction 
with the east and west main line. When it 
became evident that these lines of railway 
were to be pushed to immediate completion 
the southern half of Gage county seethed with 
excitement and eager anticipation. The 
question of greatest concern was the location 
of the junction, since it was evident that at 
that point would be developed a city of im- 
portance. Blue Springs was of course ar- 
dently hoping to become the center of all 
this railroad activity and to profit by securing 
the location of the junction of the two lines 



of railway. Unfortunately, and to this day to 
the regret of those who love it, these expec- 
tations were not to be realized. Over-confi- 
dence in her position and importance at that 
particular juncture in her affairs, prevented 
the consummation of her hopes. 

The following narrative of the origin of 
Wymore and its early history was prepared 
for this work by Charles M. Murdock, who 
has been a citizen of that city since its found- 
ing, and who as a right-of-way agent for the 
Burlington Railroad Company, and at the 
time a citizen of Blue Springs, writes from 
an intimate knowledge of the facts : 

"In the fore part of Alay, 1880, R. O. 
Phillips, secretary of the Lincoln Land Com- 
pany, and some of the Burlington & Mis- 
souri River Railroad officials came to Blue 
Springs and made an arrangement with S. 
AI. Hazen, C. W. Hill, and others in Blue 
Springs, for a half interest in about two 
hundred acres of land in sections 17 and 18, 
township 2 north, of range 7 east of the 6th 
principal meridian, surrounding where the 
depot at Blue Springs now stands, and to 
locate a depot, and not lay out or build any 
conflicting town interest within five miles of 
the depot at Blue Springs. Several business 
men in Blue Springs agreed to purchase from 
five to ten acres of the Hazen and Hill lands 
and pay them a stated price per acre. Then 
they would donate (to the Lincoln Land 
Company) a half-interest in the tracts they 
had purchased, in order to share the burden 
with Hazen and Hill. This arrangement was 
agreed to and seemed to be definitely settled. 
But within sixty days some of the parties who 
had agreed to purchase from five to ten acres 
of the Hazen and Hill lands went back on 
what they had agreed to do. They claimed 
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad 
Company would put in the depot at Blue 
Springs regardless of whether they got a 
half-interest in the Hazen and Hill lands or 
not. R. O. Phillips, secretary of the Lincoln 
Land Company, and A. B. Smith, townsite 
surveyor, came to Blue Springs and tried to 
close the deal, but could not do it. They 
then had options of purchase taken on part 



262 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of the southeast quarter of section 21, south- 
west quarter of section 22, northwest quarter 
of section 27 and northeast quarter of section 
28, township 2 north, of range 7 east, where 
the Burlington surveyed line crossed the 
I'nion Pacific tracks, — a move that looked 
very discouraging to some of the observing 
people in and around lUue Springs. 

"Samuel Wymore then owned the north- 
east quarter of section 20, Blue Springs town- 
ship, which joined the section in which the 
city was located. When he learned that R. 
O. Phillips, for the Lincoln Land Company, 
had procured options of purchase on lands 
east of the Big Blue river, he offered to donate 
a half-interest in the west half of his quarter 
section, which on the north joined the town- 
site of Blue Springs and which was crossed 
by the Burlington right-of-way leading east- 
ward, if the railroad company would erect 
and maintain a depot on his land or at the 
junction of the two lines on the southeast 
quarter of section 20, joining his land on the 
south, and he signed a contract to that ef- 
fect. I then went to the southeast part of 
Marshall county, Kansas, to see Owen R. 
Jones, who then owned the last-named quarter 
section of land, together with the north half 
of the northeast quarter of section 29. J 
took his contract for the right-of-way over 
the southeast of section 20 and any extra 
right-of-way that might be required in the 
construction of the railroad across or upon that 
tract of land. He said the railroad companj' 
ought to buy his land : I asked him his jirice. 
and he said twenty dollars per acre. He and 
his wife signed a memorandum contract 
agreeing to convey to R. O. Philli]>s the above 
described land. 2-10 acres, for the sum of 
$4,800. I sent the memorandum contracts of 
Samuel \\'\-more and Owen R. Jones to Mr. 
Phillips at Lincoln, Nebraska, and wrote to 
A. E. Touzalin what could be done with 
Wymore and Jones. Touzalin and Phillips 
were anxious to get the location at Blue 
Springs adjusted, and to gain time I procur- 
ed, at their request, an extension of the Wy- 
more and Jones contracts to September 15, 
1880. 



"But the Blue Springs location was not 
definitely settled, and Mr. Touzalin, the gen- 
eral manager of the Burlington road, and 
other officials arranged to come to Blue 
Springs, and on September 17, 1880, Mr. 
Touzalin ; George W. Holdrege. general sup- 
erintendent ; Tobias Castor, superintendent of 
right-of-way ; Superintendent T. E. Calvert, 
and other Burlington Railroad officials came 
to Blue Springs from Beatrice over the Union 
Pacific line, in a special car. They arranged 
for a meeting with the Blue Springs people 
that evening. At the meeting the subject was 
fully discussed and the Blue Springs people 
asked for time to enable them to talk the mat- 
ter over that night, and at nine o'clock the 
next morning they reported that they would 
not accept the proposition. 

"Wymore and Jones were both present at 
the above described meeting. A deal with 
them was closed September 18, 1880, and it 
was definitely settled that a depot would be 
built at the junction on the southeast quarter 
of secion 20, township 2 north, range 7 east, 
Gage county, Nebraska. In the latter part - 
of December, 1880, the line was extended from f 
Beatrice to the junction, and General Super- 
intendent Holdrege and other officials rode 
down to the junction over their own new line, 
in. a special car. Januarv .^. 1881. 

".April 7, 1881, Mr. Phillips, secretary of 
the Lincoln Land Company, and .Anselmo B. 
Smith, the company's townsite survevor, be- 
gan the survey of the townsite at the junction 
of the two lines of railway. .\. E. Touzalin, 
general manager of the Burlington lines, 
named the town Wymore. after the late 
Samuel Wymore." 

Mr. Murdock was selected by the Lincoln 
Land Company, an organization wliich every 
old settler will remember as having greatlv in- 
fluenced to its own profit the location and 
disposal of townsites along the lines of the 
Burlington Railroad system in the early 
history of Nebraska^ to handle the company's 
interest at Wymore. The plat of the original 
town of Wymore was filed for record in the 
office of the register of deeds at Beatrice, 
Mav 21. 1881. by which time -Mr. Murdock 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



263 



had sold twenty lots in the townsite, upon 
which buildings were being erected, and with- 
in sixty days after the recording of the plat 
there were sixty business houses and resi- 
dences erected in the new town of Wymore. 
Among the first to build were David Green- 
slate, who erected a hotel forty by forty-four 
feet, and two store buildings ; J. Pisar, a 
business house twenty by thirty feet ; J. 
Wazab, a business house twenty-four by 
thirtv-six feet: Charles Wachtel, H. M. Leach, 



of deeds May 21, 1881. It comprised a part 
of the east half of section 20; it has been 
greatly augmented by additions, the most im- 
portant of which are Ashby's Addition and 
Wyinore's Addition, on the north and west; 
Summit and Railroad Additions, on the east ; 
Hoag's, Hinkle's, and Scott's Additions, on 
the south and west. W'ith these additions the 
city now occupies a part of sections 19, 20, 29, 
and 30. 

The business district of the city is largely 




Nl.\G.\R.\ .^VEN'LE, \\ VMORE 



R. C. Welch, A. J. McClain, T. E. Cone, W. 
Shestak, J. Miles, M. H. Gow, L. W. AUgire, 
A. V. S. Saunders, David McGuire, John 
\"esley, F. R. Siltz, William Baxendale, P. 
Sullivan, H. S. Glenn, E. P. Reynolds, Sr„ 
(hotel) ; James A. Myer, E. C. Pusey, H. A. 
Greenwood. W. H. McClelland, J. Casey, G. 
W. Rummel, Washburn Brothers ( lumber 
yard) ; H. A. Kingsbury (lumber yard) ; J. S. 
Johnson, Joseph Grimes. O. J. King, J. D. 
Gallagher, J. H. Ake, George Noll, S. P. 
Lester (livery stable) ; F. J. Greer (elevator), 
and others. 

The plat of the original townsite of W'ymore 
was filed for record in the office of the register 



confined to the original townsite. Niagara 
avenue, running north to Blue Springs, is the 
])rincipal business street. It is a wide, beauti- 
ful thoroughfare, and most of the business 
houses upon it are substantial, two-story, brick 
structures. 

.\ United States government postoffice was 
established in the village of Wymore. October 
27, 1881, with George F. Walker as post- 
master. The citizens of Wymore are supplied 
with free mail delivery, employing two city 
carriers, while the rural population tributary 
to the city is reached by the free-delivery 
service of the postoffice department. 

An interesting incident in the early history 



264 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of W'yiiiore was the construction and opera- 
tion of a street-railway line from the Burling- 
ton station to the Union Pacific station at 
Blue Springs. It was a horse-car line and 
was built by E. P. Reynolds and his sons J. 
H. and Ben Reynolds, railroad contractors 
with headquarters at Wymore, who had com- 
pleted a number of contracts for the Burling- 
ton Railroad Company on the main line from 
the Missouri river to Denver. This car line 
was carried across the Burlington right-of- 
way by an overhead bridge, thirty feet in 
width, on Ashby avenue. It was ojjerated 
from 1882 till about 1892, when it was aban- 
doned. 

From the beginning Wymore grew rapidly 
in population and wealth. It was an ambi- 
tious and aggressive rival of Beatrice, the 
county seat. By 1883 it had acquired a popu- 
lation of approximately two thousand souls. 
The federal census of 1890 gave it 2420 in- 
habitants: that of 1900. 2626; and that of 
1910, 2613. In the year 1893 those who 
guided its destinies conceived it possible to 
divide Gage county and erect a new county 
out of the south half, to be known as Blaine 
county, with Wymore as its county seat. 
Proper steps were taken by these enthusiasts 
to bring the matter to a vote at the November 
elecion. A very spirited and splendid canvass 
was made by the Wymoreans. Beatrice of 
course entered warmly into the contest, and 
during the latter part of the summer and 
early fall of 1S83 a vigorous campaign was 
waged on the (|ucstion of county division. .-Xt 
the election. 1332 votes were polled for divi- 
sion and 2801 against the project. It is to 
the lasting credit of Wymore that she grace- 
fully accepted this result and, without mur- 
mur or complaint, good-naturedly has contin- 
ued to play the part of the second most im- 
portant city in the splendid county of Gage. 

On October 25, 1881, Horace A. Green- 
wood, who had formerly lived at Red Oak, 
Iowa, established the first bank in Wymore. 
The following year Benjamin Burch. his son 
John C. Burch and M. A. Southwick came 
to Wymore for the purpose of engaging in 
tlic banking business and were about to start 



a new bank when ^Ir. Greenwood sold them 
his institution and retired for the time being 
from the banking business. The Bank of J J 
Wymore, under the management of its new "' 
pioprietors, did a flourishing business for 
more than ten years, but during the great 
financial panic which began in 1893 and lasted 
for several years, the bank was forced out of 
business and passed into the hands of a re- 
ceiver. About the time the Bank of Wymore 
was purchased by the Burches and Southwick. 
a brick bank building was erected by Joseph 
R. Dodds on the corner south of the Touzalin 
Hotel, that being the first brick bank building 
in Wymore, and the Citizens Bank was estab- 
lished in it by Elisha P. Reynolds and sons. 
Some years afterward this became the proper- 
ty of Samuel Wymore and E. C. Wilcox, with 
E. C. Wilcox as cashier and as the one in 
principal charge of the bank's fortunes. About 
the time of the financial stringency above re- 
ferred to this bank liquidated its obligations 
and ceased to exist. Succeeding these two 
early ventures in banking, the First National 
Bank of Wymore was founded by Horace A. 
Greenwood and others, and, probably about 
the same time, the Farmers & Merchants Bank 
came into existence. These are both excep- 
tionally strong financial institutions for a 
town of the ]X)pulation of Wymore and each 
possesses a fine bank building. They are 
owned and conducted by men of character and 
standing in the community and meet the or- 
dinary demands for banking resources in a 
way that leaves nothing to be desired. J. A. 
Rueling is president of the First National; 
G. L. Stephenson, vice-president; John 
S. Jones, ca.shier; and D. K. Windle, assistant 
cashier. Sherman Taylor is president of the 
Farmers & Merchants Bank; W. A. Dawson, 
vice-president; F. E. LefiFerdink, ca.shier; A. 
L. Baker and C. F. Stillwell. assistant cash- 
iers. 

In addition to its banks Wymore is well 
supplied with elevators, lumber and coal yards, 
garages, hotels, implement houses, restaur- 
ants, general stores, grocery stores, hard- 
ware stores, drug stores, jewelry establish- 
ments, photograph galleries, and everv kind 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



265 



of business establishment to be found in cities 
of its population and class in the west. 

The city obtains its water from the springs 
of its nearby neighbor, Blue Springs, and 
owns its own water system. It is well lighted 
by electrical current from the Holmesville 
Mill & Power Company. 

The visitor to Wymore is always impressed 
by the extensive yards and shops of the Bur- 
lington Railroad Company, where hundreds 
of men are daily employed. The monthly dis- 
tribution of wages by the company to its 
employes at this divisional point has been a 
constant and never-failing source of prosperity 
to the business men of the city. At pres- 
ent the railroad company employes 135 men in 
its mechanical department, 371 in its operat- 
ing department, and 46 officers and clerks — a 
total of 552 employes of the Burlington Rail- 
road at Wymore. 

Xo city of its population in the state ap- 
proaches Wymore in the number, acreage and 
beauty of its public parks. The public -park 
system for the city was first agitated several 
years ago, by Hbn. A. D. IMcCandless. a 
lawyer of distinction in the Gage county bar. 
Whh intelligent persistence worthy of the 
cause, he has allowed no opportunity to pass 
for urging upon the citizens of the city 
and upon those in authority the desir- 
ability of adopting a system of public parks 
which should be more than commensurate with 
the immediate needs and resources of the city. 
Great success has crowned his unselfish and 
altruistic efforts. To his credit, and to the 
credit of those associated with him in his 
fine, patriotic labor, there are now eight pulj- 
lic parks in the city of Wymore. They are 
as designated in the following paragraphs. 

Arbor State Park consists of thirty-three 
acres of land in the northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 20, formerly known as the old Fair 
Ground. It was named Arbor State Park 
"in recognition of the loyalty of the Arbor 
■ State newspaper to the interests and upbuild- 
ing of the city of Wymore in the past quarter 
of a centur}% and of the editor of said paper 
for his years of faithful service as the high- 
est office in said city, and his zealous work 
for the park system of said city." 



McCandless Park comprises blocks 25 and 
26 of Ashby's Addition to the city of Wymore, 
with the street lying between the two blocks, 
which was vacated in order to become a part 
of the park. It was named in honor of A. D. 
McCandless and in recognition of his success- 
ful work in planning and securing an attrac- 
tive public parking system for the city. 

Furnas Park consists of the south half of 
block 8 and the north half of block 9 in the 
original town of Wymore and the street lying 
between these two parcels of land, which was 
vacated by the city council for the purpose 
of being added to the park. 

Rawlings Park is block 31 of the original 
town of Wymore and bears the name of 
Rawlings Park in recognition of one of its 
most prominent and enterprising citizens, M. 
L. Rawlings, who has served three terms as 
mayor of the city of Wymore and has been 
otherwise active and useful for many years in 
the affairs of the city. 

Riverside Park lies on the east bank of the 
Big Blue river, between the wagon road on 
Bennett street and the Burlington Railroad 
bridge across the river. 

Horseshoe Park lies south of Indian creek 
and west of what is known as the Marysville 
road, and is the property of the Lincoln Land 
Company. 

High School Park is that portion of the 
high-school grounds which has been incor- 
porated into the parking system of Wymore. 

Taylor Park comprises a considerable tract 
of ground lying north and west of the right- 
of-way of the Burlington Railroad Company, 
ill the immediate neighborhood of the depot 
building. 

In 1916 the public-spirited citizens of Wy- 
more began agitation for a free public library. 
Application was made to the great philan- 
thropist, Andrew Carnegie, for an appropria- 
tion out of his many millions for the erection 
of a library building. This magnanimous 
builder of libraries readily donated to the city 
the sum of $10,000 to be used exclusively for 
a building, on condition that a suitable site 
be furnished by the citizens of Wymore and 
that the city authorities should annually levy 
a public tax sufficient to sustain the library. 



266 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



These conditions have been fully complied 
with. The library is located on the southeast 
corner of block 26 of Wymore's Addition, 
immediately west of Neuman's store, on the 
southeast corner of the block. The plans and 
specifications were furnished by Richard W. 
Grant, architect, of Beatrice, and at this writ- 
in<( the building is complete except for the 
placing of a furnace. 

The first Episcopal church service was held 
in Wymore by Rev. T. O'Connell. in what is 
known as the Honeymoon school-house, in 
the fall of 1881. In March, 1884, a service 
was held by the Rev. C. L. Fulforth. rector 
of the Episcopal church at Beatrice, at which 



this being dedicated as a house of worship, 
by Bishop Worthington, April 15, 1889. The 
church has grown in strengfth and usefulness 
from the first day and is today one of the 
live, virile religious organizations of the city. 
The parish of St. Mary"s Catholic church 
was established in 1882, a pastoral residence 
l:)eing erected that year and later a frame 
church building. The priest first in charge 
was the Rev. A. C. Rausch, who continued 
his labors until 1889, when the Rev. J. C. 
P'reeman tooK charge ; he remained at the 
head of the parish until his death, in 1915. 
He was succeeded by Father D. J. Cronin, 
who is now in charge of the parish. 




preliminary steps were taken for the organiza- 
tion of a parish in Wymore. .\ petition was 
prepared and was addressed to the bishop of 
the diocese, requesting such action. It was 
signed by eighteen persons, of whom eight 
were communicants of the church. This re- 
quest was granted, and on August 1", 1884. 
the parish was organized under the name of 
St. Luke's. On the following 13th day of 
September, with Bishop Worthington officiat- 
ing, the holy communion service of the church 
was celebrated for the first time in \\"ymorc. 
A mission organization was adopted, with 
Richard Whitten as warden. On the 10th 
day of October, 1888, steps were taken to- 
ward the building of a church by the congre- 
gation. A lot for that purpose was donated 
by the Lincoln Land Company, the Bishop 
contributed $800 and a building was erected. 



The Catholic organization owns fine church 
lirojierties in Wymore, consisting of an entire 
block of ground adjoining the high-school 
lilock. upon which is situated the church build- 
ing antl a new pastoral residence, of two 
stories. 

The Christian church was organized in 1887. 
by Elder Bear, of Tecumseh. the services first 
being held in Brownwell Hall and other places. 
In 1896 the present church edifice was erected. 
Services are regularly maintained by the 
church and the organization is an active factor 
in the social and religious life of the city. 

The first church, organized in Wymore was 
the Missionary Baptist church. The organ- 
ization took place September 14, 1881. Ser- 
vices were maintained at various places in the 
city until 1886. when the congregation built 
a frame church building, under the pastorate 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



267 



of Rev. A. H. Law. This building was after- 
ward sold, and the Baptists acquired by pur- 
chase their present church, from the Congre- 
gationalists. 

Since its organization a good Sunday school 
has been maintained and the regT.dar services 
of the church have gone constantly forward. 
The membership of this church is (|uite strong 
and it is an influential factor in the life of the 
city. 

About 1907 the Calvanistic Welsh church 
\vas organized in Wymore. .\ building was 
purchased and moved to its present location, 
where it was fitted up as a house of worship. 



at her suggestion, a subscription list was start- 
ed for funds to be used in purchasing a suit- 
able site for a church building. The sum of 
one hundred dollars was immiediately sub- 
scribed by her and her children and subscrip- 
tions continued to be taken until enough 
money was on hand to purchase a lot and a 
half in the most desirable residence portion in 
the city of Wymore on which to erect a church 
building, where the present splendid house of 
worship now stands. A movement was then 
started to secure enough money by subscrip- 
tion to erect a church edifice. Plans and 
specifications were supplied by the Methodist 




First B.m'Tist Church, Wymore 



A Sunday school and church services have 
since been regvdarly maintained. 

The Free Methodist church has had an ex- 
istence in Wymore since 1887, maintaining a 
pastor the most of the time and its organiza- 
tion all the time. It has a new frame church 
building, located in the northwest part of the 
city. 

The Methodist Episcopal church was or- 
ganized in Wymore July 20, 1883, with the 
Rev. C. M. Hollopeter as pastor. The church 
services and Sunday school were first held in 
Livsey's Opera House, later in the Xewbranch 
Hall and in what is now known as the Baptist 
church. The first effort to secure a church 
building came from Mrs. William Winter, in 
1S8.T. .\t a family gathering at which lier 
seven sons and two daughters were present, 



Church E.xtension Society and approved by 
the local board of trustees for a structure to 
cost approximately six thousand dollars. The 
building was begun in 1888 and in the follow- 
ing year it was completed, and dedicated, by 
Bishop Joyce, to the worship of God. In- 
cluding the grounds, the property cost about 
thirteen thousand dollars. A considerable in- 
debtedness rested upon the church, which ac- 
cumulated during the hard times following 
1893. until it finally amounted to $4,700. He- 
roic efTorts were made by the pastor in charge, 
the Rev. .\. B. \\'hitmer, to secure through 
subscriptions a sum of money sufficient to 
litiuidate this indebtedness. He was aided by 
Dr. Huntington, the presiding elder of the 
church, and at a meeting in 1900, in the pres- 
ence of a large and rejoicing congregation, it 



268 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



fell to the lot of the Rev. John \V. Swan to 
commit to the flames the mortgage which had 
hitlierto rested upon the property. 

Since that date tiie church has erected on 
lots adjoining the church property, which it 
purchased from R. W. Laflin. a fine parsonage, 
which cost $4,250. Thus through years of 
toil, patience, sacrifice and self-denial, the 
Methodists of \\'ymore liave succeeded in se- 
curing a beautiful and permanent church 
building and a roomy, homelike parsonage. 
The congregation is large and in a flourishing 
condition. Since Dr. Hollopeter's time, the 
following named ministers have served the 



McClelland was elected its director. He pro- 
ceeded at once to take an enumeration of the 
district and, incidentally, a census of the pop- 
ulation. On March 17, 1882, he reported the 
number of families then in Wymore to be 224 ; 
number of inhabitants, 1,280; and number of 
children of school age, 375. 

The schools of Wymore have flourished 
from the beginning and the liljeral-minded 
citizens of the city have seen to it that ample 
school facilities were available. The city now 
possesses two brick ward-school buildings of 
two rooms each, and a handsome, two-story, 
brick high-school building, containing ten 




church: O. P. Light, C. \V. Abbott. A. B. 
Whitmer, E. F. Gates, and O. T. VVinslow. 

In the neighborhood of section 16, Wymore 
township, are found two attractive countrv 
churches, as shown on page 269. 

In the fall of 1881, a subscription school 
was started in Wymore, with Miss Ormsbv 
and Miss Mitchell as teachers. The school 
was held in Johnson's Hall, but as this proved 
too small to accommodate the attendance, an- 
other room was secured, and S. B. Bowdish 
was employed as principal. 

Early in 1882 steps were taken to detach 
Wymore and its additions from the Blue 
Springs school district, and in March of that 
year the city of Wymore was erected into a 
separate school district and numbered 114. 
On the organization of the district. W. H. 



rooms. The district employs seventeen teach- 
ers and the high school offers a four years' 
course of study, with normal training. The 
pupils enrolled in the schools of Wvmore num- 
ber 683. 

The social and benevolent orders of Wy- 
more include: Coleman Post, No. 115, De- 
partment of Nebraska Grand Army of the Re- 
public, organized at Wymore October 7, 1882, 
and ever since remaining in good standing; 
Coleman's Women's Relief Corps, No. 65, De- 
partment of Nebraska, organized at Wymore 
June 12, 1888, and ever since maintaining its 
good standing; .\ncient Free and .Accepted 
Ma.sons. organized .'\pril 19, 1883; Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 105, installed 
February 8. 1883; Rebekah Lodge, No. 69, 
organized September 23, 1891 ; Abergeldie 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



269 



Castle, No. 34, Royal Highlanders : and the 
usual number of fraternal and benevolent or- 
ders in cities of the population of Wymore. 

So rapid has been the growth of Wymore 
from the beginning that at a very early period 
of its history the necessity for some form of 
municipal government had become verv ob- 
vious. With characteristic energT and fore- 



ation of Wymore as a village under this stat- 
ute and suggesting as suitable persons for vil- 
lage officials E. Hutchins to be mayor ; W. H. 
Ashby, clerk; E. C. Wilcox, treasurer; George 
W. Mechling, police judge; Ben Reynolds, en- 
gineer; C. F. Washburn and E. C. Pusey, 
councilmen for the first ward, and S. S. Dar- 
ling and A. J. Davis, councilmen for the sec- 





Two RuR.\i. Churches ne.\r Wymore 



sight, a movement was inaugurated early in 
1882, almost within a year after the founding 
of the city, to effect village organization under 
the statute which then provided that all unin- 
corporated towns and villages in Nebraska 
having over two hundred and less than fifteen 
hundred inhabitants might be incorporated as 
villages. On the 22d day of June, 1882, a peti- 
tion was filed before the board of commission- 
ers of Gage county, praying for the incorpor- 



ond ward. The prayer of this petition was 
readily granted by the county commissioners 
and these recommendations approved. The 
organization of Wymore as a village, under 
the law, immediately followed. 

\"illage government was continued in Wy- 
more until 1884, when it was incorporated as 
a city of the second class, having more than 
fifteen hundred and less than twenty-five thou- 
sand population, as provided by law. The 



270 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



first city officials were: Daniel McGuire, 
mayor; Thomas D. Cobbey, clerk; E. C. Wil- 
cox, treasurer: A. D. McCandless, city attor- 
ney; W. H. Carmichael. marshal; James Pas- 
co, engineer; J. M. Tout and O. P. New- 
branch, councilmen for first ward. and. after 
the resignation of Xewbranch, S. H. Craig; 
for the second ward. E. Snuffin and D. H. 
Schmitz. 

W'ymore appears to have always been an in- 
viting field for newspaper men. In May. 1879, 



Hotel, where later the Citizens bank was es- 
tablished. On the 12th day of May, 1882, 
from the basement of this old building. Mr. 
Dodds sent forth the first issue of the W'ymore 
Eagle. In the fall of that year he purchased 
from .Ashby & Scott the Gage County Leader, 
a newspaper which had been founded shortly 
after Murdock had brought the Reporter to 
W'ymore. and this he consolidated with the 
Eagle. A little later he merged both names 
into the Demoerat. bearing the following leg- 



I 

I 




Charles M. MurdtKk had established at Pilue 
Springs a newspaper called the Reporter, 
largely as an advertising medium for the sale 
of real estate, but on the 22d day of June, 
1881, he removed his printing establishment 
to W'ymore. and thereafter for many years the 
W'ymore Reporter was an important factor in 
the settlement and development of the citv. 
This was the first newspaper in W'ymore. In 
May, 1881, Joseph R. Dodds. a veteran of the 
Civil war. came from Burlington. Iowa, to W'v- 
more and became immediately active in its 
aflfairs. He erected the two-story, brick build- 
ing on the corner of Nebraska street and IJhic 
River avenue, directlv south of the Touzalin 



end : "W'ymore and Blue Springs." Before 
his death, he ceased publishing the Demoerat 
and began the publication of the Arbor State. 
This bright, newsy paper is now both a daily 
anfl a weekly, and is owned and ably edited 
by J. W. Ellingham. In 1882. with Benjamin 
Burch. his son John C. Burch, and W'. H 
Southwick, John A. W^eaver. a practical new.s- 
paper man, came to W'ymore from Red Oak, 
Iowa. In conjunction with the younger 
Burch he established, the ll'ymorean. a week- 
ly newspaper, which has had a continuous ex- 
istence from the date of its founding and 
which is well established, with a circulation 
exceeding two thousand copies. For thirty 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



271 



years it has been very ably conducted by 
its present owner and publisher, J. M. Burn- 
ham. 

Wymore is a city of many beautiful homes. 
The residence district lies west of Niagara 
avenue and is reached from the business dis- 
trict by ascending- a gentle slope. It over- 
looks the beautiful valley of the Big Blue 
river on the north, east and south, and the 



valleys of Bills creek and Big Indian creek 
toward the west, and from almost every point 
presents a pleasing landscape. At an early 
day Elisha P. Reynolds and his sons, J. H. 
and Benjamin erected fine residences in this 
part of the city, and many others have since 
been erected. Here also are located the beau- 
tiful high-school grounds and a number of the 
churches. 



CHAPTER XXV 

INCORPORATED \ILLAGES 

Adams — Barneston — Clatonia — Cortlanu — Filley — Liberty — Odell — 

PiCKRELL — Virginia 



ADAMS 

As early as 1S67 a postoflRce was estab- 
lished in Adams township, called Laona. 
John Lyons was the first postmaster, the post- 
ofiRce being at his home, a mile and one-half 
west of the present town of Adams. In 1873 
the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad Company 
built its line of railway through Adams town- 
shijj from Atchison to Lincoln, and in May 
of that year Julin O. Adams, in conjunction 
with the railroad company, laid ofT the south 
half of the northeast quarter of section 27, 
into a townsite and it was named Adams. 
Village organization was deferred until March 
10, 1892. The first board of village trustees 
comprised the following well known residents 
of that place, namely: Frank E. \\'hvman, 
Henry H. Norcross, W. C. Garrison^ Na- 
thaniel C. Shaw, and William C. Gray. They 
were duly qualified for office by James B. 
Shaw, justice of the peace. F. E. Whyman 
was elected first chairman of the village board, 
W. C. Gray the first secretar)-, and H. L. Wat- 
son was appointed the first marshal of Adams. 
One of the first ordinances passed prohibited 
''the sale, giving away, delivering or furnish- 
mg in any manner any spirituous, malt, vin- 
ous or intoxicating liquors within the village," 
an ordinance which has stood intact from the 
beginning. The open saloon never found a 
place to conduct business in Adams. 

The town of Adams has flourished from the 
beginning. It was supported by an unusually 
intelligent, progressive and loyal class of citi- 
zens. Amongst them the \\'hyman family, who 
came overland from western Pennsylvania. 



consisting of the parents and twelve children ; 
the Adams family and the Shaw family, of 
whom mention has already been made in this 
work in the chapter on the early settlers in 
this county; the Silas Bryson family, who 
came from Ohio by boat down the Ohio river 
and up the Mississippi and Missouri, consist- 
ing of the parents and fourteen robust sons 
and daughters, who have contributed ably to 
the making of the state of Nebraska; Wil- 
liam Curtis, who was the fourteenth man to 
make homestead entry at the Brownville land 
ofiice, and his family; H. J. Merrick, who is 
a veteran of the Civil war and who has proved 
a force in the upbuilding of the village; Byron 
P. Zuver, Stephen Disher, John Lyons, George 
and Alfred Gage, L. R. Horrum and his son. 
Dr. J. W. McKibbin, and many other resi- 
dents of the town of Adams and vicinity. 

In 1874 John O. Adams, the founder of the 
village, and William Curtis, built the first 
grain elevator, and Curtis the first store build- 
ing erected in Adams. In 1874 a postoffice 
was established at Adams. Mrs. Hannah 
Noxon, who had been postmistress at Laona, 
was appointed postmistress and for many 
years she occupied that position, in a manner 
highly satisfactory to all patrons of the office, 
maintaining at the same time a general store 
in connection with the ofifice. In 1880 J. H. 
Spellman erected a store building and put in 
a complete stock of goods. He continued 
business in this building for thirty years. In 
1880 L. R. Hornun, who had taken a home- 
stead near Adams in 1868, working in the 
meantime at his trade as a harnessmaker in 



272 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



273 



connection with his farm work, built a harness 
shop in Adams, and this he conducted until 
his death, in 1913, the business still being car- 
ried on by his son, George Horrum. The se- 
nior Horrum built the first brick business 
house in Adams- Dr. J. W. McKibbin, the first 
resident physician of Adams, located in the 
village in 1881, and has been in constant prac- 
tice of his profession here since that time. 

Early in the history of Adams, H. J. Mer- 
rick organized a patrons' cooperative com- 
pany, with a capital stock of five hundred dol- 
lars, its object being the conducting of a gen- 
eral merchandise business. Stephen Disher 
became president of the company ; H. J. Mer- 
rick, secretary ; B. P. Zuver, manager. This 
was the pioneer business of Adams, it being 
established in June, 1874. From it has de- 
veloped the Tourtelot-Barber Company, which 
conducts one of the best general stores any- 
where to be found in a village of seven hun- 
dred inhabitants, the present population of 
Adams. 

The grain business has been an active in- 
dustry at Adams from the moment the rail- 
road came. Many individuals and companies 
had helped develop it until finally the Cen- 
tral Granaries Company obtained control of 
the business. In 1908 this company sold its 
elevator to the Farmers Elevator Company, 
incorporated, with a capital stock of $10,000, 
held by two hundred fanners and business 
men of Adams and adjacent territory. J. B. 
Zuver was its first president, J. W. Campbell 
its first secretary, and J. B. Zuver its manager. 
The officers at present are: H. J. Merrick, 
president : Henry Bable, secretary ; and J. B. 
Zuver, manager; capital and surplus, $40,000. 

In 1905 VV. E. Bryson and J. E. Miller 
erected a large, first-class flouring and feed 
mill, which was later sold to the Nebraska 
Corn Products Company, and w'as dismantled, 
the machinery being removed and the building 
sold to the Farmers Elevator Company. 

The lumber business first operated at 
Adams was known as the Chicago Lumber 
Company, with A. Pluyser, manager. This 
company was succeeded about 1880 by the 
Stewart, Chute Lumber Company and others. 



including M. J. Mitten, who is now engaged 
in that business. 

The first bank at Adams was a private bank, 
owned by Messrs. Holber & Bauer, who began 
business in 1884. It was followed by the State 
Bank of Adams, in 1889 ; capital stock, 
$10,000. The board of directors under the 
original charter comprised W. P. Norcross, 
H. J. Merrick, J. W. McKibbin, B. P. Zuver, 
J. H. Spellman, W. W. Barnhouse, W. E. 
Bryson ; — Norcross, president ; McKibbin, 
vice-president ; and Merrick, cashier. March 
1, 1902, the controlling interest was purchased 
by C. S. Black and L. B. Howey, of the First 
National Bank of Beatrice, and F. B. Draper, 
of Lincoln, Nebraska, W. P. and H. H. Nor- 
cross retiring. Mr. Black became president 
and' Mr. Draper the cashier, the capital stock 
being increased to $15,000. Directors: Black, 
Draper, Howey, Merrick, Barnhouse, McKib- 
bin, and Bryson. In 1908 the bank was re- 
organized as the First National Bank, with a 
capital of $25,000. The former officers and 
board of directors were retained. The insti- 
tution is a depositary of the Federal Reserve 
Bank. 

In 1908 the Farmers' State Bank was or- 
ganized, with a capital stock of $25,000. 
President, G. W. Meeker; vice-president, W. 
E. Bryson; cashier, Frank O'Neal. After 
some changes in management, a controlling 
interest of the capital stock was purchased, 
in 1917, by Mr. Christiansen and Frank M. 
Stapleton. Stapleton being the cashier and A. 
M. Replogle the vice-president. 

The bank known as the Adams State Bank 
was organized with a capital stock of $20,000. 
Officers and directors : Chris Hennies, presi- 
dent ; Frank Schoen, vice-president ; Frank 
Grammann, cashier; F. H. Hennies, August 
Hoehne, Adolph Hoehne, Thale Tholen, di- 
rectors. The three banks here named are all 
in flourishing condition, which indicates a 
prosperous and wealthy community. 

In the spring of 1859, Mrs. Hannah Hicks 
Shaw invited the settlers with their children 
to meet at her home to study the Bible. A 
dozen of all ages responded. The older ones 
were taught by Miss Phoebe Gale, daughter 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEBRASICA. 



of George Gale, and the younger by Mrs. 
W. W. Silvernail ( Rebbecca Shaw). Mrs. 
Shaw then visited Nebraska City and ob- 
tained second-hand Sunday-school supplies 
from Mr. W. L. Boydston, of the Methodist 
church of that place. From this lively root 
have sprung all the religious activities of 
Adams township. In 1861 D. H. Wheeler, 
representing the American Sunday School 
L'nion, came to the township for the purpose 
of establishing a Sunday school, but he found 
the work already advanced and in good 
hands. In 1861 and 1862 the school was held 
at a new school house in district No. 2, old 
Clay county, but continuing under the superin- 
tcndency of Mrs. Shaw. In 1866 the school 
was held in a log house on what was known 
as Chanibers' farm, and afterward at ' the 
Disher farm, now owned by S. B. Fraper; the 
superintendent was William Curtis. It was 
afterward held in a bam recently built by 
John Lyons, and in 1868 and 1869 again was 
held in the school house of district No. 2. In 
1870 school district No. 30 was organized and 
a dug-out school-house was made on the land 
now a part of Adams village. In this place 
Matthew Weaverling (afterward, for three 
terms, county superintendent of schools of 
Gage county) taught the first school in that 
district. In 1871 a new frame building was 
erected one-half mile west of what is now the 
village of Adams and the Sunday school was 
transferred to it, where it remained until 1882, 
when it was transferred to the newly built 
Methodist Episcopal church, on the present 
high-school grounds in the village of Adams. 

This had been a union Sunday school until 
this time, when the Presbyterians withdrew to 
their own newly built church, and organized 
as a denominational school, with W. C. Gray 
as superintendent. The remainder organized 
as a Methodist Episcopal school, with Silas 
Bryson as superintendent. In the early '70s 
the Baptists organized a Sunday school in 
school district No. 2, with J. H. Lynch and 
Charles Whyman as principal supporters. 

The first semion preached in Adams town- 
ship was by Z. B. Tnnnan, at the home of 
Stephen and Hannah Shaw, in November, 



1859, followed in 1860 by Rev. Kindall, both 
Methodists. From this time until 1867 Rev. 
Luther Gibbs, a Baptist homesteader, served 
the people. In that year Rev. Leroy F. Britt, 
Methodist minister of Tecumseh, preached 
during the summer, and organized a class of 
seven persons, namely : William Curtis, Silas 
Br}'son, Mrs. Clara Brj'son, Mrs. Almira 
Lyons, Mrs. Letitia Adams, Mrs. Harriet 
Adcuns, Mrs. Robert Howard. Robert How- 
ard was appointed leader. In 1868 Silas Bry- 
son was elected leader, with Rev. George 
Paddock pastor in charge. In 1869-1870, 
Rev. A. L. Folden and Rev. J. H. Presson were 
pastors in charge, followed, in 1872, by T. A. 
Hull. In 1873-1874 J. II. Presson ; 1875, H. P. 
Mann ; 1876, N. W. Van Orsdal ; 1877, T. A. 
Hull, who died in his chair while holding ser- 
vices in the Hooker school house ; 1878, H. A. 
S. King; 1879, G. W. Walker: 1881, Isaac 
New — all were pastors of theMethodist con- 
gregation. Within these years the first 
Methodist Episcopal church was built and the 
congregation thereafter was served by J. W. 
Taylor, in 1883; B. C. Phillips, 1884-1885; J. 
S. brr, 1886; M. C. Smith. 1887-1891; A. L. 
Folden, 1891 to 1894; J. J. Stannard, 1894- 
1898: Duke Slavins. 1899-1902. when the new 
church was built, at a cost of $10,000. 

Rev. Mr. \\harton. a missionary Baptist, 
organized a church in 1869, with J. H. Lynch 
and wife, Charles Whyman and family, and 
others as its supporters. 

The First Presbyterian Church was organ- 
ized February' 22, 1880, by Rev. George L. 
Little, of Omaha, assisted by Rev. A. B. Irwin, 
of Beatrice. William A. Gray and F. G. Dick- 
inson were chosen as ruling elders. This 
church, in connection with its Sunday school, 
Christian Endeavor and other organized ac- 
tivities, has been a directive force in the de- 
velopment of the moral uplift of the commun- 
ity. Rev. W. I. Boole is the present pastor. 

The Freewill Baptists and the Christian 
church each has an active organization, with 
Sunday schools and Christian Endeavor so- 
cieties in connection therewith. 

The following named societies were early 
organized in Adams : Independent Order of 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



275 



Odd Fellows, Ancient Free & Accepted Ma- 
sons, Grand Army of the Republic, Women's 
Relief Corps, Sons of Veterans, Woodmen of 
the \\'orld. Royal Highlanders, Independent 
Order of Good Templars, and others. 

In November, 1905, the village board of 
trustees granted to E. J. Shaw and his suc- 
cessors, or assigns, the right to install an elec- 
tric light and power plant, and this has been 
in constant operation since that date. In 1915 
the village acquired control of this plant, en- 
larged its capacity and placed it on a modern 
basis, since which time it has been giving its 
patrons the best of service. 

The Adams Gasette, Volume I, No. 1, was 
issued March 25, 1886, by W. H. Fitzgerald, 
and this was the beginning of newspaper en- 
terprise in Adams. The paper soon passed 
into the hands of Mr. Snyder, who continued 
this publication until 1892, when M. D. Hor- 
hani became editor and proprietor. In 1907 
the present owner and publisher, E. W. Var- 
ner, purchased the plant and he has given to 
Adams and vicinity probably the best weekly 
newspaper now published in Gage county. 

This brief summan,' of the origin, business 
interests, religious and social life of Adams 
was prepared in the main by Hon. Homer J. 
Merrick, whose life has been so long identi- 
fied with the community of which he writes, 
and it modestly omits extended reference to 
the citizens of Adams and the country tribu- 
tary to it. It is no exaggeration, nor is it ful- 
some praise, to state that no community in our 
county is more distinguished as possessing a 
large intellectual life and all those qualities 
and attributes of character which go to make 
up a loyal, enterprising and wholly reliable 
citizenship than the one of which he writes. 

BARNESTON 

The village of Barneston, one of the inter- 
esting and pretty villages of southern Gage 
county, stands on historic ground. It em- 
Ijraces within its boundaries the site of the 
ancient village of the Otoe Indians and their 
agency buildings, a location which serves as a 
perpetual reminder to the old settlers and their 
descendants of the original inhabitants of 



Gage county. Bameston is located on the 
Union Pacific Railway line from Valley, Ne- 
braska, to Manhattan, Kansas, via Lincoln 
and Beatrice. It is named for Francis M. 
Barnes, who was a member of the original 
townsite company and who was affiliated by 
marriage with the Otoe Indian tribe, his wife- 
being a half-blood Indian woman, a daughter 
of Andrew Drips. Mrs. Barnes was born 
November 15, 1827, in Bellevue, Nebraska, 
where her father was stationed as a repre- 
.sentative of the American Fur Company. She 
was educated at the Convent of the Visitation, 
at Kaskaskia, Illinois, and in 1856, at Kansas 
City, Missouri, she became the wife of Fran- 
cis M. Barnes. In 1859 they moved to the 
Territory of Nebraska, and later they settled 
near the Otoe and Missouri Indians in Gage 
county. As far as known, Mrs. Barnes is the 
oldest living native born Nebraskan. 

The townsite of Barneston comprises the 
greater portion of the northwest quarter of 
section 18, township 1 north, range 8 east, 
while West Barneston, an addition to the 
original town, lies in the northeast quarter of 
section 13, township 1 north, range 7 east, 
where the railway line, sidetracks and station 
are located. The owners of the original town- 
site were F. AI. Barnes, of Barneston; H. R. 
W. Hartwig, of St. Joseph, Missouri; I. N. 
Speer, of Hiawatha, Kansas : and H. L. 
Ewing, John Ellis, Charles O. Bates, and Al- 
fred Hazlett, of Beatrice, Nebraska. The plat 
of the town of Barneston was filed in the of- 
fice of the register of deeds of Gage county. 
May 17, 1884. The plat of West Barneston 
was filed on August 3, 1883. The larger por- 
tion of the business establishments of the 
village and nearly the entire residence district 
are in the original town of Barneston, which 
is a part of Liberty township. Some years 
ago, however, the county board annexed the 
quarter section on which the town is located 
to Barneston township for voting and other 
administrative purposes. 

The surroundings of the village are roman- 
tically beautiful. Near by on the north is 
Wolf creek, a living, well timbered stream, 
and on the south is beautiful Plum creek, a 



276 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



never-failing stream of water. Towards the 
west is the Big Blue river, and on every hand 
what was once a rolling prairie now shows 
cultivated, highly improved, thrifty farms. 
It is to the eastern part of the old Indian res- 
ervation what (')(lell is to the western part, 
■with this dilTerence, that about Barneston 
clings the romance of another race. 

As early as 1873 there was a trading post at 
the Indian village where Barneston is now 
located. That year F. M. Barnes opened a 
store with a general stock of goods, near the 
agency biiihlings, which he maintained until 
the Indians removed to Indian Territory' (now 
Oklahoma), in 1881. In 1882, prior to the 
founding of Banieston village, he again estab- 
lished a store at this point, to accommodate 
land seekers and the early settlers on that part 
of the old Otoe and Missouri Indian reserva- 
tion. The first merchant in Barneston after 
it was surveyed and platted was Patrick Raw- 
ley, who conducted a general merchandise 
store there until 1910; he now lives at Falls 
City. Nebraska. ITe was soon followed by A. 
G. Keyes, with a hardware store. The first 
district school-teacher at Barneston was a man 
named Harris. In 1883 he taught a school in 
the old Indian school building, a structure 
fifty by ninety feet, two stories in height. 
This building was located on the quarter-sec- 
tion of land just east of Bameston. It was 
erected by the United States government for 
the education of the Indian youths and maid- 
ens of the Otoe and Missouri Indian villages, 
and some years ago it was destroyed by fire. 

The school district of Bameston was or- 
ganized November 22, 1883, at the residence 
of William Tauer. and it has since been 
known as district No. 116. The Bameston 
district possesses at ])resent a frame, two- 
story school house and the school district em- 
ploys four teachers, with an enrollment of ap- 
proximately ninety pupils. The course of 
study includes only two years of high-school 
work. Recently the district has been greatly 
augmented by being consolidated with districts 
Nos. 119. 121, 177, 136. and 137 into a county 
high school, with approximately one hundred 
and fifty pupils. It is planned to erect for the 



consolidated district a new school building in 
the village of Bameston, at a probable cost 
of $40,000, and when this building is com- 
pleted there will be installed, with the usual 
grades, a high school providing four years' 
work. 

A United States postofifice was early estab- 
lished in Barneston, with F. M. Barnes as the 
first postmaster. Those who have succeeded 
him are A. G. Keyes, Edwin Huddert, Jesse 
C. Wyatt, and Bertha Hablitzle, the present 
incumbent. Rural free delivery of mail is 
maintained at Bameston, the ser\-ice now be- 
ing performed by a single carrier. 

The first physician in Barneston was Dr. 
C. S. Smith, who remained three years. Those 
who have followed him were Drs. Hinton, J. 
I. Gumaer. J. L. Kirby. U. D. Stone. G. W. 
Strough, F. J. Bachle, and F. J. Woods. All 
abandoned the field but Dr. \\'oods, who has 
pursued his calling in Bameston and vicinity 
so many years and so successfully that he has 
become not only a professional but a social and 
political force. 

.\bout the year 1884 James Craig opened 
a private bank in Bameston and he continued 
in business there until 1890. He was succeed- 
ed by the Bank of Bameston, incorporated, 
about 1890, by F. M. Rames and C. M. War- 
ren, of Bameston ; John Ellis, Horace L. 
Ewing. W. F. King, and Harriet Ewing. of 
Beatrice: and W. Q. Bell, of Lincoln. Ne- 
braska. This banking institution is still in 
existence, and is owned and officered by J. A. 
Spencer, president, and A. D. Spencer, cash- 
ier. Since 1903 the banking business at 
Barneston has been shared with the Commer- 
cial State Bank of that village. J. M. Howe is 
the president, and Henry Monfelt the cashier 
of the Commercial State Bank. Both banking 
institutions are in a flourishing condition. 

In addition to the banks, Barneston has two 
general stores, a dmg store, hardware store, 
grocer)- store, two restaurants, a hotel, two 
garages, a blacksmith shop, barber shop, lum- 
ber and coal yard, pump and plumbing estab- 
lishment, two elevators, a meat market, and 
such other business concerns as one would ex- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



277 



pect to find in a village of like size and char- 
acter. 

The benevolent and other orders of the 
village consist of a lodge of the Ancient Free 
& Accepted Masons, Chapter of the Eastern 
Star, camp of the Modern Woodmen of 
America, and organizations of the Royal 
Neighbors and Royal Highlanders. 

In 1889 the Presbyterians erected a fairly 
good church building in Barneston, at a cost 
of $1,200, and they have since maintained a 
church organization in the village. The 
Catholics also have an organization there, 
their church edifice having been erected in 
1892, at a cost of $1,800. 

By the census of 1910, Barneston was given 
228 inhabitants. Its population at present 
( 1918) is approximately 300. In general ap- 
pearance Barneston is a very neat, pretty, at- 
tractive town. Its business men are active, 
accommodating and public-spirited. Barnes- 
ton has furnished members of the legislature. 
Hon. A. D. Spenser having served in both 
Ijranches of that body. 

Among those who have been prominent in 
shaping the destiny of Barneston and in the 
management of its affairs are F. M. Barnes, 
W. P. Wyatt, Matthew Weaverling, C. W. 
Warren, George Pace, A. L. Cook, Patrick 
Rawley, James Ryan, William Tauer, Joseph 
Guittard, Jesse C. Wyatt, Julius Vogel, A. G. 
Keyes, G. D. Barr)', William Monfelt, A. D., 
Hugh, and j. A. Spencer, Edward Huddert, 
S. S. Ratcliff. Timothy Rawley, Dennis Sulli- 
van. James Maliscky, John Wolken, Lon Tur- 
ner, Harry Zook, John Anderson, Frederick 
Barnes, Jacob Gutbrot, and F. J. Woods. 

CLATONIA 

Tucked away in the northwest corner of the 
county is the substantial village of Clatonia, 
located on a creek of that name, in Clatonia 
township. The original townsite comprises a 
forty-acre tract, in sections 22 and 27. Henry 
Albert and J. PI. Steinmeyer, both highly es- 
teemed pioneer residents of the county, were 
the proprietors of Clatonia, and having caused 
the townsite to be sur\'eyed and platted in the 
spring of 1892, they filed the plat for record in 



the office of the register of deeds, December 3. 
1893. Some additions have been made to Cla- 
tonia and the townsite now includes about 
eighty acre§ of land. It is a station on the 
main line of the Rock Island Railway from 
Chicago to Denver, via Omaha, Lincoln, and 
Jansen. It is about twenty miles northwest of 
Beatrice and about the same distance south- 
west of Lincoln. Prior to the construction of 
this line of railroad and the founding of Cla- 
tonia the farmers of this section were without 
immediate market facilities for the produce of 
their lands, and Clatonia township and other 
portions of the northwest corner of the county 
divided their trade with Cortland, DeWitt, 
Wilber, and Crete; but since the founding of 
the village, that scope of country has been 
given an excellent market. 

Trains began operating on the railway line 
in May, 1903, and Clatonia quickly grew into 
a thriving country village. It was incorporated 
as a village about 1893, with one of its 
founders, J. H. Steinmeyer, as chairman of 
the village board, and J. I. Moore as clerk. 
At present the village board is composed of 
the following well known Clatonians : E. J. 
Chittenden, president; J. E. McCormick, 
clerk ; and C. A. Miller, j ■ H. Meyer, and H. 
Suders. 

The first family to establish a residence in 
the village was that of Frank W. Jones, and 
Mr. Jones was also Clatonia's first postmaster. 
The first merchant in Clatonia was a Mr. Jac- 
quith. The first child born in the village was 
Gladys Berkheimer. The first church was the 
German Methodist Episcopal, an organization 
which as early as 1871 had erected a church 
building on the tract of land which afterward 
became Clatonia. In 1903 the English-speak- 
ing Methodists organized a church and erected 
a house of worship. 

About 1893 John H. and William Stein- 
meyer organized the Farmers' Bank of Cla- 
tonia. and about 1900 erected a substantial, 
brick, bank building, which it now occupies. 
Henry Albert is now president of this bank; 
J. H. Steinmeyer, vice-president; and E. J. 
Chittenden, cashier. Later the Steinmeyers 
built a substantial village inn, and in 1894 J. 



278 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



H. Steinmeyer built a large grain elevator, 
which is now owned by the Farmers Elevator 
& Grain Company of Clatonia. 

The school district of Clatonia was organ- 
ized in 1894, at the house of Henn*- Albert. 
The district has a frame, two-story school- 
house of three rooms, employs three teachers 
and has an enrollment of about sixty pupils. 
In addition to the usual eight grades it offers 
a two years' high-school course of study. 

In addition to the various business and other 
interests here mentioned, Clatonia has two 
general stores, two hardware stores, a lumber 
yard, drug store, hotel, elevator, privately 



land township, within a mile of the north line 
of the county. It is a station on the Union 
Pacific Railway line from Valley, Nebraska, 
to Manhattan, Kansas. The original town- 
site comprises the east half of the northeast 
quarter of section 11 in this township. The 
land was bought from Alfred Gale by Joseph 
H. Millard, of Omaha, in 1883, about the 
time of the construction of what was then 
known as the Omaha & Republican \"alley 
Railroad, a branch then, as now, of the Union 
Pacific system. Millard caused the tract to 
be surveyed and platted and the plat was filed 
for record Febnian- 4. 1884. Mr. Millard, 




I r[^iji^it*'fk, 




iToaj.- 




owned electric-lighting plant, two garages, a 
blacksmith shop, and such other business en- 
terprises as are common in Nebraska villages 
of its population. The village also owns its 
waterworks system. 

The postoffice, with Mr. G. M. Ludick as 
postmaster, gives rural free deliver}- to Cla- 
tonia patrons, a service performed by a single 
carrier. 

Clatonia has a population of 180 by the fed- 
eral census of 1910. It is substantially built, 
many of the business houses being of brick, 
and is the center of a large German-.\merican 
neighborhood, some of whose members were 
pioneers in Gage county, — notably Henry Al- 
bert, J. H. Steinmeyer, Henry Steinmeyer, 
and William Steinmeyer. 

CORTLAND 
The village of Cortland is situated in High- 



who was afterward United States senator 
from Wisconsin, was at that time a director 
in the Union Pacific Railway Company. The 
station buildings and the railroad yards at 
Cortland are situated on this tract of land. 
The depot was built in the spring of 1884. A 
strip of land in section 12, east of the railroad 
right-of-way, platted in 1884 by the owner 
Frank H. Oberman, and Malone's Addition, 
on the north, also platted in 1884, have been 
added to the original townsite. 

The first merchant in Cortland was Henrj' 
Spellman, who hauled lumber from Firth, in 
Lancaster county, and erected a building upon 
the townsite in the winter of 1883-1884, where 
he conducted a general merchandise store. In 
the spring of 1884 \\'allingford & Mastennan 
established a farm-implement store in Cort- 
land, Downs & Hickman a general store, and 
Fred Wittstruck erected a building used by 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



279 



him as a boarding house or hotel. In the 
winter of 1883-1884, L. A. Simmons, now 
sheritT of Lancaster county, erected the first 
residence on the townsite. Some of the early 
merchants in Cortland were LaSalle & Fisk, 
J. C. Warner and Kurtz Brothers, who con- 
ducted general stores ; I. M. Scott, a hardware 
merchant ; and Baum & Scott, druggists. 

In its early history Cortland acquired bank- 
ing facilities, James Scanlon and J. H. Ballard 
having established the Bank of Cortland 
about 1885. They were succeeded by Jacob 
Bond. During the great panic of 1893 this 
bank failed ; but later Thomas Burling re- 
opened it, and after conducting it for some 



one of the first settlers in Highland township, 
having located on a homestead in 1872. In 
1889 he was one of Gage county's representa- 
tives in the state legislature and he was always 
recognized as a citizen of sterling worth. At 
the present time Mrs. Martha Gletty is post- 
mistress. The rural districts at Cortland are 
supplied with free mail delivery, this service 
being performed by two carriers. 

The churches at Cortland are the Congre- 
gational church, the Methodist Episcopal 
church, the Catholic church and the Seventh 
Day Adventist church. The Congregational 
and the Catholic churches were organized in 
1885 and the Methodist Episcopal church was 




time he was succeeded by his son, F. A. Bur- 
ling. Recently the bank has been sold to R. A. 
Nickell. About 1912 the Farmers State Bank 
of Cortland was organized, with C. P. Potts, 
president, and E. L. Pothast, cashier. Both 
of these banks are well patronized and doing 
a lucrative business. 

A postoffice was established in Highland 
township about 1872, with J. P. Clough, post- 
master. It was located on his farm, six miles 
southwest of Cortland and was known as 
Highland Center. On the founding of the 
village of Cortland this postoffice was discon- 
tinued. Among those who have served as 
postmaster at Cortland was A. B. McNickle, 
now a resident of Ashland, Kansas, who was 
for many years justice of the peace and post- 
master in the village, and who was one of the 
first men to locate there. Mr. McNickle was 



recently organized. All these churches have 
substantial church buildings. 

The benevolent and fraternal orders at Cort- 
land are the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, 
Modern Woodmen of America, Royal High- 
landers and Knights and Ladies of Security. 

Since 1884 Cortland has supported a weekly 
newspaper. Its founders were Conant & 
Bloom ; it ha,s had numerous editors and pro- 
prietors. Until quite recently it was known 
as the Cortland Sun. but it is now called the 
Cortland A'czcs. 

The first school in Cortland was an ordi- 
nary district school, with the school-house lo- 
cated on the Union Pacific right-of-way. Latei 
this building was moved to a better location, 
and it served several years as the village 
school-house. Cortland now possesses a fine 
two-story, brick school-house, with basement, 



280 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



which was erected in 1916 at an approximate 
cost of $20,000. The district employs seven 
teachers and there is an enrollment of one hun- 
dred and twenty-five pupils. It offers a four 
years' course of study in the high school, 
which ranks with those of Beatrice and other 
large cities. 

Cortland has two general stores, a grocer)- 
store, drug store, three garages, blacksmith 
shop, meat market, two restaurants, two ele- 
vators, a lumber yard and a small private 
electric-lighting plant. 

Although without fire protection except a 
vohmteer brigade, the village has never suf- 
fered any disastrous fire. The federal cen- 
sus of 1910 gives Cortland a population of 
three hundred and ninety. Its present popu- 
lation is somewhat larger, as the village is in a 
prosperous, growing condition. 

Cortalnd was organized as a village undei 
the laws of Nebraska many years ago and has 
been one of the most efficiently governed 
municipal corporations in the county. Its 
present village board consists of K. Slot, 
Thomas Sargent, C. H. Pfeiffer, F. H. Bear 
and J. A. Johnson. 

FILLEY 

The village of Filley is a station thirteen 
miles out from Beatrice on the Burlington 
line of railroad. It is situated in the midst 
of a fine section of the county and since its 
founding has been the center of a wealthy 
farming community. It is located on the 
northwest quarter of section 28, in Filley 
township. It was founded by Elijah Filley, 
the owner of this tract of ground, in the spring 
of 1882 at the time of the Tecumseh-.-\uburn 
branch of the Burlington Railroad was con- 
structed. The plat of the village was filed for 
record by the incorporators, Elijah and Emma 
Filley, April 22, 1883. 

The first mercantile establishment in Filley 
was the general merchandise store of Lewel- 
len & .\xtell. This was followed by a hard- 
ware store belonging to Charles G. Dorsey, of 
Beatrice, but managed by John W. Wright, 
who later acquired the stock by purchase from 
Dorsey. Both these pioneer merchants. Lew- 



ellen and Wright, remained in business in 
Filley for many years and both amassed sung 
fortunes. Lewellen is now a prominent citi- 
zen of Thedford, Thomas county, Nebraska, 
and Mr. Wright died a few years ago, deeply 
mourned by his entire community. Dr. I. N. 
Pickett, now of Odell, was the first physician 
to locate here, though Dr. L. D. Boggs, now 
of Oklahoma City, who had settled on a fami 
in that neighborhood in 1874, had practised 
his profession as a physician continuously 
from that date and for many years thereafter, 
in Filley and its vicinity. His son. Dr. 
Charles S. Boggs, is the present resident phy- 
sician. 

W. A. Waddington was the first postmaster, 
and later, while a resident of Filley, was 
elected sheriff' of Gage county. .\t present 
James F. Boggs is the postmaster. Filley has 
free rural delivery of the mails, which gives 
employment to two carriers. 

Filley possesses two general stores, a gro- 
cery store, a restaurant, two elevators, three 
garages, a drug store, lumber yard, and other 
business enterprises usually to be found in a 
village of its population in this section of the 
country. 

The fraternal and benevolent orders of Fil- 
ley are the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modem 
Woodmen of America, Ancient Order of 
United Workmen and Royal Highlanders. 

In 1885 the Methodist Episcopal church 
building was erected, and this denomination 
has maintained an organization at Filley ever 
since. Early in the histon.- of the village the 
Baptist church also was organized and a 
church edifice erected. This Iniilding, about 
1902, was destroyed by fire and was ne^er re- 
built, and the organization disbanded. In 
1888 the Christian denomination erected a 
church in Filley and has since maintained its 
organization. 

Filley school district was organized May 2, 
1868, the first meeting of the voters being held 
at the home of Elijah Filley. The first 
school-teacher in the district was Matthew 
Weaverling, who taught several very success- 
ful schools here. He afterward taught in the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



281 



city schools of Beatrice and was for six years 
county superintendent of schools in Gage 
county. The present school building in Filley 
is a substantial three-room, frame structure. 
The district employs three teachers and the 
school has an enrollment of sixty-five pupils. 
The course of study at present includes two 
years' high-school work. June 8, 1918, on 
proper notices, Filley school district No. 9, ef- 
fected a consolidation with districts Nos. 43, 
93 and 120. The consolidated district will 
hereafter be known as district No. 166. This 
consolidated district is about to vote on a prop- 
osition to issue its bonds in the sum of $50,- 
000, to be used in the erection and equip- 
ment of a new school building. The school 
population of the district is approximately one 
hundred and seventy-five pupils. Under the 
new arrangement the district will give em- 
ployment to seven or eight teachers and, with 
the usual grades, there will be a four years' 
high-school course. 

In addition to its other interests, Filley 
boasts a substantial bank, the State Bank of 
Filley, of which Earl Norcross is cashier and 
the manager in charge. 

To the present world war Filley has contri- 
buted eight of its young men, namely : Ray 
H. Noakes, now in the aviation service in 
France ; C. W. Hazelton, William Thomas, C. 
J. Saum, Milo Laflin, Elmer Hansen, now at 
Camp Cody ; Claude Saum, at the Great Lakes 
Naval Training Station ; Delbert Edgerton, at 
Camp Logan. 

Filley has had several disastrous fires, but, 
with great tenacity, has endeavored to over- 
come these calamities, and the village is now 
substantially built up with attractive brick 
business houses. 

At the last census the village had a popula- 
tion of two hundred. It probably exceeds 
that number now. Filley was organized into 
a village under the laws of Nebraska many 
years ago and has maintained its organization 
until the present time. The village board at 
present consists of the following well known 
gentlemen: T. C. Hagerman, Hans Anderson, 
Christ Christianson, Charles Parker, and John 
V. Clark. 



Among those who have contributed to the 
growth and prosperity of the village since its 
founding are Elijah and Emma Filley (now 
of Des Moines, Iowa), Charles S. and James 
F. Boggs, P. T. Lewellen, John W. Wright, 
Hans Anderson, Daniel F. Kees, W. A. Wad- 
dington, T. C. Hagerman, P. M. Anderson, A. 
C. Tilton, Christ Christiansen, H. M. Miller, 
Charles Parker, Dr. L. B. Boggs, John V. 
Clark, J. F. Burbank, Earl Norcross, Dr. I. 
N. Pickett, and Erastus W. Starlin. 

LIBERTY 

The village of Liberty is located on the main 
line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- 
road between Chicago and Denver, by way of 
St. Joseph. The townsite comprises a part 
of the southeast quarter of section 35, a part 
of the southwest quarter of section 36, in 
Island Grove township, besides a part of the 
northwest quarter of section 1 and part of the 
northeast quarter of section 2 in Liberty 
township ; it lies within a mile of the east line 
of Gage county. It is the trade center of quite 
a scope of rich farming land in both Gage and 
Pawnee counties. The original townsite was 
owned by Nathaniel Cain, Frank ^luchmore, 
and Allen B. Jimmerson. It was deeded by 
them to the Lincoln Land Company and the 
plat of the town was filed in the office of the 
register of deeds in Gage county on the 19th 
day of June, 1881. The railroad was built 
through the county in 1881 and trains began 
running in the fall of that year. 

In the early '70s Cornelius S. Wymore had 
been appointed postmaster for this community 
and the office was called Liberty. It was on 
his fann, half a mile west of the present town. 
In 1879 he opened a drug store in connection 
with the postoffice. At that time the mails 
were carried twice a week between Pawnee 
City and Blue Springs. When the village was 
laid out, its founders adopted the name of 
Mr. W'ymore's postoffice as a suitable cogno- 
men for the prospective town. 

The little village built up rapidly. The first 
merchant was E. W. Lane, who, as early as 
1882, had a general merchandise store. Mr. 
Lane's venture was soon followed by others, 



282 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and in a short time Liberty was a town of 
several hundred people, in which every class 
of business was represented, — general stores, 
restaurants, drug store, hardware stores, lum- 
ber yard, elevators, barber shops, meat mark- 
ets and the like. 

The first bank was organized in 1882 by 
Frank Stewart and E. E. Harden. With 
vaPiing fortunes, as Harden & Stewart's Bank, 
Bank of Liberty, First National Bank of Lib- 
erty, it has had a continuous existence since 
its founding. It is now known as the State 
Bank of Liberty and is affiliated with the First 
National Bank of Beatrice. It is still the lead- 
ing banking institution in the village. In the 
year 1917 the Farmers State Bank of Liberty 
was organized, and this bank also is in a flour- 
ishing condition. 

The orders now in existence at Liberty are 
the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modem 
Woodmen of America, with their auxiliaries, 
and the Royal Highlanders. 

For many years the Missionary- Baptists 
have maintained an organization in Liberty 
township. This church was one of the pio- 
neer churches of the county and known among 
Baptists throughout the state of Nebraska. 
.\fter Liberty was founded, the organization 
built a church building in the village, and it 
is still a live and active member of the Bap- 
tist denomination in Gage county. The 
Christian denomination also have maintained 
an organization in Liberty and own a substan- 
tial, well built church. At one time there were 
a Methodist and two Presbyterian churches 
in Liberty, but a few years ago these were con- 
solidated into a Congregational church. The 
history of this consolidation is interestingly 
set forth in a statement by the Rev. N. L. 
Packard, which, on account of its general in- 
terest in showing what may be done in such 
cases, is here given in full. 

"One of the most interesting attempts at 
church union ever known in the state was that 
of Liberty, Gage county. Liberty, a village 
of four hundred people and a well settled 
country adjacent, had for years tried to sup- 
jiort five Protestent American churches. There 



were five church buildings and sometimes five 
half-starved preachers. It seemed a poor use 
of home-missionary funds to keep these 
churches running. 

"Three of these churches, Presbyterian, 
L'nited Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal, 
felt that a union must in some way be efifected. 
But as the three were of about equal strength, 
the problem which seemed impossible to solve 
was which one should survive and which two 
must be swallowed up. The matter ran on 
for several years, when a happy suggestion 
was made by a layman in the United Presby- 
terian church. That was for all three churches 
to disband and organize a Congregational 
church, as there was no church of this name 
in the place and its polity made it generally ac- 
ceptable to people of all evangelical faiths. 

"It was finally agreed that when eighty per 
cent, of the membership agreed to the plan 
the move should be made. When the paper 
was circulated, almost one hundred per cent, 
of each church signed, as well as some who 
were not members of any of the three. Some 
hoped that all five churches might combine, 
but the Baptists and the Di.sciples decided to 
continue their organizations. 

".A. committee of nine, three from each of 
the consolidating churches, was chosen to man- 
age affairs until the new organization could 
be effected. After the local p>eople had de- 
cided to form a Congregational church, the 
committee asked State Superintendent S. I. 
Han ford to send them a minister who could 
shepherd the fiock and help them to organize. 
Rev. N. L. Packard, of Lincoln, the state gen- 
eral missionary, was called to the important 
task. He found a verj' delightful people to 
work with, and hy December, 1911, property 
interests were arranged and a church organi- 
zation effected under the name of the First 
Congregational Church of Liberty, Nebraska. 

"The old Presbyterian church building and 
parsonage were turned over to the new or- 
ganization, on the simple condition of their 
meeting some small indebtedness. The United 
Presbyterian church building was bought at a 
small figure, and both were in use for a time. 
.\t length, however, the last named building 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



283 



was enlarged and a basement placed under it, 
and the other building sold. The parsonage 
continued in use for the new pastor. 

"The three Sunday schools were running 
with an average attendance of about thirty, 
but the new school started out with a mem- 
bership of nearly two hundred, and an aver- 
age attendance for the following six years of 
more than one hundred and thirty. The 
church membership was not over forty each 
before the union, but the new church was or- 
ganized with one hundred and sixty members 
and has increased in numbers each succeeding 
year. Rev. N. L. Packard became so inter- 
ested in the field that he resigned his state 
work and accepted a unanimous call to be- 
come pastor. He filled out six very pleasant 
years, and the Rev. Calvin Holbrook is at the 
present writing leading the church in a very 
successful pastorate. 

"No sectarian divisions have arisen during 
the years and a spirit of general harmony has 
been maintained. Letters have come from 
many states in the Union, asking 'How was it 
done?' Just such a consolidation of church 
interests is demanded in many towns. 

N. L. Packard, 
Wahoo, Nebraska-" 

Liberty was organized as a village in 1883, 
under the statutes of the state of Nebraska, 
and it has maintained its village organization 
up to the present time. The present village 
board consists of W. D. Huntington (chair- 
man), L. E. Baldwin, (clerk), William Har- 
mon. Jacob Jimmerson, James P.loom, and H. 
H. Kirschner. 

One of the first school districts organized 
in the county was the Plum Creek district, now 
Lil)erty district. In a reorganization in 1868, 
for the purpose of numbering the districts of 
the county, this district was given number 27, 
a number that it still retains. The Liberty 
public school, into which the old Plum Creek 
district has grown, is one of the highly rated 
schools of the county. The district owns a 
fine, two-story, brick school building, employs 
six teachers and has an enrollment of approxi- 
mately one hundred and fifty pupils. 

Liberty has suffered several disastrous fires. 



but phoenix-like, has risen from its ashes, and 
to-day, with a population of over four hun- 
dred, is one of the interesting and pretty vil- 
lages of our county. 

The Liberty Journal was established by a 
member of the well known Olmstead family, 
in 1882, shortly after the founding of the vil- 
lage. It had had a continuous unbroken ex- 
istence from that day to this and is now owned 
and edited by J. Franklin Spence. 

Some of the early settlers of Liberty town- 
ship and vicinity were : 

Nathaniel P. Cain, deceased, a native of 
Tennessee, born in 1823, homesteaded in Lib- 
erty township in 1865. Stephen Evans, de- 
ceased, a native of Ohio, born in 1823, set- 
tled in Liberty township in 1866. Sylvester 
Fisher, a native of Ohio, born in 1833, came 
to Nebraska in 1859, locating in Pawnee 
county, just over the line from Liberty, moved 
to Liberty township in 1868. James Gay, a 
native of England, born in 1844, immigrated 
to America in 1869. He located in Beatrice 
in 1879, and in 1880 in Liberty, where he is 
"The Village Blacksmith." A. P. McMains, 
a native of Indiana, born in 1831, came to Ne- 
braska in 1858 and to Liberty township in 
March, 1860. F. M. Muchmore, deceased, a 
native of Ohio, born in 1832, located on Tur- 
key creek, in Johnson county, in 1866, and in 
Liberty township in 1868. Cornelius S. Wy- 
more. a native of Indiana, born in 1841, lo- 
cated in Pawnee county in 1861, served in 
Company D, Second Kansas Cavalry from 
1861 to 1865, and he was first postmaster of 
Liberty. Peter Bollinger, native of Claiboume 
county, Tennessee, born in 1840, came to Lib- 
erty township in 1867. He became known as 
a Baptist minister, farmer, school-teacher, was 
a man of sterling character, able and useful, 
and he now resides in Graham county, Kan- 
sas. Allen B. Jimmerson, native of Clai- 
Ijourne county, Tennessee, settled on the south- 
east quarter of section 35, township 2, range 8, 
Gage county, in 1874, a part of his old farm 
being included in village of Liberty. A man 
of fine character, generous, friendly, honest 
and able, he died in 1916, leaving many des- 
cendants. Jonathan Sharp, a native of Clai- 



284 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASIC\ 



bourne county, Tennessee, was born June 23, 
1826. He came to Liberty township in 1864 
and settled across Plum creek, just south of 
the village of Liberty. He died about twenty 
years ago, a man of fine character, honest, 
able, active in county and local affairs, and 
much esteemed by all who ever knew him, for 
kindness of heart and generous hospitality. 

Most of the men here mentioned were from 
the state of Tennessee. Nearly all have passed 
away, leaving behind them nothing but the 
most kindly remembrances. They would have 
graced any community in the world as honest, 
worthy, independent citizens. Such as these 
have given the village of Liberty high standing 
in Gage county. 

ODELL 

This neat and compact Gage county village 
is an important station on the main line of the 
Burlington Railroad system between Chicago 
and Denver, via St. Joseph, Missouri, and is 
a junction point where originates the branch 
line to Concordia, Kansas, via Lanham, Ne- 
braska, and Hanover, Washington and other 
Kansas towns. It was the first village founded 
on the old Otoe and Missouri Indian reserva- 
tion. Prior to the founding of Odell, William 
B. LaGorgue had surveyed and platted a town- 
site on his fami, on the south side of Big 
Indian creek, a mile or so from Odell, and 
christened it Charleston. A start had been 
made toward establishing a town there when, 
in 1880, the railroad was surveyed north of the 
creek and the village of Odell was founded. 
All who had cast in their lot with Charleston 
moved to Odell and were instrumental in giv- 
ing that prospective village its first start on 
wliat has proved a prosperous and happy ex- 
istence. 

The village is located a little north of Big 
Indian creek, one of the prettiest and most 
important streams of southern Gage county. 
It is a living stream, and in the early days was 
well timbered ; along its course near Odell a 
good quarrv- of limestone was found from 
which several of the ])uildings of the village 
were constructed. The village is planted in 
the midst of a thriving and wealthy farming 



community. Nowhere in the county are there 
better farm buildings, better tilled, better kept 
farms, better orchards, roads or school build- 
ings than in the vicinage of Odell 

Odell is partly in Glenwood and partly in 
Paddock township, and is located on land orig- 
inally bought by Perr)- Walker, in 1879, from 
the United States government, as agent and 
gtiardian of the Indians. He, in 1880. sold it 
to J. D. Myers, of Chicago, and by the latter 
an undivided half-interest in the tract compris- 
ing the original townsite was sold to Charles 
E. Perkins, representing the Lincoln Land 
Company, an organization composed chiefly 
of the officials and employes of the Burlington 
Railroad system. Mr. Perkins himself was at 
that time, or afterward, president of the Bur- 
lington Railroad Company. The original 
townsite covered part of the west half of the 
southwest quarter of section 18, township 1 
north, of range 6 east, and part of the east half 
of the southeast quarter of section 13, town- 
ship 1 north, range 5 east. It was surveyed 
and platted by Anselmo B. Smith, September 
21, 1880. The plat was filed in the office of 
the register of deeds of Gage county Novem- 
ber 11, 1884, with the Lincoln Land Company 
(by Charles E. Perkins, its president.) and 
James D. and Elizabeth A. Myers, as incor- 
porators. It was named after LeGrand Odell, 
of Chicago, a friend of IMyers who had in- 
duced him to come west from Chicago and lo- 
cate at Odell, and who on account of his rela- 
tions with the Burlington officials or some of 
them, was instnnnental in giving his friend a 
start in this venture. 

The first merchant of Odell was Mike Tris- 
key, who moved his store from Charleston to 
the new village on the railway line. Things 
moved ver>- rapidly then. The entire county 
and state were new and filling with new people 
Immigrants flocked to the new towns along 
the railroad lines, and villages were bom 
over night. Odell soon had a supply of 
stores, shops and business houses of every 
kind, and by 1882 it was a prosperous, thriv- 
ing village. 

In its early historj' James D. Myers built 
what was called "The Store on the Hill." for a 



286 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



long time the most sightly and imposing struc- 
ture in the village. Here he kept a general 
merchandise store and did a small banking 
business. But he was not a ver)- good busi- 
ness man and soon others easily eclipsed him. 
He died some years ago, a poor man, having 
let slip the opportunity to make a snug for- 
ture. His chief competitors were F. R. Joy 
and his sons Edward and Howard. Edward 
Joy, for many years the leading merchant of 
Odell, amassed a fortune and retired and is 
now living at I lavelock. The father and How- 
ard did a flourishing banking business at 
Odell. 

Several years ago the Hinds State Bank 
was organized as successor to the Joy Bank. 
It is owned by Edward B. and Charles H. 
Hinds and occupies the building formerly oc- 
cupied by the Joys. This bank has had a suc- 
cessful career and does an annual business 
amounting in volume to many thousands of 
dollars. P'or some time its deposits have run 
to nearly a quarter of a million dollars. The 
banking business of the village and surround- 
ing country is shared by the Odell State Bank 
with deposit accounts aggregating a quarter of 
a million dollars. Its owners and officers are : 
Thomas W. Stanosheck, president ; Ernest 
Loemker, vice-president ; W. T. Stanosheck, 
cashier. 

The first church organized in Odell was the 
Methodist Episcopal, and the organization held 
its meetings in a carpenter shop the first year. 
In liS86 J. D. Myers donated a lot upon 
which a small frame church building was 
erected, at an original cost of fifteen hundred 
dollars. Rev. Mr. Orr was the first pastor. 
The present minister in charge is Rev. H. S. 
Burd. The Catholics also have a flourishing 
organization in Odell. The first frame build- 
ing erected by the church cost six hundred 
dollars. The present church was erected many 
years ago. at a cost of four thousand dollars, 
and the property includes a rector)- or parson- 
age, built a dozen years ago. At first there 
were but eight or ten Catholic families ; now 
there are forty-five. Several priests of great 
ability and learning have ministered to the 
parish; among them the first priest. Father 



Mosler, who served the parish for ten years, 
and the present pastor. Father W. J. Mc- 
Kenna. The Christian church also is one 
of the well established religious organizations 
of Odell. Its church edifice was erected in 
1888 and the organization has been active in 
the community ever since. It frequently is 
without a regular pastor and is then supplied 
by students from Cotner University, at Lin- 
coln. 

The fraternal organizations are the Grand 
Army of the Republic, Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, Knights & Ladies of Security, and 
some others. The Grand Army of the Re- 
public, once a flourishing and numerous body 
of Civil war veterans, has by lapse of time 
become reduced to five living members, — 
Henn- Rice, E. B. Hinds, A. F. Drake, 
Michael Keckley, and Hubert Glasgow. While 
these heroes of a day long past do not meet 
regularly any more, they loyally maintain their 
organization. 

The village of Odell has two lumber cor- 
porations, two elevators, two hotels, three gen- 
eral-merchandise stores, a drug store, harness 
shop, two implement houses, a furniture store 
and undertaking establishment, three garages, 
one pump shop with accessories, local tele- 
phone e.Kchange and many other business con- 
cerns. By the last census the population of 
the village was four hundred and twenty- 
seven. 

The Odell Weekly Wave newspaper was 
founded in the village in 1893, by G. W. Bede, 
and has had a continuous and a successful ex- 
istence ever since. It is now owned and ably 
edited by J. P. Martin. It receives the loyal 
support of the community and is in a flourish- 
ing condition as a countr)^ newspaper. 

The school district of the village was or- 
ganized Januarj- 12, 1878, at the house of W. 
r>. LaC.orguc. The first school building was 
a small frame structure, to the erection of 
which LeGrand (Jdell contributed $100. the 
people, by subscription. $100, and the school 
district, in bonds. $400. The present school 
buildmg is a frame, two-story, seven-room 
structure. The district employs seven teach- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



287 



ers and maintains a high school with a four 
years' course, with normal training. 

Some of the men who have been prominent 
in the affairs of Odell are Perry Walker, Wil- 
liam B. LaGorgue, E. B. Hinds, T. W. Stano- 
sheck, James D. Myers, Dr. George L. Roe, 
Amos Quein, F. R. Joy and his sons Edward 
and Howard Joy, Thomas R. Callan (the 
veteran merchant of Odell, whose son, now 
serving in the army of the United States, is 
postmaster of Odell), John Millhalland, Frank 
Styles, Eli Worthington. John Wilson. Lund 
Nelson, Dr. Henry Allen, Henry Rice, Hubert 
Glasgow, Charles N. Hinds, William M. 
Munns, Henry Kasparek, James F. Raney, 
George Williamson, Frank Truax, M. E. 
Shalla, H. R., Rufus, and Sidney Tincher, and 
Dr. I. N. Pickett. 

PICKRELL 

[This history of Pickrell was written by 
Evelyn Brinton, a high school pupil of that 
village.— H. J. D.] 

]\Ir. Watson and William Pickrell owned the 
land where Pickrell is located. There was 
some talk of having the town two miles north, 
but the sidetrack for the railroad was here. 
In the year 1884 the Pickrell brothers began 
to lay off the lots ; some of the first lots sold 
for fifteen dollars and others for twenty-five 
dollars. Pickrell was built on the hillside, 
because the railroad ran on the level. The 
first settler was Air. Bashaw. His home was 
built outside of Pickrell and afterwards moved 
in : the house is still standing, and Mr. Wil- 
liam Hansel now occupies it. The first house 
built in Pickrell belonged to Ed. White. Mr. 
McKim built some of the first houses for the 
settlers to move into. Mrs. Edwards owned 
the first good building. 

Pickrell was organized as a village August 
14, 1913, with G. L. Mumford as chairman of 
the board of trustees, Dr. Amesbun,' Lee, 
treasurer, J. R. Wilson, clerk ; the other mem- 
bers of the town board were B. E. Ridgley and 
J. J. Wardlaw. 

The first postoffice was in the grain-elevator 
office. It was started in 1884. Mr. Joseph 
Chandler was appointed postmaster Februarys 



1, 1884. Mr. David Royer, the second post- 
master, was appointed July 1, 1884. The first 
postoffice building burned in 1890. The first 
mail carrier was Roy Armstrong. 

The first church was the Congregational, 
built in 1885, and the first minister was Mr. 
Bates. In 1888 the United Brethren church 
was built and Mr. Surface was the minister. 
In 1910 both the Congregational and United 
Brethren churches were torn down and the 
present United Brethren church was built. 

A list of old settlers is as follows : David 
Royer, who now resides at McPherson, Kan- 
sas; Mr. Houdgs, deceased, place of burial 
southeast of Pickerell ; Mr. Bergett, deceased, 
place of burial, Hutchinson, Kansas ; Roxie 
Irvin, deceased; J. D. White, who resides at 
Gage, Oklahoma ; D. Nicewonger, G. Balder- 
son and F. J. Emal, who reside in Pickrell ; S. 
King, John Young, Mr. Bashaw, Mr. McKin, 
Mr. Lock wood, Thomas Noonan, Thomas 
Langely, B. Bathrick. Dr. D. W. Tucker. Mr. 
Wilber, Mr. Chandler, Henry Latimer, and 
Mr. Waters. 

Pickrell was started with one family ; later 
more settlers came. There was a store, an ele- 
vator, postoffice, drug store and a few other 
business houses. Now we have two general 
stores, two elevators, three garages, a bank, 
an implement shop, a drug store, a hardware 
store, cream station, hotel, blacksmith shop, 
barber shop and lumber yard. The popula- 
tion is now between one hundred and seventy- 
five and two hundred. A list of the leading 
business houses when the town was first 
started is as follows : A general store, man- 
agers Mr. Royer and Mr. Bergett : a black- 
smith shop, William Hunter, manager ; a lum- 
ber yard, Mr. McKim and Mr. Newcomb, 
managers ; a livery barn, Mr. D. Tucker, pro- 
prietor; a hardware store, Mr. Newcomb, pro 
prietor. The depot agent was Roxie Irvin 
The first section boss was Thomas Noonan 
Mr. Davis and IMr. Chandler bought hogs. 

A list of leading business houses and man- 
agers to-day is as follows : Bergstraesser 
store ; managers, Bergstraesser Brothers. 
Rife's store; manager, Henn- Dirk. Imple- 
ment store; proprietor, F. C. Pape. Drug 



288 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



store ; druggist, R. Dunkle. Lumber yard ; 
manager, C. P. Horn. Blacksmith shop ; pro- 
prietor. F. J. Emal. Cream station ; manager, 
B. .Mumford. 

The first school house was built in 1885. 
where the present school building stands. The 
school district is No. 144. Some of the first 
teachers were Miss Proctor. Mr. Lamberti, 
Miss Kennedy, and Miss Hadley. 

In 1912 school districts Nos. 65 and 144 
were consolidated and a new brick school 
building built. It is now a ten-grade school. 
In December, 1917, the pupils of the high 
school surveyed the land in Pickrell that could 
be utilized for gardens ; they found about 
eight acres, which is going to be used. Later 
the school became a hundred-per-cent school 
as a Red Cross society. The food-pledge 
cards were distributed to the parents by the 
school children ; they were signed by the par- 
ents and returned, to be sent to the food ad- 
ministrator. In Januar)', 1918, the pupils of 
the primary and grammar rooms went to the 
homes of all the people in the town and tag- 
ged their shovels. The school was verA' suc- 
cessful in the sale of thrift and war-savings 
stamps. There are si.xty-seven on the roll. 
During the month of Januarj-, 1918, the school 
bought $1,300 worth of war-savings stamps 
and was awarded a banner by the county su- 
perintendent of Gage county, T. J. Trauer- 
nicht. 

A list of the early preachers is: Mr. Bates, 
Mr. Long, Mr. Rock, and Mr. Surface. The 
first doctor and druggist was Mr. B. Bathrick. 

The first bank was organized in 1904. F. 
R. Pothast is cashier and Mr. Reil, book- 
keeper. The first bank building was on the 
north side of Main street and is still standing; 
in 1911 a brick bank building was erected 
across the street. 

The f)ostoffice is in the hardware store ; Wil- 
li.im N'andcrhook is postmaster. Bud Weiser 
is the mail carrier for route No. 2, and Earl 
Emal is substitute for route No. 1 . 

The Union Pacific Railroad was started 
through Pickrell in 1883 and finished in 1884. 

The first grain elevator was the Omaha, in 
the southeast part of Pickrell, built in 1884; 



Mr. Cotner, manager. The next elevator was 
the Nebraska, with Mr. J. D. White as man- 
ager. Before the elevators were built Mr. 
White bought the grain and shipped it. Then 
the fanners bought the elevator, and Mr. 
\\hite, Mr. Wardlaw, Mr. Williams and Mr. 
J. R. Wilson were managers. It was organ- 
ized in 1905. In 1913 a new elevator was 
I>uilt by the farmers, and Mr. T- R- Wilson 
has been manager from then to the present 
time. There are 175 members of the Farm- 
ers Elevator Company and the capita] stock 
is $25,000. The capacity of the elevator is 
25,000 bushels. 

Mr. D. Nicewonger has lived in Pickrell 
the longest ; he came from Oregon, Illinois. 
when he was seven years old. Some of the 
leading citizens are: J. R. Wilson, C. P. 
Horn, F. L. Pothast, Rev. Beasley, William 
Vanderhook, R. W. Dunkle, D. Nicewonger, 
G. Balderson, Bergstraesser Brothers and F. 
C. Pape. We have four boys in the world 
war. They are David Emal, Robert Mum- 
ford, Ben Weiser, and Marion Sigler. 

Pickrell has had three fires. In 1890 five 
buildings on the north side of Main street 
burned. In 1893 two livery bams burned ; 
they were never rebuilt. The last fire was in 
1910, when some of the buildings on the south 
side of Main street burned. There have been 
two floods that came to the railroad tracks 
but did not do any damage. 

The oflficers of Pickrell now are: J. R 
Wilson, chainnan ; C. P. Horn, clerk : F. L 
Pothast, treasurer; and the other members of 
the village board are Mr. Reil, H. E. Ridgley. 
and D. Nicewonger. 

VIRGINIA 

This attractive Gage county village com- 
prises the northwest quarter of the northwest 
quarter of section 11, township 2 north, range 
(> east. It is a station of both the Chicago, 
Rock Island & Pacific line of railway, from 
Chicago to Denver and a branch of the Mis- 
souri Pacific Railway from Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, which terminates at Virginia. It has 
.several good stores, lumber yard, implement 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



289 



house, garage, blacksmith shop, grain elevators 
and other business accessories to a thriving 
village. The townsite was surveyed and plat- 
ted by Ford Lewis, the owner of the land, 
about the time of the completion of the Chi- 
cago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway through 
that section of country. The plat was filed 
for record in the office of the register of deeds 
May 23, 1887. 

The first general store was that of M. V. 
Drew, and this wis followed almost immedi- 
ately by the store of Warren Barber, who was 
Virginia's first postmaster. The first black- 
smith was A. L. Boyer, and the first children 
born in Virginia were his twin daughters, 
Gertie and Mertie. Mr. Boyer is still the 
village blacksmith. 

The first church organized in Virginia was 
the Methodist Episcopal church and its pastor. 
Rev. J. F. Holgate, preached the first sermon. 
The Christian church was erected in 1902, 
on a lot donated by Mr. and Mrs. Dwight 
Dalbey. 

In the early history of Virginia, Captain 
Eogan Enyart, of Nebraska City, opened a 
state bank in the village. It soon passed into 
the hands of George H. Gale, and later became 
the property of O- O. Thomas. Still later, A. 
W. Nickell, of Beatrice, purchased a majority 
of the stock and he operated this bank until his 
death. The present Citizens' State Bank of 
Virginia is an outgrowth of this early banking 
venture. Amos L. Wright, a pioneer of Gage 
county, is the principal stockholder and presi- 
dent of the bank and his son, Frederick A. 
Wright is the present cashier. 

Several years ago Mr. Dalbey built a mod- 
ern hotel for the village, which has added 



greatly to its attractiveness. There is no 
more "homey" public house in Gage county 
than this little hotel. Visitors are drawn to 
it from far and near and it is liberally patron- 
ized by the traveling public. 

Virginia started with a single-room school 
house in 1887, but in 1902 the school district 
erected a frame, two-story school building. 
There are about ninety pupils in the district 
and three teachers are employed. On the 3d 
day of June, 1918, Virginia school district, No. 
1 10, was consolidated, under the school laws of 
Nebraska, with districts Nos. 149, 151 and 
157, into a county high-school district. The 
consolidated school district is preparing to 
erect a modern high-school building which is 
to cost not to exceed $50,000. The grounds 
for this building, not to exceed fifteen acres, 
will be donated by Mr. and Mrs. Dalbey. The 
consolidated school district will have a school 
population of approximately one hundred and 
si.xty, will have a full four years' high school 
course, and employ from seven to ten teachers. 

Virginia was incorporated as a village, un- 
der the laws of the state, about 1905, and has 
ever since maintained a corporate existence. 
As at present constituted, the village board 
consists of A. M. Darwin, president ; W. S. 
McGaiifey, clerk ; F. A. Wright, treasurer; and 
N. C. Mittan and John Ilenzel. 

Virginia is beautifully located on the high, 
rolling prairie of Sherman township, in the 
midst of a wealthy farming community, which 
it serves as a business and social center. By 
the census of 1910 it contained a population 
of 154. Its steady growth since then has in- 
creased this to probably two hundred inhabi- 
tants. 



CHAPTER 



UNINCORPOR 



L^' 



Ellis — Hoag — Kinney — Lanham — Rockford — Holmesville 



The unincorporated villages of Gage county 
are Ellis, Hoag, Kinney, Lanhan, Rock ford 
and Holmesville. 

EIJJS 

Ellis is located in the midst of a prosperous 
farming community in Lincoln township, ten 
miles west by south from Beatrice. It is a 
station on the Chicago-Denver line of the 
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. It 
has a bank, the Ellis State Bank, lumber yard, 
two elevators, two general stores and a farm- 
implement store. 

The Methodist Episcopal church is the only 
religious denomination represented in Ellis. 
The village forms a good rural-school district 
of the county, with a substantial frame build- 
ing as school house. The district employs one 
teacher and enrolls about fifty pupils. At the 
last census Ellis was shown to have a popula- 
tion of 122. It is a good social and business 
center for the surrounding territory. 

HOAG 

Hoag is a mere hamlet on the Beatrice-Lin- 
coln line of the Burlington Railroad, the first 
station out of P)eatri;e, with a population not 
to exceed 2S. It has a postoffice, general store 
and two elevators. This is a rural school dis- 
trict, having a frame, one-room school house, 
about three quarters of a mile southeast of the 
village. The school employs one teacher and 
has an enrollment of about forty-five pupils. 

KINNEY 

Kinney is also a hamlet, located on the Bur- 
lington main line, first station east of Wymore. 



named for Samuel A. Kinney, an old resident 
of Island Grove township, on whose farm the 
village is located. It has a general store, post- 
office and lumber yard. 

LANHAM 

Lanham is a village of eighty inhabitants, lo- 
cated twenty-five miles southwest of Beatrice, 
on the state line, partly in Glenwood township 
and partly in Kansas. It is a station on the 
Concordia line of the Burlington Railroad. 
The principal business houses are the State 
Bank of Lanham, general store, hardware 
store, drug store, restaurant, meat market, 
lumber and coal yard, barber shop and black- 
smith shop Its school district was organized 
in 1892, at the home of George .^mold. It 
possesses a single-room, frame school-house, 
employs one teacher and has an enrollment of 
thirty-five pupils. 

ROCKFORD 

Rock ford is located in section 1 of Rock- 
ford township and is the first station east oi 
Beatrice on both the Burlington and the Rock 
Island Railroads. It is in one of the oldest- 
settled |)ortions of the county and has fifty-six 
inhabitants. It was founded by William Girl 
more than a quarter of a century ago and has 
slowly grown to a position of great usefulness 
as a social and business center of Rockford, 
I incoln. Hanover, and parts of Sherman and 
Filley townships. Though not boastful it is 
a good little village and there are those yet 
living who love it because of early associations 
and the memories its name invokes. 



290 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



291 



Rock ford has a general store, postoffice, two 
elevators, blacksmith shop and a very pretty 
church building, the property of the Methodist 
Episcopal denomination. Rockford school 
district No. 49 was organized at the home of 
Morgan Reed, upon notice to John Dunn, May 
27, 1872. A few years ago it was consoli- 
dated with the F. H. Dobbs school district on 
the south and the T. B. Essex school district 
on the north, and it retains its original num- 
ber, 49. A few years ago the consolidated 
district erected a fine three-room school house, 
at a cost of about $5,000. It employs three 
teachers and has an enrollment of about ninety 
pupils. In addition to the grades, it olifers a 
two years' high-school course of study. 

The early settlers in the immediate neigh- 
borhood of Rockford were F. H. Dobbs, 
Henry D. Lillie, George W. Stark, Solon M. 
Hazen, Abraham Fetro, Thomas B. Essex, 
John H. Dunn, John Potterton, Edward Wool- 
ridge, Jesse Willis, Humphrey P. Freeman, 
Peter Giri, William Girl, Calvin Aliller, David 
Miller, Stephen Hayden, Rufus Hayden, John 
E. Murphy, James B. McLaughlin, Thomas M. 
Martin, Asa Anderson, D. J. Woods, Henry, 
Robert and Jacob Fry, (triplets), Morgan 
Reed, Daniel Fuller, James West, Charles Slo- 
cumb, Michael Weaver, John O. Adams, A. B. 
Smith, George Wilkinson, Andrew Kerr, Alex- 
ander Welch, Josiah Graves, Mrs. Serena 
Webber, Miles Andrews, Duncan Smith, 
Archibald S'mith, Alarvin Freeman, and 
Marion Reese. 

No locality in Gage county possesses greater 
rural charm than that where Rockford is 
situated. Cedar creek and both branches of 
Mud creek flow through the township into the 
Big Blue river. They are all well timbered 
streams of living water. From every height 
of land the observer is rewarded by a most 
beautiful landscape of hill, dale, valley, forest, 
and in the growing season of the year by vis- 
tas of living green ; and in the autumn by 
stretches of gold and brown. No other place 
in the county exerts as lasting an influence 
over the heart as the environment of the hum- 
ble village of Rockford. 



HOLMESVILLE 

Holmesville is not only the largest but is 
easily the most important of the unincorpor- 
ated villages of Gage county. It has a popu- 
lation of 175, according to the federal census 
of 1910. It is located in Rockford township, 
on the east bank of the Big Blue river. It is 
nine miles southeast of Beatrice and is the first 
station on the Union Pacific Railroad. It was 
marked by the early settlers as the location for 
a townsite and Whitesville, the first legal 
county seat of Gage county, was within half 
a mile of the townsite of Holmesville, on a 
tract of land afterward taken as a homestead 
by James Kingsford, namely: the southwest 
quarter of section 29, Rockford township. In 
a very early day, A. L. Hurd and W. S. Guf- 
fey opened a stone quarry at or near the site 
of Holmesville, and most of the stone used 
in building the first state capitol at Lincoln 
was hauled across country, by ox, mule and 
horse teams, from this quarry, in 1868. 

The village was founded by Morgan L. 
Holmes, in 1880, the surveyed plat being filed 
for record in the office of the register of deeds 
on March 8th of that year. The founding of 
the village immediately followed the construc- 
tion of the present line of the Union Pacific 
Railroad from Mar)'sville, Kansas, to Beatrice. 
The first store in Holmesville was a general 
store opened by Thomas Patz. James Glea- 
son, a brother-in-law of the founder of the vil- 
lage, James H. Davis, Abraham Petro, Eli 
Miller and James H. Fuller also were among 
its earliest business men and residents. Ful- 
ler ran a general merchandise store for many 
years, and up to the time of his death, a few 
years ago, was a well known and substantial 
citizen of Holmesville. 

Amongst the business concerns now found 
in Holmesville are two general stores, hard- 
ware store and lumber yard, elevator, hotel, 
restaurant and meat market. But what dis- 
tinguishes Holmesville from all the other vil- 
lages in the county is the investment made 
there by J. H. Steinmeyer and his sons George 
W. and Robert Steinmeyer. About 1908 these 
public-spirited citizens of the county estab- 



292 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



lished the State Bank of Ilolmesville. with a 
capital of $10,000. Under the verj' able man- 
agement of the owners this banking institution 
has grown to the point where it does a large 
volume of business in the course of a year and 
has deposits of over $100,000. 

In addition to this bank Mr. Steinmeyer and 
his sons have invested heavily in a hydro-elec- 
tric power and lighting plant. The building 
where the machinery is located is just below 
the dam and is of concrete and steel construc- 
tion ; it was begun in 1908 and completed in 
1911. It generates an electric current of one 



present public school building. The district 
employs three teachers, has enrollment of 
about sixty pupils and offers a two years' high- 
school course of study. Recently it was con- 
solidated with districts numbered 19, 37, 58. 
76, 133 and part of 139. The consolidated 
school district is about to erect a school build- 
ing which, with equipment, will cost approxi- 
mately $50,000. The district will probably 
then employ seven teachers, will have a school 
population of approximately 160 pupils, and 
will install a high school with a four years' 
course of study. 




NMH *<MtOeL««OMUVILUl,NEBIt. 



million watts per hour, and from it VVy- 
more. Blue Springs, Beatrice, and Holmes- 
ville are supplied with electricity for all pur- 
poses. 

The Holmesville school district was organ- 
ized August 30, 1868, at a meeting held for 
that purpose at the home of Amos Hayden, 
two miles southeast of Holmesville, on Mud 
creek. The first school house was a low, 
round-log cabin, erected by F. H. Dobbs in the 
fall of 1858 on his preemption claim in Rock- 
ford township. After the formation of the 
district, this cabin was bought, taken down 
and moved to the southeast quarter of section 
32 and rebuilt on the northeast corner of that 
tract, where it was used for several years as a 
school house for the district. The first teacher 
was S. S. Switzer. After the founding of 
Holmesville, a frame, single-room school 
house was erected in the village, which by suc- 
cessive additions has been expanded into the 



The Methodist Episcopal church maintains 
an organization at Holmesville and owns a sub- 
stantial and very neat house of worship. 

For many years Holmesville has been a so- 
cial and religious center for the Church of the 
Brethren, a religious denomination commonly 
spoken of by outsiders as Dunkards, but 
amongst themselves always simply called The 
Brethren or Church of the Brethren. This de- 
nomination had its origin in Westphalia, Ger- 
many in 1708. It was founded by Alexander 
Mack, as a protest against what he conceived 
to be the erroneous practices and beliefs of 
the followers of Martin Luther. Mack taught 
the strict observances of the fomis as respects 
baptism, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
and other ordinances of the church. Both he 
and his followers were the subjects of intense 
persecution, and were finally driven out of 
Germany and compelled to take refuge in the 
New \\'orld. They settled first in Pennsyl- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



293 



vaiiia, then spread over Ohio, Indiana, Marj'- 
land, \'irginia and other states, and Canada as 
well. The communicants of this church now 
number more 100,000. In doctrine the 
Brethren are closely affiliated with the Men- 
nonites as opposed to war and litigation; in 
dress and manners they closely resemble the 
Quakers or Society of Friends. In Holmes- 
ville they have a small church, but a couple of 
miles northeast of the village the denomination 
owns a large church edifice, where most of its 
religious activities are carried on. There is 
really but one congregation for the two 
churches and they both have the same pastor, 
at present the Rev. Edgar Rothrock. 

The Church of the Brethren in Rockford 
township was founded by the Rev. Henr>- Bru- 
baker, under the following circumstances. 
John P. Crothers, of Indiana, in 1867. had 
entered with college scrip a large tract of land 
in Rockford township, much of which lay on 
the upland between the valleys of Mud and 
Cedar creeks. Knowing something of the 
sturdy virtues of the Church of the Brethren. 
he advertised largely that he would donate a 
quarter-section of land in Rockford township 



to any minister of the Brethren church who 
would locate upon it and organize a church of 
that denomination. Mr. Brubaker accepted 
this offer, and in 1875 Mr. Crothers conveyed 
to him, by warranty deed, the northwest quar- 
ter of section 21 of Rockford township. 
Shortly thereafter he organized the Brethren 
church at Rockford, with twelve members. 
The organization gained in membership rap- 
idly, many of the new-comers purcha-sing land 
of Crothers, and about 1880 the large church 
of the Brethren was erected on the southeast 
corner of the southwest quarter of section 15. 
Rockford township. This is one of the his- 
toric churches of Gage county. It has per- 
formed a great and important service in the 
settlement and development of the county. Its 
membership is of a high order of citizens and 
it exemplifies in an almost perfect degree the 
gentle doctrines of its founder. It has grown 
steadily in power, wealth, influence and use- 
fulness, until it is to-day the most lasting 
monument that could be erected to the vener- 
able Henry Brubaker, who is now spending 
the declining years of his life in Holmesville, 
under its shadow. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

COUNTY OFFICES AND OFFICIALS 

First Election Law — Elections — Two Early Elections — Official Roster of 
County Commissioners — Adoption of Township Organization — County Clerks — 
County Treasurers — Clerks of District Court — County Sheriffs — County 
Judges — County Superintendents of Schools — County Surveyors — 
County Coroners — Registers of Deeds — County Attorneys — 
County Assessors — Territorial Assemblies — House of Repre- 
sentatives — Members of the Council — State Legislatures — 
Members of the Senate. 



At the second session of the legislative as- 
sembly of the territory of Nebraska, begun 
and held at Omaha December 16, 1855. a gen- 
eral election law was passed and approved 
Januarj' 26, 1856, which, amongst other 
things, provided that "an election for mem- 
bers of the house of representatives shall 
take place on the first Monday in August, 
1856, and on the same day of each year there- 
after." It was further provided that an elec- 
tion for a delegate to congress and for terri- 
torial and county officials should be held on 
the first Monday in August in 1857, and on 
the same day in every second year thereafter. 

The official history of Gage county began 
on the 7th day of August. 1857, with the fomi 
of an election by the members of the Beatrice 
Townsite Company, for the purpose of effect- 
ing county' organization by the election of a 
full corps of county officials. This election 
was wholly irregular, though held probably 
on the proper date fixed by statute. It* re- 
quired a special act of the legislative assembly 
of 1859 to validate this election and give ef- 
fect to the official acts of the officers so 
chosen. In 1858 a special election was called 
by the county board for the puqiose of filling 
vacancies in certain county offices where those 
who had been chosen the previous year had 
failed to qualify. For the purpose of elec- 



tions, the county board divided Gage county 
into two election precincts. Precinct No. 1 
included the south half of the county ; pre- 
cinct No. 2 the north half, as then organized. 
The dividing line between the precincts was 
the line between towmships 2 and 3. The en- 
tire county participated in the special election, 
and in 1859, at the regular election, a full set 
of county officials was chosen by the voters 
of the county. 

For a period of sixty years Gage county has 
gone through a procession of elections, un- 
eventful as a rule, but effective in results. If 
that nation is happy whose annals are without 
interest, then the citizens of Gage county have 
enjoyed great felicity during these three score 
years, if their annual and biennial elections 
are to be regarded as barometers of domestic 
felicity. 

Perhaps an incident of the election of 1859 
and one of the election of 1860 may be of 
sufficient interest to justify their preservation 
in this history. Of both elections and the inci- 
dents here narrated the writer can speak with 
the authority of an eye-witness. 

The election of 1859 occurred on a mellow 
day in August and was well attended by the 
voters of precinct No. 2. It was held in the 
open street, at the corner of Second and Court 
streets, where the ground about tlie middle of 



294 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



295 



Court fell away to the north in a wide de- 
pression, to include about one-third of block 
46, now owned by the Burlington Railroad 
Company. On the southeast corner of this 
block, lot 12, was the plain, board shanty of 
Orrin Stevens, well back from Court street, 
near the alley, and south of the house, at the 
edge of the depression, stood his straw-cov- 
ered shed or stable. The entire population 
of the county did not exceed three hundred 
white persons, the majority of whom were 
residents of precinct No. 2. The voters about 
the polls that day and the spectators com- 
bined probably numbered fifty persons. The 
voting began some time in the afternoon. 
Probably about three o'clock anxious in- 
quiries began to be made as to the where- 
abouts of "Orr Stevens." Presently there 
arose from the edge of the prairie at Fifth 
and Court streets a fierce Comanche-like yell, 
and coming toward the polls the spectator saw 
a new. part y covered wagon, drawn by a span 
of fine mules, plunging under whip down 
street toward the voting place, every crack 
of the whip being punctuated by yells from 
the driver, who stood erect in the front end 
of his wagon. Then the cry was raised 
" fhere comes Orr Stevens," and the crowd 
gathered about the voting place. The team 
was brought to a sudden stop in their midst, 
the driver, a spare, light-complexioned man, 
slightly above medium height, with reddish- 
brown hair and beard, blue eyes, high, nar- 
row forehead, descended to the ground, and 
with many good-natured oaths in reply to the 
banter of the crowd, proceeded to take out the 
rear endgate of his wagon, and with the help 
of other willing hands, brought forth a barrel 
of perfectly good whiskey. 

It was election whiskey furnished by the 
candidates and representatives of the Beatrice 
Townsite Company, to be used in celebrating 
the first general election held in Gage county. 
The head of the barrel was knocked in and all 
who would helped themselves without invita- 
tion to its contents. 

The election of 1860 was of great dramatic 
interest throughout the entire United States. 
That was the election that sounded the doom 



of human slavery in our country. The poll- 
ing place in Beatrice was at "Pap's Cabin." 
The population of the county had materially 
increased since the last election, the census of 
that year showing 421 white inhabitants. The 
voters, to the number of probably one hun- 
dred, gathered early in the forenoon about the 
voting place. Nebraska Territory was strongly 
Republican, and at this polling place but two 
parties were represented, "Douglas Demo- 
crats" and Republicans. The seriousness of 
the situation seemed to be impressed upon all 
those present, regardless of party. There was 
some delay in opening the polls, and inquir)'- 
was made as to the cause. The information 
was then given out that those in authority 
were waiting the arrival of Frederick EKvood 
and Johnathan Potts, who were to act aa 
clerks of election. Presently two fresh- 
faced young men arrived and took their 
places at a table prepared and in readiness fot 
the judges and clerks of election. They were 
EKvood and Potts, both residents of the Cub 
creek neighborhood and squatters on the pub- 
lic domain. Less than a year afterward they 
were the first to volunteer from Gage county 
in the service of their country in the great 
Civil war. They went to Nebraska City and 
both enlisted in Company H, First Regiment 
of Nebraska Volunteers, the regiment of Gen- 
eral John M. Thayer, John McConihe, Thomas 
J- Majors, Silas D. Strickland, and other Ne- 
braska heroes of that great struggle for hu- 
man liberty, 

The reader may find from the following of- 
ficial roster of Gage county officials some in- 
formation which may be of interest. 

County Commissioners 

1857 — Albert Towle, George D. Bonham. 

1858 — Albert Towle, H. M. Reynolds. 

1859 — Albert Towle, H. M. Reynolds. 

1860 — H. M. Reynolds (resigned, suc- 
ceeded by J. M. Summers), J. T. Alex- 
ander, J. B. Mattingly. 

1861— J. B. Mattingly, J. C. Waldrip, J. T. 
Sargent. 

1862 — FidiUo H. Dobbs, Fordyce Roper, 
William Tyler. 



296 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1863 — William Tyler. Fordyce Roper, Fi- 

dillo H. Dobbs. 

1864 — William Tyler, Fordyce Roper and 

Fidillo H. bobbs. 

1865 — Fidillo H. Dobbs, William Tyler. 11. 

T. Pierce. 

1866 — William Tyler, George Grant, H. P. 

Freeman. 

1867 — H. P. Freeman, William Tichnor, 

Horace M. Wickham. 
1868-11. P. Freeman, W^illiam Tichnor, 
Horace M. Wickham. 

1869 — Horace M. Wickham. J. .\I. Pettegrew, 

William Tichnor. 

1870 — Horace M. Wickham. J. M. Pette- 

grew, Solon M. Hazen. 

1871 — Horace M. Wickham, Solon M. Ha- 

zen, Elijah Filley. 

1872 — W. S. Guffy. Elijah Filley. H. M. 

Wickham. 

1873 — W. S. Guffy, Elijah Filley, H. .M. 

Wickham. 
1874— Elijah Filley, 11. .M. Wickham. W. S. 

Guffy. 
1875 — Solon M. Hazen. Elijah Filley. H. M. 

Wickham. 
1876— Solon M. Hazen, Elijah Filley, II. M. 

Wickham. 
1877— Solon M. Hazen, Elijah Fillev, Henrv 

.Vlhert. 
1878 — William Lamb, Henry .\lbcrt. George 

W. Talbot. 
1879— Henry Albert. George W. Talbot. Wil- 
liam Lamb. 
1880 — j. Blackman, Henry Albert. William 

I. ami). 
1881 — J. I. Giimaer. William Lamb. Henrv 

Albert. 

1882 — T. B. Essex, J. I. Gumaer, Henrv .\1- 

bert. 

1883 — T. B. Essex, J. I. Gumaer, T. J. Ches- 

ney. 

1884 — T. B. Essex, T. J. Chesney. E. W. 

Lane. 

1885 — E. W. Lane, T. J. Che.^ncy, J. W. Wil- 

liams. 
1886 — Township Super\Msors. 

In 1885 the county adopted the township- 
supervisor system of county government. At 



first each township was represented on the 
county board by a supervisor, the city of Bea- 
trice by four supervisors. This large repre- 
sentation, which was both cumbersome and 
e.xpensive, was changed by the legislature in 
1911. providing that counties under township 
organization should be divided into seven su- 
pervisor districts, with a sup>ervisor for each 
district. Under this law township organiza- 
tion in Gage county has been ver}' effective, 
and the county boards have uniformly been 
composed of men of ability and character. The 
limitations of this work render it impractical 
to set forth the names of the supen'isors from 
the beginning of township organization in this 
county. At present the 1st district, composed 
of Adams, Filley, Hooker, Logan, Hanover 
and Nemaha townships, is represented on the 
board of supervisors by B. H. Siefkes. Dis- 
trict No. 2, composed of Blakely, Grant, Cla- 
tonia. Highland, Holt and Midland townships, 
is represented by Warren E. Chittenden. Dis- 
trict No. 3, comprising Riverside township 
and wards one and three of the city of Bea- 
trice, is represented by W. P. Carrithers. Dis- 
trict No. 4, comprising wards two and four 
of Beatrice, is represented by John O. Essam; 
District No. 5, comprising Rockford, Blue 
Springs, Shennan, Island Grove and Liberty 
townships, by J. W. Marples, resigned, John 
\V. McFarren appointed to fill vacancy : Dis- 
trict No. 6, composed of Wymore and Barnes- 
ton townships, by Anton Scheideler : District 
No. 7, composed of Sicily, Paddock, Lincoln. 
Elm and Glenwood townships, by J. R. Sailing. 

Cou.\TY Clerks 

1857. L. H. John.son (failed to qualify; Na- 
than Blakely by appointment) ; 1858-1860, Na- 
than Blakely; 1861, C. C. Coffinberry ; 1862- 
1869, Oliver Townsend ; 1870-1871, Daniel E. 
Marsh; 1,S71-1876, William D. Cox; 1876- 
1882, J. E. Hill; 1882-1886, A. J. Pethoud, 
1886-1890, George E. Emery: 1890-1894, Al- 
bert G. Keim : 1894-1898. Thomas E. Wilson ; 
1898-1902, Joseph D. White : 1902-1906, James 
R. Plasters; 1906-1910. Benjamin H. Conlee; 
1010 101/ I 1 .e 

of term and his deputy E. M. Rurnhnni ap- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



297 



pointed for the unexpired term) ; 1917-1919, 
E. M. Burnhani, (resigned, and Mrs. Mabel 
C. Penrod appointed to fill unexpired term). 

County Treasurers 

1857, Isma P. Mumford; 1858-1860, Albert 
Towle; 1860-1862, Theodore M. Coulter; 
1863, Herman M. Reynolds; 1864-1870, Albert 
Towle; 1870-1876, Hiram P. Webb; 1878- 
1882, John Ellis; 1882-1886, James F. King; 
1886-1890, Evan J. Roderick; 1890-1892, 
Harry W. Davis ; 1892-1896, Isaac J. Frantz ; 
1896-1898, Jacob Klein; 1898-1902, George 
W. Maurer; 1902-1906 William W. Wright; 
1906-1910, Julian A. Barnard; 1910-1915, El- 
mer E. Hevelone ; 1915-1919, Andrew An- 
dersen. 

Clerks of the District Court 

Prior to the passage of an act of the state 
legislature under date of June 22, 1867, it 
seems to have been the custom for judges of 
the district court to appoint clerks of the court 
in all organized counties of the territory. The 
act named not only authorized but also di- 
rected the judges to make such appointments. 
By an act of the legislature approved February 
9, 1867, amending the act of June 22, 1867, 
the county clerks of the several counties of the 
state were declared to be ex officio clerks of 
the district court of their respective counties. 
This act continued in force till 1879, when an 
act was passed directing that in each comity 
of the state "having a population of eight 
thousand inhabitants or more there shall be 
elected in the year 1879, and every four years 
thereafter, a clerk of the district court in and 
for such county." 

The first clerk of the district court for Gage 
county of which we have any record was 
Rienzi Streeter, of Nebraska City. He was 
represented at the first term of the district 
court of which there is any known record, 
l)eginning Xovemlier 26, 1863, by Oliver 
Townsend as depty. At the second term of 
the court, held in September, 1865, he was 
represented by Herman M. Reynolds as 
deputy, and at the fall temi (third), which 
convened < )ctober 7, 1867, he was again rep- 



resented by Herman M. Reynolds. It was 
probably to remedy this situation that the act 
of June 22, 1867, was passed. 

Those who held the office by appointment 
from the bench were H. M. Reynolds, 1867; 
H. P. Webb, 1868; Oliver M. Enlow, 1874; 
O. H. Phillips, 1876; and J. E. Hill, 1878. 
Those who have held the office by election 
under the act of 1879 are : 

A. V. S. Saunders, served from 1880 to 
1888, inclusive. Frank H. Holt, 1888 to No- 
vember, 1891. He died on the night of the 
election, having been reelected for an ensuing 
four years' term. His wife was appointed to 
fill out his unexpired term, and R. W. Laflin 
was then appointed to hold office till the gen- 
eral election of 1892, when he was elected foi 
the full term of four years. He was suc- 
ceeded by John A. Weaver, who was elected at 
the general election of 1895, for the full term 
of four years. On the expiration of his term 
he was succeeded by Charles L. Brewster, 
January 1, 1900, and the latter was succeeded, 
in 1904, by John R. Quein, who held the of- 
fice, by a reelection in 1907, till January 1, 
1908, and was succeeded by Frank E. Lenhart, 
the present incumbent. 

Sheriffs 

1857, Daniel P. Taylor, failed to qualify; 
1858-1860, Philetus m'. Favor; 1860-1862. Eli 
B. Hendy; 1862-1866, Joseph Clyne; 1866- 
1868, Thomas W. Brown ; 1868-1870, Luthei 
P. Chandler; 1870-1872, Daniel Freeman; 
1872-1876, Leander Y. Coffin; 1876-1878, A. 
P. Hazard; 1878-1880, Eugene Mack; 1880- 
1886, Nathaniel Herron ; 1886-1890, E. F. 
Davis; 1890-1892, William R. Jones; 1892- 
1896, Robert Kyd; 1896-1900, Lind Nelson; 
1900-1904, William A. Waddington; 1904- 
1910, Alonzo J. Trude; 1910-1915, John L. 
Schick; 1915-1919, Frank W. Acton. 

County Judges 

1857, Obediah B. Hewett ; 1858. Nathan 
Blakely; 1859-1860, William Blakely; 1861- 
1868, Albert Towle; 1868-1870, Herman M. 
Reynolds; 1870-1872, C. A. Pease; 1872- 
1876, J. W. Carter; Carter resigned in 1875 



298 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and Alfred Hazlett was appointed to sen-e re- 
mainder of term; 1876-1878, Alfred Hazlett: 
Hazlett resigned in 1877 and William M. 
Forbes was appointed to complete the temi : 
1878-1880 Peter Shaffer; 1880-1882, Joseph 
E. Cobbey; 1882-1886, Ernest O. Kretsinger; 
1886-1890, Oliner N. Enlow ; 1890-1896, Wil- 
bur S. Bourne; 1896-1900, M. B. Davis; 1900- 
1906, Frederick E. Bourne; 1906-1910, Harr>- 
E. Spafford ; 1910-1917, Herbert D. Walden . 
1917-1919, J. A. O'Keefe. 

County Superin'TExuexts of Schools 

1857, N. B. Belden; 1858-1861, Henry El- 
liott; 1861-1866, B. F. McNeil; 1866-1867, 
Nathan Blakely ; 1867-1869, H. M. Reynolds ; 
1869-1870, B. F. McNeil; 1870-1874, 'Lucius 
B. Filley; 1874-1878, Joseph R. Little; 1878- 
1884, Matthew Weaverling; 1884-1888, M. D. 
Horhum; 1888-1892, Marie P. Upson, 1892- 
1894, A. A. Reed; 1894-1898, W. J. Todd; 
18O8-1904. A. R. Staller: 1Q04-1910, Anna V. 
Day; 1910-1915, Jessie V. Pyrtle; 1915-1919, 
T. J. Trauemicht. 

County Surveyors 

1857-1860, G. H. Tobey; 1861-1863, A. J. 
Pethoud; 1864-1868, Isaac Newton Headley; 
1868-1870. A. J. Pethoud: 1870-1872, Alfred 
Gale; 1872-1876, A. J. Pethoud; 1876-1882, 
Willis Ball ; 1882-1884, G. W. Minkler ; 1884- 
1890, Willis Ball: 1890-1894. R. D. Kennedy; 
1894-1896, Joseph Pasco; 1896-1906, Willis 
Ball; 1906-1915, A. J. Pethoud; 1915-1919, 
John L. Hershey. 

County Coroners 

H. M. Wickham was the first coroner, 
elected in 1861. served to 1862, one year. 
1863-1866, J. B. Mattingly ; 1866. J. L. Brown ; 
1867-1871, Daniel Freeman; 1871-1878, Job 
Buchanan: 1878-1880, Joseph C. Fletcher; 
1880-1882. D. A. Walden: 1882-1884. Osceola 
O. Wells ; 18}^-1886, M. P. Walsh ; 1886-1890. 
Frank M. Soniers ; 1800-1892. Osceola O- 
Wells: 1892-1804. Robert H. Albright; 1894- 
18%. Joseph C. Fletcher; 1896-1898, Louis 
Miller; 1898-1902. John Q. Reed; 1902-1906. 



Clifford W. Walden; 1906-1915, John Q. 
Reed; 1916-1919, the county attorney, ex of- 
ficio. 

Register of Deeds 

The legislature of 1887 created the office of 
register of deeds in counties having a stipu- 
lated number of inhabitants. Prior to that 
time the duties of this official had been per- 
formed by the county clerks of the several 
counties in the state. At the election in No- 
vember, 1887, J. E. Hays was elected to this 
office, and he ser\'ed till January 1st, 1894; 
1894-1898, John T. Greenwood; 1898-1906, 
Charles L. Reed; 1906-1910, Charles B. Hens- 
ley; 1910-1919, John A. Weaver. 

Couxty Assessors 

This important, not very desirable, and poor- 
ly paid office of county assessor has been the 
subject of a good deal of legislation. On the 
26th day of January, 1856, the territorial as- 
sembly passed a general statute respecting 
assessors and assessments. By that act the 
office of county assessor was created. By the 
act of February 22, 1873, provision was made 
for the election of precinct assessors. This 
was followed by an act of the legislature in 
1879. becoming effective September 1st of that 
year, which provided for the election of town- 
ship assessors. The general revenue law of 
1903 provided for the election of county asses- 
sors, who should hold office for four years 
and be ineligible for reelection while in office. 
The legislature of 1913 provided that at the 
general election of 1916 and each four years 
thereafter there should be elected in each 
county in the state a county assessor, whose 
term of office should be four years and who 
should be ineligible for two successive tenns. 
The act then provided that upon presentation 
of a petition to the county board not less than 
sixty days before a general election, signed 
by a prescribed percentage of the electors of 
the county, and praying that the question of 
electing the county assessor of said county be 
submitted to the electors therein, the county 
board should order that question to be submit- 
ted at the general election, and that if a ma- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



299 



jority of the votes cast should be opposed to 
the election of county assessors in that county, 
tlie office should cease with the expiration of 
the temi of the then incumbent, and the duties 
of the office be thereafter performed by the 
county clerk. The last statute is the one now 
in force. 

The condition of the Gage county records as 
respects this office is such as to render it ex- 
tremely difficult to make up an accurate list of 
those who have held the office of county asses- 
sor under the act of 1856. In 1867 William 
Blakely was elected to that office, for a tenn 
of two years. He was succeeded by George 
Gale, in 1869, and at the general election of 
1871 Charles H. Slocum was elected county 
assessor. He served until Januarj' 1, 1874, 
when, by the change in the law, as above noted, 
precinct assessors came into existence. Under 
the act of 1903 Walter W. Scott was the first 
assessor and held the one term. He was suc- 
ceeded by R. C. Hemphill, in 1908. At the 
general election of 1911 A. K. Smith was 
elected county assessor, but he died before 
taking office, and Oliver ]\I. Enlow was ap- 
pointed to and held the office of assessor until 
the act of 1913 came into effect and the duties 
of the office devolved upon the county clerk. 

District and County Attornev 

The legislature of 1885 created the office of 
county attorney in all counties of the state 
having 2,000 population. Prior to the passage 
of this act the duties of a prosecuting attorney 
had been performed by district attorneys elect- 
ed for each judicial district of the state. Dis- 
trict attorneys for the district in which Gage 
county is located were unifonnly lawyers ot 
ability and high character. One of the early 
district attorneys was the late Jefferson H. 
Broady, who, in the '70s, although a Demo- 
crat of the old school, was elected to the 
office in a strong Republican district, which 
at the time comprised the counties of Richard- 
son, Nemaha, Otoe, Johnson, Pawnee, Gage, 
lefferson. Saline, Fillmore. Nuckolls, Clav, 



Adams, Kearney, Harlan, Thayer, Franklin, 
and Webster. In 1883 he was elected judge 
of the First judicial district, then composed 
of Richardson, Pawnee, Nemaha, Johnson, 
and Gage counties, and he was reelected to 
the office in 1887, making eight years' service 
on the district judicial bench. He was a 
splendid citizen, an able lawyer, and a wise 
and conscientious judge. 

Judge Broady was succeeded in the district 
attorney's office by John P. ]\Iaul, of Fair- 
mont, Fillmore county, who, after a four 
vears' term, ending about 1879, was succeeded 
bv Judge \Mlliam H. ]\Iorris, of Crete. In 
1881 Robert W. Sabin, of Beatrice, was elect- 
ed to this responsible office, and at the close of 
the two years' term he was succeeded by Dan- 
iel F. Osgood, of Tecumseh, in 1883. Be- 
fore the election of 1885 occurred, the office 
of district attorney was abolished by the legis- 
lature and that of county attorney created. 

Robert S. Bibb was the first county attor- 
ney of Gage county, being elected to that of- 
fice in November,' 1886. In 1888 Hugh J. 
Dobbs was elected, and in 1890, Charles O. 
Bates. Mr. Bates afterward resigned his 
office and left the state, whereupon his part- 
ner, Alfred Hazlett, was appointed to serv^e 
the remainder of his term. In 1892 Robert 
W. Sabin was elected county attorney, and 
after two years' service he was succeeded by 
George Arthur Alurphy, who was reelected 
in 1894. Fie was succeeded by Samuel Rin- 
aker, who. by reelection in 1898, held the 
office four years. He was succeeded, in 1900, 
by H. E. Sackett, who was reelected in 1902, 
and who was succeeded, in 1904, by Samuel 
D. Killen, who was himself succeeded by 
Menzo Tern% in 1906. Frederick O. iMcGirr 
was elected in 1908, and in the presidential 
election of 1912 his successor, Jean Cobbey, 
was elected. He served two years and was de- 
feated for reelection in 1914. by Frederick 
Messmore, who was reelected in 1916 and is 
the present incumbent of the office. 



300 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Territorial Assembly — House of Representatives 



COUNTIES represented 
Gage, Clay, Johnson 
Gage, Clay, Johnson 
Gage, Clay, Johnson 
Gage, Clay, Johnson 
Gage, Clay, Johnson 
Gage, Clay, Johnson 
Gage, Jones 
Gage, Jones 
Gage, Jones 



date 


NAME 


RESIDENCE 


1859 


Dr. Charles A. Goshen 


Tecumseh 


1860 


Hiram W. Parker 


Austin 


1861 


Nathan Blakely 


Beatrice 


1862 


Nathan Blakely 


Beatrice 


1863 


John Cadman 


Lancaster 


1864 


John Cadman 


Lancaster 


1865 


Herman M. Reynolds 


Beatrice 


1866 


Hugh M. Ross 


Unknown 


1867 


Nathan Blakely 


Beatrice 



Territorial Assembly — Members of the Council 

1865 Dr. Jeremiah X. McCasIand Pawnee City Pawnee, Gage, Clay, Johnson, Jones 

1866 Dr. Jeremiah N. McCasland Pawnee City Pawnee, Gage, Clay, Johnson, Jones 

1867 Dr. Alexander S. Stewart Pawnee City Pawnee, Gage, Clay, Johnson, Jones 



State Legislature — House of Representatives 



1867 Oliver Townsend 
1869 Nathan Blakely 
1871 Fordyce Roper 



1873 


J. B. McDowell 


1875 


J. B. McDowell 


1877 


William Anyan 


1879 


L. B. Boggs' 




John Sparks 




William Curtis 


1881 


H. H. Silver 




Elijah Filley 


1883 


G. R. Tunier 




W. W. Morrison 




G. H. Castle 


1885 


F. H. Holt 




S. M. Hazen 




J. R. Buffington 


1887 


J. M. Wardlow 




C. C. Gafford 




J. N. Fuller 


1889 


F. E. Wh>man 




F. C. Severin 




A. B. McNickle 




W. C. Hill 


1891 


J. W. Williams 




J. W. Faxon 




Edward Arnold 




Ilenr)- Albert 


1893 


J. M.'Wardlaw 



Beatrice 




Gage, Jones 






Beatrice 




Gage, Jones 






Beatrice 




Pawnee, Gage, Saline, 
Lancaster 


Jefferson 


and 


Beatrice 




Gage 






Beatrice 




Gage 






Beatrice 




Gage 






Beatrice 




Gage 






Beatrice 




Gage 






Adams 




Gage 






Silver 




Gage 






Beatrice 




Gage 






Blue Spri 


ngs 


Gage 






Beatrice 




Cjage 






Blue Springs 


Gage 






Beatrice 




Gage 






Blue Spri 


ngs 


Gage 






Liberty 




Gage 






Pickrell 




Gage 






Wyniore 




Gage 






Hanover 




Gage 






Adams 




Gage 






Cortland 




( '.age 






Cortland 




Gage 






Blue Springs 


Gage 






Filley 




Gage 






Lanham 




Gage 






Odell 




Gage 






Wilber 




Gage 






Pickrell 




Gage 







HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



301 



H. J. Merrick 
P. H. James 

E. B. Hinds 

F. W. Miles 
1895 E. B. Hinds 

H. J. Merrick 
J. C. Birch 
1897 G. U. Jones 

G. R. Fouke 

W. E. Chittenden 

J. H. Casebeer 
1899 W. E. Chittenden 

T. E. Hibbert 

G. U. Jones 
1901 A. D. Spencer 

T. E. Hibbert 

Henry Steinmeyer 

R. W. Laflin 
1903 W. E. Robbins 

J. H. Ramsay 

S. S. Spier 

Herschel W. Smith 
1905 Robert K. Kyd 

James H. Casebeer 

Adam McMullen 

W. E. Robbins 
1907 Adam McMullen 

C. W. McCullough 

D. J. Killen 

C. H. Culdice 
1909 B. H. Begole 

D. J. Killen 
Charles J. McColl 
Frank O. Ellis 

1911 I. R. Clayton 

H. Clyde Filley 
J. W. McKissick 
Anton Sagl 

1913 Charies F. Allen 

F. W. Schaupp 
1915 D. S. Dalby 

G. W. Burrows 



Adams 


Gage 


Cortland 


Gage 


Odell 


Gage 


DeWitt 


Gage 


Odell 


Gage 


Adams 


Gage and Saline 


Wymore 


Gage 


Wymore 


Gage 


Liberty 


Gage 


Cortland 


Gage 


Blue Springs 


Gage and Saline 


Clatonia 




Adams 




Wymore 




Barneston 


Gage and Saline 


Adams 


Gage 


Clatonia 


Gage 


Wymore 


Gage 


Cortland 


Gage 


Filley 


Gage 


Odell 


Gage 


Tobias 


Gage and Saline 


Beatrice 


Gage and Saline 


Blue Springs 


Gage 


Wymore 


Gage 


Cortland 


Gage 


Wymore 


Gage 


Blue Springs 


Gage 


Adams 


Gage 


DeWitt 


Gage and Saline 


Beatrice 


Gage 


Adams 


Gage 


Beatrice 


Gage 


Beatrice 


Gage and Saline 


Wymore 


Gage 


Beatrice 


Gage 


Beatrice 


Gage 


Wilber 


Gage and Saline 


Beatrice 


Gage 


Virginia 


Gage 


Beatrice 


Gage 


Adams 


Gage 



1867 Oscar Holden 
1869 C. H. Gere 

1S71 A, J. Cropsey 



State Legislature — Senate 

Pawnee, Gage, Johnson, Clay, and Jones 
Pawnee, Gage, Jefferson, Saline, Lan- 
caster 
Pawnee, Gage, Jefferson, Saline, Lan- 
caster 



302 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBIL'\SKA 



1873 


N. K. Griggs 


Beatrice 


1875 


N. K. Griggs 


Beatrice 


1877 


L. W. Colby 


Beatrice 


1879 


J. A. McMeans 


Fairbury 


1881 


E. B. Harrington 


Beatrice 


1883 


Elijah Filley 


Beatrice 


1885 


W. H. Snell 


Fairbury 


1887 


L. W. Colby 


Beatrice 


1889 


J. W. Funck 


Beatrice 


1891 


G. F. Collins 


Firth 


1893 


Alex. Graham 


Beatrice 


1895 


Alex. Graham 


Beatrice 


1897 


G. A. Murphy 


Beatrice 


1899 


F. N. Prout 


Beatrice 


1901 


W. H. Edgar 


Beatrice 


1903 


L. M. Pemberton 


Beatrice 


1905 


H. W. L. Jackson 


Beatrice 


1907 


H. E. Sackett 


Beatrice 


1909 


Jacob Klein 


Beatrice 


1911 


Peter Jansen 


Beatrice 


1913 


Jacob Klein 


Beatrice 


1915 


A. D. Spencer 


Barneston 


I'M/ 


Adam McMullen 


Wymore 



Jefferson and Gage 



Gage and Pawnee 
Gage and Pawnee 
Gage and Pawnee 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

HOSPITALS 



Institute for Feeble Minded Youths — Hepperlin's Hospital — New Lutheran Hos- 
pital — Fall's Sanitarium — The Mennonite Deaconess Home and Hospital. 



A community is often distinguished by its 
beneficent institutions, both pubHc and pri- 
vate. If the aphorism "Man's inhumanity to 
man makes countless thousands mourn," as 
the old school readers had it, then it must be 
equally true that man's humanity to man 
causes countless thousands to rejoice. Noth- 
ing is more indicative of the altruistic prin- 
ciple in human affairs than asylums and hos- 
pitals for the afiflicted, the helpless, the hope- 
less. Though the commercial spirit may 
largely prevail in a community, there will al- 
ways be found those to whom the cup of cold 
water given in kindness, the gentle word, the 
alleviation of pain and suffering, the care of 
the unfortunate, are more than gold, than 
much fine gold. 

Beatrice is widely known on account of its 
being the site of the Institution for Feeble 
]\linded Youths, as well as on account of its 
two private hospitals and a private sanitarium 
located within the city. 

The state institution was created by act of 
the legislature of 1885, which became a law 
March 5th of that year. The second section 
of the act reads as follows : 

Besides shelter and protection, the prime 
object of said institution shall be to provide 
special means of improvement for that unfor- 
tunate portion of the community who were 
born, or by disease have become, imbecile oi 
feeble-minded, and by a wise and well adapted 
course of instruction reclaim them from their 
helpless condition, and, through the develop- 
ment of their intellectual faculties, fit them as 
far as possible for usefulness in society. To 
this end there shall be furnished them such 
agricultural and mechanical education as they 
may be capable of receiving. 



The fourth section of the act provided for 
the location of the institution "at or near Be- 
atrice and within two miles of the corporate 
limits of said city; Provided, that said city of 
Beatrice or the citizens thereof shall donate 
and convey to the state not less than forty 
(40) acres of land, near or through which 
runs a stream of living water sufficient to 
aff'ord water supply for said institution, said 
site to be approved by the board of public 
lands and buildings." 

Pursuant to this proviso, the money to pur- 
chase a site and thereby secure the location 
of the institution at Beatrice was readily sub- 
scribed by the citizens, amounting to the sum 
of $4,000, and the east ten acres of the north- 
east quarter of the northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 35 and the west thirty acres of the north- 
west quarter of the northwest quarter of 
section 36, in Midland township, were pur- 
chased and, by warranty deed, conveyed to 
the state as a site for this institution. 

The ninth section of the act appropriated 
the sum of $50,000 for the purpose of con- 
structing and furnishing a building for the 
use of the inmates, as provided by the act, and 
the tenth and last section reads as follows : 

In order to create a fund for the support 
of said institution, there is hereby authorized 
and shall be made an annual tax levy on the 
taxable property of the state, not to exceed 
one-eighth (J^) of one mill on the dollar; 
said fund shall be known as "The Fund of 
the Institution for the Feeble Ivlinded." 

Shortly after the passage of the act and 
the purchase and conveyance of the above- 
described tract of land to the state, work was 
besrun on the first structure erected on these 



303 



304 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



grounds. It is now used and known as the Armstrong was the first superintendent of 

administration building. the institution and his wife the first matron. 

The act establishing the institution author- It was to him more than to any other man 




Stone Cott,\ce 




Boys' First Cottage 



ized the state board of public lands and build- 
ings to appoint a superintendent for it, to 
whom was to be committed its control, and 
also provided for the appointment of a ma- 
tron, teachers, and other employes. Dr. T- T. 



that credit is due for the founding of this 
great charity, one of the very few of like 
character in the United States. He remained 
superintendent until his death. The Beatrice 
Institute for Feeble Minded Youths stands as 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



305 



a lasting nionuiiient to the enthusiasm and election to the ofiice of clerk of the district 
benevolence of spirit of Dr. J. T. Armstrong, court. Both he and Dr. Armstrong are 
and to Frank M. Holt, who at that time rep- buried in Evergreen Home cemetery. His 




Girls' First Cott.xge 




Boys' Second Cott.voe 



resented Gage county in the legislature, and gra\e is marked l)y a stone, the Doctor's by a 

whose powder ful and manly advocacy of his monument. 

bill establishing the institution won him the 'I'he first child was admitted to the institu- 

respect and gratitude of the entire state. He tion May 24, 1887. It is a matter of history 

died in November, 1891, on the day of his re- that ( )rion Rossman, a boy who is still an in- 



306 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



307 



mate of the institution, was the third one ad- 
mitted, he having entered on the 25th day of 
May, 1887. 

A number of prominent physicians have 
served the state as superintendent of the insti- 
tution since the death of Dr. Armstrong. 
They are Dr. CHtiford P. Fall, of Beatrice, 
Drs. Sprague, Deering, Johnson, Osbourne, 
G. L. Roe (also of Beatrice), Thomas, and 
Fast. Dr. D. G. Griffiths is the present super- 
intendent, and under his able administration, 



stantly increasing. Few are ever discharged 
except by death, and it is a matter of record 
that patients of this class are as a rule short- 
lived. 

The state of Nebraska is entitled to the 
greatest possible credit for what it has done 
to alleviate the condition of these unfortunate 
children and to relieve their relatives from the 
great burden of their care. 

In 1879 Dr. Marry M. Hepperlen estab- 
lished, at No. 1700 South Ninth street, a pri- 




HOSI'ITAL BuiLDl.VG 



the high record of efficiency in this important 
trust has been fully maintained. 

The state has been most liberal in providing 
the necessary buildings and conveniences for 
these youthful but hopeless wards. In addi- 
tion to the buildings here shown there are an 
up-to-date dairy, barn, laundry, store-room, 
bakery, engine house, pumping station for the 
water supply and a large stand pipe for water 
service to all the buildings as well as the 
grounds. By successive purchases the state 
now owns a fine body of fertile land, compris- 
ing three hundred acres, adjoining its original 
forty-acre tract, and the institution is in a 
large measure self-supporting. There is at 
this time a population of six hundred children 
at the institution, a population which is con- 



vate hospital, which immediately secured a 
large patronage from the city and surround- 
ing country. After several years of prosper- 
ous existence under its founder's personal 
care, it was purchased, in 1909, by the United 
Brethren church, which continued its benefi- 
cent mission until 1913, when it was sold to 
the Lutheran church. This organization has 
carefully nourished the plant, attracting a 
widely distributed patronage. The old build- 
ing in which the hospital was first started, 
after some additions and changes had been 
made by Dr. Hepperlen, could accommodate 
twenty-five patients. But latterly these ac- 
commodations have been found insufficient, 
and the present owners are now erecting a 
modern hospital, to cost $150,000. and to be 



308 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




!^HirfBi^^^^^[7\Vi : 1 


l?^WSt%'3f -^^^^^^H 


m 


IP 

I; 






Jh - ii 




ji- - 11 




-^s 





HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



309 



equipped with the latest and most modern ap- 
pHances of every description for hospital 
work. It is the intention to spare no jiains or 
expense to make it one of the most complete 
institutions of its kind in existence. It will 
be a fire-proof building and when opened to 
public patronage will contain one hun- 
dred beds. The new structure is located a 
little north of the old building and the 
latter will continue to be used, as a nurse"s 
home. 

In 1901 Dr. Clifford P. Fall established a 
prixate sanitarium in connection with his 



desire to make a special thanks-offering to 
God for all their blessings. It was at first 
proposed to establish a home for the aged, but 
it was finalU- determined to found a hospital, 
to be known as the Mennonite Deaconess 
Home and Hospital. By the congregation 
was chosen a board of directors consisting of 
twelve brethren, who went immediately to 
work, their first object being to raise the 
fimds necessary to purchase a site and erect 
a suitable building. When $20,516.25 had 
been subscribed for the building, Hon. Peter 
. Tansen and wife donated to the church for 




New Luther^vn Hospit.\l 



jjractice. It is located at No. 723 North 
Eleventh street. This institution has had a 
very successful and a very useful career. It 
contains twenty-five beds, has the service of 
eight nurses, and it is open to the use of 
other physicians and surgeons. Dr. Fall came 
to Beatrice a young man, in 1888 ; he is now 
a veteran in his profession and has achieved 
an enviable reputation both as a physician and 
a surgeon. 

The Mennonite Deaconess Home and Hos- 
pital is located at Eleventh and Arthur streets. 
Its inception can be traced to a jubilee cele- 
bration held by the Beatrice Mennonites sev- 
eral years ago, for the purpose of praising 
the Lord for His merciful guidance during 
the twenty-five years of their settlement in 
this country of religious liberty. On this oc- 
casion the congregation was seized with a 



hospital purposes block 2 of Fairview Addi- 
tion to Beatrice. The plans for the building 
were drawn by Richard \V. Grant, architect, 
and the work of erecting the structure was 
begun during the year 1910. It was com- 
pleted in 1911, and, with appropriate cere- 
monies, was dedicated to its work of mercy 
on July 16th of that year. 

The hospital is arranged to accommodate 
thirty patients, and these are cared for by the 
sisters in a faithful and conscientious manner. 
It employs from eight to ten nurses, and every 
effort is made to alleviate suffering, mitigate 
despair, and awaken hope in the breasts of 
the despondent and afflicted. With generous 
unselfishness and absolute impartiality, the 
management invites all practising physicians 
and surgeons to avail themselves of its facili- 
ties. 



CHAPTER XX IX 

MILITARY HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY 

Indian Raid on Little Blue River, 1864 — First Military Organization — A Stam- 
pede — Company C, Nebraska Militia — Sioux Indian War, 1891 — Gage 
County in the Civil War — The Spanish-American War — 
Roster of Company C, First Regiment — 
The ^^■oRI.D \\'ar. 



The early annals of Gage county as re- 
spects militar}' affairs have but little interest. 
The pioneers usually provided themselves with 
arms against the depredations of Indians and 
lawless persons, but within the boundaries of 
our county there is no well authenticated case 
of Indian troubles worthy of mention. The 
Otoe and Missouri tribes of Indians were at 
peace with the whites and were their allies 
against the encroachments of warlike tribes. 
Nevertheless, for a number of years the white 
population maintained an attitude of constant 
vigilance against surprises and attacks by 
marauding bands of savages, but until 1864 
nothing like a military organization of any 
kind existed in the county. 

That year, on Sunday, the 7th day of 
August, occurred what is known in Nebraska 
histor)' as the Indian raid on tlie Little Blue 
river, in which several Gage county people 
lost their lives and property and in which the 
lives of many others were put in jeopardy. 
The Indians were Cheyennes. led by Black 
Kettle. One-Eyed George Bent, a half-breed. 
Two Face, and other chiefs. It had evidently 
been planned to attack the ranches and stage 
stations along the Oregon Trail simultaneous- 
ly at a number of points, to kill the whites, 
destroy their property, and clear the Little 
Blue country as far as the Big Sandy. Pat- 
rick Burke, the first blacksmith of Beatrice, 
on his way up the old trail with a load of 
corn, about three o'clock in the afternoon, in 



plain sight of and within half a mile of Paw- 
nee Ranch, was shot and killed. About the 
same hour an attack was made by a band of 
Cheyennes on Little Blue Station, or Com- 
stock's Ranch, at Oak Grove, and J. H. But- 
ler and M. C. Kelley, both Gage county men, 
were shot with arrows, and killed. A few 
miles further down the river the Eubank 
family was murdered, nine persons in all, and 
Mrs. Eubank, the wife of William Eubank, 
her child and Miss Laura Roper, a Gage 
county girl, were carried away into captivity. 
In May, 186.S, while quartered at Laramie, 
General Tom Moonlight, afterward governor 
of W'yoming. when about to start on an expe- 
dition against the Indians, learned that two 
white women were with Two Face's band, 
near the south base of the Black Hills. Com- 
munication was opened with these Indians, 
and for a large number of ponies, blankets, a 
quantity of sugar and other things of value 
to the Indians, the white women were pur- 
chased from them and brought into Laramie, 
under an amiistice, accompanied by Two Face 
and two of his best warriors. The women 
were Mrs. Eubank and Laura Roper. When 
the condition of Mrs. Eubank became known 
to General Moonlight, the amiistice was vio- 
lated — Two Face and his warriors were ar- 
rested and were hanged in chains, on a bluff 
two miles north of Fort Laramie, where their 
bodies remained until the crows had picked 
their bones. Thirty persons lost their lives at 



310 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



311 



the ranches and stage stations along the Little 
Blue river in this raid, and the first semblance 
of a military- organization in Gage county was 
a company of its citizens hastily called to- 
gether by the sheriff, Joseph Clyne, for the 
purpose of investigating the depredations of 
these savages, ascertaining the true condition 
of affairs, burying the dead killed in the 
massacre, and repelling the invasion. 

As far as known the members of this com- 
pan)' from Gage' county were William H. 
Stoner, John Gilbert, Oliver Townsend, Al- 
bert C. Howe (half-brother of Church 
Howe), H. M. W'ickham, William R. Jones, 
Daniel Freeman, Thomas Pethoud, James 
Pethoud, Enoch Graves, Henry Graves, Louis 
Graves, Ira Dixon, Leander Wilson, Samuel 
Jones, Richard C. Davis, William Alexander, 
Joseph Clyne, Edward Wells and his brother, 
from Cub creek, Mr. Bagley, also from Cub 
creek, and Theodore M. Coulter, a defaulting 
county treasurer and a prisoner in the custody 
of Sheriff Clyne. Stoner was elected captain 
of the company, and John Gilbert, who still 
lives, an honored citizen of Red Cloud, was 
chosen lieutenant. At Big Sandy this com- 
pany of men was joined by a number of 
others, among them a man named Constable, 
who, in the battle which ensued, was killed, 
with another, whose name is not known. 
These men were well armed and well mounted, 
and, after passing Big Sandy, numbered 
thirty-four, (^n their way out they buried the 
dead, including Bill Kennedy, who had been 
killed in his cabin by the Indians, five of the 
Eubanks family, Kelley and Butler. They 
found all the principal ranches and stage 
stations between the Hackney Ranch and 
Pawnee Ranch burned, except Little Blue Sta- 
tion, where they found an abandoned wagon 
train of a hundred laden wagons, bound west- 
ward, and they found desolation and destruc- 
tion everywhere. A detail of United States 
troops had been dispatched from Fort Kear- 
ney, under the command of Captain E. B. 
Murphy, to go over the Little Blue countrj- 
on the same mission of the company from 
Beatrice, and the two companies met at Paw- 
nee Ranch on the 14th day of August. The 



next day, under command of Captain Murphy, 
they started south in pursuit of the hostile 
Cheyennes, and came upon the Indians where 
the Fort Riley road crossed Elk creek, in 
northeastern Nuckolls county, ten miles south 
of Little Blue Station, in considerable num- 
bers and in a warlike attitude. In the engage- 
ment which immediately ensued about three 
hundred warriors participated, while a still 
larger number appeared to be held in reserve. 
The entire band was moving toward the Re- 
publican river. Captain Murphy had a single 
field-piece, btit it was disabled in firing the 
first round. He then deemed it best, in view 
of the number of Indians, to retreat and fall 
back to Little Blue Station, having lost two 
of his command. Having only limited ra- 
tions, he abandoned further pursuit of the 
Indians and the Beatrice company returned 
home. 

The excitement in Gage county over this 
Indian raid was intense. At Beatrice a sod 
breastwork was thrown up on the east bank 
of the Big Blue river, to defend the Market 
street ford, and, as far as possible, the men 
went arfned and took other precautions to 
defend the city. The late summer and fall of 
1864 was a period of great suspense and ner- 
vous strain. This is well illustrated by a 
stampede which occurred in the eastern por- 
tion of the county toward the end of August. 
One day, a little after noon, a couple of men 
in a lumber wagon, passed up Mud creek and 
reported that the Indians had attacked and 
were burning Blue Springs. They claimed 
also that they had been attacked, and, as proof, 
showed bullet holes in their wagon-box. About 
that time a confederate near Blue Springs set 
fire to a patch of prairie grass, and these 
strangers pointed to the smoke as a confirma- 
tion of their story. That was enough ; the 
alarm spread like wildfire, and before sun- 
down not a white person was left in Rock ford, 
Filley, and Sherman townships. The settlers 
turned their hogs, cattle, and chickens loose 
to roam at will, loaded their women and chil- 
dren into wagons, and fled as best they could. 
That night most of them stopped on Yankee 
creek, about a mile west of Crab Orchard; 



312 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV, NEBRASKA 



others went on to Brownville and Nebraska 
City. After a day or two a company of ten 
men ventured back to their homes and found 
that the settlers had been the victims of a 
practical joke. 

The Little Blue country, however, contin- 
ued to be dangerous ground, and a call was 
issued by Governor Saunders for four com- 
l)anies of territorial militia to be used in 
guarding traffic, travel and the Overland Stage 
line along the old trail from Big Sandy to 
Denver. (Jne of these was Company C of the 
Second Brigade, First Regiment Nebraska 
Militia (cavalry), raised in Pawnee and Gage 
counties — Alvin G. White, of Pawnee City, 
captain; William B. Raper, of Pawnee City, 
first lieutenant ; Dr. Levi .Anthony, of Blue 
Springs, second lieutenant. The Gage county 
members of the company were : 

Levi .\nthony (second lieutenant). John 
Barrett, William Alexander, James Grant, 
Isaac Claiborne, William Aikens, Nelson 
Adams, .\lvah .\yers. William T. Brown. 
Charles Bailey, Charles Buss, Edward Cart- 
wright, Henry Corlett, William J. Dobbs, 
John H. Dunn, Josiah Eastman, David K. 
Fisher, John J. Fisher, Francis M. Graham, 
Henr)' Graves, Henry L. McMuford. Abra- 
ham P. McManis, Joel T. Mattingley, Josq>h 
Milligan, Francis M. Reese, D. M. Shellan- 
berger, Horace M. Wickham, James A. Wy- 
more. 

The com])any was mustered into the ser- 
vice of the state at Pawnee City. September 
1, 1864, and was stationed at Buffalo Ranch, 
at the western end of Nine Mile Ridge, on 
Little Blue river, throughout the ensuing fall 
and winter, to guard the stage lines, ranches, 
stations and travel from Big Sandy to Fort 
Kearney. It performed this duty efficiently, 
was paid by the state, hut rationed by the fed- 
eral government, and disbanded, without be- 
ing discharged, about Februar)- 7, 1865. 

Our county took an honorable and efficient 
part in what is known as the Sioux Indian 
war. in 1890-1891. In that year there arose 
on the northwestern border of our state a 
religious disturbance amongst the Sioux 
Indians in South Dakota. .\ voung. half- 



educated, Piute Indian, with a smattering 
knowledge of the Christian religion, appeared 
in Utah as the long expected Indian Messiah, 
who was to drive the whites from the ancient 
Indian hunting grounds, rejuvenate the aged 
and infirm, resurrect the dead, bring back to 
the hunting grounds the deer, bufYalo and 
other wild game of the early days, and restore 
to the Indians the great northwest. This mis- 
chief-making imposter claimed to have re- 
ceived direct from the Great Spirit the revela- 
tion of the "Ghost Dance" as a means of 
spreading the knowledge of his mission 
abroad. This sacred rite was introduced 
among the powerful Sioux tribes of South 
Dakota at a moment when, on account of gen- 
eral drought, they were facing a great short- 
age of provisions. The subtle influence of 
these pretentions manifested itself at first in 
mutterings of discontent and finally in a gen- 
eral movement of large bodies of Indians 
from their agencies in almost open defiance 
of authority. The Indians of Standing Rock 
Agency, Big Foot's band from the Cheyenne 
River Agency, and the Brules at the Rosebud 
Agency, broke away from every semblance of 
control and, in open defiance of their agents' 
orders, refused to discontinue the dance. Dis- 
afTection was spreading to the Rosebud and 
Pine Ridge Agencies, which together com- 
prised a compact body of more than ten 
thousand Indians, the most warlike in the 
northwest. In August, 1890. .some of the local 
agents declared the situation to be beyond 
their control, and in November the president 
of the L'nited States directed the secretary of 
war to take active measures to j)revent an out- 
break. Troops to the number of 8,000 were 
poured into the country- and many of the In- 
dians left their agencies and fled to the Bad 
Lands. With more than twenty-five thousand 
Indians in a state of semi-rebellion and nearly 
all infected by the Messiah craze and the 
Ghost Dance, and impatient of restraint, the 
inhabitants of northern Nebraska appealed to 
the governor of the state for protection. 

By his direction, the adjutant general sup- 
jilied fourteen independent military compan- 
ies, organized in places along the northwes- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



313 



tern frontier, with Springfield breech-loading 
rifles, ammunition, and equipment, and in 
January, 1891, the two regiments of the Ne- 
braska National Guard, under Brigadier Gen- 
eral Leonard W. Colby, were ordered to the 
scene of action and stationed at or near the 
towns along the Elkhorn Railway, south of 
the Indian country. The guards did good ser- 
vice in quieting the fears of the people and in 
showing a readiness to afford protection in 
case of necessity. 

Company C of the First Regiment was 
from Beatrice. It was commanded by A. A. 
Reed, was stationed during the Indian troubles 
at Valentine, Nebraska, and its services in this 
historic event closed the military' activities of 
Gage county as respects Indian wars. 

Our county participated to some extent in 
the great Civil war. The patriotic devotion of 
the territory of Nebraska to the Union 
throughout those trying days forms a most 
creditable chapter in its history. The news 
of the fall of Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, 
evoked a spirit of unbounded loyalty in the 
new territory. In Omaha steps were at once 
taken to aid the government by organizing 
two companies of infantr)', one of dragoons 
and one of artillery. Governor Black ap- 
pointed George F. Kennedy, of Florence, act- 
ing brigadier general of the First Nebraska 
Regiment, pending its organization and enroll- 
ment. Governor Saunders, who had succeed- 
ed to the executive chair, on May 18, 1861, 
issued his proclamation reciting the necessity 
of loyally supporting the government, and in- 
voked the aid of everj' lover of his country 
and his home to sustain and protect it. Steps 
were immediately taken to organize a regi- 
ment, and on the 2d day of July, 1861, the 
tenth and last company of the First Nebraska 
Regiment of \'olunteers were sworn into the 
service of the United States. Men were drawn 
from all over the territory' into this regiment. 
From Gage county came Samuel Shaw, who 
enlisted in Company B. June 13, 1861 ; Fred- 
erick Elwood, aged twenty-three, who went 
from Beatrice and enlisted in Company H ; 
Jonathan Potts, twenty-seven years old, also 
from Beatrice, enlisted in Company M. 



These heroic citizens of our county served 
faithfully until the end of the war, and all 
returned to Gage county to make their homes. 
Mr. Shaw some years ago went to Florida, 
where he died. Elwood and Potts, after 
many years' residence, both died in Gage 
county, much honored by all who knew their 
history. In addition to these, William, Eg- 
bert, and James Shaw (sons of Stephen P. 
Shaw), and John Q. Adams, from Adams 
township, served in this regiment, being mem- 
bers of Company H. 

The county contributed also to the member- 
ship of the Second Nebraska Cavalry Regi- 
ment, organized in 1863, to repel an invasion 
by the Sioux Indians in their retreat from 
Minnesota, following the great massacres of 
August, 1862. This regiment was raised in 
eastern Nebraska and enlisted for nine 
months' service, under the command of Col- 
onel Robert W. Furnas, of Brownville. It 
became a part of General Sully's expedition 
up the Missouri river, participating in the 
skirmishes and the battle of White Stone 
Hills, South Dakota, in which the Indians 
were completely vanquished. Those from 
Gage county who took part in this campaign, 
as members of Company L of the Second 
Nebraska, were Francis M. Graham, George 
\V. Desert, H. S. Barnum, Edward Arm- 
strong, Thaddeus Amistrong, and John 
Hagar, all of Blue Springs and vicinity. 

Our county can take a just pride in the rec- 
ord made by its citizens in the Spanish- 
American war, in 1898. On April 20th of 
that year the United States presented its ulti- 
matum to Spain, demanding that she relin- 
quish sovereignty over Cuba before noon of 
-\pril 23d and withdraw her land and naval 
forces from that unhappy island. Spain in- 
dignantly refused to comply with these de- 
mands, and on that day, at noon, President 
William McKinley issued a call for 135,000 
volunteers in the military' and naval service 
of the United States. On the 25th day of 
April congress issued its declaration of a state 
of war between Spain and the United States^ 
and the call reached Lincoln, Nebraska, on 
the 27th of April. At noon of the following 



314 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




CoLONEU John M. Stotsenberg 
Killed in action in the Philippines, April 23, 1899 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



31; 



day the companies of the First Nebraska, in- 
cluding Company C, of Beatrice, went into 
camp at Camp Alvin Saunders, Lincohi. This 
regiment was mustered into service beginning 
on the 9th day of May; on June 5th it was 
aboard the steamer "Senator," at San Fran- 
cisco, bound for the orient ; and on July 17th, 
the city of Manila lay spread out before its 
members, from their vessel's anchorage in 
Manila Bay. The regiment disembarked on 
the 21st day of July, at Cavite, and remained 
in camp until August 2d, when it participated 
in the assault on the outposts of Manila, in 
which eight Nebraskans were wounded. On 
August 13th the regiment took an active part 
in the assault and capture of the city of 
Manila. From that time until February it 
was on outpost and guard duty about Manila, 
while Aguinaldo's rebellion was rapidly gath- 
ering head. On February 4, 1899, while sta- 
tioned opposite block house No. 6, near the 
waterworks, on Pasig river, a squad of four 
armed Filipinos attempted to pass the 
American line. Private Grayson, of the First 
Nebraska, stood guard there, and when the 
Filipinos refused to halt, he fired on them 
His fire was returned by the insurrectos, and 
the war of the Philippines was on. The regi- 
ment rushed to the defense of its outposts, 
the Filipinos attacking with vigor, and this 
action is known as the first battle of Santa 
Mesa. 

The regiment participated with great re- 
nown in the second battle of Santa Mesa, Feb- 
ruary 20th ; the battle of Maraquana Roads, 
March 5th and 6th ; the advance on Mallolos ; 
the capture of Francisco del Monte, Meycan- 
gua, Ste. Marie, Ste. Clara, March 25th; the 
battle of Quingua, April 23d ; the battles of 
Calumpit, Santa Thomas, San Fernando and 
Calocan, May 6, 1899. Perhaps the battle of 
Quingua was the most sanguinary conflict in 
which the regiment was engaged. Amongst 
those who fell that day was John M. Stotsen- 
berg, the colonel of the regiment. 

The regiment sailed from Manila July 21st 
and reached San Francisco July 29th, went 
into camp at the Presidio July 30th, and was 
mustered out and discharged August 23, 1899, 



after a service of one year, three months, and 
fourteen days. Its losses were: Killed in 
battle, twenty-one; died of wounds, thirteen; 
died of disease, thirty — a total of sixty-four. 

Company C reached Beatrice September 1, 
1899, and was given a royal reception by the 
entire population. The roster of this company 
is as follows : 

Captain • 

Hollingworth, Albert H. 

First Lieutenants 
Archer, Harry L. 
Storch, Joseph A. 

Second Lieutenants 
McLaughlin, Warren L. 
Wheedon, Burt D. 
Dungan, William B. 
Coleman, Garrett F. 

First Sergeants 
Wadsworth, Andrew S. 
Reedy, William H. 

Quartermaster's Sergeants 
Pethoud, Logan L. 
Johnson, Hans 

Sergeants 
Curtis, Orrin T. 
Geddes, George L. 
Hall, John A. 
Murdock, Harry S. 
Evans, William J. 
Peters, Lehman C. 
Johnson, Hans 
Dudley, Howard S. 

Corporals 
Evans, William J. 
Cook, Erastus 
Bick, Frederick 
Bloodgood, Edwin E. 
Langdon, Oliver H. 
Holbert, Andrew F. 
Jones, Sherman 
Truax, George Lester 
Hall, Sherrill W. 
Tyson, Jesse 
Baird, Jesse P. 
Schultz, Hugo D. 



316 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Putt, Philip C. 
Peters, Lehman C. 
Hall. William G. 

Musicians 
Stevenson, Arthur E. 
Baird, Jesse P. 

Roller. lohn S. 
Tucker, Luther L 
McHugh, Joseph D. 

General Roster 
Ashen felter. James L. 
Ashley, Clifford L. 
Beal, Eugene 
Butler, Charley C. 
Bick, John W. 
Bowling, William W. 
Bradshaw, James A. 
Brewster, Charles L. 
Brownell, Mike 
Ball, Louis 
Bowling, George L 
Barry, Joseph J. 
Bloodgood, Edwin E. 
Campbell, Robert 
Campbell. Roy C. 
Clark, Frank ^L 
Condon. William 
Cook, Fred 
Davis, Everett 
Drake. Xeal C. A. 
Druigman. William F. 
Dudley, Howard S. 
Field, Charles 
Foldcn, Charles F. 
Folden, James R. C. 
Gable. Louis M. 
Gashaw, Nelson S. 
Griftith, Norman 
Hall, William G. 
Hall. Sherrill W. 
Hileman, Wilbert S. 
Holbert, Andrew F. 
Hutson, Edward J. 
Harris, Frank 
Johnson, Hans 
Johnson, William 
Jones, Charley C. 
Jones, Sherman 



Knouse, Frank M. 
Kuhn, Fred C. 
Langdon. Oliver H. 
Litty, Fred L. 
Macy, Bruce E. 
Meeker. Orrie A. 
McHugh. Joseph D. 
McDaniel, Charles L. 
McDonough. Michael L. 
Nelson, Linus C. 
Olinghouse, Henry I. 
Owen. Frank 
Ozman, Roscoe C. 
Ossowski, Paul 
Penrod, Jesse C. 
Peters, Lehman C. 
Peters, Martin L. 
Pinson, Will H. 
Powers, Mark 
Putt, Phillip C. 
Quein, John R. 
Ragland. Simeon W. 
Ray, Alpheus 
Reedy, William H. 
Roller. John S. 
Riordan. John J. 
Rungan, Charles 
Shultz, Hugo D. 
Scott, Marion F. 
Smith, Elmer \\'. 
Spott, Thomas 
Staker, Will C. 
Sterne, William A. 
Tatman, Harry E. 
Thonij>son, Earl W. 
Tucker. Luther L 
Tyson. Jesse 
Watts. Bert W. 
Willey. Frank 
Wilson. John E. 

Recruits 
Ackerman, Paul August 
Avey, Sherman H. 
Burnham. Lyvenus S. 
Boomer. George R. 
Bishop. Fred W. 
Chevrout. James W. 
Epp. Henn- Martin 
Franklin. C. M. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



317 



Logsdon, William 
Miller, Julius G. 
Morris, Robert B. 
Nelson, Julius M. 
Pillsbury, John W. 
Rowland, Ira C. 
Salisbury, Clayton L. 
Shaw, Herman C. 
Smock, Harry O. 
Stambough, William H. 
Stout, Ira P. 
Stout, Walter I. 
Tilton, Winfield S. 
Truax, George Lester 
Ward, Peter 
Woodbridge, William E. 

Promoted 

Harry L. Archer, First Lieutenant, Regi- 
mental Adjutant. 

W. R. McLaughlin, Second Lieutenant, 
Regimental Quartermaster. 

Bert D. Wheedon, Second Lieutenant, Regi- 
mental Adjutant. 

Andrew S. Wadsworth, First Sergeant, 
Second Lieutenant, Company B. 

Orrin T. Curtis, First Sergeant, Second 
Lieutenant, Company L. 

Wounded 

A. H. Hollingworth. Captain, wounded in 
right forearm and right thigh, near Ma- 
riquina, P. I., February 17, 1899. 

J. A. Storch, First Lieutenant, wounded in 
right ann, at San Francisco del Monte, P. I., 
March 25, lcS99. 

B. D. Wheedon, Second Lieutenant, wound- 
ed in right hip, near Mariquina, P. I., Febru- 
ary 17, 1899. 

W. G. Dungan, Second Lieutenant, wound- 
ed near Quingua, P. I., April 24, 1899. 

Orrin T. Curtis, First Sergeant, wounded 
in right hand, at Santa Mesa, P. I., February 
4, 1899. 

Jesse P. Baird, Corporal, wounded in left 
hand, at Marilao, P. I., March 29, 1899. 

Chas. Brewster, Corporal, wounded in right 
foot, at Calumpit, P. I., April 25, 1899. 

John S. Roller, Artificer, wounded in left 
arm, at Quingua, P. I., April 23, 1899. 



Henry Epp, wounded in left shoulder, at 
Santa Mesa, P. I., February 5, 1899. 

Fred C. Kuhn, wounded in left thigh, at 
waterworks, P. I., February 6, 1899. 

Roscoe C. Ozman, wounded in right fore- 
arm, at San Francisco del Monte, P. I., March 
25, 1899. 

Roy C. Campbell, wounded in left ankle, at 
Guiguinto, P. I., March 29, 1899. 

George R. Boomer, wounded in left fore- 
arm, near Guiguinto, P. I., March 30, 1899. 

Lyvenus S. Burnham, wounded in left 
shoulder, near Guiguinto, P. I., March 30, 
1899. 

William Logsdon, wounded in right lung, 
near Guiguinto, P. I., March 30, 1899. 

Bert W. Watts, wounded in left thigh, near 
Guiguinto, P. L, March 30, 1899. 

Dead 

William G. Evans, Sergeant, died of blood 
poison, at Cavite, P. I., July 24, 1898. 

George L. Geddes, Sergeant, died of spinal 
meningitis, at sea, June 21, 1898. 

Bruce E. Macy, wounded in action at Ma- 
rilao, P. I., March 29, 1899, died April 20, 
1899. 

Julius G. Miller, died of spinal meningitis, 
at Honolulu, October 20, 1898. 

Frank Knouse, drowned in Pasig river, De- 
cember 15, 1898. 

The members of Company C of the First 
Nebraska were the only Gage county people 
who saw active service in the Philippine war. 
General Leonard W. Colby, of Beatrice, at the 
beginning of the war, was appointed brigadier 
general and assigned to a command at Annis- 
ton, Georgia. His brigade, however, was 
never called into service. 

But all other military achievements to which 
Gage county may justly lay claim, pale into 
insignificance before its activities in the pres- 
ent great world war. Scarcely had the 
declaration of war with Gennany been made 
by congress, in April, 1917, when historic 
Company C of the Nebraska National Guard, 
of Beatrice, commanded by Captain Charles 
L. Brewster, presented itself for volunteer 
service. At Wymore, Company F, command- 



318 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



ed by Captain F. E. Crawford, and composed 
almost wholly of Gage county volunteers, left 
W'ymore September 20, 1918, for militan.- 
training at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico. 
Prior to the taking effect of the draft act of 
congress, many others volunteered in the 
anny and navy of the United States for ser- 
vice in this the greatest and most terrible of 
all wars. Under the draft act, many more of 
Gage county's young men have been drawn 
into the service. The figures are not at hand 
to show the number of our county's citizens 
now serving under our country's flag in the 



war waged for the presen'ation of democratic 
institutions throughout the world. Including 
both branches of the service, it is approxi- 
mately 1200. Many are already in France, a 
few have made the supreme sacrifice for liu- 
man liberty, and many others may yet do so. 
Besides its man-power, the county has gener- 
ously contributed of its wealth for the prose- 
cution of this war of embattled nations. The 
full record of the county's patriotic contribu- 
tions in this crucial epoch of the world's his- 
tory must needs be left to the consideration 
of some later historian. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE BENCH AND THE BAR 

Territorial Supreme Court — Territorial District Courts — Chief Justice Ferguson 

— Associate Justices — First Session Supreme Court — First Term District 

Court — First Judicial Legislation — Gage County's First District Judge — 

First Term District Court in Gage County — Second Term — First Grand 

Jury — First Embezzlement • — First Murder — Third Term District 

Court — First Petit Jury — First Divorce Case — State Supreme 

Court — State District Courts — Act Admitting Attorneys 

- — First Lawyers in Gage County — Briee Sketches oe 

Former Members oe the Bar — Present Members 



The organic act by which the territory of 
Nebraska was created and under which it was 
organized, vested the judicial power of the ter- 
ritory in a supreme court, district courts, pro- 
bate and justice-of-the-peace courts. With 
respect to the supreme court, it was provided 
that this high tribunal should consist of a chief 
justice and two associate justices, to be ap- 
pointed by the president of the United States, 
by and with the consent of the senate. Any 
two of the justices, the act specified, should 
constitute a quorum. They were required to 
hold one term of court annually at the seat 
of the territorial government, and contimied in 
office for a period of four years, or until their 
successors were appointed and had qualified. 
Their salaries were fixed at the sum of two 
thousand dollars per annum, to be paid out 
of the public treasury at Washington, and they 
were given authority to appoint a clerk, who 
held ofiice at the pleasure of the justices and 
who was paid by the fees of his office. 

The act further provided that the territory 
should be divided into three judicial districts 
and that a term of court should be held an- 
nually in each district, by one of the judges 
of the supreme court, at su:h times and places 
as should be prescribed by law. Each judge 
was authorized to appoint a clerk of the court 
for his district, "who should also be a register 



in chancery and should keep his office at the 
place where the court may be held". Clerks 
of the district court, like the clerk of the 
supreme court, held office at the pleasure of 
the judge appointing them, and were paid by 
the fees of their respective offices. 

Section 17 of the organic act provided that, 
until otherwise provided by law, the governor 
of the territory might define the judicial dis- 
tricts "and assign the judges who may be ap- 
pointed for the territory to the several dis- 
tricts, and also appoint the times and places 
for holding courts in the several counties or 
subdivisions in each of said judicial districts, 
by proclamation to be issued by him ; but the 
legislative assembly, at their first or any sub- 
sequent session, may organize, alter or modify 
such judicial districts, and assign the judges, 
and alter the times and places of holding 
courts, as to them shall seem proper and con- 
venient." 

In June, 1854, President Buchanan appoint- 
ed James Bradley, of Pennsylvania, associate 
justice of the territorial supreme court of Ne- 
braska ; in July following, Edward Randolph 
Harden was appointed associate justice of that 
court; and on October 12th President Buch- 
anan appointed Fenner Ferguson, of the state 
of New York, chief justice of the court. 

Immediately upon his appointment Judge 



319 



320 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Ferguson moved his family to Bellevue, where 
he resided until his death. He was very ac- 
tive in assisting the legislative assembly to 
frame and adopt the first code of laws enacted 
for the government of Nebraska Territory and 
ill otherwise placing it in a going condition. 
Acting within the scope of his authority. Act- 
ing-Governor Cuming had by executive pro- 
clamation provisionally organized the territor- 




1-R.\NKR FkROISOX 

First chief justice of the Xcliraska Territorial 
supreme court 

ial courts by assigning Chief Justice Ferguson 
to the first judicial district, as established by 
his proclamation. This district embraced 
Dodge and Douglas counties. The second 
district, as marked out by the proclamation, 
embraced the entire South Platte portion of 
the territory, and the third, the counties of 
Burt and Washington. Associate Justice 
Harden was assigned to the second, and As- 
sociate Justice Bradley to the third district. 
The proclamation provided for the holding of 
a term of the supreme court at the seat of 



government on the third Monday of February, 
1855 ; in the first district, at Bellvue, on the 
second Monday in March, 1855 ; in the second 
district, at Nebraska City, the third Monday in 
March, and in the third district, at Florence, 
the first Monday in April, 1855. 

Pursuant to this proclamation, the first .ses- 
sion of the territorial supreme court met in 
Omaha — wiiicli had been selected by Acting- 
Governor Cuming as the capital of the new 
territory — on the 19th clay of February, 1855, 
and remained in session until the 6th day of 
.March following. Chief Justice Ferguson 
|jresided, and during most of the session both 
associate justices appear to have l^een in at- 
tendance : a part of the time, though, we are 
informed. Justice Harden was ill, at his lodg- 
ings at Bellevue. J. Sterling Morton, of Belle- 
vue, was appointed clerk of the court. On 
ihe last day of the term, just before adjourn- 
ment, on motion of Attorney General Esta- 
brook. a number of applicants were admitted 
to practice law in the courts of the territory, 
amongst them being Andrew J. Poppleton, 
Andrew J. Hanscom, and Silas A. Strickland, 
all of whom became closely identified with 
the early history of Nebraska. But, on the 
whole, this first term of the territorial supreme 
court was largely a formal matter, for the pur- 
pose of effecting an organization and keeping 
the letter of the acting governor's proclama- 
tiiin. 

TIk- first term of district court in the new 
territory was also largely for the same pur- 
puses. It was opened at Bellevue. the oldest 
town in Nebraska, then situated in Douglas 
county, now in Sarpy county, by Chief Justice 
Ferguson, as judge of the first territorial judi- 
cial district, on the 12th day of March. 1855. 
Eli R. Doyle, marshal of the territory, was 
present in his official capacity, and the court 
apjjointcd Silas .\. Strickland, of Bellevue, 
clerk of the court. Several applications were 
made for naturalization papers by foreign-born 
residents of the territory and, no other im- 
portant business coming before the court, an 
adjournment was taken until .\pril 12, 1855. 

In accordance with section 17 of the organic 
act. which devolved upon the legislature the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



321 



duty of permanently establishing- the courts of 
the territory, defining their jurisdiction and 
dividing Nebraska into judicial districts, the 
first legislative assembly, which convened at 
Omaha on the 16th day of January, 1855, hav- 
ing adopted in part the Iowa code of civil 
procedure, proceded to enact a body of gen- 
eral laws, amongst which were several acts or 
parts of acts defining the powers and duties of 
the several courts of the territory and prescrib- 
ing their jurisdiction. The legislative enact- 
ment constituted the district courts the great 
trial courts of the territory. They were given 
exclusive and original jurisdiction of all suits 
at law and chancery, except such as were 
within the jurisdiction of the justices of the 
peace and such matters as were by express 
enactment committed to the jurisdiction of the 
probate courts, and for the inferior courts it 
was given appellate jurisdiction. The supreme 
court was given appellate jurisdiction in all 
decrees in chancery, and was a court of last re- 
sort to which writs of error could be addressed 
from all final judgments at law tried by the 
district courts. In other words, the final judg- 
ments and decrees of the members of the 
court, sitting as judges of the district courts, 
were subject to review by the entire bench on 
appeals or writs of error. 

Amongst other things, the legislative body 
divided the territory into three judicial dis- 
tricts, the first of which comprised Washing- 
ton and Douglas counties ; the second, Rich- 
ardson, Nemaha. Otoe, Cass, Lancaster, Green 
(now Seward), Clay, Pawnee, Johnson, York 
and Gage ; the third comprised the counties of 
Dakota, Buffalo. Cuming, Burt. Dodge. Loupe 
(now Colfax). Blackbird (now Thurston in 
part), Izard (now Wayne), Jackson (now the 
north third of Gage), and AIcNeal (now Stan- 
ton) counties. Chief Justice Ferguson was as- 
signed to the first district. Associate Justice 
Harden to the .second district, and Associate 
Justice Bradley to the third district. The legis- 
lative assembly designated also the time and 
place for holding court in the three judicial dis- 
tricts. In the second district, it provided that 
court should be held in the county of Cass on 
the first Mondays of April and September, in 



Otoe county on the second Mondays, in 
Nemaha county on the third Mondays, and in 
Richardson county on the fourth Mondays of 
April and September in each year, and "in all 
other counties in said district at such times 
and places as the judge may appoint." 

As respects Gage county, there is no known 
evidence that Associate Justice Harden ever 
called a term of court in the county. He was 
a southern gentleman of the old school. He 




James Bradley 

Associate Justice of the Nebraska Territorial 

Supreme Court 

was born and educated in Georgia and was 
apjx)inted associate justice of the supreme 
court of the territory of Nebraska in July, 
1854. when he was thirty-nine years of age. 
In May, 1860, he was appointed to a like posi- 
tion in L^tah, by James Buchanan, who was 
then president of the United States. He held 
the first term of court in his district, as far as 
known, at Nebraska City, in March, 1855, and 
left the territory probably before Gage county 
had any demand for a term of district court. 
He returned to Georgia in time to participate 
in the famous secession convention of that 
state, in 1861, and on the breaking out of the 



322 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY, NEBRASKA 



civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army 
as commander of a company known as the 
Dalton Guards; he was afterward made adju- 
tant of Smith's Legion. lie later served as 
an aide on General Walker's staff, and on the 
close of the war he resumed the practice of the 
law, at Cuthbert. Georgia. He served two 
terms in the legislature of his state, as a repre- 
.sentative from Walker county, and held other 
honorary and remunerative positions. He ap- 
pears to have been a man of ability and in- 
tegrity. He died at Quitman, Georgia, in 
1884. at the age of sixty-nine years. 




Edward Randolph Harden 

Associate Justice of the Xebraska Territorial 

Supreme Court 



There exists no recor<I of the holding of a 
term of the territorial district court in Gage 
county prior to the 26th day of November, 
1863. Elmer S. Dundy, of Falls City, was 
appointed associate justice of the supreme 
court by .\l)raham Lincoln, president of the 
United States, in the early ])art of 1863, and 
was assigned to the Second judicial district. 
The first record in the district-court records 
of the county, written in Judge Dundy's own 
hand, reads as follows : 

Be It Remembered, that at the Fall ad- 
journed term of the Gage County District 
Court of Xebraska Territory, held at Beatrice 
in said County, on the 25th day of Xovember, 
A. D., 18<^^>3, the said court having been ad- 
journed from the first Thursday after the first 



.Monday in September, to the 26th day of No- 
vember, 1863, the following named officers 
were present, towit : 

Elmer S. Dundy, Judge 
Rienzi Streeter, Clerk, by 
Oliver Townsend, Deputy, 
C. B. R. E., Prosecuting Atty., 
Joseph Kline, Shf?. 
and the following proceedings were had, towit: 
C. B. R. E. was admitted to practise law in 
the several District Courts of this Territory, 
after full examination in open court, he hav- 
ing been first duly sworn, according to law. 

( )n motion of Aug. Schoenheit. J. Wilson 
Bolinger was admitted, on certificate, to prac- 
tice law in the several Judicial Districts of this 
Territory, having been first duly sworn, ac- 
cording to law. 

The said sheriff returns into open court the 
venire heretofore issued for i>etit jury, and 
the jury being called, the following named per- 
sons were present and answered to their 

names: ,,. di i i 

W m. iilakely, 

John Badly ( Bagley) 

Sam'l Kilpatrick, 

H. J. Pierce, 

J. E. Chase, 

Adam Hager, 

H. M. Wickham, 

and there being no business before the Court, 
were thereupon discharged. 

Most of the business before the court was 
of slight importance. There were three in- 
dictments pending for the illegal sale of in- 
toxicating liquors, one for ■"malicious mis- 
chief," and a charge of riot, all of which were 
dismissed bv the prosecuting attornev "C.B. 
R.E." 

The civil business disposed of by Judge 
i )niidy included nineteen cases, one of the 
important ones being that of Gideon Bennett 
vs. William W. Dennison. Bennett, the read- 
er will remember, was an Indian trader who 
followed the Otoe and Missouri Indian tribes 
from Xebraska City to their Gage county 
reservation in 1855, and Dennison, the defend- 
ant in the case, was the government agent of 
the Indians until the breaking out of the Civil 
war, when he left the territory, and afterwards 
became identified with the Confederacy. The 
action was ujion a claim for money due to 
plaintiff from defendant, and had been accom- 
panied by an order of attachment which had 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



323 



been levied by the sheriff upon property be- 
longing to Major Dennison. The record 
shows tliat the defendant had died durintj the 
pendency of the suit, and John W. Latham 
had been appointed administrator of his estate. 
The suit was revived against the administrator 
and judgment entered for the plaintiff in the 
sum of three hundred and fifty dollars and 
costs, the sheriff being directed to sell the at- 
tached property in satisfaction of same. 

Perhaps the most important case disposed of 
by the court was that entitled Theodore Hill, 
Plaintiff, vs. The Central Overland and Pike's 
Peak Express Company, Defendant. This 
action also was upon indebtedness claimed to 
be due plaintiff from defendant, and the pro- 
perty of defendant, consisting of a number of 
horses, "two with docked tails" ; a nine-pass- 
enger, four-horse coach, named "Red Rover" ; 
two four-mule teams, and other chattels, had 
been taken by Sheriff Clyne, in satisfaction of 
the plaintiff's claim. A jury was waived by 
both parties to the suit, trial had to the court 
and judgment entered for plaintiff against the 
defendant in the sum of $1,395.67, and the 
sheriff was directed to sell the attached pro- 
perty in satisfaction thereof. 

The second term of district court held in 
Gage county convened in Beatrice on the 7th 
day of September, 1865. 

"Present; Elmer S. Dundy, Judge, 
Rienzi Streeter, Clerk, 
by H. M. Reynolds, Deputy, 
Joseph Clyne, Shff., 
J. B. Mattingley, Deputy Shff." 

The preliminary entries, after reciting the 
failure of the county to select a grand jury as 
by law required, directs the sheriff to call by 
four o'clock in the afternoon "sixteen good and 
lawful men, possessing the qualifications of 
electors in said county, to serve as grand jurors 
for the present term, according to law in such 
case made and provided." 

The record further recites that the following 
named persons appeared as grand jurors at 
four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, 
namely : 



R. C. Davis J. Hinton 

John Alexander John T. Pethoud 

William Alexander Michael Conley 

W'm. Tichnor Wm. McCumsey 

Amasa Stevens Orrin Stevens 

Jacob Shaw Edward Cartwright 

Joseph L. Brown John Q. Adams 

A. D. Sage F. Raper 

As far as the records of the district court 
go, this appears to have been the first grand 
jury called in Gage county. The term lasted 
a single day, but the grand jurors returned in- 
dictments against Alexander Dean, for murder 
in the first degree; Theodore M. Coulter, for 
embezzlement ; and John Fishpaugh, Peter 
Buckles, Scott Willis and Henry Willis, for 
assault with intent to commit murder. One 
of the cases tried and decided by Judge Dundy 
. was the County of Gage vs. Theodore M. Coul- 
ter, an action brought by the county to re- 
cover against Coulter the sum of $547.98 
embezzled by him while county treasurer. The 
defendant made default in the case and a 
judgment was entered for the county against 
him and his bondsmen for that amount, and 
he was almost immediately indicted for em- 
bezzlement. 

Coulter was arrested upon this indictment 
and he was held a prisoner by the sheriff for 
nearly three years. There was no jail where 
he could be kept and the sheriff was compelled 
to board and care for him at the county's ex- 
pense. It was often very inconvenient for the 
sheriff to guard or otherwise hold his prisoner 
in custody. Following the great Indian raid 
on the Little Blue river in August, 1864, the 
sheriff, Joseph Clyne, was a member of a com- 
pany from Beatrice who went on an expedi- 
tion to the stricken section of the territory, to 
bury the dead and assist in repelling further 
invasion. He was compelled to take his 
prisoner along, as he could find no one willing 
to have him in charge. After the e.xcitment 
had abated and Coulter's bondsmen had liqui- 
dated his defalcation, the expense of providing 
for the prisoner and of bringing him to trial 
outweighed all other considerations and by 
common consent every opportunity was given 
him to escape. As a prisoner he was very 



324 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



nnich of a man of leisure, the board was good 
and he was clothed, fed. and sheltered at 
public expense. He sensed the situation per- 
fectly, talked largely about his innocence and 
forcing the county to bring him to trial, and 
made not the slightest move toward relieving 
the community of his emabrrassing presence. 
At last, in sheer desperation, he was ])laccd in 
the custody of the deputy sheriff, James I!. 
Alattingley, and by the deputy was removed 
to his home in Rockford township a few miles 
north of Blue Springs. At this home he re- 
ceived a meager fare and a poor quality of 
meals. After a few weeks Coulter took the 
hint and disappeared. No one ever made the 
slightest effort to apprehend him. and thus 
ended the first embezzlement case in Gage 
county. 

The indictment of Dean for murder was also 
largely a farcical matter, though in a more ad- 
vanced state of society he would no doubt have 
been immediately arrested and punished. His 
victim was Spencer Roberts, who owned and 
lived upon the tract of land where Crab 
(Jrchard is now located. He had sold to 
Andrew Dean, a Dane living on Cub creek, 
near the "First Homestead," a horse and had 
taken his note for sixty dollars in settlement 
for the animal. Roberts, who was a cattle- 
buyer and stock dealer, called at Dean's house 
in his absence, to collect the note, and it was 
alleged he attempted to be familiar with his 
debtor's wife. She repelle<l his advances and 
Roberts left the premises. He afterward re- 
turned to the house and found Dean and his 
neighbor, Thomas Clyne. engaged in threshing 
wheat with flails. He was ui)on the point of 
leaving when Dean's wife attempted to as- 
sault him, and Dean, then learning the identity 
of the man who had insulted her. his wife 
ciaimed, grabbed his flail and rushed to at- 
tack Rol)erts. Clyne stepjjcd between the men 
and caught Dean's hand when in the act of 
striking with the flail, but the short end of 
the bludgeon struck Rol>erts. fracturing his 
skull, from which injury he soon expired. No 
effort was made to apprehend Dean and he 
soon disappeared. His indictment was more 



to save the face of the community than for any 
definite purpose of bringing him to punish- 
ment. This was the first murder of a white 
person in Gage county of which there is any 
known evidence, and Dean's indictment was 
the first one returned by a grand jury in the 
county, all previous criminal prosecutions hav- 
ing been within the jurisdiction of the ju.stice 
court or, where the oflfense charged was be- 
yond the jurisdiction of the justice and the of- 
fender had been bound over, no indictment or 
prosecution followed, a procedure illustrated 
in the actions of the prosecuting attorney in 
dismissing six criminal cases pending before 
Judge Dimdy at the first term of the Gage 
county district court in 1863. 

Judge Dundy continued to hold the ofifice 
of associate justice of the territorial supreme 
court until Nebraska was admitted into the 
Union. March 1. 1867. At the general election 
of 1866. in contemplation of the change from 
territorial to state government. William A. 
Little, of Omaha, was elected chief justice of 
the sujireme court and George B. Lake and 
Lorenzo Crounse, Ixjth of Omaha, were elect- 
ed associate justices. Before taking office 
Little died and his opponent at the election, 
( )liver P. Mason, of Nebraska City, was ap- 
pointed by Governor Butler ( the first of the 
state governors) chief justice in his stead, ta 
serve until the next general election, when he 
was elected chief justice of the supreme court 
of the state of Nebraska. 

By an act of the state legislature, approved 
June 12, 1867, the boundaries of the judicial 
districts were changed, and the counties of 
Richardson. Nemaha, Otoe. Johnson. Pawnee, 
Gage, Jefferson. Saline, Fillmore, and Nuckolls,, 
with the unorganized territory to the west, 
were designated as the First judicial district. 
The first term of the Gage county district court 
after Nebraska territory became the state of 
Nebraska, was held by Judge Mason, at 
Beatrice, beginning the 7th day of October, 
.\.D.. 1867. The introductory entries are in 
Judge Mason's own handwriting, and read 
as follows : 

Be it Remembered. That at a regular term 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



325 



of the District Court of the First Judicial Dis- 
trict, sitting within and for Gage County, 
Present O. P. Mason, Judge, 

Isham Reavis, Dist. Attorney, 
Rienzi Streeter, Clerk, 
by H. M. Reynolds, Deputy 
W. T. Brown, Sherifif, 
T. J. Chesney, Deputy Sheriff, 
Daniel Freeman, Bailiff. 
The following proceedings were had and 
done : The court having been opened at the 
time prescribed by law by the sheriff making 
public proclamation thereof, N. K. Griggs and 
S. B. Harrington were admitted to practice law 
in the several District Courts of the State, 
having been first duly sworn, according to 
law. 

The said sheriff returns in open court a 
venire heretofore issued for a Grand Jury, and 
the jury being called, the following named per- 
sons were present and answered to their names, 
viz : 

A. Van Buskirk 

H. D. Lilley 

H. M. Wickham 

J. M. Rodgers 

John Parker 

H. Hollingworth 

Alex. Welch 

Absent J. J. Dunbar and A. D. Sage. A. D. 
Sage was excused on account of sickness, and 
Alexander Welch was found not qualified to 
act as a juror, on account of being a foreigner, 
and an attachment was ordered for J. J. 
Dunbar. 

The following named persons were then 
summoned by the sheriff to serve as Grand 
Jurors and fill the panel, to wit : F. E. Roper, 
Christian Euster and George H. Ross. 

After the Grand Jurors had all been examin- 
ed by the Court touching their qualifications as 
such, H. M. Wickham was duly sworn as Fore- 
man of the Grand Jury, after which the other 
Grand Jurors were all sworn in the oath pro- 
vided by law, and after being charged by the 
Court retired in charge of Daniel Freeman, 
a sworn bailiff, to consider their indictments 
and their jjresentments. 

The said sheriff also returned into open court 
a venire heretofore issued for a petit jury, and 
the jury being called, the following named per- 
sons were present and answered to their 
names, to-\vit : 

R. C. Davis John Barrett 

T. \\'. Mumford Henry Shullenbarger 

"L. p. Chandler F. H. Dobbs 

Jacob Hildebrand David Palmer 
Amos Hayden H. S. Barnum 



Richard Rossiter 
Peter Hamma 
George Stark 
Sam'l Kilpatrick 
J. 1]. Shaw 
N. Kain 
John Mum ford 



Frederick Sprague 
James Kinzie 
[ames Plucknett 
Alfred Snell 
v. S. Whittemore 
Robert Nicholas 
R. A. Wilson 



John Ilillman 
j. W. Nickols 
John Lyons 
William Curtiss 
Egbert Shaw 
T. Buchanan 
William Wild 



As far as disclosed by the records this was 
the first petit jury ever empaneled in the dis- 
trict court in Gage county. The term lasted 
two days and it must have run day and night, 
as a large amount of business was transacted 
by Judge Mason. Amongst the cases tried by 
him at this term was that of Hester Drown vs. 




Oliver P. Mason 

First Chief Justice of the Nebraska State Supreme 

Court 



George W. Drown, action for divorce. It 
was tried on the last day of the term, Septem- 
ber 9th, and a divorce was denied the plaintiff 
and awarded the defendant, on account of 
plaintiff's proved moral deliquencies. This 
was the first divorce suit ever tried in Gage 
county. 

After empaneling the jury the following 
order was made by the court : "Ordered that 
the sheriff of Gage county purchase for the 
use of the district court within and for Gage 
county, twelve chairs of good and substantial 
material and make, and that the same be pur- 



326 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



chased at the expense of the said county of 
Gage." 

Within the two days' session of the court 
occurred the trial of The People of the State 
of Nebraska vs. John Fishpaugh, Peter 
P)uckles and John Scott Willis, indicted for 
riot. The jury empaneled to try the case were 
Jacob W. Mumford, Jacob Hildebrand, Fred- 
erick Spragiie. James Kinzie, James Plucknctt, 
Alfred SncU, Robert Nicholas, \'. S. Whitle- 
more, John Hillman. F. H. Dobbs. David 
Palmer, and John Lyons. 

"After hearing the evidence introduced as 
well on the part of said prisoners as on the 
part of the People of the State of Nebraska, 
and after hearing the arguments of counsel 
and the charge of the court, the jury retired 
in charge of a sworn officer to consider their 
verdict. And after consulting and deliberat- 
ing thereon, returned into court the following 
verdict : 

'We. the jury, find the defendants. John 
Fishpaugh, Peter liuckles and John Scott 
Willis, guilty as they stand charged in the in- 
dictment. F. H. Dobbs. Foreman'." 

This was the first trial jury empaneled and 
this the first verdict rendered by a jury in the 
tlistrict court of Gage county. 

From 1867 to 1873 Judge Mason, chief 
justice of the supreme court, was the district 
judge of the First judicial district of Nebraska, 
and was succeeded by Daniel Gantt. The 
state supreme court retained its original ter- 
ritorial organization until the adoption of the 
present state constitution, in 1875. By its pro- 
vision, district judges were elected and mem- 
bers of the supreme court ceased to be trial 
judges in the judicial districts. The first dis- 
trict judge of the First judicial district under 
the constitution was Archibald J. Weaver, of 
Falls City. He was elected to this office at 
the general election in 1875 and reelected in 
1879. Before his second term expired, at the 
general election in 1883, he was elected to the 
Forty-eighth congress from the old First con- 
gressional district, and in the fall of 1885 he 
was reelected, to the Forty-ninth congress. He 
was a man of great force of character, of in- 



defatigable energ)- and of unquestioned integ- 
rity of character. lie was kindly, generous, 
hospitable, and one of the most companionable 
of men. He was of such striking appearance 
and commanding physique as to attract at- 
tention in any crowd. His career as a judge 
in the old First judicial district will never be 
forgotten while a single member of the bar 
of that district who appeared in his court re- 
mains alive. His power in the dispatch of 
judicial business was phenomenal and his court 
ran at high pressure by day and a part of 
every night. He had remarkable sagacity in 
divining the intents and purposes of men and 
any crooked or fraudulent deal never got by 
him. so far as any lawyer ever knew. He con- 
tracted a slight attack of pneumonia and, af- 
ter an illness of three days, died April 18, 1887, 
when in the prime of life and ere he had ap- 
proached the zenith of his great powers and 
usefulness. Perhaps no man in Nebraska had 
been so showered with honors and few. if 
any. ever had a future of greater possibilities. 

Judge Weaver was succeeded on the bench 
of the First judicial district by Jefferson H. 
Broady. of Brownville. at the election of 1883. 

Judge Broady served the district most faith- 
fully for four years. Before the expiration 
of his term of office the legislature of 1887 
authorized the election of two judges for the 
First judicial district, and at the fall election 
that year Judge Broady was reelected, and 
with him Thomas Appleget, of Tecumseh. At 
the close of his term of office Judge Broady 
retired from the bench, honored and respected 
by the entire bar of the First judicial district, 
having for eight busy years given power, digni- 
ty and honor to the bench of the district. He 
had been living in Beatrice for three or four 
years but in 1901 he removed to Lincoln and 
re-engaged in the practice of the law. He 
died a few years ago, mourned by almost the 
entire state. 

In 1891 the legislature redistricted the state 
a- respects the judicial districts. The bound- 
aries of the old First judicial district of Weav- 
er's and Broady "s day, w^hich comprised Rich- 
ardson, Nemaha, Johnson. Pawnee and Gage, 
was changed to include Jefferson county. The 



i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



327 



provision for the election of two judges in the 
district was retained, and at the general elec- 
tion of 1891 Albert H. Babcock and James 
E. Bush, both of Beatrice, were elevated to 
the judicial district bench. In 1895 Charles 
B. Letton, of Fairbury, and John S. Stull, of 
Auburn, were elected judges of the district, 
and each was reelected in 1899. At the elec- 
tion of 1903 Albert H. Babcock, of Beatrice, 
and W. H. Kellegar, of Auburn, were elected 
district judges of the First judicial district. Be- 
fore his term of office expired Judge Babcock 
died, and John B. Raper, of Pawnee City, 
was appointed by Governor Mickey to fill out 
his unexpired term. .\t the fall election of 
1907 Leander M. Pemberton and John B. 
Raper were elected, and both have by succes- 
sive elections held this important office till the 
present moment. 

In 1911 the legislature, by a reapportionment 
of the judicial districts, created district No. 
18, consisting of Gage and Jefferson counties, 
and Judge Pemberton was assigned for ser- 
vice to this district. He is the present in- 
cumbent of the office- 
Speaking generally, the judges of the dis- 
trict court of the several judicial districts to 
which Gage county has belonged have been 
lawyers of ability and of great worth of char- 
acter. Some were called to even higher ser- 
vice than the district judicial bench. Judge 
Dundy was, in 1868, elevated to the bench of 
the Federal district court of Nebraska, and 
he occupied that position until his death, Octo- 
ber 28, 1896. Judge Weaver passed from the 
district court bench to a seat in congress ; 
Judge Gantt was elected a justice of the su- 
preme court in 1867 and at the time of his 
demise, in 1878, was chief justice of that great 
court ; Judge Letton. after nearly eight years' 
service on the district bench of the First judi- 
cial district, was, in November. 1903. appointed 
one of the supreme-court commissioners, and 
in 1905 he was elected a justice of the supreme 
court of the state, a position he has since held. 
He is a candidate for a second reelection, 
with every prospect of success. 

The intimate relationship which always ex- 
ists between bench and bar in the public mind 



as well as in actual practice, gives pertinency 
to what will be said concerning the lawyers of 
Gage county. 

The bar as a branch of the American sys- 
tem of jurisprudence was given standing by 
the first general assembly of the territory of 
Nebraska in an act approved March 9, 1855, 
entitled "An act regulating the admission of 
attorneys." It is very brief. The first sec- 
tion provides that "any person twenty-one 
years of age who can produce satisfactory- 
evidence of a good moral character and pass 
an examination before either the judges of 
the district court or before the justices of the 
supreme court of this territory, shall be 
licensed to practice as an attorney at law 
and solicitor in chancery in all the courts in 
this territory." And, as a sort of after- 
thought, the second section of the act pro- 
vides that "every citizen of this territory may 
attend to his own cases in all said courts." 

At the third session of the legislative as- 
sembly, begun and held at Omaha January 
15, 1857, a code of civil procedure was adopted 
for the territory, in wdiich the law regarding 
attorneys and counselors at law was formulated 
very much as it now appears in the statutes of 
our state. Under these statutes there has been 
from almost the first an able, patriotic and 
trustworthy bar in Nebraska. No class of 
citizens has contributed as much toward the 
general welfare, the formulation and enact- 
ment of wise, and wholesome laws, the en- 
forcement of law and order and the mainten- 
ance of a high standard of moral character in 
the community. No other profession excels 
the lawyers in breadth of learning and ability. 
The Nebraska bar has ahvays been an influ- 
ential factor in the public aft'airs of our state 
and nation, and in every walk of life it has 
made a record in which all of its members may 
feel a just pride. Gage county and the city of 
Beatrice are monuments to the courage, daring 
and prevision of a few lawyers, who, with 
others, gathered into an association in 1857, on 
board the old Missouri River steamboat "Han- 
nibal," and resolved to remain together and 
share their fortunes in the new territory of 
Nebraska. The senior of these in point of age 



328 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and exi)erience was John Fitch Kinney, who 
had already acquired reputation as a pohtician, 
law-maker, judge and advocate in the states 
of Ohio and Iowa, and who was the first 
president of the Nebraska Association, which 
became in effect the lieatrice Townsite Com- 
pany. The secretary of this organization was 
a young man from the state of New York, just 
entering upon the practice of the law, — schol- 
arly, courtly John McConihe, whose brilliant 
career as a lawyer and soldier terminated on 
the bloody field of Cold Harbor, in 1864. 
Bennett Pike, a lawyer of rare ability and a 
man of most affable temperament and great 
worth of character, was the third of this group 
of lawyers, who, in a sister state, achieved 
undying fame in a learned bar in a great city. 
To these were joined Jefferson B. Weston, 
who became one of the most distinguished 
citizens of our state: (^bediah B. Hewett. one 
of the early district attorneys of the old First 
judicial district of Nebraska and an honored 
citizen for many years of Nemaha county ; 
and Phineas W. HUchcock, whose abilities as 
a lawyer won him senatorial honors in the 
congress of the I'nited States. 

From the first settlement of Gage county, 
her citizens were largely dependent upon out- 
side counsel for such legal services as were 
rec|uired in those primitive days. Bolinger & 
Run]l)augli. at Marysville, Kansas, were fre- 
(|ucntly employed by people of Gage county 
in handling their affairs. Judge Isham Reavis, 
the father of Congressman Frank Reavis, was 
one of the early settlers of Richardson county, 
and for many years was an active practitioner 
ii: the courts of our county, as was also Thomas 
B. Stevenson, of Nebraska Citv. 

The first resident lawyer of Gage county 
was Jefferson 1!. Weston, who was admitted to 
the bar and autliorized to practice his profes- 
sion about 1862, after having pursued a course 
of legal studies in Chicago. Illinois. But Mr. 
Weston found life on the i)lains more attractive 
than life in a law office in a primitive com- 
nninity. For several years he engaged in 
freighting along the Oregon Trail, and in 
trade and other business ventures in the far 
west. It was not imti! ahoiu ISfiS. when the 



government lanti office was removed from 
Brownville to Beatrice and the country began 
to fill up rapidly with homeseekers, that ^Ir. 
Weston settled down to the practice of his 
profession. In 1873 he was elected, for a 
four-vear term, to the office of state auditor of 
Nebraska, and was reelected for two years. 
On his election he moved to Lincoln, where 
he resided until 1880, when he returned to 
Beatrice and engaged in the banking business. 
After his election to office he abandoned the 
practice of law altogether. 

Perhaps the most picturesque character who 
ever assumed to practice law in Gage county 
was "C. B. R. E." This man had been 
Charles C. Coffinberry. He had reared a 
family, almost all grown, to each of whom he 
had given alliterative names. His eldest son 
was Cyrian C. Coffinberry ; his second son, 
Crosby C. Coffinberry ; his third son, Corwin 
C. Coffinberry; his fourth son was Carter C. 
Coffinberry ; and his handsome and very 
amiable daughter was Caroline C. Coffinberry, 
who became the wife of E. B. Hendy. one of 
the early sheriff's of the county. The head of 
the family, while a member of the Wisconsin 
legislature, had procured a legislative enact- 
ment authorizing him thereafter to appear as 
plain Mr. C. C. Berry, but his entire family 
repudiated this .shortening of the family 
cognomen, and insisted upon being known as 
Coffinberry. This was the first family to locate 
on the Big Blue river in Rockford township. 
In the spring of 1858 they .settled on the 
claim which was afterward the homestead of 
James Hollingworth, and is now owned by his 
son Charles, a mile and a half south of 
Holmesville. The eccentricities of this family 
were a never failing source of gossip and en- 
tertainment to the early settlers. Nothing 
could better illustrate this characteristic than 
the performance of the head of the family as 
a member of the bar in Gage county. As far 
as the records show, he was the first lawyer 
admitted to practice in the county, yet his 
name is not given, only the initials '•C.B.R.E." 
He acted as di.strict attorney during the first 
term of district court held in the county, ap- 
pearing for the peojile in si.x criminal cases, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



329 



where in every instance it is gravely written 
by Judge Dundy "The prosecuting attorney, 
C. B. R. E., enters a nolle prosequi, by leave 
of the court first had and obtained." He served 
repeatedly on election boards, drew money 
from the county treasury, executed and wit- 
nessed instruments by these initials, and even 
went so far as to sign the bond of County 
Treasurer Theodore M. Coulter for $10,000, 
and was sued upon this bond as C. B. R. E., 
the same having been approved by the county 
commissioners. For years, as far as the 
records show, this singular representative of 
the legal profession of our county marched 
across the pages of its history as "C. B. R. E." 
Salniasius Bardwell Harrington was the 
first lawyer to open and maintain an office in 
Beatrice. He was born at Maysville, Chau- 
tauqua county. New York, April 16, 1829, the 
son of Asa and Alary (Swift) Harrington. 
His primary education was received in a New 
York Quaker school. His father died while 
he was a child and his mother became the wife 
of Parley Laflin. The family removed to 
Illinois in 18-K3, residing at first in Kane county 
and then in Rock Island county. He worked 
on a farm, attended public school, and finally 
entered Woodward College, at Cincinnati, Ohio 
Later he read law with an uncle, Eben Har- 
rington, and at the age of nineteen, was ad- 
mitted to the bar, at Rock Island, Illinois. 
He engaged briefly in the practice of the law 
there, but his family moved to Nebraska ter- 
ritory in 1857, and he came with them, and 
located in Johnson county, near Gage, a few 
miles northwest of Crab C)rchard, where his 
half-i)n)tlier. Louis Laflin, still resides and 
where his stepfather and mother died many 
years ago. In 1859 he followed the gold lure 
to Pike's Peak, and, returning, established a 
ranch on the Little lilue river, at the eastern 
end of the Nine Mile Ridge. Here he re- 
mained a year in the midst of the exciting 
scenes on the Oregon Trail ; he then sold his 
ranch to a man named Ewing and returned 
to Illinois, to his wife and daughter. In 1861 
he enlisted in the Fifty-eighth Illinois Infantry, 
and he was captured at the battle of Shiloh, 
while serving: in General Prentice's Division. 



He was held a prisoner in Libby Prison, from 
which he was finally exchanged and rejoined 
his regiment, with which he served until Lee 
surrendered, at Appomattox. In the fall of 
1865 he returned to Nebraska territory, made 
arrangements for his family to join him, and 
settled at once in the practice of the law at 
Beatrice. He was not formally admitted to 
the bar of the territory, however, until the 
regular fall term of the district court, October 
7, 1867, due no doubt to the irregularity of 
the sessions of the court. 

He was an active, aggressive lawyer, aiifable 
in manner and made and retained friends. 
From 1865 until his death, much of the legal 
business of the county was transacted by him. 
He died suddenly, in his office in Beatrice, 
August 25, 1870, and his remains lie in a 
secluded spot, now almost unidentified, in the 
Beatrice cemetery. He was a man of many 
excellent qualities and great worth of char- 
acter. He died at the age of forty-one years, 
an age when most men approach the zenith of 
their powers and usefulness and at a time 
when the new state of Nebraska contained 
boundless possibilities for men of his profes- 
sion. 

In the spring of 1869, came Nathan K. 
Griggs, a young man who had but recently 
been admitted to the bar in the state of In- 
diana. In June of that year he opened an 
office in Beatrice, but as a school teacher he 
found a more lucrative and a more certain 
means of sustenance than the law afiforded. He 
was but a beginner in his profession, without 
means, and litigation was not only scarce in 
Gage county but was as yet a luxury. He 
accepted the position of village school-master 
for the winter of 1867-1868, and thereby did 
more, perhaps, to ingratiate himself in pnlilic 
favor than by any other course he could pos- 
sibly have taken. Although a man of many 
activities and engaging on other occupations, 
beginning with 1869, Mr. Griggs found ample 
employment for his abilities as a rising young 
lawyer. 

In the spring of 1868 Hiram P. Webb 
came to Beatrice and was admitted to practice 
at the bar, and that spring Jeflferson B. Weston 



330 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



also opened a law office in the village of 
Beatrice. Numbers 8, \ol. I, of the Blue 
Valley Record, under date of August 26. 1868, 
carried under the heading "Professional" the 
card of Jefferson 1!. Weston, who announced 
himself as a notary jniblic. conveyancer, real- 
estate agent and lawyer. Another card reads, 
"S. B. Harrington, Attorney and Counselor at 
Law and Real Estate Agent." and the third 
and last is "N. K. Griggs, Attorney and Coun- 
selor at law and Real Estate Agent." To these 
announcements, there was added, in the 22d 
number of the same volume of the Courier, 
under date of December 5, 1868. the follow- 
ing: "H. P. Webb. Attorney and Counselor 
at Law." At the same time there appeared in 
the Record the professional card of Stephenson 
& Hayward. of Nebraska City. who. among 
other things, announce that they "will practice 
in the courts of Gage county." \'olume 1. 
No. 1 of the Beatrice Clarion, the successor of 
the Blue J 'alley Record, under date of May 
8. 1869, contains the following professional 
card : "W. H. .Ashby, Attorney and Counselor 
at Law and Real Estate Agent. Beatrice. Ne- 
braska." and the public is informed also that 
Mr. .Ashby will make collections and pay taxes 
for non-residents, while Stephenson & Hay- 
ward continue to announce that they "will 
practice in the courts of Gage county." 

I'v 1869 this grou]) of pioneer lawyers had 
found the government land office the chief 
source of professional business and income, 
and they became expert in the law and rules 
of practice regulating contests involving en- 
tries of public lands. 

.About 1870 the Gage county bar. as thus 
composed, was augmented by the advent of 
Smith C. B. Dean, and for several years he and 
the others named, constituted the bar of Gage 
county. They were all able and s:holarly men, 
all achieved success in their profession, and 
all. with the exception of .\shby. have long 
since paid the great debt of nature. 

A brief sketch of S. E. Harrington already 
appears in this chapter, and elsewhere in this 
volume will be found sketches of Weston and 
\\ebb. while in the biographical department, 
in the sketch of Samuel Rinaker. will be found 



an extended reference to the life of his partner, 
N. K. Griggs. 

\\'illiam H. .Ashby was for many years a 
distinguished member of the Gage county bar. 
He was born in Livingston county, Missouri, 
in 1841 and grew to manhood in that state. 
Having obtained a good, usable education, he 
was .on the point of entering upon a profes- 
sional career when the great Civil war cut 
short all plans of a purely personal nature. 
He followed the fortunes of the southern Con- 
federacy, at first attaching himself to the com- 
mand of General Sterling Price, and took 
part in the battles of Pea Ridge. luka. and 
Corinth. He served in the armies of the south 
until the close of the war. was seriously wound- 
ed during the siege of Vicksburg. was promot- 
ed to a captaincy, and on the collapse of the 
Confederacy he was paroled. May 16. 18f)5. 
Within that year he came to Nebraska City and 
engaged in the practice of the law. In 1869 he 
moved to Beatrice and with J. M. Hoggshead 
purchased a half-interest in the Blue I 'alley 
Record, changed the name of the paper to the 
Beatrice Clarion, and, with Hoggshead, Nelson 
and Howard, conducted the paper as an in- 
dependent publication until it was sold to 
Theodore Coleman, in the spring of 1870. and 
the name changed to the Beatrice Express. 
For a period of six eventful and busy years 
Captain Ashby here successfully i:)ractised his 
profession as a lawyer. In June. 1875, he was 
appointed, by President Grant, a member of 
the Sioux Indian Commission and spent that 
summer and fall amongst the Indians of South 
Dakota. The commission having negotiated 
with the Sioux a treaty of purchase for the 
I'-lack Hills region, Cajjtain .\sliby was dis- 
patched to W'ashington as the bearer of its 
report. In June, 1877. he was sent by our 
government as its special representative to 
Panama, the West Indies, and South America, 
t.i investigate and report upon certain abuses in 
the importation of sugar. He was recalled 
from this service in 1878, and. returning to 
Beatrice, he resumed the practice of the law. 
In 1881 he became interested in the rising city 
of Wymore. With Samuel Wymore he pur- 
chased a tract of land adjoining the original 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



331 



townsite and laid it out as an addition to the 
city. Having sold his Wymore property at 
good figures he, in 1886, returned to Beatrice 
and again resumed the practice of his profes- 
sion. 

Captain Ashby was thrice married, first to 
Miss Coila B. Lambkin, of Mississippi, in 
1865 ; second, to Miss Lilla Shaw, July 4, 1879, 
from both of whom he was divorced. His 
third marriage proved a happy and congenial 
one, the issue of which was two sons and a 
daughter. About 1912 he removed to the state 
of California, and he is now living in the city 
of Berkeley, under the shadow of the great 
State University of California. His two sons 
are in the service of the United States in the 
present great world war. Captain Ashby is 
a man of commanding presence, a good friend, 
a loyal citizen, and a lawyer of more than 
ordinary ability. 

Smith C. B. Dean was by birth, education 
and training, a Canadian. Before coming to 
Nebraska he had already acquired reputation 
and standing as a lawyer in the courts of 
Canada. His health failing there, he came to 
the new territory of Nebraska in the vain 
hope of eradicating from his system the germs 
of pulmonary consumption. He was a man 
of fine presence, possessed an excellent educa- 
tion and was endowed with abilities of a very 
high order. He was a lawyer of great learn- 
ing and industry, and the pleadings and other 
legal documents drawn by him were models 
of brevity and clearness. He was about forty 
years of age, and on his arrival in Beatrice he 
formed a co-partnershi]:) in the practice of the 
law with Jefiferson B. Weston, their office be- 
ing on the ground floor, beneath the United 
States land office, in the Saunders store build- 
ing, now No. 309 Court street. Mr. Dean 
took a deep interest in the general welfare of 
the community, was very public-spirited, and 
lent his assistance to the upbuilding of Beatrice 
and Gage county at a time when such services 
as he willingl}' rendered were of the greatest 
value. He was the first mayor of the citv of 
Beatrice, in 1873, and was a jxitent factor in 
shaping its destiny. He acquired great in- 
fluence in the communitv, and at the time of 



his demise his voice carried further than any 
other in public affairs. He died in Beatrice 
on the first day of May, 1877. 

About 1872 the bar of Gage county re- 
ceived several notable accessions. In April of 
that year E. Sanborn Chadwick and Alfred 
Hazlett were both admitted to practice, and in 
1873 Leonard W. Colby, Louis B. Sale, and 
William H. Somers were licensed in the prac- 
tice of the law and identified themselves with 
the Gage county bar. 

Mr. Chadwick was the first police judge of 
the city of Beatrice. He remained here but 
a short time, made but small impression on 
the community, and left here many years ago, 
locating in liloomington, Nebraska, where he 
was for several years county judge of his coun- 
ty. He died there many years ago. 

Mr. Sale had been a classmate of Leonard 
W. Colby in the University of Wisconsin and 
they began professional life together here as 
partners. He remained here but a short time, 
returning to Wisconsin, where he achieved pro- 
fessional success and where political honors 
came to him, amongst others, a seat in con- 
gress, to which he was repeatedly elected. 
While still a comparatively young man, he lost 
his life while bathing on a Wisconsin lake. 
Seeing his two sons struggling in the water for 
their lives, he rushed to their rescue and all 
were drowned. 

William H. Somers came to Gage county in 
1872 and was for many years a leading citizen 
of Beatrice, but he achieved no reputation as 
a lawyer, other things diverting his attention 
and energies. He served one term in the 
legislature, as a float representative from Gage 
and other counties. In 1881 he was appointed 
receiver of the L'nited States government land 
office at Beatrice. At the close of his term 
of office, in 1886, he removed with his family 
to California and opened a large fruit ranch 
in El Cajon valley, seventeen miles up the coast 
from San Diego. Several years ago he dis- 
posed of this property and moved to San Diego, 
where he was killed, about 1908, in a street- 
car accident. 

In 1874 Oliver M. Enlow was admitted to 
the bar of Gage countv and he remained in 



332 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the practice until his death, in 1916. He did 
not aspire to great eminence in the legal pro- 
fession but chose rather, whenever possible, to 
combine it with some clerical or other occu- 
]jation. He was for some time clerk of the 
district court, during the incumbency of Judge 
Gantt. He was county judge of Gage county 
for four years, and in the latter part of his 
life, for a number of years, he was deputy as- 
sessor; following the general election of 1911, 
on the death of .\. K. Smith, who had been 
elected county assessor, Mr. Enlow was ap- 
pointed to that office, and he was the last of 
the county assessors. He was a warm-hearted, 
generous man. much esteemed by all who knew 
him. 

William M. Forbes was born February 28. 
1S47. near Grecnsburg, Indiana. He came to 
I'.eatrice in July. 1876. and settled in the i)rac- 
tice of the law. He was a graduate of the 
law department of the Iowa State University, 
class of 1874, and had been a school teacher 
in Burlington, Iowa. He served, by appoint- 
ment, as county judge of Gage county for the 
unexpired term of J. M. Carter, in 1878. and 
in 1879 he formed a law partnership with 
Judge Leander M. Pemberton. After several 
years' successful practice at the bar of C>age 
county Mr. Forbes removed to Topeka. where 
ht has been a prominent member of the bar 
of that city. He was possessed of considerable 
means for a western lawyer and on his ar- 
rival in Beatrice he erected an elegant home for 
those early days, on the corner of Fifth and 
Lincoln streets, opposite the Episcopal church. 
He and his wife were active members of the 
Methodist church and were important factors 
in the social life of the city in that early dav. 
Charles O. Bates was a briliant voung 
man who entered the law office of Colby & 
I lazlett in 187.^ ; he was admitted to the bar 
about 1878. and at the same time to an in- 
terest in the business of his preceptors. His 
success as a lawyer and politician was imme- 
diate. In 1890 he was elected county attorney 
of Gage county, but he resigned before the 
expiration of iiis term of office and. leaving 
Beatrice, finally settled. al>out 1891, in Tacoma, 



Washington, where he now resides and is a 
prominent member of the bar. 

Albert Hardy came to Beatrice in February, 
1878, from the state of New York, where he 
had been for many years engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession, at Sandy creek, Oswego 
county. He was about forty years of age and 
in his prime. But for some eccentricities of 
character, he might easily have been the head 
of the Gage county bar and a successful 
practitioner of the law. He sometimes tried 
cases well and often won where he should have 
failed, and, everything considered, he was 
fairly successful as a lawyer. \\'ith the ex- 
ception of a year or two in Denver, Mr. Hardy 
followed his calling in llcatrice from the lime 
of jiis arrival here until about 1906. He then 
went to Pierre. South Dakota, to live, and a 
few years ago he passed away, aged about 
eighty years. 

Andrew J. Hale was for several years a 
prominent member of the Gage county bar. 
He was born in Chittenden county, near Bur- 
lington, Vermont. March 8. 1842. He re- 
ceived a general education in the common 
schools of his native state and in Fairfax 
Institute, at Burlington, where he spent three 
years as a student. About 1865 he graduated 
from the lavr department of Union College 
(now University), at Albany, New York, and 
in 1867 he located in Nebraska City in the 
jjractice of his profession ; in 1876 he came to 
lieatrice and opened a law office. In the early 
'80s he was in partnership wiili Allicrt liardv. 
In 1886, having inherited a considerable for- 
tune, he purchased, amongst other real estate, 
a half-section of land a few miles southwest 
of Beatrice, abandoned the practice of the law 
and engaged in farming and stock-raising. 
This venture proving a failure and having 
lost most of his projjerty. about 188.^. he left 
the county and returned to Nebraska City, 
where he died a few years ago. 

Thomas Farrar llurke. a young lawyer 
from New England settled at Blue 
Springs in 187<). Mr. I'.urke was the posses- 
sor of a good education, was a man of great 
energy, and rajiidly ac(|nired a practice at the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



333 



bar of Gage county. About 1882 Frank N. 
Prout came to the county, first to Beatrice and 
later to Blue Springs, where he formed a law 
partnership with Mr. Burke. 15oth were good 
lawyers, both ambitious and both affable gen- 
tlemen. They were prominent at our bar for 
a number of years and as lawyers performed 
a real service to the people of the state of Ne- 
braska in the case of the State on the Relation 
of Mattoon versus The Republican Valley 
Railroad Company, reported in \'olume 17 of 
the Nebraska Supreme Court Reports, at page 
647. This was an action in mandamus, brought 
in the supreme court of Nebraska, to compel 
the railroad company to build within the cor- 
porate limits of Blue Springs a depot and put 
in the necessary sidetracks and switches for a 
station, and to stop its trains there for the 
proper transaction of business. The Crete 
branch of the railroad line had been extended 
to Wymore through Blue Springs, but the 
company refused to afford railroad facilities 
to Blue Springs, while at the same time afford- 
ing its rival every possible support. The writ of 
mandamus was allowed against the defendant 
and it was compelled to furnish the city of 
Blue Springs with service, thereby establish- 
ing the rule that no common carrier could 
unjustlv discriminate against a numicij^al cor- 
poration in Nebraska. 

About twenty years ago Mr. Burke re- 
moved from Nebraska to Wyoming and lo- 
cated at Cheyenne, where he has attained both 
professional success and distinguished honors 
as a lawyer, having served the state of Wy- 
oming for several years as its attorney general, 
and for many years has served as a member of 
the board of regents for the Wyoming State 
University. 

Mr. Prout removed to Beatrice after the dis- 
solution of the copartnership and was for a 
number of years city attorney ; in 1898 he was 
elected to the state senate, from Gage county. 
In 1900 he was elected attorney general of the 
state of Nebraska and, by a reelection, he serv- 
ed the people in the important office four years, 
beginning January 1, 1901. Since retiring from 
office he has practised law in Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma, and in Fairbury and Hunlioldt, 



Nebraska, and has finally located permanentlj' 
in Falls City, in the practice of his profession. 

Nathan T. Gadd came to Gage county about 
1880, and located in the practice of the law at 
Liberty. ]\Ir. Gadd was an active and very 
useful man in his community. For several 
years he was an important factor not only in 
Liberty but in the county of (.age, and from a 
mere youthful beginner in the law he grew into 
an important and lucrative practice. When 
the great northwest was being rapidly settled 
and the Burlington Railroad was pushing a 
line across northern Nebraska and through to 
the Puget Sound country, he went to Broken 
Bow, in Custer county, Nebraska, where he 
became active in the practice of his profession. 
Mr. Gadd is an impulsive, warm-hearted, 
courtly gentleman, much esteemed by b.is pro- 
fessional brethren and given to many kindly, 
generous acts. 

William H. Richards was admitted to the 
bar of Gage county about 1895. He was a 
man of limited education but proved to be a 
very good business lawyer. He is a member 
of a pioneer family in Pawnee county, his 
parents having located at the head of Turkey 
creek, in that county, in 1859. They were 
people of sterling worth of character and Mr. 
Richards inherited from them many of the 
family characteristics. From the time of his 
admission to the bar until he left Gage county 
he practised his profession at Liberty, while 
at the same time engaging in other pursuits. 
About 1908 he left the county and located at 
Humboldt, in the practice of the law, and later 
he removed to Wichita, Kansas. 

W. V. A. Dodds was admitted to the Gage 
county bar in 1885 ; his practice however was 
very limited, as he gave his attention largely 
to outside matters. For several years he con- 
ducted a large farm in Gage county and later 
he went to Montana, where he is now located 
in business. 

George ^I. Johnston came to Beatrice about 
1890. He erected a paper mill near the city, 
placed a dam across the Big Blue river and 
proceeded to build up a business as a paper 
manufacturer. But a flood, in 1902, destroyed 
the water power, and the enterprise was aban- 



334 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



doned. Mr. Jolinston tlieii engaged in the 
practice of the law, liaving been previously 
admitted to tlie bar in the state of Illinois. 
He was successful in his professional work and 
was an active member of the bar of Gage 
county for several years. Later he went to 
Missouri, where he engaged in various enter- 
prises, and he died about 1912. 

Menzo Terry, a farmer near Pickrell, who 
had been previously admitted to the bar. was 
elected county attorney, on the Democratic 
ticket, in 1905 and served one term in that 
office, during which time and for a year or 
two afterward he was in partnership with 
Fred O. McGirr. In 1910 he left this state 
and he is now located on a fruit farm in south- 
ern California. 

Robert S. Bibb came from the Peoria. Illi- 
nois, bar to the Gage county bar in 1884. Mr. 
Bibb had been a member of the Illinois legis- 
lature and a practicing attorney at Peoria. 
Shortly after his arrival here he formed a co- 
l)artncrship with W. \'. A. Dodds, in the prac- 
tice of the law, and about 1890 he entered the 
firm of Griggs & Rinakcr. which was there- 
after known as Griggs. Rinaker & Bibb. On 
the removal of Mr. Griggs to Lincoln, in 1893. 
the firm name was changed to Rinaker & Bibb. 
This firm did a large and very successful legal 
business until .Mr. Bibb"s death, which oc- 
curred May 17. 1907. Mr. Bibb was the first 
county attorney of Gage county, having been 
elected to that office in 1885. He was very 
prominent in the business, professional and 
social life of Beatrice during his entire resi- 
dence here. He was an unusually good law- 
yer, one of the ablest trial lawyers the bar of 
Gage county has ever produced. Personally 
he was genial, kindly and considerate. He 
was popular with the court and with his pro- 
fessional associates. His final resting place is 
in Evergreen Home cemetery, and the spot is 
marked by a rugged monument which, in a 
sense, is indicative of his character. 

George Arthur Murphy came to Beatrice 
from Indiana about the year 1886. and en- 
gaged at once in the practice of his profes- 
sion. His success was immediate, and while 
he lived here he had a large and paying client- 



age. In 1891 he was elected county attorney 
of Gage county, and he was reelected in 1893. 
In 1898 he w-as elected state senator from 
Gage county. In 1901 Mr. Murphy removed 
to the state of Oklahoma and located at Mus- 
cogee, where he has since resided. He has 
been successful in his profession and has ac- 
quired wealth. 

W. C. LeHane came to Gage county about 
the year 1890 and for a while was a law part- 
ner of George Arthur Murphy. In 1896 he 
was a])pointed receiver of the Beatrice Savings 
Bank, and his duties as receiver absorbed his 
time to such an extent that he ])ractically 
abandoned the practice of the law. He so 
manage<l the affairs of the bank as to pay 
ninety cents on the dollar of its indebtedness. 
After the adjustment of the receivership. Mr. 
LeHane went to Idaho, where for a time he 
engaged in the practice of his profession at 
Boise City. Later he removed to California, 
and he is now living near San Francisco, in 
the Sacramento valley. 

Charles E. Bush is a son of Judge James E. 
Bush. He is a graduate of the Beatrice high 
school, studied law in his father's office and 
was admitted to the bar of Gage county about 
the year 1891. He later removed to Oklaho- 
ma and for several years he has been located 
in the successful practice of the law at Tulsa, 
that state. 

Jean Cobbey. a son of Judge J. E. Cobbey, 
was Ixjrn in Gage county, graduated from the 
Beatrice high school, attended the State Uni- 
versity of Nebraska and took a course in the 
law and was admitted to the bar. He began 
the ])ractice of his profession in Beatrice in 
1911 and in 1912 was elected county attorney 
of Gage county. He was defeated for reelec- 
tion in 1914 and shortly thereafter removed 
to Nebraska City. Later he sought service in 
the army on the Mexican border, and w'hen 
our government entered the world w^ar. in 
April, 1917, he was serving as chaplain of his 
regiment, but he recently resigned and is now 
with the colors in France. 

Philip E. Winter was one of the early law- 
yers of Wymore. For a number of years he 
was successfully engaged in the practice of his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



335 



profession there with E. X. Kauffiiian, his 
brother-in-law. He later removed to Omaha, 
where for several years he was an active mem- 
ber of the bar. He then located in Oklahoma 
City. Oklahoma, and is now a prominent mem- 
ber of the bar at that place. 

Thomas D. Cobbey located in Beatrice in 
the practice of his profession in 1882. Short- 
ly thereafter he moved to Wymore and he was 
actively engaged in the practice of the law 
there for a number of years, successfully trans- 
acting a large volume of legal business. Sev- 
eral years ago he moved to Denver, Colorado, 
and he is now one of the successful and 
wealthy lawyers of that city, 

James A, Smith came from Iowa City to 
Beatrice in 1879. He was born at Geneva, 
Illinois, November 22, 1844, On the break- 
ing out of the Civil war he enlisted in the 
First Missouri Cavalry, at St. Louis, in Sep- 
tember, 1861. He was wounded in the battle 
of Sugar Creek, Arkansas, February 19, 1862, 
lost his right arm at the shoulder and a finger 
of his left hand, and was discharged Septem- 
ber 22, 1862, He read law in the office of 
Governor Kirkwood of Iowa and married Ca- 
lista Saunders, of Iowa City, November 23, 
1868, Shortly after coming to Beatrice he 
was elected police judge of the city, an office 
which he held for several years. He died in 
Beatrice many years ago and his remains are 
buried in Evergreen Home cemetery. 

John X. Richards was born in Adams coun- 
ty, Ohio, February 22. 1850. In 1836 he went 
to LaSalle county, Illinois, and in that state 
as a youth he engaged in farming. Having 
obtained a common-school education, he 
spent some time in the W'esleyan Uni- 
versity at Bloomington, Illinois. He came 
to Nebraska in 1874 and located at Falls City, 
where he was principal of the city schools. 
He removed to Beatrice in 1877 and entered 
upon the practice of the law, in which he was 
fairly successful. He left Beatrice several 
years ago. and is now located at Colorado City, 
Colorado. 

.Albert H. Babcock was born at Bath, Steu- 
ben county. New York, in 1846, and when 
quite young was taken by his parents to Mich- 



igan, where he lived until he came to Ne- 
braska, He learned the trade of a blacksmith 
and was a successful artisan. In Augi-ist, 
1862, he enlisted in Company H, Eighteenth 
Michigan \'olunteer Infantry, and he was af- 
terward promoted to the captaincy of Company 
E of that regiment. He continued in the ser- 
vice until July, 1865, having been in all the 
battles and marches of his command. He 
graduated from the law department of the 
Michigan University with the class of 1868, 
and located at Pawnee City, Nebraska, in the 
practice of the law, in October, 1869. There 
he achieved a great measure of 'success in his 
])rofession. In February, 1880, he moved to 
Beatrice and opened a law office, and for many 
years he was prominent in the litigation of 
Gage county. He was a member of the Ne- 
braska legislature in 1873-1874, and he served 
both Pawnee City and Beatrice as city attor- 
ney. In 1891 he was elected district judge of 
the First judicial district, and served four 
years : he was again elected in 1903, and he 
served until his death, which occurred in 1907. 
His remains lie in Evergreen Home cemetery. 
As a lawyer Judge Babcock was an able coun- 
selor, careful and systematic in all he did ; as 
a judge he upheld the best traditions of the 
bench, and as a man he led a blameless life in 
the sight of God and of all men. 

James E. Bush was born in Rockville, In- 
diana, June 1, 1845, living there and in Ken- 
tucky until he was three years old. While 
he was still an infant his father died, in the 
Mexican war ; his mother dying shortly after- 
ward, he began life as an orphan. His elder 
brothers and sisters held the family together, 
moved from Kentucky to Peoria, Illinois, 
where they lived five years, and thence to Wy- 
oming, Stark county, Illinois, in the spring of 
1853. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted in the 
service of the United States, in the One Hun- 
dred and Twelfth Regiment of Illinois Vol- 
unteer Infantry, and he served until the close 
of the war. He was mustered out of the serv- 
ice in Chicago, in July, 1865, and returned to 
Wyoming, Illinois. He began the study of 
law in 1872, in the office of Miles A. Fuller, 
of Toulon, Illinois, and, having passed a satis- 



336 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



factory examination in the supreme court of 
that state, he was achiiitted to the bar June 5, 
1875. Me began the practice of his profession 
at Bradford, Stark county. IIHnois. On May 6, 
1880, he came to Beatrice and associated him- 
self with John N. Richards. When this partner- 
ship was dissolved, in 1884, he formed a part- 
nershi]) witli Leander M. Pemberton. In 1891, 
with Judge Babcock, he was elected to the dis- 
trict bench in the old First judicial district, 
and he served four years. He was defeated 
for reelection in 1895. and died in Beatrice on 
the 14th day of -April, 1900. His remains lie 
in Beatrice cemetery and those of his beloved 
wife were, in September, 1917. laid by his side. 
Their resting place is marked by a tasteful 
monument. 

Joseph Elliott Cobbey was born in the state 
of Missouri, in 1853, and when a child was 
taken by his parents to Benton county, Iowa, 
where he grew to manhood. He obtained a 
good education in the common schools of Iowa 
and at the State .Agricultural College, situated 
in the little city of .\mes. While still a very 
young inan he entered the college of law in 
the University of Iowa, from which institution 
he graduated with honor in 1877. and he came 
almost immediately to Beatrice. He was em- 
ployed for a while in the county treasurer's 
office, by his uncle, Hiram P. Webb, also in the 
bank of Hiram P. \\'ebb & Company. In 
1878 he began the active practice of his pro- 
fession and he continued therein until his death, 
on the 22(\ day of .August, 1911. He soon 
achieved a commanding position at the bar of 
his county and state, and for thirty-four vears 
this (|uict. unassuming, i>ioneer lawyer carried 
on an extended and diversified practice in the 
courts of this .state and the federal courts. 

He was ])rominent in city and county af- 
fairs and in the Republican party, to which he 
belonged. In 1879 he was elected to the office 
of comity judge, and served two years. He 
was defeated for rcnomination by his party, 
and again engaged in the active practice of the 
law. During his professional career he served 
the city of Beatrice one term of two years as 
city attorney and was four years a member of 
111.' ci.nimon council of this citv. Wherever 



placed and whatever he did, his life and labors 
were characterized by the utmost fidelity of 
purpose and he became one of the most useful 
and respected citizens of our county. 

In 1889 Judge Cobbey turned in a measure 
from the practical side of his profession and 
sought wealth and honor by digging about 
the roots and strengthening the foundations of 
the law itself. In 1890 he published a text- 
book on the "Law of Replevin"; he revised it 
in 1893. and it is everywhere in this country 
regarded by the courts and the legal profes- 
sion as standard authority up)on that subject. 
Later appeared his textbook on the "Law of 
Chattel Mortgages," in two large volumes, 
equal, at least, in authority to any other .Amer- 
ican textbook on that subject. In 1901 Judge 
Cobbey turned his attention to the business of 
statute-making, and that year appeared "Cob- 
bey's Annotated Code of Nebraska." These 
well known contributions to the law of the land 
are alone sufficient to constitute an enduring 
monument to his memory. 

In the year 1891 Judge Cobbey was em- 
ployed by the legislature of Nebraska to com- 
l)ile and publish the statutes of the state, and 
that body appropriated the sum of twelve 
thousand dollars to assist him in the work. 
This is known as the "Consolidated Statutes 
of Nebraska for 1891." It was followed by 
the "Consolidated Statutes of 1893." Both 
editions were annotated, and both appeared 
under legislative sanction as the authorized 
statutes of the state. These were followed by 
similar statutes for the years 1905, 1907, 1909, 
1911. The last work came from the press 
only a few days prior to his death. "Cobbey "s 
Statutes for 1911" was monumental in char- 
acter. It is as nearly perfect, probably, as any 
work of that kind could be. In addition to 
his indefatigable labors as annotator and pub- 
lisher of the Nebraska statutes. Judge Cobbey 
was employed by the legislature of New Mex- 
ico, a couple of years prior to his death, to 
codify the laws of that new state, and he 
spent nearly a year in that important, and 
to him agreeable, task, in the old city of Santa 
Fe. From this brief sketch of his life, it is 
evident that no other Nebraska lawver has 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



337 



succeeded so completely in embedding his name 
in the legal history and legal literature of his 
state and nation. 

The present bar of Gage county is com- 
posed of Wilber S. Bourne ; Charles L. Brew- 
ster, now serving his country as a captain in 
France, in the great world war; Leonard \V. 
Colby ; Frank E. Crawford, now also a cap- 
tain serving his country in France ; Lloyd 
Crocker ; Hugh J- Dobbs ; John W. Delehant, 
now in training in an officers' camp, awaiting 
the call for his services under his country's 
flag : Alfred Hazlett ; Fulton Jack ; Edward N. 
Kauffman ; Albertus H. Kidd ; Samuel D. Kil- 
len; Ernest O. Kretsinger and his son, Ernest 
Kretsinger ; Frederick W. Messmore ; Adam 



McMuIlen; Leander j\L Pemberton ; Samuel 
Rinaker ; Robert W. Sabin ; Harry E. Sackett ; 
Franklin D. Sheldon ; Walter A. Vasey ; and 
Herbert D. Walden. Biographical sketches 
appear in this volume of most of the lawyers 
here named. 

In point of ability, integrity, learning and 
worth of character the bar of Gage county has 
always compared most favorably with that of 
other counties of the state. From its ranks 
have come judges, legislators, authors, soldiers, 
diplomats. Not greedy of wealth and avari- 
cious only of honor and the opportunity of 
service, the lawyers of our county have stead- 
ily maintained the best traditions of this noble 
and learned profession. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THEIR PART IX MAKING GAGE COUNTY 



DANIEL W. COOK. — Daniel Wolford 
Cook lives now only in the memory of those 
who knew and loved him. Though passed to 
that bourne from which no traveler has ever 
yet returned, his abilities and worth of char- 
acter were such as to entitle him to a place in 
any history of Gage county or the state of 
Nebraska. During a long residence in the 
city of Beatrice he was a potent factor in its 
development and in its social and business 
activities, and at the moment of his demise 
he was one of its best known and most highly 
respected citizens. He responded to the sum- 
mons of the death angel while yet in love 
with life — ere he had reached the zenith of 
his powers and usefulness and at a period of 
his career when the public was turning to- 
ward him more kindly and appreciatively 
than ever before; when his own nature was 
responding more fully than ever to the social 
demands of the community upon him as one 
of its leading citizens. After an illness of 
more than a year, the serious nature of which 
he understood, and having calmly and bravely 
awaited the end, on Saturday, the 4th day of 
March, 1916, at his home on North Seventh 
Street, Beatrice, he passed to that house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. All 
that was mortal of this good and true man 
now rests in his tomb in Evergreen Home 
cemetery, near the city he loved and where so 
many of his happiest years were spent. 

Mr. Cook was born on the 27th day of 
March, 1860, in the little city of Hillsdale, 
state of Michigan, and at the time of his death 
he lacked but a few days of being fifty-six 
years of age, an age when most men are still 
in their prime. He was the son of John P. 
Cook and Martha Wolford. and was one of 
ten children born to that husband and wife, 
six sons and four daughters. They were 
John P. Cook, Lewis Cass Cook, Chauncev 



F., William Wilson, Catherine, Anna, Danie! 
Wolford, Franklin M., Caroline and Belle 
Cook, of whom four are still living. They 
are Chauncey F. and Franklin M. Cook, of 
Hillsdale, William Wilson Cook, of New 
York city, and the youngest sister, Mrs. Belle 
Funkhouser, of Chicago, Illinois. In addition 
to this family, there were five children of the 
half blood, liorn to his father John P. Cook 
and Betsy W'olford. Their names were 
Amanda, Julia, Charles H., Martha A., and 
Mary Cook, and none of them is now living. 

Mr. Cook obtained an elementary educa- 
tion in the public schools of his native city 
and at an early age entered the well known 
Baptist College at Hillsdale. Later he was a 
student for some time in the University of 
Michigan, located in the city of Ann Arbor. 
Without graduating at either of these insti- 
tutions, he obtained a good usable education 
and never found himself at a disadvantage 
when brought into contact with people of 
learning and refinement. 

While attending Hillsdale College Mr. Cook 
became acquainted with Miss Elizabeth Case, 
who also was a student at that institution, and 
in the delightful intimacy of college life a 
friendship was formed between them which 
soon ripened into romantic love, the purest 
of all the passions of the heart, and on the 
22d day of December, 1883, they were united 
in marriage. The conjugal felicity of this 
union was never doubted by those with whom 
this husband and wife came in contact. It 
was broken only by the hand of death. Four 
children came to bless this union and cement 
the marital bond, of whom three survive. 
They are Daniel Wolford Cook, cashier of the 
Beatrice National Bank ; Mary E. Ramsey, 
the wife of Mr. William C. Ramsey, a prom- 
ising young lawyer of Omaha ; and John 
Bradford Cook, but recentlv graduated from 



33S 



H 



i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



341 



the University of Nebraska and now engaged 
in the banking business in the thriving western 
town of Scotts Blul?s, Nebraska. Wilham W. 
Cook, the second and much loved son, at the 
age of eighteen years, was drowned while 
bathing in the Big Blue river, on the 27th day 
of August, 1905. 

For many years prior to his death, Mr. and 
Mrs. Cook owned and occupied a beautiful 
home at the comer of Seventh and Summit 
Streets, Beatrice, erected by them in 1884. 
Here thirty-two years of their married life 
were spent together ; here their children were 
born ; and from its portals a well beloved son 
and husband were borne to the grave and an 
onlv and much loved daughter departed a 
bride. Cold indeed must be the heart that 
can withhold its sympathy from her to whom 
this spot is hallowed by so many sacred mem- 
ories. 

No one was less inclined to speak of him- 
self or his family than Daniel Wolford Cook. 
His most intimate friends rarely heard him 
mention his ancestry or speak of his family 
beyond his immediate home circle. His re- 
ticence in this respect was the more remark- 
able since there is much in his family gene- 
alogy of which he was, no doubt, justly 
proud. His reticence on this subject was 
probably due to a natural reserve of char- 
acter which ran through his entire life, and to 
a fine sensitiveness concerning his personal 
matters. 

Mr. Cook's parents were both born and 
reared in the town of Cato, Cayuga county. 
New York. His father was born in 1812, 
amidst the stirring scenes of our second war 
with England. Early in life he married 
Betsy Wolford, and at the age of twenty he 
migrated to the new Territorj' of Michigan, 
locating first at Detroit. In 1833, about four 
years prior to the time Michigan was admitted 
into the union of sovereign states, he removed 
to Hillsdale county and settled in the village 
of Hillsdale, where he resided until his death, 
in 1884, at the age of seventy-two years. His 
first wife having died about the year 1850. 
leaving him with a family of five young chil- 
dren, he in 1854, married ]\lartha A. Wol- 
ford, her younger sister. In his early years 



he was a wonderfully active and a very useful 
man. Shortly after his arrival in Michigan, 
he formed the acquaintance of General Lewis 
Cass, and for many years he was an intimate 
friend of that distinguished soldier, statesman 
and diplomat. He was intimately connected, 
almost from the first, with the social, intellec- 
tual, political, and business interests of his 
section of coimtrj'. He was the first post- 
master at Hillsdale, serving his community in 
that capacity for a number of years ; he was 
one of the trustees of the state hospital at 
Kalamazoo, and for a long time a trustee of 
Hillsdale College, president of the town board 
of Hillsdale, and discharged the duties of 
other local officers. He was a delegate to two 
constitutional conventions of his state, twice 
a member of the house of representatives, and 
thrice a member of the state senate of Michi- 
gan. He was an exceptionally good business 
man and by fortunate investments in Michi- 
gan timbered lands he had amassed a fortune, 
which at his death amounted to nearly half a 
million dollars. 

On his father's side, Daniel Wolford Cook 
was descended in a direct line from William 
Bradford, who came over with the "Pilgrim 
Fathers" in the Mayflower, in 1620, and who 
for thirty years was governor of Plymouth 
Colony. A certain Captain David Cook be- 
came the husband of Mar\- Bradford in the 
early part of the eighteenth centurj', who in a 
direct line was the great-great-granddaughter 
of the Puritan governor. This Captain Cook 
fought with distinction in the war of the 
Revolution, from its beginning, in 1776, to its 
close, in 1783. From him was descended 
John P. Cook, the father of Daniel Wolford 
Cook. On his mother's side Mr. Cook was 
descended from Holland and French stock, 
his maternal grandfather being a Hollander 
and his maternal grandmother, a La Rue, 
French. Martha A. Cook, the mother of Dan- 
iel Wolford Cook, reached the bounds of this 
mortal life in 1909, the object of the solici- 
tude and affection of a host of relatives and 
friends. Now all that is mortal of these 
Michigan pioneers lies in the Hillsdale ceme- 
tery, where after having answered the call 



342 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of the angel of death, they await the trump of 
the angel of the resurrection. 

Shortly after leaving the University of 
Michigan, in 1879, Mr. Cook, at the age of 
nineteen years, engaged in the wholesale and 
retail lumber trade in Michigan City, Indiana, 
at the foot of Lake Michigan. His busi- 
ness was operated in connection with his 
father's lumber manufacturing plant at White 
Lake, Michigan, and in carrying it on, he was 
associated with his cousin, W. C. Wilson, now 
president of the Bankers Life Insurance Com- 
pany of Lincoln, Nebraska. After several 
years' successful business, he sold his interest 
in the lumber trade at Michigan City to his 
partner, and in 1884 he came to Nebraska to 
seek fortune, happiness, and success in this 
new state. 

Having, through the mediation of his 
brother-in-law, the late Nathan S. Harwood, 
and the late Jefferson B. Weston, purchased 
a controlling interest in the Gage County 
Bank, Mr. Cook moved his family to Beatrice 
in February, 1884. With Harwood. Weston, 
and others, he reorganized the bank into a na- 
tional bank, with a capital of fifty thousand 
dollars, to be thenceforth known as the 
Beatrice National Bank, a title still worn by 
this well known banking institution. The 
first board of directors of the bank were Har- 
wood, Weston, Cook, Cyrus Alden, Nathan 
Blakely, Silas P. Wheeler, and William Lamb, 
of which Mr. Weston was president and Mr. 
Cook vice-president. All these gentlemen, 
well known in the early days, have passed 
away, Mr. Cook being the last survivor of this 
board of directors. Mr. Weston served as 
president of the board until his death, in Sep- 
tember, 1905, and thereafter until his demise 
Mr. Cook was president of the board. 

Beginning at a time when Gage county was 
just emerging from its pioneer days, when 
things were new and fresh within its bound- 
aries, when Beatrice had but recently been 
advanced from a mere western village to a 
city under the law of less than five thousand 
population, the steady growth of the Beatrice 
National Bank under Mr. Cook's management 
is, in a sense, typical of the growth of both the 
city and county. The first statement by the 



board of directors after he took control of 
the affairs of the bank, under date of Sep- 
tember 30, 1884, showed a total volume of 
business amounting to the sum of $124,755.37, 
of which $6L235.86 were deposits. The 
statement of the bank issued March 7, 1916, a 
few days after Mr. Cook's death, showed a 
volume of business amounting to the sum of 
31,255,020.24, of which sum $988,917.49 were 
deposits. Assuming the management of this 
bank at a time when he was not yet twenty- 
four years of age, the unusual abilities pos- 
sessed by Mr. Cook as a business man and 
banker are demonstrated by the steady and 
rapid growth of this splendid banking enter- 
prise. While he held its destiny in his hands 
not a penny of its depositors' money was lost 
or even jeopardized by unwise banking meth- 
ods. 

In the ever}'day affairs of the community 
Mr. Cook acted the part of a wise and helpful 
banker, readily assisting the deserving in ever}' 
safe business enterprise when money was 
needed. He had the faculty of divining char- 
acter in his customers and he was never known 
to err seriously in his judgment of men. He 
was particularly generous and helpful both in 
monetary affairs and in advice to young men 
just entering a business career and he was 
apt to place greater reliance upon individual 
honesty, when coupled with ability and energ)-, 
than upon any sort of collateral. His liberal 
assistance to deserving customers of his bank, 
his habit of taking a kind and helpful interest 
in their affairs and his clear, comprehensive, 
deliberate way of looking at things, made him 
one of the most all-round useful citizens of 
his community. 

He was a man of teeming activities. In 
addition to the personal management of his 
bank he devoted considerable time to farm- 
ing and the breeding and sale of live stock, 
and he was never happier than when going 
over his farm, near the village of Ellis, with 
some sympathetic friend. In 1891 he was in- 
duced to invest a considerable sum of money 
in the capital stock of the Bankers Life In- 
surance Company of Lincoln, Nebraska. As- 
sociated with him in this enterprise were 
Nathan S. Harwood, John M. Thurston, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



343 



Thomas Kimball (then vice-president of the 
Union Pacific Railway Company), William R. 
Kelly, J. E. Houtz, Charles Boggs (of Lin- 
coln), Michael Wolbach (of Beatrice), his 
brother, Franklin M. Cook, and his cousin, 
W. C. Wilson. At the time Mr. Cook became 
interested in this company its capital stock 
was $100,000, its assets $127,000. He after- 
ward acquired the stock of his brother in this 
institution, and at the time of his death he 
was its second largest stockholder, its presi- 
dent, W. C. Wilson, being the largest. This 
company has prospered amazingly. Its capi- 
tal stock still remains at $100,000, but its busi- 
ness has increased by leaps and bounds, until 
at the present moment its assets amount to 
$13,000,000. During his entire connection 
with this company Mr. Cook occupied the po- 
sition of vice-president, and he was also an 
influential member of the finance committee. 
In 1911, the company erected a substantial 
five-story, modern building at the corner of 
Fourteenth and M streets, Lincoln, at a cost 
of $300,000, where its offices are now lo- 
cated. 

Though never seeking any sort of lucrative 
office for himself, Mr. Cook always manifest- 
ed a deep and an intelligent interest in public 
affairs. He was active in all matters relating 
to the welfare of his city, and in the political 
movements of his county and state. For many 
years he affiliated with the Democratic party 
and he was twice a delegate to the national 
convention of that great party. Growing dis- 
satisfied with its attitude on the question of 
the coinage of silver by the federal govern- 
ment, as set forth in its platform of 1896, he 
openly withdrew from it and became an active 
and useful member of the Republican party. 
This affiliation he maintained with unswerving 
loyalty to the last. He was eminent in its 
counsels and influential in shaping its policies 
both at home and abroad. 

From this resume it is clear that ^Ir. Cook's 
mind was turned almost wholly to the practi- 
cal side of life. He was a man of affairs, 
keen, active, decisive. He was broad in con- 
ception, sound in judg^nent, and endowed with 
masterful powers in organizing and conduct- 
ing business aft'airs. For thirty years he de- 
voted his time, energy, and splendid abilities 



largely to laying the foundation for his own 
fortune and the fortunes of his business asso- 
ciates. Success in his several undertakings 
being finally assured, he extended his interest, 
energies, and activities to the upbuilding of 
the entire community. For several years prior 
to his demise he served faithfully and effi- 
ciently as a member of the board of public 
parks for the city of Beatrice. He also took 
a deep and friendly interest in the Young 
Men's Christian Association of Beatrice, and 
it was largely through his efforts, enterprise, 
enthusiasm, and love of clean, wholesome 
sports that the Beatrice school district now 
owns what is probably the finest athletic park 
in the west. He passed away at the moment 
of his greatest usefulness, when he could have 
been least spared and at a time when he was 
rapidly winning the public appreciation which 
always attends unselfish eft"orts of a high 
order for the upbuilding of a community. 

Mr. Cook, though not directly affiliated with 
any religious organization at the time of his 
death, was never indifferent to the claims of 
religion or the value of Christian character. 
He believed in Almighty God and in an over- 
ruling providence in the affairs of men. Him- 
self candid and direct, he despised indirection 
and hypocracy in others. He was an enter- 
taining conversationalist and was well in- 
formed as respects the leading events of our 
country's history, the lives and characters of 
the public men of our day as well as the past. 
He delighted in clean, pointed anecdotes, and 
a visit with him in his private office was al- 
ways a thing to be remembered. Though 
sometimes abrupt in manner and outspoken, 
at bottom he was one of the kindest and most 
generous of men. Though never very demon- 
strative, he was capable of great depth of 
feeling. He rarely spoke of the death of his 
son William without emotion and never re- 
covered from this wound to his affections. 
He loved the society of men and men were 
fond of him. He prized his friends as few 
men ever did, and once his friendship was 
given it was never lightly withdrawn. It is 
hard to reflect that the grave — the silent, 
remorseless grave — has closed forever over 
the assemblage of manly qualities embodied in 
Daniel Wolford Cook. 



344 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



THOMAS YULE. — It was within the 
province of the late Thomas Yule, who served 
one term as' mayor of Beatrice, one term as 
city treasurer and three terms as a member 
of the county board of supervisors, to have 
wielded a large and beneficent influence in the 
civic, industrial, and business affairs of Gage 
county, and he was exponent of that high type 
of manhood which ever stands indicative of 
usefulness and subjective honor. He im- 
pressed his strong individuality deeply upon 
the historj' of Gage county, within whose gra- 
cious borders he maintained his home for near- 
ly thirty years prior to his death, and in a 
publication of the functions assigned to the 
one at hand it is eminently consonant that a 
tribute be paid to his memory and recognition 
be accorded to him as having been one of the 
essentially representative men of this favored 
county. His character was the positive ex- 
pression of a noble and loyal nature and his 
genial and kindly personality gained and re- 
tained to him the high regard of all with whom 
he came in contact. 

Mr. Yule was born in Northumberland 
county, England, on the 20th of October, 1832, 
and his death occurred at his home in Beatrice, 
Nebraska, on the 21st of June, 1907. He was 
a son of George and Elizabeth (Huggett) 
Yule, his father having been a civil engineer 
by profession and having for some time held a 
responsible position with the London & North- 
eastern Railway Company. Thomas Yule re- 
ceived excellent educational advantages in his 
native land and there continued to reside until 
1853, when, accoiupanied by his parents and 
his young wife, he came to the United States, 
the family home being established in Columbia 
county, Wisconsin, where the father and son 
became pioneer exponents of agricultural in- 
dustry'. The honored father died in 1871. at 
the age of sixty-seven years, and his wife sur- 
vived him by six years, she having been 
seventy-three years of age at the time of her 
demise. Four of their six children attained 
to maturity and became well established in life 
before the death of the parents. 

On the Lith of March, 1853, was solemnized 
the marriage of Thomas Yule to Miss Mary 



Todd, who likewise was bom in Northumber- 
landshire, a daughter of John and Mary Todd. 
The voyage to America on a sailing vessel of 
the type common to that day virtually consti- 
tuted the bridal tour of the young couple, and 
after having been for some time associated 
with his father in farm enterprise in Columbia 
county, Wisconsin, Thomas Y'ule removed 
with his wife to the village of Lodi, that 
county, where he was engaged in contracting 
and building at the time of the inception of the 
Civil war. His loyalty to the land of his 
adoption soon found significant exposition, for 
on the 15th of August, 1862, he enlisted as a 
private in the Twenty-third Wisconsin Volun- 
teer Infantry, with which he entered sen'ice 
in the Army of the West, under General A. J. 
Smith, and in the Fourteenth Army Corps, 
commanded by General Sherman. Relative to 
the gallant military career of Mr. Yule the fol- 
lowing interesting record has been given : "Mr. 
Yule, with his comrades, in active campaign 
service, traveled through Kentucky, Missis- 
sippi, Teimessee, and Arkansas, and with his 
command participated in the first battle of 
Vicksburg, in the summer of 1862. He con- 
tinued to take part in the various engagements 
in which his regiment was involved until the 
11th of January, 1863, when, in the engage- 
ment at Arkansas Post, he received a wound 
which resulted in the loss of his right leg. The 
grievously wounded man was removed to the 
Lawson hospital, in the city of St. Louis, 
Missouri, where he remained until the follow- 
ing March, when he was honorably discharged 
and returned to his home, at Lodi, Wisconsin. 
Afterward, in recognition of his service as a 
soldier and the sacrifice which he had made in 
the cause of the Union, Mr. Yule was appoint- 
ed provost marshal for his AVisconsin district. 
He was elected also to the offices of justice of 
the peace and township treasurer, both of 
which he retained until 1867, when he was 
elected register of deeds of Columbia county, 
an office of which he continued the incumbent 
eight successive years." It may further be 
said that in later years Mr. Yule vitalized the 
memories and association of his military career 
as a soldier of the L'nion by maintaining 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



345 



active affiliation with the Grand Amiy of the 
RepubHc, in which great patriotic organization 
he was one of the most popular and influential 
members of Rawlins Post, at Beatrice, Ne- 
braska, in which he passed the various official 
chairs and with which he continued to be 
actively identified until the close of his life. 

^Ir. Yule never permitted himself to view 
his physical infirmity as a definite handicap, 
and it is certain that it did not interfere with 
his productive usefulness and service. After 
his retirement from the office of register of 
deeds for Columbia county, Wisconsin, he 
continued to be there associated with Miles T. 
Alverson in the abstract and loan business 
until April, 1879. He then sold his interest in 
the business and came with his family to 
Beatrice, Nebraska, where he engaged in the 
loaning of money on real-estate security and 
where he forthwith put his previous experience 
to eiifective use by turning his attention to the 
preparation of a set of abstracts of realty 
titles from the original records of the county. 
In this commendable and important work he 
had as his efficient coadjutor his son John T., 
and they continued to be actively associated 
in the conducting of the well ordered abstract 
business until his death, since which time the 
son has individually continued the enterprise, 
as noted in the review of his career, on other 
pages of this volume. 

Mr. Yule entered most heartily and help- 
fully into the communal life of Beatrice and 
Gage county and his ability and sterling in- 
tegrity marked him as specially eligible for 
service in offices of local trust. It has already 
been noted in this memoir that he served one 
term as mayor of Beatrice, a position in which 
he gave most progressive and efficient admin- 
istration, and that he held for one term the 
office of city treasurer. In the late '80s he 
was elected representative of Beatrice town- 
ship on the county board of supervisors, in 
which office he served three consecutive terms, 
during the last two of which he was chairman 
of the board. He was one of those interested 
in the establishing of the canning factory' at 
Beatrice and became a member of the board of 
directors of the company operating the same. 



besides which he was a director of the Beatrice 
Street Railway Company. In politics Mr, 
Yule, with consummate strength of convic- 
tion, never wavered in his allegiance to the 
Republican party and he gave in a local way 
yeoman sen-ice in behalf of its cause. He 
became affiliated with the Masonic fraternity 
in 1858 and was actively identified with the 
various Masonic bodies in Beatrice at the time 
of his death. 

The wife of the young manhood of Mr. 
Yule continued as his gracious and loved com- 
panion and helpmeet until she was summoned 
to eternal rest, her death having occurred 
April 11, 1881. They became the parents of 
four children, concerning whom the follow- 
ing brief data are available : Bessie J. be- 
came the wife of Louis E. Walker and is now 
deceased ; John T. is individually mentioned 
on other pages of this publication ; Albert G. 
was a boy at the time of his death, in 1866 ; 
and Mary Grace, who completed her educa- 
tion by attending Brownell Hall, in the city of 
Omaha, is now the wife of John Gray, living 
in Los Angeles, California. 

In 1884 Mr. Yule contracted a second mar- 
riage, when Miss Mary H. Burke became his 
wife. She was born in the Dominion of Can- 
ada, but was a resident of Beatrice at the 
time of her marriage. No children were born 
of this union and Mrs. Yule survived her hus- 
band, she being now a resident of Los An- 
geles, California. 

CLARENCE W. GRAFF. — The vice- 
president of the representative mercantile 
corporation conducting business in the city of 
Beatrice under the title of The John H. von 
Steen Company, is recognized as one of the 
vital and representative business men of the 
younger generation in his native county and 
is further entitled to recognition by reason of 
being a scion of one of the well known and 
honored pioneer families of the county, within 
whose limits his paternal grandfather. Joseph 
Graft, established his residence at an early 
period in the history of development in Ne- 
braska. Joseph GralT became one of the pio- 
neer exponents of agricultural and live-stock 



346 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



industry in Gage county and here he and his 
wife passed the remainder of their lives. On 
the old homestead farm was born Henry 
Graff, father of him whose name initiates this 
paragraph, and he was reared under the con- 
ditions and influences of the pioneer days — 
an environment that made for the develop- 
ment of self-reliance, ambition, and apprecia- 
tion of the true values in the scheme of human 
thought and action. Henry Graff received the 
advantages of the common schools of the 
locality and period and after having achieved 
independent success through his association 
with agricultural industry he was for a long 
term of years engaged in the agricultural im- 
plement business in the fine little town of 
Wymore, this county. He developed a large 
and prosperous enterprise in this line and con- 
tinued his activities in the same until his 
death, in 1907. He was influential in civic 
affairs in his community, was a stalwart sup- 
porter of the cause of the Republican party, 
and though not ambitious for public office he 
showed his loyalty by consenting to become 
the candidate of his party for the office of 
treasurer of the city of Wymore, his service 
in this capacity continuing for one term. He 
was a communicant of the Protestant Episco- 
pal church, as is also his widow, who still 
maintains her home at Wymore. Of the two 
children, Clarence W., immediate subject of 
this sketch, is the elder, and the younger, 
Hazel, remains with her widowed mother. 
Mrs. Susan (Myers) Graft', widow of Henry 
Graff, was born in the state of Wisconsin and 
accompanied her parents on their removal to 
Gage county, Nebraska, where her marriage 
to Mr. Graff was later solemnized and where 
she has since maintained her home, her gra- 
cious personality having won to her a specially 
wide circle of friends. Her father, the late 
Valentine Myers, likewise was one of the pio- 
neers of this county, and became one of its 
substantial farmers and highly esteemed citi- 
zens. 

Clarence W. Graff continued his studies in 
the public schools until he had completed the 
curriculum of the high school at Wymore, his 
birth having occurred in the village of Blue 



Springs, this county, on the 8th of October, 
1889. In further preparation for the active 
responsibilities of life he took an effective 
course in the business college at Beatrice. 
For five months thereafter he held a clerical 
position in a telegraph office in this city, and 
he then became associated with the John H. 
von Steen Company, in which he is now one 
of the interested principals and of which he 
has been the vice-president since 1917. His 
popularity in his native county is on a parity 
with his recognized ability and progressive- 
ness as a business man and he takes most loyal 
interest in all things touching the civic and ma- 
terial welfare of his home city and county. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party and he is affiliated with Beatrice 
Lodge, No. 619, Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks. 

April 25, 1917, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Graff to Miss Augusta R. Kilpatrick,. 
daughter of Joseph M. Kilpatrick, of Beatrice, 
Nebraska, and they are popular factors in the 
representative social life of the Gage county 
metropolis. They hold membership in the 
parish of Christ Church, Protestant Episcopal, 
of which lioth are communicants. 

C. C. JOHNSON, who is now living re- 
tired in the village of Filley, has proved him- 
self a man of might, like Tubal Cain of old, 
and for many years he followed the sturdy 
trade of blacksmith, through the medium of 
which he achieved the prosperity that enables 
him to pass the gracious evening of his life in 
well earned peace and comfort. 

Mr. Johnson was born in Denmark, on the 
26th of Februan,', 1844, and is a son of John 
Christ and Anna Christina (Christiansen) 
.\nderson, the latter of whom passed her en- 
tire life in Denmark and the fomier of whom 
came to the United States in 1884, settling 
first in Illinois, but a few months later coming 
to Nebraska, where he passed the remainder 
of his life. Of the ten children only two are 
now living, the subject of this review being 
the elder and Nels being a resident of the 
city of Chicago. The father was a blacksmith 
by trade and after coming to the United States 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



347 



he lived retired until his death, the closing 
period of his life having been passed in the 
home of his son C. C, subject of this sketch. 
Both he and his wife were earnest communi- 
cants of the Danish Lutheran church. 

C. C. Johnson acquired his early education 
in his native land and there learned the trade 
of blacksmith under the effective direction of 
his father. He was twenty-eight years of age 
when he came to the United States and estab- 
lished his residence in the city of Kankakee, 
Illinois, where he was employed three years 
in one blacksmith shop. He continued to fol- 
low his trade in that state for seven years and 
then, in 1879, he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, where he opened a little blacksmith 
shop four miles north of the present village 
of Filley. When this village was platted he 
here established its first blacksmith shop, and 
he was not only the first citizen to erect a 
house in the village but also the first to buy a 
lot in the newly established cemetery, in 
which the remains of his stepmother were the 
first interred. He continued actively and suc- 
cessfully in the work of his trade, with a 
large and representative patronage, until 1902, 
since which time he has lived virtually re- 
tired. Mr. Johnson has gained and retained 
the unqualified confidence and esteem of the 
community in which he has long maintained 
his home. He has a little farm of nine acres 
and finds recreation in giving to the same his 
personal supen-ision. He is independent in 
politics and is an earnest member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his 
wife. 

In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Johnson to Miss Anna Nelson, who like- 
wise was born in Denmark. She is the daugh- 
ter of Christ Nelson, whose entire life was 
passed in Denmark, his widow having finally 
come to the United States and having been a 
resident of Iowa at the time of her death, in 
1914. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson became the par- 
ents of six children, of whom three are liv- 
ing : Lars Jansen is now a resident of Iowa ; 
Sena Peterson maintains his home in the 
state of Texas ; and Mrs. Johnson is the old- 
est of the number. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson 



have been born five children : Fritz owns and 
operates a farm of eighty acres, four miles 
northeast of Filley; Nels is a farm employe 
in this county, as is also Louis ; Lena is the 
wife of Chester Hill, of Filley, and they have 
one son, Lloyd Everett ; and Clara remains 
at the parental home. 



JOHN O. ADAMS. — The chance travel- 
er who might have found his way in the spring 
of 1857 into what is now the beautiful Ne- 
maha valley would have seen in what is now 
Adams township, Gage county, something 
that looked like the beginning of a home, but, 
Ivuowing that no settlers were in the neigh- 
borhood, he would have been at a loss to 
understand the meaning thereof until he 
chanced to notice, stretched between two sap- 
lings, a tablet of bark, upon which was writ- 
ten, "John O. Adams claims this tract of land, 
this 3bth day of March, 1857." 

The late John O. Adams was born in New 
Jersey, July 17, 1808, and when a child was 
taken by his parents to Kentucky. In 1838 he 
moved to Dubois county, Indiana, and in 1840 
he married Letitia Harris, a native of Ken- 
tucy, born January 4, 1812. Mr. Adams en- 
gaged in farming in Dubois county until the 
fall of 1856, when he started west. On Oc- 
tober 20th the family arrived at the home of a 
brother in Atchison county, Missouri. In the 
early spring Mr. Adams started to look over 
the country and find a suitable place to locate, 
and the result was his making a claim in Gage 
county, Nebraska, as above stated. This lo- 
cality was known as Clay cotmty at that time. 
With two covered wagons drawn by oxen 
which he had driven from Indiana, he and his 
family came to that new home. Not a wagon 
track was to be seen or a habitation foimd for 
many miles from the spot where he located. 
They had to build a bridge to cross the Ne- 
maha river. On Section 26, Adams town- 
ship, half a mile east of where the town of 
Adams now stands, they unloaded their goods. 
Mr. Adams's wife and their seven children 
having accompanied him. They cut and 
hewed logs, and just one month from the day 
they arrived they moved into their new home. 



348 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Here the family assiduously set about to de- 
velop a farm out of the wild and unbroken 
jirairie. This was ten years before Nebraska 
became a state. No homestead laws were in 
existence, and Mr. Adams held squatter sov- 
ereignly over one hundred and sixty acres 
until he could file and prove up. Here he 
reared his family amid the pioneer conditions, 
and he prospered. Before his death he di- 
vided a section of land among his children and 
lived to see them all well established in life. 

The township and village of Adams were 
named in his honor. Historians concede him 




John O. .-\n.\Ms 

to be the first pemianent white settler in Gage 
county. He was one of the founders of the 
Methodist church in the township and was a 
devoted member. He was a Republican in 
politics and represented old Clay county on 
the board of commissioners. He was a black- 
smith by trade and conducted a shop on his 
farm. This worthy pioneer passed from the 
scene of earthly activities December 24, 1S87. 
His wife had preceded him to eternal rest 
many years previously, her death having oc- 
curred November 21, 18f)7. 

They became the parents of eight children. 



concerning whom the following data are avail- 
able : Nelson A. resides at Adams ; Nancy 
became the wife of B. P. Zuver and is now de- 
ceased ; Isaac and Leander are deceased ; John 
Q. was the next and his whereabouts are un- 
known ; Naomi became the wife of Thomas 
Davis Mosby and lives in Adams township; 
Anna is deceased; and one child died in in- 
fancy. 

CAL\'IN STARR, M. D. — Dr. Calvin 
Starr, who was nearly ninety-four years of 
age at the time when he passed from the stage 
of life's mortal endeavors, came to Nebraska 
at the beginning of the decade following its 
admission as one of the sovereign states of 
the Union, and Gage county was favored in 
having eventually gained him as a citizen and 
as an able and distinguished representative of 
the noble profession to which he gave himself 
with all of earnestness and self-abnegation 
for more than sixty years. To his name and 
memorj' the county shall ever pay a tribute of 
veneration and affection, and this publication 
would stultify its consistency were there fail- 
ure to enter at least brief record concerning 
the singularly interesting and truly unassum- 
ing and exalted life record of this venerated 
citizen, who passed to eternal rest on the 25th 
of November, 1915, at his home in the city of 
Beatrice. 

Dr. Starr was one of the favored mortals 
whom nature launches into the world with 
the heritage of sturdy ancestrj', a splendid 
])hysique. a masterful mind and energ\^ enough 
for many men. Added to these attributes 
were exceptional intellectual and professional 
attainments and the useful lessons of a wide 
and varied experience stored away. He was 
a type of the true gentleman and a repre- 
sentative of the best in the communal life, 
dignified and yet possessed of an affability 
and abiding human sympathy that won him 
warm friends among all classes and condi- 
tions of men. 

Dr. Starr, a scion of one of the honored 
pioneer families of the old Buckeye state, was 
born on the old homestead farm of his par- 
ents, in Franklin county, Ohio, and the date 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



349 



of his nativity was April 2, 1822. It is 
worthy of special note that this ancestral 
homestead, now in part occupied by the city 
of Columbus, capital of Ohio, was an integral 
portion of the original tract of land deeded by 
the government to an ancestor of Dr. Starr 
in recognition of his services as a patriot sol- 
dier in the war of the Revolution. An appre- 
ciable portion of the original allotment of land 
remained for several generations in the posses- 
sion of the Starr family, and Dr. Starr him- 
self owned at one time a part that now lies 
between the Ohio State University and the 
state capitol. 

The youngest in a family of eleven chil- 
dren, all of whom attained to years of ma- 
turity, Dr. Starr passed the period of his 
childhood and early youth under the sturdy 
and invigorating discipline of the home farm, 
his father, John Starr having become one of 
the substantial exponents of agricultural in- 
dustry in Franklin county, where he reclaimed 
a productive farm from the virtual forest wil- 
derness. John Starr was born in Nova Scotia, 
and as a young man he established his resi- 
dence in Connecticut, where was solemnized 
his marriage to Miss Betsey Havens, a native 
of Groton, that state. In 1812, John Starr 
and his wife removed to the wilds of Ohio 
and settled in Franklin county, the site of the 
present capital city of the state having at that 
time been marked by a single log house. Liv- 
ing up to the full tension of pioneer life, John 
Starr and his noble wife passed the residue of 
their lives in Franklin county. He was a man 
of strong mind and sterling character — a 
citizen who was influential in community af- 
fairs, he having been in his young manhood a 
successful teacher and the passing years hav- 
ing continuously widened his intellectual 
horizon. His death occurred in 1837, and his 
widow survived him by thirty years, she hav- 
ing passed to the life eternal in 1865. Both 
were devoted Christians in faith and service, 
and in politics Mr. Starr was to be found a 
staunch supporter of the cause of the old-line 
Whig party. 

Dr. Calvin Starr acquired his preliminary 
education in the common schools of his native 



county and later he completed a four years' 
course in Central College, at Blendon, Ohio, 
where his alert mind and distinctive ambition 
enabled him to make the best possible use of 
the higher academic advantages thus offered. 
In consonance with well formulated plans he 
finally began the study of medicine under 
private preceptorship, in accordance with the 
custom of the day, and in the furtherance of 
his technical education he took two full 
courses of lectures in historic old Starling 
Medical College, which is now a part of the 
University of Ohio. In completing his ad- 
mirable fortification for the work of his ex- 
acting profession Dr. Starr entered the 
Homeopathic Medical College at Cleveland, 
Ohio, one of the first and most important 
Homeopathic colleges in the west, and in this 
institution he was graduated February 21, 
1851, with the well earned degree of Doctor 
of Medicine. In this connection it may con- 
sistently be stated that at the time of his death 
Dr. Starr was the oldest alumnus of this col- 
lege, which, about the year 1912, was removed 
from Cleveland to Columbus, where it became 
the constituent Jlomeopathic medical school 
of the University of Ohio. The Doctor, a 
pioneer of the benignant system of Homeo- 
pathy in the west, ever retained a deep aft'ec- 
tion for his alma mater, and after his death 
his widow, Mrs. Julia C. Starr, M. D., re- 
ceived a letter from a member of the faculty 
of the college, the context of the communica- 
tion containing statements that are worthy of 
preservation in this connection : "In the death 
of Dr. Starr our college loses its oldest alum- 
nus, and one whose name was frequently men- 
tioned in faculty meetings, especially in con- 
nection with the oil painting of Hahnemann 
that Dr. Starr presented to the college. It is 
a privilege granted to but few men to be per- 
mitted to engage actively in the practice of 
medicine for more than sixty years, and to his 
family it is an occasion of just pride to know 
that the husband and father was pennitted to 
accomplish so great an amount of good in the 
world." It may further be noted that the 
Hahnemann portrait thus presented by Dr. 
Starr now occupies a place of honor in the 



350 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Homeopathic building of the University of 
Ohio and that since his death there has been 
attached thereto a metal plate with the fol- 
lowing inscription : "Calvin Starr, M. D., 
Class of 1851, Donor." 

After having been graduated, with high 
honors. Dr. Starr began his professional no- 
vitiate by engaging in active general practice 
at Xenia, Ohio, but one year later he removed 
to Springfield, that state, where he remained 
five years. Becoming convinced that a greater 
field of usefulness lay open for him in connec- 
tion with the rapidly developing west, Dr. 
Starr removed to Iowa City, Iowa, in the year 
1857, and as one of the most able and honored 
pioneer physicians of the Hawkey e state he 
continued in active practice at Iowa City for 
twenty years, within which he built up a large 
and representative professional business, be- 
sides contributing much to civic and material 
progress and prosperity in his home com- 
munity. 

In 1877. ten years after Nebraska had 
gained the dignity of statehood, Dr. Starr 
came with his family to this now favored com- 
monwealth, and after successfully continu- 
ing in practice at Nebraska City for five years 
he came, in 1882, to Beatrice, judicial center 
of Gage county, which place remained the 
central stage of his earnest and able profes- 
sional activities during the remainder of his 
long and useful life, he having been a veritable 
patriarch of the community at the time of his 
death. In his profession and as a man he was 
ever one to remember and aid "those who 
were forgotten" and he bore optimistic cheer 
and encouragement as well as professional 
ministration to those in sut?ering or dis- 
tress, so that it may well be understood that 
he was loved in every comnmnity in which he 
had lived and labored. At this juncture may 
consistently be reproduced an appreciative 
estimate that was a part of an obituary article 
published in a Beatrice paper at the time of 
his demise: 

"Dr. Starr had marked abilities as a physi- 
cian and as a man of high moral character 
and kindly disposition. On account of his 
advanced years, nearly ninety-four, he had 



been confined to his home for some time, but 
his influence has continued to go forth with 
all who came to see him. He inherited those 
virtues which go to make sterling manhood, 
but he did not rest content with mere ancestral 
bequest. While true to the faith of his fathers 
in even- essential, yet he thought for himself 
and followed the truth as God gave him to 
see it, the finest product of his religious belief 
being a character that gave him the absolute 
confidence of his fellow men — and that is 
the final test of religion." The Doctor was 
an active member and liberal supporter of 
the Congregational church of Beatrice, as is 
also his widow. 

As a young man Dr. Starr wedded Miss 
Sophia J. McPherson, of Xenia, Ohio, and 
she passed the closing years of her life at 
Iowa City, Iowa, where she died April 23, 
1876. Of this union were bom five children, 
concerning whom the following brief data are 
given : George B. now resides in the state of 
California; Clarence A. is a resident of Wi- 
nona Lake, Indiana ; Emma H. was a resi- 
dent of Lincoln at the time of her death ; and 
Mary P. and John A. maintain their resi- 
dence in California, the former being the wife 
of W. S. Brayton. 

On the 27th of June, 1878, was solemnized 
the marriage of Dr. Starr to Dr. Julia C. 
(Candee) Scudder, of Muscatine, Iowa, her 
first husband having been Horace Scudder, 
and the one child of this union was Horace. 
Jr., who died in 1906. Mrs. Starr was bom 
at Muscatine, Iowa, and is a daughter of 
Sheldon N. and Lucy A. (Starr) Candee. the 
former a native of Connecticut and the latter 
of Ohio. The parents were numbered among 
the honored pioneers of both Iowa and Ne- 
braska and they passed the closing period of 
their lives in the latter commonwealth, the 
father having devoted the major part of his 
active career to the carriage-factor}' business, 
and both having been residents of Beatrice. 
Nebraska, at the time of their death. 

Dr. Julia C. Starr, a woman of high profes- 
sional attainments, became the able and val- 
ued coadjutor of her husband in the control 
of their large and representative joint prac- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



351 



tice in Gage county, and she still maintains 
her office at the attractive home at 409 North 
Sixth street, Beatrice. She was graduated in 
the medical department of the University of 
Iowa, at Iowa City, and an unequivocal suc- 
cess has attended her benignant service in the 
practice of her profession, in which she has 
gained status as one of the leading women 
physicians and surgeons of Nebraska. She 
still continues in active practice and her gra- 
cious womanhood and gentle sympathy have 
enhanced the effectiveness of her earnest 
labors in the alleviation of human suffering, 
the while she has gained the affectionate re- 
gard of all who have received her ministra- 
tions and counsel. She has a large practice, 
in connection with which she spares herself 
neither time nor eft'ort, and she insistently 
keeps in touch with the advances made in 
medical and surgical science, through recourse 
to the best standard and periodical literature 
of her profession, the while she is a gracious 
and popular figure in the representative civic 
and social life of her home city, where her 
circle of friends is coincident with that of her 
acquaintances. No children were born of her 
second marriage, but the Doctor holds hal- 
lowed memories of the gracious relations that 
obtained at all times during the years of her 
conjugal and professional association with 
the honored subject of this memoir. 

WILLIAM HOLM has identified himself 
most fully with the civic and material interests 
of Gage county, for he is not only a repre- 
sentative merchant in the village of Virginia, 
but is also the owner of a well improved farm 
estate in Sherman township. He is a native 
son of the west and has exemplified its pro- 
gressive spirit in the varied activities that have 
brought to him a generous share of temporal 
prosperity. 

Mr. Holm was bom in Pottawatomie 
county, Kansas, on the 6th of January, 1873, 
and is a son of Charles J. and Louise (Ander- 
son) Holm, who were born and reared in 
Sweden, where their marriage was solemnized. 
In 1865 the parents came to the United States 
and settled in Kansas, where the father be- 



came a pioneer farmer of Pottawatomie 
county and improved his farm of one hundred 
and twenty acres, and where he passed the 
remainder of his life. William Holm was the 
youngest member in a family of four chil- 
dren and was six years of age at the time of 
his mothei's death. John E., the eldest of the 
children, is a farmer in Kansas; Charles A., 
who was for several years engaged in the 
plumbing business at Virginia, Gage county, 
is now a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska, and 
is a traveling salesman ; and Frank has the 
active charge of the fine Gage county farm of 
his brother William., of this review. For his 
second wife Charles J. Holm wedded Miss 
Lottie Carlson and the one child of this union 
is Emma, the wife of Walter F. McGaffey, 
of Virginia, Gage county. Charles J. Holm 
was a Republican in politics and he and each 
of his wives held the faith of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

The public schools of the Sunflower state; 
afforded to William Holm his early educa- 
tional advantages and the same were supple- 
mented by a course in shorthand and type- 
writing in Pond's Business College, in the city 
of Topeka, as well as by further commercial 
instruction in the Kansas City Business Uni- 
versity. In his youth, after leaving the farm. 
Mr. Holm became associated with the retail 
lumber business, at Olesburg, Kansas, and in 
the spring of 1893 he came to Gage county 
and established his residence in Virginia. 
Here for two years he conducted a lumber 
yard, and for seventeen years thereafter he 
was successfully established in the hardware 
business, besides serving simultaneously as 
postmaster of the village. He finally sold his 
hardware stock and business and eighteen 
months later he purchased the stock and busi- 
ness of J. S. Hubka. He expanded the busi- 
ness by installing a large and well selected 
stock of general merchandise and has since 
conducted a most substantial and prosperous 
enterprise. He is the owner of a well im- 
proved farm property of three hundred and 
twenty acres, and the same is under the active 
charge of his brother Frank, as previously 
noted. On this place he is giving special at- 



6:<z 



HISTORY OF GAGE COIXTV, NEBRASKA 



tention to the raising of full-blood Holstein 
cattle, besides which he is developing a suc- 
cessful dairy business in the connection. 

In 1896 Mr. Holm wedded Miss Bessie 
Wright, who was born and reared in Gage 
county, and who is a daughter of Amos L. 
Wright, a retired farmer residing in the vil- 
lage of Virginia, this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Holm have two children — Grace A., who is 
a student in the Beatrice high school ; and Mil- 
dred Genevieve, who had the distinction of 
receiving first prize as the best baby girl at 
the Gage county fair in 1917. Mrs. Holm is 
an active member of the Christian church. 

Mr. Holm has been active and liberal as a 
citizen of intense public spirit, has held var- 
ious township offices, and commands inviol- 
able place in popular confidence and good will. 

XI-:LS0N ADAMS. — The subject of this 
record has the distinction of being the oldest 
living settler in Gage county. When a lad of 
sixteen years he arrived in what is now Adams 
township, in company with his father, John 
O. Adams, who was the first permanent set- 
tler of the county. Mr. Adams was born in 
Dubois county, Indiana, February 24, 1841. 
He grew to manhood on the pioneer farm in 
Nebraska and at an early age began to aid in 
the development and improvement of the old 
homestead. In September, 1864, he enlisted 
in Company C, Second Nebraska Regiment, 
for a term of four months, or during the war. 
He was sent to Fort Kearney and from there 
to Camp Blue, where the winter was passed. 
In the spring of 1865. the regiment was hon- 
orably discharged and young Nelson returned 
home The next year he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Laura Haskins and they settled 
on a farm he had purchased. But they were 
destined to enjoy their companionship for 
only a brief season, for four months and 
eight days after their marriage Mrs. .\dams 
passed away. In April of that year Mr. 
Adams made a trip of over five hundred miles, 
into Colorado. He drove overland frorn Ne- 
braska City with a load of produce — eggs, 
butter, corn, etc. — and the Indians made it 
so uncomfortable for him that he was com- 



pelled to hasten to Denver. He had entered a 
homestead in Section 25, Adams township, 
and had built a log house sixteen by twenty- 
two feet in dimensions. He returned from the 
west and in 1868 he married Miss Lydia J. 
Wilson, a native of Putnam county, Indiana. 
Of this union were born two children, Nancy 
E., who is the wife of C. B. Ashcroft and re- 
sides in Wyoming, and Letitia O., who died 
in childhood. The mother of these children 
passed away, and the present Mrs. Adams 
was in her girlhood Emily J. Dilworth. She 
is a native of Grant county, Kentucky, where 
she was born April 7. 1843. Her parents. 




Xklson- .Aha MS 

Lindsey and Sarah (Simpson) Dilworth, came 
to Nebraska in 1863. settling in Johnson 
county. They gave the name to the town of 
Crab Orchard, from the large number of wild 
crab-apple trees growing in the vicinity. By 
a former marriage, to William H. Stoner, who 
was a Union soldier in the Civil war. Mrs. 
Adams became the mother of three children, 
the eldest of whom is William H. Stoner, who 
resides in Cass county, Minnesota, and is the 
only one now living. At the time of her mar- 
riage to Mr. Adams, Mrs. .-Xdams was the 
widow of G. T. Simpson, and their one son, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



353 



Hugh AI., died at the age of seventeen years. 
Nelson Adams successfully followed farm- 
ing until 1902, when he retired, and he now 
makes his home in Adams. He has been a wit- 
ness of the vast changes which have taken 
place in Gage county, having been a member 
of the first family to establish a home here. 
Mr. Adams is a Methodist in religious be- 
lief, and in politics is a Republican. He held 
various township offices years ago, but is now 
retired from all activities. 

ELIJAH FILLEY. — In the summer of 
1867, the year that marked the admission of 
Nebraska to statehood, Hon. Elijah Filley, a 
young man of industrj', self-reliance, and 
courage, came with his wife to Gage county 
and numbered himself among its sterling 
pioneers. He and his faithful wife ran the 
full gamut of pioneer experience and their 
reminiscences of the early days are most 
graphic and interesting. They made the over- 
land journey to Nebraska with teams and 
wagons and girded themselves with the in- 
domitable valor and undauntable purpose that 
are ever the prerequisite of success under the 
conditions that must obtain in opening a new 
country to civilization and progress. Mr. 
Filley has been in the most significant sense 
the architect of his own fortunes and few men 
have played a larger or more benignant part 
in connection with the development and up- 
building of Gage county along both civic and 
industrial lines. Of this no further assur- 
ance need be given than the statement that a 
township and a village of the county have been 
named in honor of this venerable pioneer citi- 
zen, while it has been his to represent Gage 
county in both houses of the state legislature, 
to gain through his own ability and well 
ordered energies a substantial fortune, the 
while he has so ordered his course as to merit 
and receive at all stages the unqualified re- 
spect and confidence of his fellow men. It is 
most gratifying to be able to present in this 
publication a tribute to Mr. Filley as a pio- 
neer of pioneers and to enter brief review of 
a career that has been marked by earnest and 
honest endeavor. He and his wife now live 



in gracious retirement in the city of Des 
Moines, Iowa, and though venerable in age 
the years rest lightly upon them, while they 
find a full measure of satisfaction in revert- 
ing to the attractive social and material con- 
ditions and environment which they have 
aided in creating in Gage county, Nebraska. 
Mr. Filley was bom in Jackson county, Mich- 
igan, on the 28th of November, 1839, and is a 
son of Ammi and Mary (Marvin) Filley, 
both natives of Bloomfield, Connecticut, where 
they were reared and educated. Ammi Fil- 
ley, a member of one of the early colonial 
families of New England, was born January 
2, 1808, and he continued his residence in 
Connecticut until 1833, when he immigrated 
to Michigan, which state was not admitted to 
the union until 1837. He became one of the 
pioneers of Jackson county, where he re- 
claimed a farm from the forest and where he 
continued his active alliance with agricultural 
industry about thirty years. In the summer 
of 1867 he retired from the active labors that 
had so long been his portion and accompanied 
his son Elijah, of this review, to Gage county, 
Nebraska, where he remained until his death 
and where he received during the intervening 
period the deepest filial care and solicitude on 
the part of his son and the latter's family. 
He was seventy-two years of age at the time 
of his death, which occurred May 13, 1880. 
Ammi Filley was one of the gallant sons of 
the nation who went forth in defense of the 
Union when the Civil war was precipitated on 
the country. In response to President Lin- 
coln's first call, he enlisted as a private in 
Company D, Second Michigan Cavalry, and 
with this gallant command he served through- 
out the entire course of the war. He was a 
skilled sharpshooter and participated in many 
of the important battles marking the progress 
of the great conflict. He took part in the 
siege of \'icksburg and the famous charge at 
Fort Donelson, and previously had been with 
his command in heavy campaigns and engage- 
ments in the southern states farther to the 
east. In later years he found pleasure in 
vitalizing the associations of his military 
career by affiliation with the Grand Army of 



354 



HISTORY OF GAGE, COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the Republic. Amini and Mary (Marvin) 
Filley became the parents of four sons and 
two daughters, and of the number only Elijah 
is living in 1918. 

Elijah Filley was but five years old at the 
time of his mother's death, and the home was 
broken up. For about three years thereafter 
he lived in the home of a man named Cran- 
dall, a farmer in Jackson county, Michigan, 
and his father then contracted a second mar- 
riage and re-established a home for his chil- 
dren. However, with so little consideration 
and kindness did the stepmother treat Elijah 
Filley that he was compelled to leave home 
when about twelve years of age, and the im- 
mature youth began to provide for himself by 
taking up the arduous work of plowing for a 
neighbor farmer for a compensation of six 
dollars a month. In reminiscent way he fre- 
quently reverts to this period of his life, when 
he drove the plodding o.x-team to the plow 
and did other heavy farm work. He con- 
tinued to be employed by the month as a farm 
hand during the summer seasons and attend- 
ed school during the intervening winter terms, 
the while he worked mornings and evenings 
to pay his lioard. 

In 1858, when nineteen years of age, Mr. 
Filley went to Joliet, Illinois, and there he was 
employed l)y the firm of Poole & Ring on one 
of the canal boats on the old Michigan & Illi- 
nois canal until the freezing of the canal put 
a stop to such navigation. During the fol- 
lowing winter he was employed in sawing 
wood for use on railroad locomotives, and he 
recalls that the buzz-saw used for the purpose 
was operated by a treadmill on which power 
was furnished by horses. In 1859 Mr. Filley 
went to Odell, Livingston county, Illinois, and 
after working for a time on a farm in that 
vicinity he made his way to LaSalle county, 
that state, where for three years he was en- 
gaged in herding, driving, and dealing in live 
stock, in the employ of William Strawn, an 
extensive fanner and stock dealer of the day. 
In company with Mr. Strawn he made the 
overland trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and in- 
cidentally accumulated a herd of one hundred 
and fortv-six fat cattle at Des Moines, Iowa. 



With this large herd they then started for 
Chicago, but Mr. Strawn was summoned to 
his home, when fifteen miles east of Des 
-Moines, so that Mr. Filley alone had charge 
of driving the cattle through to the future 
metropolis of the west. During his three 
years of association with Mr. Strawn he 
gained knowledge and experience that proved 
of inestimable value to him in later operations 
of an independent order that enabled him to 
lay the substantial foundation for his success. 
After leaving Mr. Strawn he continued to be 
engaged in farming in Livingston county, 
Illinois, until 1867, in the summer of which 
year he provided himself with three covered 
wagons and three good teams, and with these 
set forth on the overland journey to the new 
state of Nebraska, his young wife accompany- 
ing him on this momentous trip. In due course 
of time they arrived in Gage county, and here 
Mr. Filley utilized the money which he had 
previously acquired to effect the purchase of 
six quarter-sections of government land, be- 
sides which he filed claim on a homestead of 
equal area. His horses died soon after his 
arrival in the county and he finally acquired 
ox teams and began breaking the virgin 
prairie soil to pay for his oxen. He contin- 
ued to break soil for others for about three 
years and in the meanwhile established a pio- 
neer home on his own land. Instead of fol- 
lowing the custom of the majority of the early 
settlers by providing a dug-out or sod house, 
Mr. Filley determined to make a residence of 
less primitive type. In the meanwhile he and 
his wife lived in a tent and around the same 
they eventually built a stone house of one 
room, this structure having in later years been 
familiarly known as "The Old Stone House," 
and constituting one of the veritable land- 
marks of this section of the state. IMr. Filley 
himself quarried the stone and burned the lime 
for mortar, while Mrs. Filley hauled the ma- 
terial to the site of the new home by means of 
the ox team. Together these ambitious pio- 
neers mixed the mortar and laid the walls of 
the little dwelling, after which a roof was con- 
structed. They lived in the one room during 
the first winter and in the following summer 



i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



355 



they added to the domicile, eventually making 
the house one of good size and excellent pro- 
visions for comfort. In this dwelling they 
continued to maintain their home for sixteen 
years. 

Soon after coming to Nebraska Mr. Filley 
put his previous experience to good use by 
buying cattle to stock his large farm, and 
soon he developed a prosperous business in 
the feeding and shipping of cattle. On the 
completing of the railroad line to Beatrice he 
had the distinction of loading the first carload 
of cattle ever transported from Gage county 
to Chicago by rail. Later the railroad was 
extended to the present village of Filley, 
which was named in his honor and which is 
situated on a part of his old farm. He there 
erected a large grain elevator, the same hav- 
ing thereafter been utilized by him for many 
years in connection with his extensive opera- 
tions in the buying and shipping of grain. 

When the Burlington & Missouri River 
Railroad was completed from Beatrice to 
Nebraska City, Mr. Filley, in the summer of 
1883, founded on the line the town which 
bears his name and which, as before stated, 
is located on one of his farms. In 1885 the 
county authorities conferred upon him a 
merited distinction, in that they authorized the 
changing of the name of Mud Creek township 
to Filley township, a fitting tribute to the 
sterling pioneer who was the first settler with- 
in the limits of that township. Mr. Filley was 
for a long term of years recognized as the 
most progressive and substantial farmer, 
stock-feeder, and stock-shipper in this section 
of the state, and among his early enterprises 
of importance was also the owning and oper- 
ating of a threshing outfit. 

About the year 1890 Mr. Filley sold the 
major part of his large and important real- 
estate and business interests in Gage county, 
and settled on a tract of one thousand acres 
which, in an early day, he had purchased in 
the adjoining county of Jefferson. This prop- 
erty he improved in excellent order and he 
operated the same successfully in connection 
with his extensive stock business for several 
years — until, in fact, he met with an accident 



that nearly resulted in his death. He then de- 
cided to sell his property and retire from 
active business, and since that time he and 
his devoted wife have lived in the serene en- 
joyment of the gracious rewards of former 
years of earnest endeavor. 

In politics Mr. Filley has been a recognized 
stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party 
and as a progressive citizen he wielded much 
influence in shaping the governmental poli- 
cies that brought normal development and 
growth to Gage county. He was elected 
county commissioner and in this office served 
two terms, of three years each. In 1881 and 
1883 he represented Gage county in the state 
legislature, and soon after his retirement from 
this office he was elected state senator from 
his district, in which position he served until 
1885. His record as a legisaltor has become 
a very part of the history of the state and is 
illumined by his characteristic loyalty and 
public spirit. Mr. Filley has been affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity since 1866, was 
made a Master Mason and also a Royal Arch 
Mason in Fairbury, Illinois. He then settled 
in Nebraska and was a charter member and 
helped to organize the Blue Lodge, No. 26, 
also the chapter and commandery at Beatrice, 
Nebraska. Then he organized Temple Lodge, 
No. 175, at Filley, and of this he served as 
master for about twelve years. 

Matured and invigorated through the her- 
culean labors and hardships of the pioneer 
days, the physical constitution of Mr. Filley 
has been sturdy and thus he retains, as he 
nears the eightieth milestone on the journey 
of life, the mental and physical vigor of a man 
many years his junior, while his loved wife 
has been his devoted companion and helpmeet 
for more than half a century — a woman 
whose strength has been as the number of her 
days and who had a remarkable share in pio- 
neer experience in the great west, as will be 
attested by statements yet to be made in this 
context. 

On the 4th of November, 1863, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Filley to Miss 
Burd, of Pleasant Ridge, Livingston county, 
Illinois. She was born in Will countv, that 



356 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBR.\SKA 



state, November 6, 1844, and is a daughter of 
Silas and Betsey Ann Burd, the fonner of 
whom was bom in New Jersey, December 8, 
1818, and the latter of whom was bom in 
the state of New York, on the 13th of Sep- 
tember, 1817. Silas Burd numbered himself 
among the pioneers of Illinois and later em- 
phasized his pioneer experience by removing 
with his family to Texas, this action having 
been taken primarily for the benefit of the 
health of himself and his wife. Mrs. Filley 
was a girl of twelve years when the family 
thus removed to the Lone Star state, and the 
greater part of the journey was made with 
teams and wagons. Georgetown, Texas, was 
made the destination and from that head- 
quarters Mr. Burd engaged in buying and 
selling cattle and horses. Mrs. Filley accom- 
panied him in his trips about the countn,- to 
buy stock, and finally, with a herd of about 
eighty cattle and several ponies, they started 
overland for Chicago in the spring of 1858. 
In the meanwhile Mr. Burd had traded his 
wagons for a top bugg}-, cattle, etc., and in 
starting forth on the long joumey a sturdy 
yoke of oxen was provided for the transpor- 
tation of the camp outfit. The family started 
on this return trip when Mrs. Filley was a 
girl of about fifteen years and she assisted in 
driving the ox team. They had proceeded as 
far as Waco, Texas, when the father was so 
stricken with illness as to be unable to proceed 
farther, and in the camp which they made he 
died on the 22d of February', 1859, leaving his 
wife ill in bed and with the care of their two 
sons and three daughters. Mrs. Filley, the 
eldest of the children, bravely assumed the 
care of lier mother and the directing of family 
affairs in general after the remains of the 
loved father had been laid to rest in Texas 
soil. After the grass came up in the follow- 
ing spring the little family resumed their 
weary journey to the east, with the cattle and 
general camp equipment. On they drove 
through Texas and the Indian Territorj-, 
where they were urged by each successive In- 
dian tribe encountered to give one or more 
head of the little band of cattle, in order to 
obtain permission to pass on unmolested, but 



Mrs. Filley, with a courage and tact beyond 
her years, contrived to gain this permission 
without sacrificing the live stock, only one 
beef steer having been contributed to the In- 
dians. Continuing in the saddle every day, 
she led the outfit onward until they crossed 
the Mississippi river at Alton, Illinois, where 
they were joined by a brother of her mother. 
Thus reinforced the party continued the jour- 
ney to Livingston county, Illinois, and in the 
village of Avoca the family rented a house 
until the live stock could be sold in the Chi- 
cago market, to which Mrs. Filley assisted in 
driving the cattle from the Texas wilds — in 
fact she thus made the entire trip from Texas 
to Chicago on the back of a little Texas pony. 
After the sale of the cattle the family pur- 
chased a farm in Livingston county and there 
Mrs. Filley remained until her marriage, 
within a few years after which it was again 
her portion to endure the trials and vicissi- 
tudes of pioneer life, as noted in foregoing 
paragraphs. 

Mr. and Mrs. Filley became the parents of 
six children, concerning whom the following 
brief data are given : Fitch died at the age of 
twelve years : Hiram is now a resident of the 
state of Arkansas; Emma died at the age of 
eighteen years; Oscar Elijah died in April, 
1916, aged forty-six years: Charles Elmer 
was four years of age at the time of his death ; 
Daisy C. is the wife of Murray A. Scoular, 
of Des Moines, Iowa. 

The foregoing record, implying much to him 
who can read between the lines as well as ap- 
preciate the data of the context itself, will be 
read with pleasure by the many friends of Mr. 
and Mrs. Filley in Gage county and will prove 
a definite and worthy contribution to the 
generic iiistory of this favored section of Ne- 
braska, as their names merit enduring place of 
honor and distinction on the pages of Gage 
county history. 

SAMUEL RIXAKER. — No history of 
Gage county or the state of Nebraska would 
be complete without the name of Samuel Rin- 
aker. For nearly a third of a century this 
able and scholarly lawyer has made his home 




2£V- ^^-^^ <«fi«ww ££f»./nr 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



359 



in the city of Beatrice and has engaged in the 
active practice of his profession in the state 
and federal courts. During this entire period 
of time he, with the several firms of which 
he has been a member, has enjoyed a lucrative 
practice at the bar of this county and state. 
He has been professionally connected from 
the beginning of his career as a lawyer here 
with a large portion of the important litiga- 
tion arising in this section of the country, and 
by sheer force of character, learning and abili- 
ties of a high order, he has embedded his 
name deeply and permanently in the legal his- 
tory of his state and country. 

Mr. Rinaker was born at Carlinville, 
Macoupin county, Illinois, on the 14th day of 
September, 1860. He is the second son of the 
late John I. Rinaker and Clarissa Keplinger, 
his wife. Besides Samuel, the surviving chil- 
dren of these worthy parents are the eldest 
son, Thomas Rinaker, a prominent lawyer of 
Carlinville and for many years his father's 
partner in the practice of the law ; John I. 
Rinaker, a well known and successful archi- 
tect of the city of Springfield, Illinois, and 
Judge Lewis Rinaker, who after several 
years' successful practice at the Chicago bar 
was elected judge of the county court of Cook 
county, Illinois, and held this important office 
four years. 

Shortly after locating in Beatrice, Mr. Rina- 
ker married !Miss Carrie Palmer Mayo, who 
like himself was a native of Carlinville and 
who was the daughter of Samuel and Eliza- 
beth { r'almer) Mayo. Her father was a 
prominent and influential citizen of Macoupin 
county and her mother was a sister of the late 
General John M. Palmer, of whom further 
mention will be made later on in this sketch. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rinaker occupy a handsome 
and attractive home at the corner of Fifth and 
\\'ashington streets, Beatrice. Their mar- 
riage has proven to be a happy one — lapse 
of time serving only to cement more firmly 
the marital bond. To Mr. and Airs. Rinaker 
two children have been born, Samuel Mayo 
Rinaker, a son, and Miss Carrie Rinaker, a 
daughter. The former after graduating at the 
Beatrice high school in 1905, with highest 



honors, entered the Nebraska State Univer- 
sity in the autumn of that year and after two 
years spent in that institution, successfully 
passed a competive examination for a Rhoades 
scholarship in Oxford University, England, 
as a representative from the state of Nebras- 
ka. In 1910 he was graduated with honors 
from that historic institution and, returning to 
the United States, he entered the law depart- 
ent of Harvard University. After a three 
years' course at Harvard he took his degree 
as Bachelor of Laws in the spring of 1914 and 
in the fall of that year he went to Chicago, 
Illinois, where he is now well established in 
the practice of his profession The daughter, 
Miss Carrie Rinaker, also graduated from the 
high school of Beatrice, as a member of the 
class of 1909, and in the autumn of that year 
was matriculated as a student of Vassar Col- 
lege, Poughkeepsie, New York. She attended 
this institution for some time and is domiciled 
under the paternal roof. 

While pride of ancestry is not a marked 
characteristic of the American citizen, it is, 
nevertheless, not only natural but highly com- 
mendable that one should feel a just pride in 
the fact that he has descended from ancestors 
who were more than ordinarily distinguished 
in their day and generation. With this 
thought in mind it is hoped that a brief ac- 
count of the parents of Samuel Rinaker will 
not be deemed inappropriate in this sketch of 
their son. 

His father, John I. Rinaker, was one of the 
best known and widely influential citizens of 
the great state of Illinois. He was born in 
Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 1830. He 
was bereft of his parents when a child six 
years of age and was taken to Illinois, where 
for a few years he made his home with the 
family of John T. Alden of Sangamon county. 
When ten years of age he was thrown on his 
own resources and found a home and occupa- 
tion on a farm. He acquired the rudiments 
of an education by attending the common 
schools of Illinois in the winter time. By 
great industn,-, thrift and economy, as well as 
by close application to his studies, he was 
finally enrolled as a student in the Illinois Col- 



360 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



lege at Jacksonville, where he remained for 
some time, and later entering McKendree Col- 
lege at Lebanon, Illinois, he was graduated 
from that institution with the class of 1851, 
receiving aftenvard from his alma mater the 
degree of Doctor of Laws. Animated by an 
ambition to give full scope to his abilities, he 
entered upon the study of the law in the office 
of John McAuley Palmer, at Carlinville, 
shortly after his graduation. His preceptor, 
in addition to being a lawyer of renown, be- 
came afterwards distinguished as a general in 
the Union army during the great Civil war 
and as a politician of more than ordinary 
ability. His services as major general of 
volunteers began in 1862, and he closed 
his military career as a commander of 
an army corps under General Sherman, 
in 1865 . He was elected United States 
senator from Illinois in 1869 as a Republican 
and again in 1891, as a Democrat, and he 
closed his political career as a candidate for 
the presidency of the United States as a 
sound-money Democrat, in 1896. 

General Rinaker was admitted to the bar at 
Carlinville, in 1854, and was immediately suc- 
cessful in his profession. In 1862 he took an 
active part in organizing the One Hundred 
and Twenty-second Regiment of Illinois \'o\- 
unteer Infantrj^ was elected and commissioned 
its colonel and served throughout the remain- 
der of the great Civil war at the head of this 
gallant regiment — participating in its marches, 
sieges, battles, victories. He was seriously 
wounded in the battle of Parker's Cross 
Roads, December 31, 1862, but as soon 
as he recovered he rejoined his command, 
and on the 13th day of March, 1865, 
a month before Lee surrendered to Grant 
at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, he 
was breveted brigadier general of volun- 
teers, on account of "great and meritorious 
services". At the close of the war he returned 
to Carlinville and resumed the practice of his 
profession. He rapidly achieved success as a 
lawyer and great prominence as an orator and 
politician. He began life as a Democrat but 
in 1858 became affiliated with the rising, 
young Republican party, and to the end of his 



long and useful life he remained a loyal mem- 
ber of that great national organization — emi- 
nent and influential in its counsels, honoring it 
and frequently honored by it, and he closed a 
conspicuously honorable political career as a 
member of the congress of the United States 
to which he was elected in 1894, from the Six- 
teenth congressional district of Illinois — a 
district then and now strongly Democratic. He 
died at Eustis, Florida, where he was spend- 
ing the winter with his wife, on the 15th day 
of January, 1915, in his eighty-fifth year, be- 
queathing to his posterity the example and 
influence of a life crowded with duties faith- 
fully performed and of honors modestly and 
worthily borne. His venerable wife, though 
near the bounds of life, still survives her dis- 
tinguished husband, the object of the tender 
solicitude and veneration of a host of rela- 
tives and friends. 

Samuel Rinaker spent his childhood, youth 
and early manhood in the little city of Carlin- 
ville and acquired his elementarj' education in 
the public schools of that city. At the age of 
sixteen he entered Blackburn College, also 
located at Carlinville. from which institution 
he graduated in the classical course with the 
class of 1880. He then pursued a course 
of study in the business college at Jack- 
sonville, Illinois, and having through these 
agencies laid the foundation for the study 
of the law he entered the law depart- 
ment of Yale College (now University) prose- 
cuting his studies during the years of 1882 
and 1883 in that historic institution and atter- 
ward completing his legal studies in the law 
office of his father and brother at Carlinville. 
He was admitted to the bar of Illinois in the 
autumn of 1884, by the supreme court of that 
state. In Februarj-, 1885, he came to the city 
of Beatrice, then a hustling, growing, promis- 
ing western town of probably five thousand 
people. Upon his arrival here he formed a 
I)?rtnership for the practice of the la-.v with 
the late Nathan Kirk Griggs, under the firm 
name of Griggs & Rinaker. 

Both partners were splendidly endowed 
with all those qualities of intellect, learning 
and character which are indispensable to great 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



361 



success in the legal profession. Mr. Griggs 
was from Indiana. He came to Beatrice in 
June, 1867, and was therefore a pioneer 
lawyer of Gage county. He was a man of 
boundless energy and teeming industry, a care- 
ful practitioner of the law and a most for- 
midable antagonist in the trial of causes. Be- 
sides being an unusually skillful and adroit 
trial lawyer he was an office lawyer of ex- 
ceptional ability. He was forty-four years of 
age and at the very zenith of his powers. He 
brought to the co-partnership a wide experi- 
ence as a lawyer, politician and legislator. He 
had served the United States six years as our 
consul at Chemitz, Saxony, a period which had 
produced the same effect on his mind and 
character as a college education might have 
done, and he was cosmopolitan in learning, 
taste, sympathy. He was the most variously 
endowed of any of the lawyers of the state 
with whom he was contemporary, being at 
once poet, singer, composer of songs and 
music, orator, writer, and lecturer — and ex- 
celling in all. As an indication of the esteem 
in which he was held as well as an indication 
of the mental equipment and attitude of its 
writer, on certain matters, attention is called 
to the following letter: 

Carlinville, 111., August 26, 1910. 
Hon. N. K. Griggs, Lincoln, Nebraska. 
Dear Sir: — 

Several days ago I had the pleasure to 
receive a copy of your address, entitled 
"Christ in America's Life," for which accept 
my thanks. I was pleased with the ideas which 
you advanced therein and with the striking 
and elegant manner in which you expressed 
them. You show that Christianity is the vital 
and conservative force in all moral progress, 
the solvent of the refractory problems that 
confront human society in its onward march 
to a higher and better destiny. You make 
plain that religions are the creations of men, 
but that Christianity is the gift of God to 
man, that it is a force irresistible, immaculate 
and immortal and that while permeated with 
that force, America will lead the world to the 
longed for Golden Age. 

John I. Rinaker. 

The junior member of this law firm was 
by education, training, ambition and abilities 
well calculated to supplement the experience 



and abilities of its senior, and he possessed 
necessary qualities to success which Mr. 
Griggs lacked to some extent. The success of 
the firm was immediate and lasting and each 
partner grew toward the intellectual stature 
of the other with a uniformity and certainty 
rarely seen in such relationships. 

In 1890 Mr. Griggs accepted an appoint- 
ment from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
Railroad Company as its attorney for the 
western division of this great corporation and 
was assigned to the state of Wyoming and 
other inter-mountain states. He held this po- 
sition until his death, which occurred while he 
was journeying to the northwest from his 
home in Lincoln, in the service of his com- 
pany, at Alliance, Nebraska, on Sunday morn- 
ing, September 4, 1910, he being found dead 
in his berth on the sleeping car at that time 
and place. 

After Mr. Griggs accepted this appointment 
the late Robert S. Bibb was admitted to the 
co-partnership which thereafter for some time 
was known as Griggs, Rinaker & Bibb. But 
in 1893, on the removal of IMr. Griggs to 
Lincoln, his name was dropped from the firm 
name, which thereafter was designated as 
Rinaker & Bibb. Following the death of Mr. 
Biljb, in May, 1907, Mr. Rinaker practiced his 
profession alone until the year 1909, when he 
became associated with Mr. A. H. Kidd, of 
Beatrice, in the practice of the law under the 
firm name of Rinaker & Kidd, a title by which 
it is still known and under which it does busi- 
ness. 

His natural amiability of character and great 
adaptability to the profession of the law, have 
enabled Mr. Rinaker always to take a leading 
place in the business of his several firms, and 
this by common consent stripped of every 
semblance of jealousy or envy. The volume 
of business with which he has been profes- 
sionally connected in the various courts of the 
state and country has been great and varied in 
character. He has numbered amongst his 
clients, public officials and public bodies, rail- 
way companies, banks and banking institu- 
tions, manufactu-ing and mercantile concerns, 
loan associations and agencies, general corpor- 



362 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLWTY, NEBRASKA 



ations, firms and individuals. His practice has 
not been confined to the courts of the state of 
Nebraska alone, but it has embraced the courts 
of several other states and the great national 
courts of the country. 

Mr. Rinaker is a trained and skillful trial 
lawyer; he possesses an accurate and a usable 
knowledge of the rules and principles of the 
law and their practical application to the trial 
of causes. He is eminent in counsel, clear and 
concise in statement, whether of fact or law, 
discriminating and logical in argument court- 
ly and dignified in address, fair, just, dispas- 
sionate. Though earnest and forceful in pre- 
senting his case to court or jury he is suave, 
self-possessed, deferential. He is a successful 
trial lawyer and as an advocate and minister 
of justice, no member of the legal profession 
in Nebraska is held in higher esteem or com- 
mands greater consideration from judges and 
courts than Samuel Rinaker. 

Though eminently qualified for public life, 
whether in the judicial, legislative or admin- 
istrative branches of our government, Mr. 
Rinaker has, in the main, steadfastly refused 
to enter the political arena as a seeker of of- 
fice. In liS96 he was put forward by his 
friends as the Republican candidate for coun- 
ty attorney of Gage county and was triumph- 
antly elected. He was reelected to the same 
ofiice in 1888. With these exceptions he has 
never permitted his name to be brought for- 
ward for any political office whatsoever. He 
has, however, served his community most ac- 
ceptably as a member of the Beatrice school 
board, and since it was founded, twenty-five 
years ago, to the present moment he has been 
a director of the Free Public Library of Bea- 
trice. The fact that so far his friends have 
failed to induce him to look with favor upon 
a political career has been a source of deep 
regret to his many friends, both at home and 
abroad in the state. 

The talents and abilities which mark Mr. 
Rinaker for a useful and a successful public 
career have not been lost to his fellow-citizens 
but have served more fittingly to qualify their 
possessor for the duties and activities of pro- 
fessional and social life. Mr. Rinaker is a 



citizen of the utmost loyalty and public spirit. 
He takes an active and a sympathetic inter- 
est in the social, intellectual and business af- 
fairs of his community, and by his compre- 
hensive way of looking at things, the accuracy 
of his judgment and the probity of his char- 
acter he is everywhere accorded a first place as 
a citizen of his county and state. He is a 
member of the Com.mercial Club of Beatrice, 
the Beatrice Club — a social organization, — 
and the Golf Club of his city. For many years 
he has been a member of the board of direc- 
tors of the First National Bank of Beatrice 
and the First Savings Bank, an adjunct insti- 
tution. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar 
and a Modem Woodman. For a man with 
only a moderate fortune, his charities, though 
discriminating, are large and varied. Without 
advertising the fact he always contributes to 
every worthy enterprise or beneficence apply- 
ing to him for assistance. 

In politics, Mr. Rinaker has always aftiliated 
with the Republican party and as a trusted 
leader in that great party he has been very 
influential in formulating and directing its pol- 
icies and activities in both the state and na- 
tion. 

If to gain and through long years of associa- 
tion to be able to hold the esteem of an entire 
community ; if to so discharge the duties of an 
advocate and a lawyer as to dignify and en- 
noble that great and learned profession, if to 
command through the third of a century the 
profound respect of the bench and bar of a 
great state furnish sufificient evidence of worth 
of character, then the case for Samuel Rina- 
ker is complete. Time may bring additional 
honors ; it may enlarge his field of activities 
and usefulness, it may broaden his acquaint- 
ance ; but it cannot auginent the esteem, con- 
fidence and afl'ection with which he is re- 
garded by those vvho already know him. 

H.\RRY M. HEPPERLEN, M. D.— No 
member of the medical profession in Nebraska 
has shown a greater appreciation of the exac- 
tions and responsibilities of his humane call- 
ing or has more thoroughly equiijjied himself 
for the work of the profession than Dr. Hep- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



363 




3>CA 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



perlen, whose attainments are of high order 
and who has gained specially high reputation 
as a surgeon. He is distinctively one of the 
leading physicians and surgeons of southeast- 
ern Nebraska, has been established in practice 
at Beatrice since 1898 and his is the distinc- 
tion of having founded the first hospital in 
this city. In this connection he manifested not 
only his professional zeal and loyalty, but also 
his liberality and progressiveness as a citizen. 
The hospital which he established constituted 
the nucleus of the present admirably equipped 
and conducted Lutheran Hospital, and Dr. 
Hepperlen continues his effective and val- 
ued services as chief of the surgical staff of 
this admirable institution. The hospital is 
situated about one mile distant from the cen- 
ter of the city of Beatrice and one block dis- 
tant from the beautiful city park, which for- 
merly was the Chautauqua assembly grounds 
of this city. The hospital occupies a modern 
three-story building, and in its general equip- 
ment and appointments it is maintained at the 
most approved standard, witli facilities for the 
care of eighty patients. In connection with 
the hospital is conducted a well ordered train- 
ing school for nurses, and the institution as a 
whole is a source of pride and satisfaction to 
the citizens of Gage county, besides standing 
as a monument to the initiative ability and pro- 
fessional zeal of its founder. As a surgeon 
Dr. Hepperlen controls a practice that in scope 
and importance is especially noteworthy, his 
services being demanded through a wide ter- 
ritory of the middle west, — -particularly in 
Nebraska and Kansas. Many delicate surgical 
operations both major and minor, stand to the 
credit of the Doctor, and in the field of sur- 
gery he is frequently called upon as an author- 
ity by his professional conferees. He is an en- 
thusiast in the work of his profession, keeps 
in closest touch with the advances made in 
medical and surgical science, has a compre- 
hensive and select librarj' of standard medical 
works and has made valuable contributions 
to the periodical literature of his profession 
He is an active member of the .American Med- 
ical Association and the Nebraska State Med- 
ical Society, as well as the American College 



of Surgeons. As a public-spirited citizen he 
is found arrayed as a staunch advocate of the 
principles of the Republican party. 

Dr. Harr)- M. Hepperlen was born in Ly- 
coming county, Pennsylvania, January 26, 
1868, and is a son of John and Mary (Alich- 
ael) Hepperlen, who removed from the old 
Keystone state to Nebraska in 1880 and es- 
tablished their home in Jefferson county, where 
the father became a substantial and influential 
citizen. Dr. Hepperlen acquired his earlier 
education in the public schools of Jefferson 
county, this state, and supplemented his train- 
ing by attending during three winter terms 
the select school conducted at Beatrice by Pro- 
fessor Blake, an educator of exceptional abil- 
ity. After having formulated definite plans 
for his future career Dr. Hepperlen entered 
Keokuk Medical College, in the city of Keo- 
kuk, Iowa, and in this institution he was grad- 
uated as a member of the class of 1891, with 
the degree of Doctor of IMedicine. It has al- 
ready been intimated in this context that Dr. 
Hepperlen has spared neither pains nor effort 
in fortifying himself for his profession, and 
in assurance of this it may be noted that a 
few years after receiving his degree he took 
effective post-graduate work in historic old 
Jefferson Medical College, in the city of Phila- 
delphia, from which institution he received in 
1896 the supplemental degree of Doctor of 
Medicine. Thereafter, in 1897-8, he took a 
two years' post-graduate course in the Uni- 
versity of Vienna, .\ustria, where he special- 
ized in surger)', as had he also at Jefferson 
Medical College. 

In 1891, soon after his graduation. Dr. Hep- 
perlen engaged in the practice of his profes- 
sion in the village of Harbine, Jefferson coun- 
ty, and there he continued his residence and 
professional headquarters until he w-ent 
abroad for further study. Upon his return 
to the United States, in 1899, Dr. Hepperlen 
established his residence in Beatrice, where he 
has since maintained his home and been a val- 
ued and honored figure in the community life. 
Here he founded soon after his arrival a small 
hospital, the same having but six beds as total 
accommodation for patients, and within the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



365 



nine years that the hospital was conducted by 
the Doctor he brought about its splendid de- 
velopment and increased its accommodations 
to thirty-six beds. In 1912 the institution was 
acquired by the Brethren church, under the 
auspices of which it was conducted until 1914, 
with Dr. Hepperlen as head of its surgical 
staff and a valued factor in the general ad- 
ministration of its affairs. In 1914 the hos- 
pital, by sale, passed to the control of the 
Lutheran church, under the auspices of which 
it has since been conducted. 

August 8, 1899, recorded the marriage of 
Dr. Hepperlen to Miss Rosa B. Warner, and 
they have four children, namely : Mary Ber- 
netta, Joseph Price, Fanstella May, and Harry 
Michael, Jr. Mrs. Hepperlen is a member of 
the Presbyterian church. 

REV. FRANZ ALBRECHT. — In a 
double sense is this honored citizen a faithful 
and prolific worker in the harvest, for not 
only is he serving with consecrated zeal as a 
clergyman of the Mennonite church but he is 
also actively and successfully identified with 
the basic industries of agriculture and stock- 
growing, as the owner of a well improved 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, the 
northeast quarter of Section 19, Blakely town- 
ship. 

Mr. Albrecht was born at Lindenau, in Si- 
lesia, Prussia, and the date of his nativity 
was January 10, 1876. He is a son of Henry 
and Helena (Penner) Albrecht, of whose five 
children he was the second in order of birth ; 
Hen^^ the eldest son, is a prosperour farmer 
of Jeft'erson county, this state ; Helena is the 
wife of David Jansen, of that county; Abra- 
ham is a resident of Inman, Norton county, 
Kansas ; and Jacob died when an infant. The 
father was born August 20, 1845, and contin- 
ued his residence in his native land until 1884, 
when he immigrated with his family to the 
United States. On the 12th of September of 
that year he established the family home near 
Beatrice, and for five years thereafter he was 
employed as a farm workman. The succeed- 
ing nine years found him engaged in farming 
on rented land and he then purchased a farm 



near Hoag, in Blakely township. He acquired 
this property in 1897, made excellent improve- 
ments on the same and at the time of his 
death, in 1909, he was the owner of a valuable 
landed estate of three hundred and twenty 
acres. He was a son of Jacob Albrecht, who 
passed his entire life in Prussia and who was 
a farmer by vocation. His widow later re- 
moved to Russia, and there her death oc- 
curred. The mother of Rev. Franz Albrecht 
was born in Prussia on the 7th of April, 1847, 
and since the death of her husband she has 
resided with her son Franz on the old home- 
stead fann. Her parents, Cornelius and 
Adelgunda (Dau) Penner, passed their entire 
lives in Germany and her father was a cloth 
and linen weaver. He whose name introduces 
this article was a lad of eight years at the time 
when the family came to America and estab- 
lished a home in Gage county. Here he was 
reared to adult age under the benignant influ- 
ences of the farm, the while he made good use 
of the advantage afforded in both the German 
and English schools of the locality. In 1902 
he entered Bethel College, at Newton, Kansas, 
and in this institution he was graduated as a 
member of the class of 1905, after the com- 
pletion of a Bible course and other work of a 
preparatory- order for ordination to the min- 
istr)'. He became a clergj'man of the Men- 
nonite church in 1905, and has since been the 
able and zealous pastor of the church of this 
denomination in his home neighborhood, be- 
sides which he gives ministerial service to 
other Mennonite church organizations in the 
county — a man of strong intellectuality, of 
much ability as a pulpit speaker, and of ut- 
most zeal in all departments of his service. 

Mr. Albrecht has resided on the present 
homestead farm from the time his father 
purchased the property, and his heritage from 
his father's estate included the one hundred 
and sixty acres to the management of which 
he gives his effective attention, as one of the 
progressive and representative farmers and 
stock-raisers of Blakely township. 

On the 5lh of November, 1909, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Albrecht to Miss 
Mary Wiebe, who was born in Prussia and 



366 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



was a young woman at the time of the family 
immigration to America, her parents, Herman 
and \\'ilhelmina (Hein) Wiebe, having been 
born and reared in Germany and the mother 
having passed to the life eternal in 1884. Mr. 
Wiebe has been a resident of Gage county 
since 1894 and lives upon his well improved 
homestead farm, north of the city of Beatrice. 
Mr. and Mrs. .Mbrecht have two children — 
Margaret and Dora H. 

JOHN S. GOODBAN. — Along manifold 
lines has this honored pioneer exerted be- 
nignant influence during nearly a half century 
of continuous residence in Gage county, and 
he is now living virtually retired, his attrac- 
tive home being in the village of Cortland. 
He is a man of broad intellectual ken, high 
ideals, and gracious personality — a citizen 
who commands the fullest measure of popular 
confidence and esteem. 

Mr. Goodban was bom in Erie county, 
Penn.sylvania, October 21, 1846, and is a son 
of William and Margaret (Langley) Goodban. 
William Goodban was born in Kentshire, 
England, February 22, 1804, and he contin- 
ued his residence in his native land until 1840, 
when he came to America and settled in the 
state of New York. In 1842 he removed to 
Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he passed 
the remainder of his life, his death having 
occurred in October, 1861. His first wife, 
whose maiden name was Hannah Langley, 
died when comparatively a young woman, 
four children having been bom of their 
union — Edward. Esther .\., Hannah C., and 
one who died in infancy. Edward died when 
thirty years of age and both Esther and Han- 
nah likewise are deceased, the former having 
become the wife of P. J. Mosier, and the lat- 
ter having been the wife of T. C. Golden. 
For his second wife William Goodban mar- 
ried Miss Margaret Langley, a sister of his 
first wife, and she passed to eternal rest when 
eighty-three years of age. Concerning the 
children of this marriage the following brief 
data are available: Margaret became the 
wife of J. Kellogg and is now deceased : Sarah 
M. is the widow of C. L. Porr and resides in 



the city of Burlington, Iowa ; William remains 
on the old homestead farm in Erie county, 
Pennsylvania : John G., the immediate sub- 
ject of this review, was the ne.xt in order of 
birth ; Mary S. is the wife of S. Henrj', of 
Dunkirk, Ohio ; Henry F. is a resident of 
Ragan, Harlan county, Nebraska ; Arthur J. 
is deceased; and Ninetta E. is the wife of L. 
Darling, of Chandlers Valley, Pennsylvania. 

In the old Keystone state John S. Goodban 
was reared and educated, his scholastic dis- 
cipline having included an effective course in 
the Pennsylvania Normal School at Edinboro. 
His career as a representative of the peda- 
gogic profession covered a period of nearly 
fifteen years — 1868-1882 — and he proved a 
most successful and popular teacher. In 1867 
^Ir. Goodban numbered himself among the 
pioneers of Butler county, Iowa, and in that 
state he continued his service as a teacher, 
besides following agricultural pursuits, until 
1870. when he came to Otoe county, Nebras- 
ka In 1872 he established his home in Gage 
county. Here he continued to teach in the 
district schools during the winter terms for 
the ensuing decade, and in the meanwhile he 
carried forward the improvement of his farm. 
In Section 14 Highland township, one mile 
south and one-half mile west of Cortland, he 
entered a pre-emption claim of one hundred 
and sixty acres, and here he established his 
home. He broke the prairie soil and made it 
available for cultivation, set out forty acres of 
timber and with the passing years so devel- 
oped and improved his land as to make it one 
of the valuable farms of the county. He was 
specially successful in the raising of Red 
Polled Angus cattle and Poland-China swine, 
but did not make stock-raising subordinate to 
agricultural enterprise. Besides his old home- 
stead he became the owner of other lands, 
and he continued his active association with 
farm industry' until 1913, since which time he 
has lived virtually retired in the village of 
Cortland, where he owns his home property 
and also business buildings. He is also a 
stockholder and director of the Bank of Cort- 
land. He has never abated his interest in 
educational affairs and served a number of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



367 



years as a member of the school board of his 
district while still residing on the farm. Well 
fortified in his opinions concerning public af- 
fairs, he is a stalwart advocate of the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party, and he and his 
wife are members of the Congregational 
church, he being treasurer of the church of 
this denomination at Cortland, in 1917-1918, 
and having previously served a number of 
years as a member of the board of trustees. 

February 25, -IS?!, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Goodban to Miss Emma J. Mosher, 
who likewise is a native of Pennsylvania and 
who was a resident of Iowa at the time of 
her marriage, her father, the late P. J. 
Mosher, having been a pioneer of the Hawk- 
eye state. In conclusion is given brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. 
Goodban : Eva is the widow of J. Yarnall 
and resides at Cortland; Carrie L. is the wife 
of F. Hoffman, of Ragan, Harlan county, Ne- 
braska ; Nettie E. is the wife of C. P. Jones, 
of Flighland township; Winifred died at the 
age of two and one-half years ; and Arthur J., 
whose natural mechanical talent has been so 
developed as to make him an expert machin- 
ist, conducts an automobile garage at Cort- 
land, with a well equipped machine and repair 
shop in connection therewith, besides which 
he is manager of the Cortland electric-lighting 
plant and system, he having been one of the 
organizers of the company which installed this 
important public utility, and being one of its 
stockholders. 

CLIFFORD P. FALL, M. D.— For a peri- 
od of virtually thirty years Dr. Fall has been 
established in the practice of his profession 
at Beatrice, judicial center of Gage county, 
and the unequivocal success which he has 
achieved in his exacting vocation fully attests 
to his high professional attainments and his 
facility in the efifective application of his tech- 
nical knowledge. The Doctor has long con- 
trolled a substantial and representative gen- 
eral practice, commands inviolable place in 
popular confidence and esteem and is essen- 
tially one of the representative physicians and 
surgeons of Gage county. 



Dr. Fall was born in Boone county, Indiana, 
on the 9th of Februar>', 1863, and is a son of 
David and Annie (Kernodle) Fall, the former 
a native of North Carolina and the latter of 
Virginia, both families having been founded 
in the fair southland many generations ago. 
The parents of Dr. Fall were children at the 
time of the immigration of the respective fam- 
ilies to Preble county, Ohio, in the pioneer 
days, and they were reared and educated in the 
old Buckeye state, their marriage having been 
solemnized in Union county, Ohio. David 
Fall became a successful farmer in Boone 
county, Indiana, and there his death occurred 
when his son, Clifford P., subject of this re- 
view, was but two years of age. Dr. Fall was 
reared in his native county and there received 
the advantages of the public schools. Though 
his youthful experience had to do principally 
with the basic art of agriculture, he had the 
ambition that led him to seek a broader sphere 
of endeavor in choosing his life vocation. He 
took up the study of medicine and finally went 
to the city of Chicago, where he was matricu- 
lated in the College of Physicians & Surgeons. 
In this celebrated institution he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1888 and in April 
of that year, shortly after receiving his well 
earned degree of Doctor of Medicine, he came 
to Nebraska and established his permanent 
residence in the progressive little city of Bea- 
trice, which has continued as the stage of his 
earnest and successful professional endeavors 
during the inten^ening period of thirty years. 

Dr. Fall has significantly amplified the scope 
of his professional work and made a valuable 
contribution to his home city through his con- 
ducting of a well equipped sanitarium and 
hospital which is known as the Beatrice Sani- 
tarium. This institution was founded by Dr. 
Fall and Dr. G. A. Harris about the year 1902, 
and from a modest inception is has been de- 
veloped into a well ordered hospital of modern 
equipment and facilities, the same providing 
for the accommodation of twenty-five pa- 
tients. Dr. Fall served four years as a mem- 
ber of the Nebraska state board of health, 
and at the time of the Spanish-American war 
he sensed as special contract surgeon at the 



368 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




* 



Clifford P. Fall, M. D. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



369 



United States military cantonment at Chicka- 
mauga, for a period of three months. He is 
an active and valued member of the Gage 
county Medical Society and the Nebraska 
State Medical Society, besides holding mem- 
bership in the American Medical Association. 
Through recourse to the best standard and 
periodical literature of his profession and 
through individual study and research Dr. Fall 
insistently keeps in. touch with the advances 
made in medical and surgical science, and 
brings to bear in his practice the results of this 
consistent application. Though he has sub- 
ordinated all other interests to the demands 
of his profession he has been an exponent of 
loyal and progressive citizenship and gives 
allegiance to the Democratic party, his predi- 
lections never having been such as to lead him 
to seek or desire political office of any descrip- 
tion. He not only gives his attention to his 
large private practice, but also has the active 
supervision of the Beatrice Sanitarium, of 
which he is now sole proprietor. He was one 
of the organizers of the Beatrice Building & 
Loan Association, which has developed a large 
and prosperous business that extends into the 
various sections of Nebraska, and of this pro- 
gressive association the Doctor has been presi- 
dent from the time of its organization. In the 
Masonic fraternity Dr. Fall lias completed 
the circle of each the York and the Scottish 
Rites, in the latter of which he has received 
the thirty-second degree. He is past exalted 
ruler of Beatrice Lodge of the Benevolent & 
Protective Order of Elks, and is a member 
of the Presbyterian church. 

In the year 1885 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Dr. Fall to Miss Aimie Kemper, who 
was born in the state of Wisconsin, and they 
have two children, — ■ Hazel F., who is the wife 
of Carl F. Shafer, of Beatrice, and Frederick 
who remains at the parental home. 

FREDERICK H. HOWEY — The busi- 
ness career of Frederick H. Howey has been 
significantly characterized by courage, self- 
reliance, and progressiveness, as well as by 
that dynamic initiative and executive ability 
that brings normally in its train a full mea- 



sure of success. His resolute purpose and 
inviolable integrity have begotten the popular 
confidence and esteem that are so essential in 
the furtherance of success in the important 
line of enterprise along which he has directed 
his attention and energies, and through the 
medium of which he has gained secure status 
as one of the representative figures in the 
financial circles of Nebraska. During practi- 
cally his entire business career Mr. Howey 
has been closely associated with banking en- 
terprise, and there is needed no further 
voucher for the precedence he has gained, than 
the statement that he is now president of the 
First National Bank of Beatrice ; president of 
the First State Savings Bank of the same city ; 
president of the State Bank of Liberty, Gage 
county; treasurer of the National Accident 
Insurance Company of Lincoln, Nebraska; 
and a director of the Farmers' Bank & Trust 
Company of Fort Collins, Colorado. As a 
banker Mr. Howey has shown special con- 
structive talent, and through his effective 
policies and efforts he has furthered the suc- 
cess of every financial enterprise with which 
he has become associated. As one of the rep- 
resentative business men and progressive and 
public-spirited citizens of Gage county he 
merits specific recognition in this publication. 

Mr. Howey was born in the vicinity of 
Columbus, the fair capital city of Ohio, on the 
9th of December, 1868, and is a son of Rev. 
John D. and Lina E. (Bowman) Howey. 

Rev. John D. Howey was born November 
21, 1831, and was summoned from the stage 
of life's mortal endeavors on the 29th of De- 
cember, 1894. After completing a four years' 
course in Jefferson College, at Pittsburgh. 
Pennsylvania, and a two years' course in the 
.A.llegheny Theological Seminary he entered 
the ministry of the Presbyterian church, in 
which he was ordained in 1858. For the long 
period of thirty-eight years he continued as an 
able and faithful clergyman of the Presby- 
terian fold, and his earnest labors terminated 
only when death set its seal upon his mortal 
lips. He was a man of fine intellectuality and 
labored with all of consecrated zeal and devo- 
tion in the vineyard of the Divine Master. He 



370 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



held pastoral charges in Ohio and Illinois 
prior to becoming one of the pioneer ministers 
of the Presbyterian church in Nebraska, in 
which stale he established his residence in 
1884. Here he served in various pastorates, 
and though his death occurred in the city of 
Lincoln he was at the time maintaining his 
home at Hastings, this state. He was bom 
and reared in Pennsylvania and was sixty- 
three years of age at the time of his death, 
his memor)' being revered by all who came 
within the sphere of his kindly and benignant 
influence. Mrs. Lina E. (Bowman) Howey 
was bom at Neilsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1835, 
a (laughter of John and Nancy Bowman. Her 
marriage to Rev. John D. Howey was sol- 
emnized in the year 1861, and she survived 
him by nearly a quarter of a century. Mrs. 
Howey passed the closing period of her life in 
the home of her daughter Ivie, wife of W'il- 
liam C. Black, Jr., of Beatrice, and she passed 
to eternal rest July 19, 1917, after a lingering 
illness and when in her eighty-second year. 
For more than twenty years this gracious gen- 
tlewoman had been a resident of Beatrice and 
was here a member of the First Presb_\terian 
church, in the work of which she took an 
active and devoted interest. Concerning the 
children of Rev. and Mrs. John D. Howey 
the following brief data are available: W. 
Clement is living retired on a small fami 
homestead near the city of Lincoln, this state ; 
Loyal B. is president of the City National 
Bank of Lincoln ; Frederick H., of this review, 
was the next in order of birth ; Clyde G. is 
an osteopathic physician and is engaged in the 
successful practice of his profession in the 
city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Miss 
Marie T. has held responsible clerical posi- 
tions in connection with the banking business 
for a long term of years, was for some time in 
the employ of Hon. William Jennings Brjan, 
and she now resides in the city of Los An- 
geles. California; Ivie B. is the wife of Wil- 
liam C. Black, Jr., and they maintain their 
home at Beatrice. 

Frederick H. Howey acquired his early edu- 
cation in the public schools and alter the re- 
moval of the familv to Nebraska, when he 



was about sixteen years of age, he continued 
his studies in the schools of the cities of Lin- 
coln and Fairmont, where his father held pas- 
toral charges. Mr. Howey early began to de- 
pend upon his own resources and he has been 
in the truest sense the artificer of his own 
fortunes as one of the world's productive 
workers. At the age of eighteen years he 
left the gracious environment of the parental 
home and found employment as a clerk in a 
dn- -goods establishment in the city of Lin- 
coln. His judgment and ambition prompted 
him to further reinforce himself by taking a 
course in bookkeeping and accounting, and 
for this purpose he pursued his studies in a 
business college at Lincoln. Soon afterward 
he found employment as bookkeeper in the 
State National Bank of Lincoln, and after four 
years of effective service with this institution 
he was elected cashier of the Bank of Mar- 
quette, in the village of Marquette, Hamilton 
county, where he remained one year — in the 
later '80s. For a short time thereafter he held 
a position in the American Exchange National 
Bank in Lincoln, and he then purchased an 
interest in and assumed the position of cashier 
of the First National Bank at Humphrey, 
Platte county, at the time the same was or- 
ganized as successor of the Citizens' State 
Bank. He played a large part in the upbuild- 
ing of the substantial business of this iifSti- 
tution and continued the incumbent of the 
office of cashier until 1897, when he resigned 
his position and came to Beatrice, where he 
was elected vice-president of the First Na- 
tional Bank. This office he retained until 
1911, since which time he has been president 
of the institution, his administration in each 
of these offices having been potent in further- 
ing the advancement of this representative in- 
stitution, which bases its operations on a 
capital stock of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars, the while its surplus fund and undi- 
vided profits have now attained to the sig- 
nificant aggregate of more than sixty thousand 
dollars. Since 1909 Mr. Howey has served 
also as president of the First State Savings 
Bank of Beatrice, which has a capital stock 
of twelve thousand five hundred dollars, sur- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



371 



plus and undivided profits of six thousand 
dollars and deposits to the amount of more 
than one hundred thousand dollars. Under 
his careful and progressive regime the First 
National Bank has made a wonderful ad- 
vancement in the volume of its business, and 
its deposits are now in excess of one million 
dollars, the bank having been founded in 1877, 
and being one of the leading financial institu- 
tions of southeastern Nebraska. It has pre- 
viously been noted that Mr. Howey is presi- 
dent also of the State Bank of Liberty, and 
it may further be stated that this institution 
has a capital stock of twenty-five thousand 
dollars and deposits of approximately three 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

In 1907 Mr. Howey became associated with 
his brother Loyal B. in the organization and 
incorporation of the National Accident Insur- 
ance Company, at Lincoln, and the same has 
operations based on a capital stock of one 
hundred thousand dollars, he being treasurer 
of the com.pany and his brother the president. 
Unequivocal success has attended the under- 
writing business of this corporation, and in 
extending health and accident indemnity the 
company now has in force policies represent- 
ing about four million dollars. Its thorough 
reliability and able executive control have 
caused this company to have a remarkable 
growth within a decade, and it now has an 
extensive and representative list of patrons 
throughout the state of Nebraska, as well as 
a good business in other states of this section 
of the Union. 

.\s a broad-gauged and liberal citizen Mr. 
Howey has always shown vital interest in 
community affairs, and he has served three 
years as a member of the Beatrice school 
board. He has been active in the local coun- 
cils of the Republican party, as attested by the 
fact that he has served since 1916 as treasurer 
of the Gage county Republican committee. 
He is, however, essentially a business man and 
has not deviated from his course to become an 
aspirant for public office of any kind. He and 
his wife are active members of the First Pres- 
byterian church of Beatrice and he is affiliated 
with the local organizations of the Masonic 



fraternity, including Mount Herman Com- 
niandery of Knights Templars, as is he also 
with Beatrice Lodge of the Benevolent & Pro- 
tective Order of Elks. 

In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Howey to Miss Eva Tamblyn, who was 
born at Mason City, Illinois, and who was 
reared at Altona, Knox county, Illinois, in 
which state she was graduated in the Musical 
Conservatory of Knox College, at Galesburg. 
A pianist of exceptional ability, she was a suc- 
cessful teacher of music prior to her mar- 
riage, and she is a leader in church work and 
the literary and musical circles of Beatrice, 
where she is a popular factor in the repre- 
sentative social activities of the community. 
Mr. and Mrs. Howey have three children: 
Earle T., who was born in 1896, was a mem- 
ber of the class of 1920 in the University of 
Nebraska, where also he is affiliated with the 
Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, but in December, 
1917, he enlisted in the regular army of the 
United States, for service in the great Euro- 
pean war ; Katharyn, who was born in the 
year 1897, is a member of the class of 1919 in 
the L'niversity of Nebraska, where she holds 
membership in the Delta Gama sorority ; and 
Walden H., born in 1900, is a member of the 
class of 1919 in the Beatrice high school. 

SOLOMON HARPSTER was one of the 
strong and worthy pioneers who came to Ne- 
braska in the year that marked the admission 
of the territory to statehood, the first year 
of his residence within the borders of the new 
commonwealth having been passed in Richard- 
son county, and his home having been estab- 
lished in Gage county in 1868. He contrib- 
uted to the civic and industrial development 
and progress of the county, represented the 
best in communal life and spirit and bore with 
fortitude and unwavering faith and confidence 
the hardships and trials of frontier life. He 
gained inviolable place in popular confidence 
and good will and was long and familiarly 
known in Gage county as "Uncle Sol Harp- 
ster." This sterling pioneer, whose death oc- 
curred in 1894, is consistently given a tribute 
of honor in this publication. 



372 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Harpster 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Z72, 



Solomon Harpster was born in the state of 
Pennsylvania and was seventy years and 
twelve days of age at the time of his death. 
He became a resident of Ohio when about nine 
years of age, remained in the old Buckeye 
state until 1867, when he came with his family 
to the newly created state of Nebraska and, 
as previously noted, established himself in 
Richardson county, whence he came to Gage 
county about one year later. In this county 
he secured a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres of wild prairie land, in Sicily town- 
ship. It is interesting to record that this land, 
to which he received a deed from the govern- 
ment, has never passed from the possession 
of the family, by members of which it is still 
held. Mr. Harpster reclaimed his land and 
developed the same into one of the valuable 
farm properties of the county. In Ohio his 
health had been considerably impaired, but he 
found the climate and vital influences of Ne- 
braska so invigorating that he became a man 
of robust health. He labored with character- 
istic zeal and ability in furthering the devel- 
opment of his farm and in aiding the general 
advancement of the county along civic and 
material lines. He lived in this section of Ne- 
braska during the early pioneer days in which 
hardships and privations drew men together 
in strong ties of friendship and helpfulness, 
and his genial personality gained to him the 
sobriquet of Uncle Sol, by which he was 
known to all the early settlers. 

Mr. Harpster superintended the building of 
the bridge across the Blue river at Blue 
Springs and also the erection of the first coun- 
ty jail, at Beatrice. He was careful and up- 
right in all of the relations of life, had a fine 
sense of personal stewardship and was never 
known to use profane language, tobacco or 
intoxicating liquors. Both he and his wife 
were lifelong and zealous members of the 
Evangelical church. In coming to Gage coun- 
ty he transported his family and effects with 
wagon and ox team, and the oxen he there- 
after utilized in breaking his land and other- 
wise carrying forward the development of his 
farm. 

In Ohio was solemnized, June 16, 1850, the 



marriage of Mr. Harpster to Miss Judith 
Beck, and they passed the closing years of 
their lives in their pleasant home in the vil- 
lage of Blue Springs, his death having oc- 
curred in December, 1894, and his widow hav- 
ing entered into eternal rest in March, 1911, 
when seventy-seven years of age. They be- 
came the parents of four children : Malissa 
is the widow of Samuel Mowry, to whom a 
memoir is dedicated on other pages of this 
volume ; Alonzo is a boilemiaker by trade and 
is employed in the shops of the Chicago, Bur- 
lington & Quincy Railroad at Wymore, this 
county ; George resides in the city of Lincoln 
and is a conductor in the service of the Chi- 
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad ; and 
Miss Sue remains at the old home of her par- 
ents at Blue Springs. 

JOHN L. ANDERSON. — Definite effi- 
ciency has characterized the service of Mr. 
Anderson in the responsible office of cashier 
of the Union State Bank, of Beatrice, and his 
administration has done much to conserve the 
success that has marked the history of this 
important and representative financial insti- 
tution of Gage county, the while his person- 
ality and civic loyalty have gained to him in- 
violable place in popular confidence and es- 
teem. 

Mr. Anderson was born in Cook county, 
Illinois, on the 31st of August, 1875, and is a 
son of John P. and Carrie (Berendutt) An- 
derson, the former of whom was born in 
Scotland ana the latter in France, their mar- 
riage having been solemnized in the state of 
Illinois. John P. Anderson received in his 
youth good educational advantages, including 
a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business 
College in the city of Chicago, and he became 
a business man of marked circumspection and 
progressiveness, so that success came to him 
as a natural prerogative. In Illinois he was 
engaged in the furniture business but about 
the year 1885 he came to Nebraska and estab- 
lished the family home in the city of Omaha. 
There he conducted for two and one-half 
years two well ordered retail groceries, and in 
1888 he came to Gage county and engaged in 



374 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the same line of mercantile enterprise at 
Beatrice. He built up a large and representa- 
tive business and continued as one of the lead- 
ing merchants and most highly honored citi- 
zens of Beatrice until his death, when about 
fifty-five years of age, his widow being still 
a resident of this city. Of their two children 
the subject of this review is the elder, and 
Sylvia is the wife of Charles D. Loper, sec- 
retan- of the wholesale woolen house of Mul- 
lin & Company, of Chicago. John P. Ander- 
son was liberal and public-spirited in his civic 
attitude, gave his allegiance to the Republican 
party, and was an earnest communicant of the 
Protestant Episcopal church, as is also his 
widow. 

John L. Anderson, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, acquired his early education prin- 
cipally in the public schools of the cities of 
Omaha and Beatrice, and at the age of six- 
teen years he assumed a clerical position in 
the First National Bank of Beatrice. In this 
institution he won promotion to the position 
of assistant cashier, of which he continued the 
incumbent several years. On the 4th of July, 
1912, he purchased stock in the Union State 
Bank of Beatrice, of which he has since con- 
tinued to ser\'e as cashier and to the upbuild- 
ing of which he has contributed in large mea- 
sure. The bank was founded in 1902, bases 
its operations on a capital stock of fifty 
thousand dollars, has surplus and undivided 
profits of six thousand dollars, and its de- 
posits now aggregate more than eight hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars. When he took 
the position of cashier the institution had de- 
posits of only one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars, and the remarkable increase since that 
time gives a measure of testimony to his effi- 
ciency of administration and to his unqualified 
personal popularity. 

As a broad-minded and progressive citizen 
Mr. Anderson manifests lively interest in all 
things touching the communal welfare and his 
political allegiance is given to the Republican 
party. He is prominently identified with the 
time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which his 
affiliations are here briefly noted : Beatrice 
Lodge, No. 19, Ancient Free & .Accepted 



Masons, of which he is past master; Living- 
ston Chapter, No. 10, Royal Arch Masons, of 
which he is past high priest ; Rabona Council, 
Royal & Select Masters, in which he has 
passed various official chairs ; and Mount Her- 
man Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templars, 
of which he is past eminent commander. He 
is one of the charter members of the Beatrice 
lodge of the Benevolent & Protective Order 
of Elks and served for a long period as 
treasurer of the same. Both he and his wife 
are zealous communicants of Christ church, 
Protestant Episcopal, and he has been a mem- 
ber of the vestry of this parish since 1915. 

In the year 1907 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Anderson to Miss Charlotte P. 
Smith, who was bom and reared in Nebraska 
and whose father, Samuel C. Smith, has been 
long and prominently identified with the bank- 
ing business in Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. An- 
derson have one son, Peter, who was bom on 
the 19th of November, 1909. Mrs. Anderson, 
a woman of culture and most gracious person- 
ality, is a leader in church, musical, and social 
activities in her home city. She was aflforded 
the advantages of St. Gabriel's School at 
Peekskill, New York, and later pursued a 
course in voice culture under the preceptor- 
ship of Mrs. Morris, a leading teacher of 
music in the city of New York. She is the 
popular chatelaine of one of the attractive and 
hospitable homes of the city of Beatrice. 

HENRY J. WIEBE. — This representative 
agriculturist and stock-grower of Blakely 
township has been a resident of Gage county 
for forty years. He was about sixteen years 
of age when he came with his widowed mother 
and younger brother to Beatrice and by mak- 
ing good use of the advantages here offered 
he has made his way forward to the goal of 
independence and marked prosperity. He 
is the owner of a valuable farm property of 
two hundred and twenty acres, one hundred 
and sixty acres being in Section 20 and the re- 
maining sixty acres in Section 17, Blakely 
township. With the effective cooperation of 
his sons Mr. Wiebe is now identified with the 
farming and stock-raising operations on an 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



375 



aggregate of four hundred and sixty acres, 
and since 1916 he has given special attention 
to the breeding and feeding of thoroughbred 
short-horn cattle. 

Mr. Wiebe was born in Prussia, Germany, 
on the 28th of February, 1863, and is a son of 
Jacob and Emeline (Penner) Wiebe, his 
father having been a prosperous farmer in 
Prussia at the time of his death. The subject 
of this review acquired his early education in 
the excellent schools of his fatherland and on 
the 18th of August, 1878, in company with his 
widowed mother, his younger brother and his 
one sister, he set sail for the United States. 
Disembarking in the port of New York city, 
the family came forthwith to Nebraska and 
settled at Beatrice. In this locality the two 
sons found employment at farm work, and 
concerning the younger son, Jacob W., indi- 
vidual mention is made on other pages, the 
daughter, Anna, being now the wife of W. A. 
Penner, of Beatrice, and the devoted mother 
having here continued to reside until her 
health became impaired and she was moved to 
visit her old home in Gemiany. In June, 1883, 
she returned to Germany, and there her death 
occurred in the following year, when she was 
nearly fifty years of age. This revered pio- 
neer woman was a devoted Mennonite in re- 
ligious faith and assisted in the organizing of 
the first church of this denomination in Gage 
county. 

After the family home had been established 
in Gage county, Henry J. Wiebe attended the 
public schools of Beatrice for six months, at 
the time when Hugh J. Dobbs was the super- 
intendent, and as a student both here and in 
his native land he gave special attention to 
botany and chemistry. His recompense for 
his services during the first year of his resi- 
dence in Gage county was only fifty dollars, 
and he continued his activities as a farm em- 
ploye for seven years, during the last of which 
he received wages of one hundred and eighty 
dollars. Thereafter he was associated with 
his brother in farming on rented land for one 
year, and in 1886 he purchased his present 
homestead farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres. The place was improved with a good 



house but with the passing years he has made 
further improvements that mark the farm as a 
model according to twentieth century stan- 
dards. In 1907 he erected the present large 
barn on his fami, the same being thirty-six by 
sixty feet in dimensions. With increasing 
prosperity he added to the area of his farm 
and he gives his attention vigorously to diver- 
sified agriculture and the raising of superior 
live stock. In the season of 1917 he had one 
hundred and fifty acres devoted to corn and 
eighty-six acres to oats. He is a Republican 
of independent proclivities and he and his wife 
are earnest members of the Mennonite church, 
in which he is a teacher in the Sunday school. 
March 10, 1887, was the date of the mar- 
riage of Mr. Wiebe to ]\liss Mary Wiebe, who 
came with her parents from Prussia to 
America in 1876. Her father, John G. Wiebe, 
became a successful lumber dealer at Beatrice, 
and of him mention is made on other pages 
of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Wiebe have eight 
children, the two elder sons, Gerhard R. and 
Henry P., being progressive farmers of this 
county, and all of the other children remain- 
ing at the parental home, namely: Alfred, 
Rudolph, Arnold, Oscar, Gertrude, and Kate. 

CARL SONDEREGGER. — One of Ne- 
braska's sterling pioneer citizens who has here 
had the prescience and energy to make the most 
of the opportunities offered in connection with 
civic and material development and progress, 
Mr. Sonderegger has achieved large and 
worthy success through his association with 
agricultural industry and later as an aggres- 
sive exponent of the nursery business. His 
original dwelling in Jefiferson county was a 
"dugout" of the most primitive pioneer type, 
the same being established on the embryonic 
farm which figured as the stage of his vigor- 
ous activities in the early days. In evidence 
of his ability and worthy achievement stands 
his now extensive and well ordered nursery 
and seed industry, high-grade fruit and orna- 
mental trees, shrubbery, seeds of all kinds, 
etc., being now shipped from his well equipped 
nursery plant into the most diverse sections 
of the Union, the while the little farm dugout 



376 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



pales into retrospective obscurity when it is 
recognized that the home of the Sonderegger 
family in the city of Beatrice is conceded to 
be one of the finest residence properties in the 
county, the building being a commodious struc- 
ture of modern architectural design and most 
attractive appointments. Mr. Sonderegger has 
proved himself one of the world's constructive 
workers and in the furtherance of his own 
prosperity has aided also in the civic and ma- 
terial development and progress of the county 
and state of his adoption. As one of the hon- 
ored and representative citizens and business 
men of Gage county he is especially entitled 
to recognition in this historj'. 

Carl Sonderegger w-as born in the fair little 
republic of Switzerland, on the 31st of Janu- 
ary, 1856, and is one of the eight surviving 
children of Conrad and Lena (Hohl) Sonder- 
egger, both of whom passed their entire lives 
in Switzerland. Of the children only two 
came to America, — Carl, subject of this re- 
view, and Arthur, who is now a representa- 
tive civil engineer residing at Los Angeles, 
California. The father was identified with 
farm industry in earlier days, but achieved 
his success principally as a manufacturer, and 
he accounted well for himself in all of the 
relations of life, his father, Conrad Sonder- 
egger, likewise having been a fanner and 
manufacturer in Switzerland. The family has 
been notable for the sturdiest of physical pow- 
ers and for incidental longevity, and in this 
connection it may be noted that not until their 
final illness were either the parents or the 
paternal grandparents of Carl Sonderegger 
known to be sick for even a day. Jacob Hohl, 
maternal grandfather of Mr. Sonderegger, was 
a citizen of prominence and influence in Swit- 
zerland, where he served as governor of his 
canton and held for forty years the oftice of 
mayor of the city of Heiden. 

In his youth Carl Sonderegger received 
good educational advantages, and. like many 
another son of Switzerland, he acquired full 
command of both the German and French 
languages. As a youth he became associated 
with his father in the manufacturing of the 
fine Swiss embroiderj', and finally his youth- 



ful ambition led him to sever the home ties 
and come to the United States, where he felt 
assured of better opportunities for attaining 
independence and prosperity through his own 
effort. In 1875 he came to America and in 
the same year he numbered himself among 
the pioneers of Jefferson county, Nebraska. 
He purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty 
acres of unimproved land, twenty miles west 
of Beatrice, and developed the same eventually 
into one of the valuable farms of this section 
of the state. There he continued his success- 
ful activities as an agriculturist and stock- 
grower for a full quarter of a century, and 
at the present time he owns his admirably 
equipped nursery farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres, the soil being specially available 
for the propagation of high-grade nursery 
stock and its fertility being perpetuated 
through proper scientific treatment. 

In initiating his nursery industry Mr. Son- 
deregger began operation on a modest scale, 
and the first catalogue which he issued con- 
tained only four pages. He has brought to 
Ijear the best scientific methods and the most 
scrupulous care in the development and up- 
building of the enterprise, and the business 
now demands the issuing of large catalogues 
annually, an average of one hundred thousand 
of these attractive catalogues being distributed 
each year. In the year 1900 Mr. Sonderegger 
established the headquarters of his nursery 
business in the city of Beatrice, and the in- 
dustry has in its splendid development con- 
tributed much to the industrial and commer- 
cial prestige of the city and county. Mr. 
Sonderegger is imbued with the most vital 
.spirit of civic pride and loyalty and has been 
specially influential in the development of the 
attractive system of public parks in Beatrice, 
where he is now chairman of the municipal 
l)oard of park commissioners, his political al- 
legiance being given to the Democratic party. 

As a matter of commercial expediency Mr. 
Sonderegger has incorporated his business 
under the laws of Nebraska and with the title 
of the Sonderegger Nurser\' and Seed House. 
Operations are based on a capital stock of 
one hundred thousand dollars. l)Ut all of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



377 




378 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



stock is held by members of the Sonderegger 
family, so that it is a close corporation, the 
subject of this sketch, as may be inferred, be- 
ing the executive head of the business. He is 
a member of the directorate of the Union 
State Bank of Beatrice and also of that of 
the Bonner Portland Cement Company, of 
Kansas City, Missouri. He is afifiliated with 
the Beatrice lodge of the Benevolent & Pro- 
tective Order of Elks and he and his wife are 
active members of the Christian church in 
their home city. 

In the year 1875 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Sonderegger to Miss Babetta 
Hohl, who likewise was born and reared in 
Switzerland and who joined him in America 
within a short time after his immigration to 
this country. Most gracious have been the 
relations of the family home circle and in the 
concluding paragraph of this article are given 
brief data concerning the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Sonderegger. 

Clara married and resides in La Crosse, 
Wisconsin. Charles, who is associated with 
his father in business, married Miss Mabel 
Jones and they have two children, — Carl and 
Morris; Lydia is the wife of Charles Hughes, 
a farmer of Jefferson county, this state, and 
they have three children, — Clara, Leo and 
Lucille; Leo, who is now engaged in business 
in New York city, married Miss Louise Get- 
zentanner and has two children, — Leo and 
Louise; Frederick, who is associated with his 
father's nursery business, wedded Miss H. 
Sonderegger and they have three children, — 
Frederick. Arnold and Margaret ; Ernest has 
more special connection with the seed de- 
partment of the Sonderegger nurser)- : the 
maiden name of his wife was Helen Loeber 
and they have no children ; Lena is the wife 
of Ralph Rosezell, who is engaged in the pho- 
tographic business in Beatrice, and their two 
children are Richard and Catherine ; Arthur, 
who is connected with the nurserj' business 
of his father, wedded Miss Ruth Atwater, and 
they have one child. Phyllis ; Hilda is the wife 
of Clayton Harris and they reside at Los 
Angeles, California; and Helen remains at 
the parental home. 



FRANK W. JONES. — The attractive 
little village of Clatonia claims Mr. Jones as 
one of its liberal citizens and representative 
business men. Here he has developed a pros- 
perous enterprise in the handling of lumber 
and building supplies, and in connection there- 
with he keeps pace with the modern trend by 
acting also as agent for the celebrated Over- 
land automobile for this part of the county. 

Mr. Jones was bom on a farm near the city 
of Dixon, Illinois,, on the 8th of April, 1870, 
and is a son of George H. and Jane A. (Whit- 
comb) Jones. He is the eldest in a family of 
four children and concerning the others the 
following brief data may consistently be en- 
tered: Elva is the wife of James E. McCor- 
mack, who is a partner in the business of the 
subject of this sketch; Cyrus P. is a prosper- 
ous farmer in Highland township; and Vema 
remains with her widowed mother in the 
pleasant home in the village of Cortland, this 
county. 

George H. Jones was bom in the state of 
Maine, in 1847, and was nine years of age 
when he accompanied his parents on their re- 
moval to Illinois, where he was reared and 
educated and where he continued his residence 
until 1872, when he came to Nebraska and 
became one of the pioneers of Gage county. 
He entered claim to a homestead of eighty 
acres in Highland township; in 1874 he pur- 
chased from the railroad company an adjoin- 
ing eighty acres, and in 1884 he added another 
eighty acres to his valuable landed estate. His 
old homestead place is situated in Section 30, 
and he owned also the northwest one-half of 
Section 31 in the same township. He made 
the best of improvements upon his land and 
was one of the prominent farmers of the 
county for many years. For a time he rented 
his farm and he was engaged in the mercan- 
tile business in Cortland, Nebraska, about two 
years. Finally he retired again from his farm 
and moved to Cortland, where he remained 
until his death, in 1909. Mr. Jones was a man 
of sterling character and marked ability, so 
that he consistently was called upon to serve 
as a member of the county board of super- 
visors — an office in which he made a record 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



379 



for liberality and progressiveness. He was a 
staunch supporter of the cause of the Repub- 
lican party and was an active member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his 
widow. Mrs. Jones was born near the city of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a resident 
of Illinois at the time of her marriage. She 
is one of the loved pioneer women of Gage 
county and is now about seventy years of age. 
She still resides at Cortland. 

Frank W. Jones was a child of two years 
at the time of the family removal to Gage 
county, where he was reared on the home farm 
and early gained experience in herding cattle 
on the prairies, besides which he recalls as a 
part of his experience in the pioneer days the 
occasional seeing of deer in this section of the 
state. He was afforded the advantages of the 
public schools and continued to be associated 
with his father in farm industry until the re- 
moval of his parents to the village of Cortland, 
where for the ensuing two years he clerked in 
his father's general store. The next year 
there found him employed as assistant in a 
lumber yard, and on the 14th of February, 
1893, he removed to Clatonia, where for the 
following year he had cliarge of the lumber 
yard of his uncle, H. H. Jones. He then 
opened a general merchandise store in the vil- 
lage and for the. following eleven years he 
successfully conducted this business. In 1893 
he was appointed postmaster of Clatonia, and 
of this office he continued the incumbent until 
he sold his mercantile business and formed a 
partnership with James E. McCormack, with 
whom he has here been associated in the retail 
lumber trade since that time. He is the owner 
of his attractive residence in Clatonia and also 
of other realty in the village. Taking a loyal 
interest in local affairs, Mr. Jones was the 
one who prepared the petition that led to the 
incorporation of the village of Clatonia, and 
since that time he has served several terms as 
a member of the municipal council. Plis politi- 
cal allegiance is given to the Republican party 
and he and his wife hold membership in the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 

December 21, 1893, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Jones to Miss Ella L. Albert, a daugh- 



ter of Henry Albert, of whom specific men- 
tion is made on other pages of this work, so 
that further record concerning the family is 
not demanded in the present connection. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jones have but one child, Izetta, who 
was born July 27, 1896, and who remains at 
the parental home — a young woman of cul- 
ture and one who is a popular figure in the so- 
cial activities of her home community. Miss 
Jones was for two years a student in the high 
school of Lincoln, Nebraska's capital city, and 
thereafter she was for two years a student in 
the high school at University Place. She is 
now attending Wesleyan University, at Uni- 
versity Place, Lancaster county. She taught 
two terms of school in Grant township and 
proved herself a successful worker in the 
pedagogic sen'ice. 

BENJAMIN F. STEINMEYER, who is 
one of the progressive and successful expon- 
ents of agricultural and live-stock enterprise 
in his native county and a member of one of 
the well known and influential pioneer families 
of this section of Nebraska, was bom in Cla- 
tonia township, on the 27th of January, 1883, 
a son of William and Louisa (Schlake) Stein- 
meyer, of whose ten children the firstborn 
was John, who died in infancy; Sophia, who 
was born April 11, 1873, remains with her 
widowed mother; Ella died in early child- 
hood ; Henry, a representative farmer of Cla- 
tonia township, was born April 13, 1878; 
Anna is the wife of Fred Carsten, of Hallan, 
Lancaster county, her birth having occurred 
February 5, 1881 ; Benjamin F., immediate 
subject of this review, was the next in order 
of birth; William, who was born April 5, 
1885, has the management of the old home- 
stead farm, in Clatonia township ; Jennie, who 
was born Februaray 16, 1887, is the wife of 
A. P. Kost. of St. Joseph, Missouri ; Edwin, 
who was born February 25, 1890, is a pros- 
perous farmer of Clatonia township, and his 
twin brother, Albert, died at the age of nine- 
teen years. 

The late William Steinmeyer was bom in 
the province of Hanover. Germany, July 9, 
1839, a son of John Henry and Elizabeth 



380 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




''/ 





HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



381 



(Fradiker) Steinmeyer, there having been five 
other children, — • Frederick, Henrj^ Mary, 
Ann and Emma. John Henry Steinmeyer im- 
migrated with his family to America in 1857, 
and after a voyage of eight weeks on a sail- 
ing vessel they landed in Baltimore, Mary- 
land. The family home was established in 
Scioto county, Ohio, where John Henry Stein- 
meyer continued his residence until the autumn 
of 1865, when he came with other members of 
his family to Nebraska Territory. In the 
following spring he came to Gage county and 
filed claim to a homestead of one hundred 
and sixty acres in Clatonia township, the pres- 
ent thriving village of Clatonia being on the 
tract which he thus secured prior to the ad- 
mission of Nebraska to the Union. He re- 
claimed his pioneer farm to cultivation and ■ 
he and his wife here passed the remainder 
of their lives. 

William Steinmeyer was reared and educat- 
ed in his native land and was eighteen years 
of age at the time of the family immigration 
to America. Upon coming with his father to 
Gage county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1866, 
he took up a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in Section 28, Clatonia township, 
this place being an integral part of the large 
and finely improved landed estate which he 
eventually accumulated and which is still 
owned by his widow. Of the conditions that 
here prevailed at the time when Mr. Stein- 
meyer initiated his pioneer experience the fol- 
lowing interesting statements have been writ- 
ten : "The embryonic farm bore little re- 
semblance to its condition in the present day, 
the plowshare never having passed over it 
and not a building having been erected for the 
shelter of man or beast. Mr. Steinmeyer 
was prepared, however, for this state of things 
and after finding a temporary home he began 
to gather together implements for the cultiva- 
tion of the soil, while he girded himself ear- 
nestly and staunchly for the developing of a 
productive farm from the prairie wilds." Mr. 
Steinmeyer made the best of improvements 
upon his original homestead, and the buildings 
and general attractiveness of the place to-day 
evidence his industry and good management. 



On the old homestead he continued to reside 
until his death, which occurred July 3, 1911, 
and he was one of the honored pioneer citizens 
of the county when he was thus called from 
the stage of life's mortal endeavors. He be- 
came the owner of a fine landed estate of one 
thousand four hundred and sixty acres in 
Gage county, five hundred acres in Missouri 
and three hundred and twenty acres in Kan- 
sas. His sons utilize the various farms for 
their productive activities as agriculturalists 
and stock growers. He was a stalwart Re- 
publican in politics was loyal and progressive 
as a citizen and his ability and popularity gave 
him marked influence in community affairs. 
He served two terms as treasurer of Clatonia 
township and was a charter member of the 
German Methodist church that was organized 
by his father in Clatonia township, his widow 
likewise being an earnest member of this re- 
ligious body. 

January 19, 1870, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Steinmeyer to Miss Louisa Schlake, who 
was born in Prussia, February 12, 1851, a 
daughter of Henry and Mary (Tieman) 
Schlake, the former of whom passed his en- 
tire life in Germany and who was survived by 
five children, — Mary Ann, William, Char- 
lotte, Louisa and Caroline. The devoted 
mother came to America in 1870 and came 
with her daughter to Gage county, where she 
died four weeks later. Mrs. Steinmeyer was 
reared and educated in her native land and 
was about seventeen years of age when, in 
1869, she came to the United States in com- 
pany with her sister. She remained for a 
time at Aurora, Illinois, and after a few 
months came to Gage county, Nebraska, where 
her marriage was shortly afterward solem- 
nized. After the death of her husband she 
removed to the village of Clatonia, where she 
and her eldest daughter have an attractive 
home, and she still retains ownership of the 
valuable farm property accumulated by her 
honored husband. All of her ten children, of 
whom mention has been made in an earlier 
paragraph, received good educational advan- 
tages, including those of the college at War- 
renton, Missouri. 



382 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Benjamin F. Steinmeyer, the immediate 
subject of this review, was reared on the old 
home farm, and after completing the curricu- 
hmi of the district schools he was for some 
time a student in the Central Wesleyan Col- 
lege, at Warrenton, Missouri. He has never 
found it expedient or a matter of desire to 
deflect his course from farm industry and he 
is now successfully carr>ing on progressive 
enterprise as an agriculturist and stock-grow- 
er in his native township, where he operates 
a part of the family estate, in Clatonia town- 
ship. His political support is given to the Re- 
publican party and at Beatrice he is affiliated 
with the lodge of the Benevolent and Protec- 
tive Order of Elks, besides which he is a 
member of Blue Valley Lodge, Ancient Free 
& Accepted Masons, at Wilber, Saline county. 

On the 2d of June, 1915, Mr. Steinmeyer 
wedded Miss Alice Balderson, who was born 
at Crete, Saline county, October 1, 1890, a 
daughter of Jacob and Carrie (Schnacker) 
Balderson, who removed eventually to Wilber, 
that county, where the father is living retired, 
Mrs. Balderson being now deceased. Mr. and 
Mrs. Steinmeyer have a fine little son, George 
Benjamin, who was bom August 6, 1916. 

TAMME R. ZIMMERMAN, a venerable 
and highly honored citizen who is now living 
retired in the city of Beatrice, is a man who 
has proved one of the world's productive 
workers and one who has merited the distinc- 
tive prosperity that is his in the gracious 
evening of his long and useful life. He is the 
owner of two thousand acres of land in Texas, 
and in Nebraska he owns sixteen hundred and 
eighty acres in Gage county, four hundred and 
eighty in Red Willow county, three hundred 
and twenty in Cherry county, and one hundred 
and sixty in Franklin county. In his exten- 
sive operations as a farmer and ranchman he 
made a specialty of raising the best tj^pe of 
live stock, and his energ\' and good judgment 
made his success assured and cumulative. 

Mr. Zimmerman was bom in the province 
of Hanover. Germany, October 14, 1834, and 
is a son of Frank and Anna (Dom) Zimmer- 
man, of whose family of two sons and three 



daughters only the two sons are now living. 
Claus being a resident of the village of Pick- 
rell, this county, and having celebrated in 
1918 his eighty-seventh birthday anniversarj'. 
The parents passed their entire lives in Ger- 
many. 

The subject of this review was but two 
years old at the time of his mother's death and 
only six years of age when his father died. 
Thus he was early thrown on his own re- 
sources, and how effectively he has lived up 
to the responsibilities devolving upon him is 
shown in the unqualified success which he has 
won through his own efYorts. As a boy and 
youth in his native land he was able to attend 
.school only one month each year, and there he 
continued to be employed at farm work until 
. 1856, when he came to America and found 
employment on a fann in Menard county. 
Illinois. In 1859 he there took unto himself 
a wife, and in the following year he and his 
young wife came to Nebraska Territory and 
numbered themselves among the early pio- 
neer settlers of Richardson county. In Frank- 
lin precinct of that county he purchased forty 
acres of raw prairie land, upon which he built 
a primitive log house, and there he continued 
his fanning activities two years. In 1862 he 
came to Gage county and bought one hundred 
and sixty acres of land in Logan township. 
Here he began vigorously the agricultural and 
live-stock enterprise that brought to him ever- 
increasing success with the passing years, and 
as his financial resources were augmented he 
added gradually to his landed estate, while 
eventually he accumulated valuable property 
in other counties of Nebraska, as well as his 
extensive land holdings in Texas. He con- 
tinued as one of the representative exponents 
of farm enterprise in Logan township until 
1904, since which time he has lived in well 
eamed retirement, with a comfortable and at- 
tractive home in Beatrice. 

In 1859 Mr. Zimmemian married Miss 
Catherine Miller, who was born in Germany 
and who came with her father to the United 
vStates in 1855, the family home being estab- 
lished in Illinois. Mrs. Zimmemian passed to 
the life eternal on the 11th of July, 1910, a 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



383 



devout communicant of the German Lutheran 
church. Of this union were born eight chil- 
dren: Mrs. Anna Dom hves in Franklin 
county; Mrs. Abbie Meints is a resident of 
Logan township, Gage county; Mrs. Fannie 
Baughman lives near Pickrell, this county; 
Eilert is living on his father's old homestead 
farm, in Logan township ; Rachel and Renken 
are deceased ; Mrs. Tillie Frerichs resides in 
Logan township ; and Mrs. Mary Huttenmaier 
lives on a farm five miles east of Beatrice. 

On the 6th of December, 191L Mr. Zimmer- 
man wedded Mrs. Julia (Matthews) Ayers, 
widow of Jonathan Ayers. By her first mar- 
riage Mrs. Zimmerman has three children : 
William is a resident of Dodge City, Kansas, 
where he holds the position of inspector in the 
service of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 
Railroad ; Harry is superintendent of the 
plant of the great packing house of Swift & 
Company in the city of St. Paul, R^Iinnesota ; 
and Mrs. Effie Grace resides at Downs, Os- 
borne county, Kansas. Mrs. Zimmennan was 
born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, and was 
five years old when her parents, Ansel and 
Barbara (Dias) Matthews, became pioneer 
settlers in Iowa, her father having been a 
native of Massachusetts and her mother of In- 
diana. After her marriage to Jonathan Ayers, 
Mrs. Zimmerman came with her husband to 
Gage county and made settlement on the Otoe 
Indian reservation, in 1878, their elder son 
having been the first white child born on this 
reservation. Mr. Zimmerman is a Democrat 
in politics and is a member of the Lutheran 
church, Mrs. Zimmerman being a member of 
the Methodist church. 

REV. LEONARD POEVERLEIN, the 
honored pastor of the parish of St. John's 
German Lutheran church in the city of Be- 
atrice, has retained this incumbency since the 
13th of December, 1883, and is one of the re- 
vered pioneer clergymen of the Lutheran faith 
in this section of the state — the devoted 
shepherd of his flock, the friend of all human- 
ity, and the earnest vicar of the Divine Master 
whom he has served with all of consecrated 
zeal. 



Mr. Poeverlein was born in the Kingdom of 
Bavaria, Germany, December 25, 1848, a son 
of George and Maria (Fakelmeier) Poever- 
lein, who passed their entire lives in that part 
of the German empire. In his native land 
Mr. Poeverlein was given excellent education- 
al advantages in his youth and in preparation 
for the responsible work of the ministry he 
completed a most thorough academic and 
theological education in the Lutheran seminary 
at Neuen Dettelsau, Germany, his ordination 
to the ministry having occurred in 1873. 
Prompted by faith that in America he would 
find a field for effective service in his chosen 
calling, Mr. Poeverlein came to this country 
in the autumn of 1873, arriving in New York 
city on the 25th of September, and a few 
weeks later continuing his westward journey 
to Dubuque, Iowa. Soon afterward he be- 
came pastor of a small church organization 
at Iowa City, where he remained until the 
spring of 1874, when he came to Nebraska 
and, on the 18th of April, entered upon pas- 
toral duties in Nemaha county. One year 
later he went to Rockport, Missouri, where he 
held a pastoral charge until December 13. 
1883, since which time he has been pastor of 
St. John's church in the city of Beatrice. 
Under his faithful pastoral and executive di- 
rection this parish has prospered both spiritu- 
ally and temporally, and the congregation now 
includes fifty families or more, with a roll of 
one hundred and fifty communicants. Mr. 
Poeverlein has been earnest not only in his 
church activities but also as a loyal and public- 
spirited citizen interested in furthering the 
communal welfare along all lines, and he has 
the high esteem of the people among whom 
he has so long lived and labored. 

In 1876 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Poeverlein to Miss Louisa Hemperer. 
who was born and reared in Clayton county, 
Iowa, and of the four children of this union, 
the firstborn, Charles, died at the age of 
seventeen months ; Matilda, who remains at 
the parental home, was graduated in the 
Beatrice high school, and is now a popular 
teacher in the public schools of her home city; 
Heade. likewise a graduate of the Beatrice 



384 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



high school, is now an efficient teacher in the 
public schools at Columbus, Platte county; 
and Freda, who remains with her parents, was 
graduated in the local high school and also the 
Beatrice Business College. 

ALFRED HAZLETT. — Judge Hazlett 
was bom and reared in Indiana county, Penn- 
sylvania. To the countrj' public schools of 
his native commonwealth he is indebted for 
his preliminary educational discipline, which 
was supplemented by a course of higher 
studies in Jefferson College, at Cannonsburg, 
Pennsylvania. In preparing himself for his 
chosen profession, he prosecuted his studies 
under the tutorship of former United States 
Senator Edgar Cowan, of Greensburg, Penn- 
sylvania, and in June, 1871, he was admitted 
to the bar of his native state. 

In the fall of 1871, having just arrived at 
the age of his majority, with all of his vital 
and youthful ambition, he came to Nebraska, 
and established his residence in Beatrice, 
where he has since continuously resided. 

In the year 1876, at Omaha. Nebraska, was 
solemnized the marriage of Judge Hazlett to 
Miss Sibbie Cotton. They have no living 
children. Those of the early pioneers now liv- 
ing, and who knew him from the time of his 
location in Nebraska, were impressed with his 
tall, manly, dignified figure, and pronounced 
him the man that he was subsequently found 
to be. He was strong in mind and still at his 
present age is maintaining a fine, shapely 
phvsique. Of Scotch-Irish descent he was 
born strong for decision, judgment, and with 
pronounced self-independence. During all of 
his life he has had a dislike for the aflfected 
or pretentious, and despised hypocrisy, deceit, 
and dishonesty. Perhaps, on account of this 
one permanent feature in his character, he has 
always refrained .from entering into what he 
has termed the tainted cesspool of politics, 
although his friends many times have urged 
and beseeched him to run not only for state. 
but for national office. 

Within a period of some forty years of his 
professional activity, in Gage county. Judge 
Hazlett won. and still maintains, for himself 



a reputation for being one of the strongest, 
and most resourceful trial lawyers in south- 
eastern Nebraska. Xo member of the Gage 
county bar has participated in so many con- 
tested cases, both of a civil and criminal na- 
ture as he, and with so great a success. His 
whole aim in his work was not so much for 
the money he could obtain from his clients 
but to win their cases. His judgment of men 
is recognized by all, and this attribute alone 
has never failed him in selecting the jury, and 
in questioning the witness. The make-up of 
his machinery is grand, in this : He is honest : 
he is keen, with a bright mind stored with legal 
lore ; in appearance he is somewhat austere — 
and yet no one is more gentle in spirit — and 
retiring; he stands as one of our central fig- 
ures ; he has a liberal education, and is an 
able advocate. Those who have seen him in 
our different courts, in important cases, and 
have heard him address a jury, say that for 
forensic eloquence and convincing argument 
few, if any, surpass him. He is indeed a 
strong man, by reason of his force of char- 
acter and his ability as a lawyer, and he has 
been and is a potent factor in the affairs of 
men. In all of his active professional life it 
is to be said that he is possessed only of a 
modest estate in worldly goods, and this fact 
is a genuine testimonial to his honesty and 
self-sacrifice. He has often said that there 
is no grander type of manhood on earth than 
an able, cultured, honest lawyer. 

MRS. SOPHIA H. DOLE. — More than 
casual distinction attaches to the personality 
and record of this venerable and revered pio- 
neer woman, for not only has she been a resi- 
dent of Nebraska since the territorial period 
of its history and endured her share of the 
hardships and vicissitudes that marked the 
early stages of development and progress in 
this now favored commonwealth, but it has 
also been within her province to found and 
upbuild in her home city of Beatrice a most 
prosperous and representative business enter- 
prise — that conducted under the corporate 
title of the Dole Floral Company. Though 
this gracious gentlewoman celebrated in 1917, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



385 



the eighty-first anniversary of her birth, she 
still takes vital and earnest interest in the 
world's work and fortunes, and incidental to 
the activities of preparation for the nation's 
participation in the stupendous war in Europe 
she has been found busily applying herself in 
skillful knitting of gamients and supplies for 
the Red Cross service and otherwise "doing 
her bit" to exemplify the ardent patriotism 
of American womanhood. 

Mrs. Dole was born in the state of New 
York, on the 6th of October, 1836, and is a 
daughter of P. J. and Mary (Derbyshire) 
Hooker, who were pioneer settlers of Seward 
county, Nebraska, and whose names merit 
enduring place on the roster of those who 
aided in the civic and industrial development 
of the territory and state. Mrs. Dole was 
reared and educated in her native state and 
after two of her brothers had returned home 
after valiant service as soldiers of the Union 
in the Civil war, the entire family came to the 
Territory of Nebraska, in 1866, settlement be- 
ing made in Seward county, the father, two 
sons, and two daughters taking homesteads. 
The comparative isolation and the primitive 
conditions that marked the life of Mrs. Dole 
during the pioneer period of her residence in 
Nebraska, could not in the least curb her in- 
tellectual activity or her ambitions, and she 
has grown in mental stature with the passing 
years, has shown abiding human sympathy 
and tolerance and has manifested her steward- 
ship in kindly words and kindly deeds. Mrs. 
Dole has been a member of the Congrega- 
tional church since she was fourteen years of 
age, and has exemplified her Christian faith 
in her daily life. Her marriage to J. G. Dole 
was solemnized in the year 1869, and her hus- 
band devoted the major part of his active 
career to brick manufacturing, he having been 
a resident of Beatrice at the time of his death, 
April 19, 1903. 

Mrs. Dole has maintained her home at 
Beatrice, judicial center of Gage county, since 
1889, and in establishing and developing the 
now extensive business of the Dole Floral 
Company she has demonstrated not only her 
executive ability and mature judgment, but 



also exemplified her desire to provide for hu- 
manity the gracious natural products that 
make for beauty and good cheer. Of this 
company specific mention is made on other 
pages. In her venerable years she is sus- 
tained and comforted by the filial devotion of 
her five children, concerning whom the fol- 
lowing brief data are available: Edward W. 
is engaged in fanning and is the subject of 
an individual record on other pages of this 
volume; Walter A., who was long and active- 
ly associated with the Dole Floral Company, 
has sold his property interests at Beatrice and 
is at the time of this writing, in the winter of 
1917, making provisions to establish his home 
in the state of Georgia ; Anna D. is the wife 
of George M. Johnston, who is manager of 
the Dole Floral Company, and who is indi- 
vidually mentioned on other pages of this 
publication ; Ella S. is the wife of Frederick 
von Boskirk, who is a successful farmer of 
Gage county and whose life work is portrayed 
elsewhere in this volume ; and Elbert J- is en- 
gaged in the photographic business in the city 
of Lincoln, this state. 

JAMES B. McLaughlin was a gallant 
young veteran of the Civil war when he made 
his first visit to Nebraska, in the year that 
marked the admission of the state to the 
Union, and in the autumn of the same year 
he returned to Illinois, where he wedded the 
gracious young woman who was to prove his 
devoted companion and helpmate during the 
remainder of his long and useful life and who 
is still living. In the spring of 1868 they set- 
tled in Sherman township. James Brady Mc- 
Laughlin was a man of sterling character and 
high ideals, and he bore his full share of the 
burdens and responsibilities incidental to the 
march of progress in a pioneer locality, as 
proved by his civic loyalty and influence dur- 
ing the many years of his residence in Gage 
county and by the success which attended his 
activities as an exponent of agricultural and 
live-stock industry. He was one of the hon- 
ored and venerable pioneer citizens of Rock- 
ford township at the time of his death, which 
occurred September 12, 1914, and it is fitting 



386 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



that in this history be entered a tribute to his 
meinorj'. 

Mr. McLaughlin was bom at McKeysport, 
Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th 
of January, 1841, and was a son of David 
and Hannah (Brady) McLaughlin, both na- 
tives of Westmoreland county, that state. The 
paternal grandfather of the subject of this 
memoir was John McLaughlin, who came 
from Scotland to America when he was a 
youth of sixteen years and who passed the 
residue of his life in Pennsylvania. The ma- 
ternal grandfather was a cousin of Samuel 
Brady, who achieved historic reputation as an 
Indian hunter. For fully a quarter of a cen- 
tury David McLaughlin served as a pilot on 
boats plying the Ohio river, and in 1857 he 
removed with his family from Pennsylvania 
to Rock Island county, Illinois, where he be- 
came a prosperous farmer and where he died 
in 1870, at the age of fifty-seven years, his 
widow having survived him by a number of 
years. They became the parents of eight sons 
and one daughter and all save one, the daugh- 
ter, are deceased. 

James B. McLaughlin gained his youthful 
education in the schools of the old Keystone 
state and was sixteen years old at the time 
of the family removal to Illinois, where he 
supplemented his education by attending 
school during several winter terms, when his 
services were not in requisition in connection 
with the work of the home farm. Mr. Mc- 
Laughlin was twenty years of age at the out- 
break of the Civil war and in 1862 he en- 
listed, for a three months' term, as a pri- 
vate in Company F, Sixty-ninth Illinois Vol- 
inUeer Infantry. He was assigned to guard 
duty over the great number of Confederate 
prisoners held at Camp Douglas, Chicago, and 
in the atuunin of 1862, he was an escort of 
such of these prisoners as were taken to 
X'icksluirg, Mississippi, for exchange. He 
continued in service three months after the 
expiration of his term of enlistment and then 
received his honorable discharge, at Camp 
Douglas. In 1865 he again enlisted, for the 
duration of the war, and after being mustered 
in he was sent to New Orleans, whence he 



was transferred to Mobile. Finally he was 
assigned to guard duty at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, where he was taken ill with fever and 
confined in a hospital two months. He was 
finally discharged, on account of physical dis- 
ability, and he arrived at his home in Illinois 
in the autumn of 1865. There he remained 
until 1867, when he came to Nebraska, and 
after a tour of investigation he decided to 
establish his residence in Gage county. In 
Section 1, Sherman township, he entered 
claim to a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, and also made entry on an addi- 
tional two hundred acres in the same town- 
ship. He then returned to Illinois, and in 
March, 1868, he there wedded Miss Phoebe 
King, who was bom in New York city, on 
the 30th of August, 1843. Her father' was 
an expert in cotton manufacturing and as 
such was employed in various important cot- 
ton mills in the eastern states. Mrs. Mc- 
Laughlin is a daughter of James and Char- 
lotte (Allen) King, who were natives of Man- 
chester, England, where the father was over- 
seer in a large cotton factory until 1840, when 
he came with his wife and two children to the 
United States, Mrs. McLaughlin having been 
the sixth of the ten children born. Two of 
her brothers are deceased and three of her 
sisters are living in 1918. She received good 
advantages and developed her marked musical 
talent under most favorable auspices. At the 
age of twenty-one years she went to Illinois 
and engaged in the teaching of music, which 
she there continued until her marriage. It 
may well be understood that her musical tal- 
ent came in for marked appreciation in the 
pioneer community after she came with her 
husband to Gage county, and both became 
zealous in church work, as members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, as well as popu- 
lar factors in the representative social activi- 
ties of the county. In pioneer reminiscence 
Mrs. McLaughlin states that in early days she 
and her husband attended church sen-ices in 
the old Dobbs school house, where they also 
served in the sessions of the Sunday school 
On many an occasion Mr. and IMrs. Mc- 
Laughlin were dinner guests in the home of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



387 




James B. McLaughlin and Family 



388 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Dobbs, and she states 
that no family in Gage county has been more 
benis,'nant in influence than the Dobbs family, 
both in the pioneer days and in later genera- 
tions, her kindly mark of appreciation being 
one that will be specially appreciated by the 
editor of this history of the county. In the 
early days Mrs. McLaughlin often rode home 
on horseback after having visited at the resi- 
dence of "Father and Mother Dobbs," and 
frequently one of their young sons would be 
her escort. 

Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin remained on 
their farm in Sherman township until 1881, 
when they sold the ])roperty, with the inten- 
tion of removing to California. After a visit 
to the old home in Illinois, however, they de- 
cided to return to Gage county, and here Mr. 
McLaughlin purchased the farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres on which he passed the 
remainder of his life and on which his widow 
still maintains her home, near the village of 
Rock ford. He made excellent improvements 
on the place and it is one of the attractive 
rural homes of Rockford township. No chil- 
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin 
but they adopted and reared a boy and girl, 
the latter of whom is deceased. The home 
of Mrs. McLaughlin is endeared to her by 
the hallowed memories of the past, and in the 
association with friends who are tried and 
true she is passing the gracious evening of 
her life in peace and comfort, loved by all 
who have come under her gentle influence. 

In politics Mr. McLaughlin was a stalwart 
supporter of the cause of the Republican 
party, he was actively affiliated with Rawlins 
Post, No. 35, Grand Army of the Republic, 
at Beatrice, and was also a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. His life was guided and 
governed by the highest princpiles of integ- 
rity and honor, and naught better than this 
can be said of any man. 

CHARLES R. HITE, president and gen- 
eral manager of the Blue Valley ^lercantile 
Company, of Beatrice, has the securest of 
status as one of the representative business 
men and progressive citizens of the fine me- 



tropolis and judicial center of Gage county. 
He was bom at Marion, Iowa, February 2, 
1862, and is a son of Eli and Elizabeth (Run- 
ner) Hite, the former a native of Ohio and 
the latter of West Virginia, their marriage 
having been solemnized in Iowa, where the 
parents of Mrs. Hite established a home in 
the early '50s. Eli Hite was reared and edu- 
cated in Ohio and became a pioneer settler 
near Marion, Linn county, Iowa, where he 
owned land and reclaimed a good farm. 
Later he was thirty years engaged in the ex- 
press and transfer business at Shenandoah, 
Page county, Iowa, where he died when about 
seventy-seven years of age and where his 
widow still resides, the subject of this review 
being the eldest of the three children ; Addie 
became the wife of Marshall Morgan, who is 
now deceased, and she maintains her home in 
the city of Beatrice, Nebraska ; and Frances 
is the wife of Michael Gauss, who is engaged 
in the drug business at Sheridan, Iowa. Eli 
Hite was a Democrat in pMjlitics and was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
as is also his venerable widow. His father. 
John Hite. passed his entire life in Ohio, 
where the family was founded in an early day. 
and he was a farmer by vocation. John Run- 
ner, maternal grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, was a pioneer in Iowa, where both 
he and his wife died. 

In the public schools of Shenandoah, Iowa, 
C. R. Hite continued his studies until he 
had attained to the age of fifteen years, and 
thereafter he ser\-ed a three years' appren- 
ticeship to the baker's trade, at Shenandoah. 
In the same town he then clerked five years 
in the grocery department of a general store, 
and in 1887, as an ambitious young man of 
twenty-five years, he came to Nebraska and 
settled at Giltner, Hamilton county, where he 
was employed three years in a general mer- 
chandise establishment. He then became 
associated with James Sherard in purchasing 
the store and business, and Mr. Hite contin- 
ued as a member of the firm for the ensuing 
three years. For several years thereafter he 
was a successful traveling salesman for the 
wholesale grocery house of Hargreves Broth- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



389 



ers, of Lincoln. Upon severing this alliance 
he assumed a similar position with the whole- 
sale grocery house of Groneweg, Schotgen & 
Company, of Lincoln, with which concern he 
was connected in this capacity until 1904. In 
the meanwhile he had established and main- 
tained his home in Beatrice, and in the .year 
last mentioned he here became associated with 
three partners in establishing a fruit and vege- 
table business. Two years later the business 
was incorporated under the present title of 
the Blue Valley Mercantile Company, and the 
scope of operations was extended to include 
a wholesale grocery and confectionery busi- 
ness, the operations of the company being now 
based on a capital stock of two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars and its trade being ex- 
tended and well established throughout Ne- 
braska and Kansas, so that the concern has 
contributed much to the commercial prece- 
dence of Beatrice, where is maintained the 
large and well ordered wholesale house. It 
has already been noted that Mr. Hite is presi- 
dent and general manager of the company ; 
Gilbert L. Griffith is vice-president ; and 
Harry S. Ahlquist is secretary and treasurer. 
Besides these executive officers the directorate 
of the company includes also William E. Rife 
and Joseph Bouske. When the principals in 
the company established the original enter- 
prise each made an investment of only two 
thousand dollars, and at the time of incorpora- 
tion the capital stock was placed at thirteen 
thousand dollars. No better evidence of the 
splendid growth of the enterprise can be of- 
fered than the statement that the capitalistic 
investment is now two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars and that the annual business 
averages fully seven hundred and fifty thous- 
and dollars, a corps of seven efficient travel- 
ing salesmen being retained and the number 
of employes at headquarters being about fif- 
teen. It is an admirable record of achieve- 
ment that has been made by Mr. Hite in the 
business world and his success has been won 
entirely through his own ability and efTorts. 
He is liberal and public-spirited in his civic 
attitude, as behooves one who has been thus 
greatly prospered in business, and his politi- 



cal allegiance is given to the Republican party. 
He holds membership in the United Commer- 
cial Travelers' Association, is a member of the 
Congregational church, and his wife holds 
membership in the Episcopal church. 

December 31, 1891, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Hite to Miss Jemima Armstrong, who 
was born in Scotland, and who was a child at 
the time when her parents came to the United 
States and settled in Illinois, where her father 
engaged in farm enterprise. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hite have two daughters, both of whom re- 
main at the parental home and are popular 
figures in the social life of Beatrice: Ethel 
received the advantages of the public schools 
of Beatrice and also completed a four years' 
course in the Nebraska Agricultural College ; 
the younger daughter. Hazel, has been gradu- 
ated in the Beatrice high school. 

FRANK T. SCHOWENGERDT, M. D., 
whose character and professional attainments 
have given him secure vantage-ground as one 
of the representative physicians and surgeons 
of Gage county, is established in the general 
practice of his profession at Cortland, where 
he has maintained his residence since 1911. 
He is a valued member of the Gage County 
Medical Society, and is identified also with 
the Nebraska State Medical Society and the 
American Medical Association. 

Dr. Schowengerdt was born in Warren 
county, Missouri, December 2, 1875, and is the 
younger of the two surviving children of John 
and Amelia (Schaake) Schowengerdt, the 
former of whom was born in Franklin county, 
Missouri, in 1846, a member of a sterling pio- 
neer family of that state, his parents, Mr. and 
Mrs. Frederick Schowengerdt, having come 
from Germany to America about the opening 
of the nineteenth century and having estab- 
lished their home in Missouri, their acquain- 
tanceship having been formed and their mar- 
riage solemnized after they had come to the 
United States. John Schowengerdt, a farmer 
by vocation, passed his entire life in Missouri, 
where he died on the 11th of October, 1888. 
His first wife, mother of the Doctor, was born 
in Germany, in 1854, and her death occurred 



390 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBR.\SKA 



in 1882. For his second wife John Schowen- 
gerdt married Emina Xiemeyer, who was born 
in Warren county, Missouri, and of the three 
children of this union the two survivors still 
reside in Missouri. Emma, the other surviv- 
ing child of the first marriage, is the wife of 
William Dorsett and they reside at Alton, 
Illinois. 

Dr. Schowengerdt passed the period of his 
childhood and early youth on the home farm 
and as a lad of thirteen years began working 
on the farm of his uncle, Frederick Schowen- 
gerdt, of Osage county, Missouri. In the 
meanwhile he had made good use of the ad- 
vantages of the public schools and in 1894 he 
entered Central Wesleyan College, at War- 
renton, Missouri, in which institution he pur- 
sued a general academic course during a period 
of three years. In 1897 he was matriculated 
in the Marion Sims Medical College, in the 
city of St. Louis, which institution is now the 
medical department of St. Louis University, 
and in this celebrated institution he was gradu- 
ated as a member of the class of 1902, with 
the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He gained 
most valuable clinical experience by serving 
eleven months as an interne in the Alexian 
Brothers' Hospital, St. Louis, and three 
months in the St. Louis Female Hospital. In 
1903 he engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession at Morrison, Missouri, whence, three 
years later, he removed to Brownsville, Texas, 
m which place he continued in the active prac- 
tice of medicine until 1911. when he came to 
Gage county and established his home at 
Cortland. Here he has built up a substantial 
and representative practice that attests alike 
his professional ability and his personal popu- 
larity. The Doctor gives unswer\ing alle- 
giance to the Republican party, is afifiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity and the Modem 
Woodmen of America, and he and his wife 
hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
churcli. When the United States entered the 
European war, in 1917, Dr. Schowengerdt 
made application for appointment as medical 
officer in the Medical Resen-e Corps of the 
army, but physical inability caused his appli- 
cation to be rejected. 



July 8, 1903, Dr. Schowengerdt wedded 
Miss Mary E. Smith, who was bom and 
reared in Osage county, Missouri, a daughter 
of George and Henrietta Smith. Jklr. Smith 
was bom in Germany, came to America when 
young, and was a loyal soldier of the Union in 
the Civil war, he having thereafter become 
one of the prosperous farmers of Osage 
county, Missouri. Dr. and Airs. Schowen- 
gerdt became the parents of five children — 
Irene, Waldo, Grace, Gladys, and Frances. 
Waldo and Gladys died in early childhood 
and the other children remain at the parental 
home. 



HOMER J. MERRICK.- If a man comes 
of a good family he ought to be proud of it 
and he performs an immeasurable duty when 
he employs the best means to preser^'e the 
family record in enduring form, that future 
generations may receive instruction through 
principles and influences, personality and ca- 
reers of the ancestors. 

The subject of this biography can trace his 
ancestry from the same source that gave the 
worid such persons as John Greenleaf Whit- 
tier, Ralph A\'aldo Emerson and Frances Mer- 
iam Whitcher. The Merricks are descended 
from the Welsh Royal family and King El- 
wood I of England, and the first representa- 
tive of the family in this country, came over 
in 1636. 

The parents of our subject were Austin 
and Sylvia (Whitcher) Merrick, natives re- 
spectively of Connecticut and Vermont. The 
paternal grandfather was accidentally killed 
on the Erie canal while making a trip to west- 
em Pennsylvania. His wife was named Alden, 
and was a direct descendant of John Alden,' 
whom Longfellow made famous "in his poem 
entitled "The Courtship of Miles Standish." 
The matemal grandparents were Stephen and 
Esther (Emerson) W^hitcher, who were prob- 
ably uncle and aunt of the poet, John Green- 
leaf \\Tiittier, and Grandmother Whitcher was 
closely related to that other distinguished 
author, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Frances Mer- 
lam Whitcher, author of the "Widow Bedott 



I 




j4. 9~. ^^P^Lc^L.^..^^ 




I 





g4 cMj^yiA^<^^k 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



395 



Papers," was a sister of the mother of Homer 
J. Merrick, of this review. 

Austin Merrick located at Pleasantville, 
Venango county, Pennsylvania, and was a 
merchant and farmer who resided there until 
his death, in 1875, at the age of seventy-five 
years. He was married three times, the 
mother of our subject being his second wife. 
She passed away in Pennsylvania in 1849, at 
the age of forty years. 

Homer J. Merrick was born at Pleasant- 
ville, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1846. He 
was reared on a farm and attended village 
school until the outbreak of the Civil war. 
When just past his seventeenth birthday he 
enlisted, in December, 1863, in Company B, 
One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania 
Volunteer Infantry, for three years, or dur- 
ing the war. His regiment was detailed to 
Bridgeport, Alabama, where it arrived in 
time to join the Atlanta campaign and par- 
ticipate in the battles of Resaca, Dallas, Kene- 
saw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and the 
Siege of Atlanta, and thereafter it was with 
General Sherman on the historic march from 
Atlanta to the Sea. Subsequently the com- 
mand went up through the Carolinas and was 
present at the Grand Review at Washington, 
the greatest military- pageant ever seen on the 
western hemisphere. 

Returning home, Mr. Merrick attended the 
State Normal School at Edinboro, Pennsyl- 
vania, two years, and later was a student in 
a commercial college at Cleveland, Ohio. In 
1869 he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
took a homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Section 22, Adams township. He 
purchased a wagon, team of horses and some 
implements and began farming. His first 
home was a dug-out in which he lived and 
kept bachelor's hall the first year. He board- 
ed then with neighbors, breaking prairie for 
them. He would haul grain to Nebraska 
City and bring back to Beatrice a load of 
lumber, the trip requiring five days. As time 
passed, he prospered. In 1875 Mr. Merrick 
bought land in Section 16, Adams township. 
This he improved with good buildings, and 
there he continued his operations as an agri- 



culturist, meeting with the success which al- 
ways comes as the reward of industry and in- 
telligently directed effort. 

On the 21st of December, 1870, Mr. Mer- 
rick was united in marriage to Miss Lucy 
A. Lyons, a native of Kenosha county, Wis- 
consin. Her parents, John and Almira 
(Shaw) Lyons, became residents of Gage 
county in 1857, settling in Adams township, 
where they spent the remainder of their lives. 
The father was a native of Litchfield county, 
Connecticut, and the mother was bom in 
Dutchess county, New York. The ancestors 
of Mrs. Merrick were of English descent. 
Her grandfather, John Lyons, was born in 
England. On the maternal side is shown a 
direct descent from Richard Hicks, who came 
to America from England on the ship "For- 
tune," in 1621, this being the second vessel 
to arrive after the "Mayflower." Mr. and 
Mrs. Merrick became the parents of seven 
children, as follows : Frank A. and John H. 
are deceased ; Julia, is the wife of Dr. Tur- 
ner, of Sterling, Nebraska; Dell, is the wife 
of J. M. Burnham, of Adams township ; 
Olive R. is the wife of R. B. Winter, of 
Adams township ; Homer C. resides in 
Adams ; and Sylvia is deceased. 

Mr. Merrick contributed his full share to 
the agricultural development of Gage county, 
and until 1907 was engaged in general farm- 
ing and the raising of Shorthorn cattle, both 
branches of his business yielding him a sub- 
stantial income. He made judicious invest- 
ments in farm lands and is today the owner 
of thirteen hundred acres. In 1893 his neigh- 
bors, recognizing his ability and worth, 
elected him to represent them in the lower 
house of the state legislature. He was re- 
elected, and served two terms, to the entire 
satisfaction of his constituents. Among the 
many measures which he introduced and 
which have found place on the statute books 
of this commonwealth was a bill authorizing 
the building of the Soldiers' Home at Mil- 
ford. His community has been benefited by 
his wise council and he has efificiently filled all 
of the offices of his township. In 1898 he 
received an injury which necessitated his 



396 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



leaving the farm, and he was appointed and 
sen-ed as postmaster of Adams for five 
years. He was one of the organizers of the 
First State Bank of Adams, which is now 
the First National Bank, and he has since 
helped to shape its policy by serving as a 
director. He is now vice-president of the 
institution, of which he was cashier for one 
year. Mr. Merrick is president of the Farm- 
ers' Elevator Company of Adams and was 
at one time interested in a hardware busi- 
ness. His religious belief coincides with the 
doctrines of the Methodist church, of which 
he and his wife are members. In politics 
Mr. Merrick is a Republican, and fraternally 
he is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons and several of the other Ma- 
sonic bodies. He maintains pleasant rela- 
tions with old army comrades by membership 
in Sargeant Cox Post, No. 100, Grand Army 
of the Republic. Mr. Merrick is an honor- 
able representative of a noble family, and 
while he has achieved success which places 
him among the men of afHuence in his county 
and state, he has not been remiss in any duty 
and enjoys the respect and confidence of all 
with whom he has come in contact. 

ROBERT 11. STEINMEYER, cashier of 
the State Bank of Holmesville, of which his 
father. John H. Stcinmeyer, is president, is a 
member of a prominent and influential Gage 
county family, concerning which adequate 
mention is made on other pages of this work. 
Mr. Steinmeyer was born in Saline county, 
Nebraska, August 25, 1889, and in his youth 
he attended the public schools of Clatonia, 
Gage county, besides having taken a higher 
course in an academy in the city of Lincoln. 
His active career as a business man has been 
marked by his close association with banking 
enterprise, and he is giving most efficient ser- 
vice as cashier of the State Bank of Holmes- 
ville, which bases operations upon a capital 
stock of ten thousand dollars, and which now 
has in surplus and undivided profits a fund 
of more than one hundred thousand dollars, 
the substantial institution proving an im- 
portant adjunct to the industrial and commer- 



cial facilities of this section of the county. 
In addition to his executive senice at the 
bank Mr. Steinmeyer has developed a pros- 
perous business in the buying and shipping of 
live-stock. 

In politics Mr. Steinmeyer is found 
aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of 
the Republican party and he has served as 
township clerk, as has he also as a member 
of the school board of Holmesville. He is an 
appreciative and popular member of Beatrice 
Lodge, No. 619, Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks, of which he is serving, in 
1918, as esteemed lecturing knight. His wife 
holds membership in the Brethren church. 

October 15, 1913, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Steinmeyer to Miss Mabel Gish, who was 
bom and reared in this county and who is a 
daughter of James W. Gish, a representative 
farmer of Rockford township. Mr. and Mrs. 
Steinmeyer have one child. Phyllis, who was 
born in 1917. 

JOSEPH C. DELL merits consideration in 
this historj' as one of the representative far- 
mers and valued citizens of Rockford town- 
ship, and also by reason of being a member 
of one of the sterling pioneer families of the 
county, where the family home was estab- 
lished when he was a lad of twelve years. 

Mr. Dell was born in Owen county, In- 
diana, October 8, 1863, and is a son of Isaac 
and Lydia (Summers) Dell, both natives of 
Ohio, where the fornier was born March 4, 
1834, and the latter on the 5th of August. 
1838, their marriage having been solemnized 
in Indiana. Isaac Dell was an honored pio- 
neer who passed the closing years of his life 
in Gage county, where he died June 1, 1904, 
and his widow now resides in Rockford town- 
ship. They became devout members of the 
Church of the Brethren, in which he gave 
earnest service as a minister for many years. 
Isaac Dell was a son of Peter Dell, who was 
bom in Pennsylvania, of German ancestr>-, 
and who removed from that state to Ohio, 
whence he later went to Indiana, where he re- 
sided a number of years. He then returned 
with his family to Ohio, where he continued 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



397 



to live until his death, he having been a cabi- 
net-maker by trade. Jacob Summers, ma- 
ternal grandfather of the subject of this re- 
view, removed from Ohio to Indiana, in which 
latter state he passed the remainder of his 
life, a farmer by vocation. Isaac Dell ac- 
quired in his youth the trade of carpenter and 
he followed the same in Owen county, In- 
diana, until 1869, when he removed with his 
family to Harrison county, Iowa, where he 
became a pioneer contractor and builder. In 
1876 he came with his family to Gage county, 
where he purchased and improved a farm, 
besides continuing for many years in the 
active work of his trade, in which connection 
he erected many buildings of excellent order 
that still remain as evidences of his skill as 
a carpenter. He was a man of fine mind and 
fine character, ever commanding the unquali- 
fied respect of his fellow men, and he was one 
of the honored pioneer citizens of Gage county 
at the time of his death. He took loyal in- 
terest in community affairs and was a Repub- 
lican in politics. Of his family of two sons 
and six daughters all are living except one 
daughter: Ida is the wife of John G. Van 
Dyke, a farmer near Grand Junction, Col- 
orado; Julia is the wife of John A. Cullen, a 
farmer near McPherson, Kansas; Joseph C, 
of this sketch, was the next in order of birth ; 
Jacob is a prosperous farmer in Rock ford 
township and is also a minister of the Church 
of the Brethren ; Mary, who became the wife 
of William H. Pair, is deceased ; Martha is 
the wife of Irvin Frantz, of Sherman town- 
ship; Hattie is the wife of Henry J. Frantz, 
of the same township; and Susan is the wife 
of Alvah C. Heaston. who is engaged in the 
automobile business at Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Joseph C. Dell acquired his preliminary 
education in the public schools of Iowa and 
after the family removed to Gage county he 
continued his studies in the district schools 
and also in the select school of Professor 
Blake, at Beatrice. His entire mature life 
has been marked by active association with 
the basic industries of agriculture and stock- 
growing, and through the medium of the same 
he has achieved definite success and advance- 



ment, his prosperity representing the direct 
result of his own efforts. His original inde- 
pendent farm operations were conducted on 
land which he rented, and finally he purchased 
eighty acres in Rockford township, to which 
he added, two years later, by the purchase of 
an adjoining tract of eighty acres. After 
making good improvements on this farm he 
traded the property for his present fine home- 
stead farm, which now comprises three hun- 
dred and sixty acres, with the best type of 
buildings, the handsome house having been 
erected by him, as have been also the other ex- 
cellent farm buildings which mark the place 
as a model farm. Mr. Dell is the owner also 
of a landed estate of twelve hundred and 
eighty acres in western Kansas. 

In the year 1888 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Dell to Miss Mollie Cullen, 
daughter of James K. and Christena Cullen, 
who were bom in Virginia and who came to 
Gage county in 1885. Concerning the chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Dell the following brief 
record is offered : Claude has the supervision 
of his father's large landed estate in Kansas; 
Ernest is associated in the management of the 
home farm; Lela is the wife of Earl Frantz 
and both are attending school at McPherson, 
Kansas, Mr. Frantz being a minister of the 
Brethren church ; Carl Dell likewise is attend- 
ing school at McPherson ; and Alilton, Joseph 
C, Jr., and Lois remain at the parental home. 
Mr. Dell and his family are earnest mem- 
bers of the Church of the Brethren, and in 
politics he is aligned with the Republican 
party. As a progressive fanner he is giving 
special attention to the raising of pure-bred 
Short-horn cattle and Percheron horses, and 
at the time of this writing he has about fifty 
head of horses and an equal number of cattle 
on his farm. His progressiveness extends 
also to his status as a citizen and he takes deep 
interest in community affairs, though he has 
no ambition for public office. 

SAMUEL MOWRY, to whom this me- 
moir is dedicated, was one of the honored 
pioneers of Gage county and more than thirty 
years ago he was summoned to "that undis- 



398 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 





HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



399 



covered country from whose bourne no trav- 
eler returns." To him, as a man of sterHng 
character and worthy achievement, a tribute 
is due in this history of the coimty in which 
he established his home in the year following 
that in which the Territory of Nebraska was 
admitted to statehood. 

Samuel Mowry was born in Darke county, 
Ohio, on the 19th of June, 1847, and was a 
son of Jacob and Susan Mowry, who were 
natives of Pennsylvania and who became 
early settlers in Ohio, where they passed the 
remainder of their lives. Samuel Mowry was 
reared on the farm of his father and gained 
his youthful education in the schools of his 
native county. In 1868, as an ambitious and 
resolute young man of twenty-one years, he 
severed the ties that bound him to the old 
Buckeye state and set forth to establish a 
home in the west. In that year he arrived 
in Gage county, Nebraska, and here he ob- 
tained a homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres, the same constituting the southwest 
quarter of Section 7, Blue Springs township. 
Not a furrow had been turned on the prairie 
land and on the same no improvement of any 
kind had been made. Mr. Mowry's first 
house on his homestead was a little and primi- 
tive shanty, ten by twelve feet in dimensions 
and constructed of lumber cut from the na- 
tive Cottonwood trees, the logs having been 
hauled by him to Blue Springs, where they 
were sawed into rough boards. As he had 
learned in his native state the trade of stone 
mason, Mr. Mowry was able to provide some- 
what better foundation for his modest house 
than those commonly in evidence in the pio- 
neer community. He excavated a cellar and 
walled it up with stone, this being covered 
with a board roof. This embryonic house 
served as his place of abode several years. 
He set resolutely to work in subduing the vir- 
gin prairie and making it available for culti- 
vation, and as the years passed he developed a 
productive farm, besides making good im- 
provements on his farm. Here he continued 
his vigorous and productive activities as a 
farmer until the close of his earnest and useful 
life, his death having occurred on the 28th of 



February, 1887. He was a man of strong and 
noble character, was a loyal citizen, a true 
friend and a devoted husband and father — a 
person whose death entailed a distinct loss to 
the community in which he had long lived and 
labored to goodly ends. His political allegi- 
ance was given to the Republican party, but 
he never sought or desired public office of any 
kind. He was an earnest and consistent mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is 
also his widow, who has been a resident of 
Gage county since her childhood. 

After coming to Gage county Mr. Mowry 
was here united in marriage to Miss Malissa 
Harpster, who was born in Seneca county, 
Ohio, and who is a daughter of the late Solo- 
mon Harpster, to whom a memoir is entered 
on other pages of this volume. Mrs. Mowry 
shared with her husband in the trials and re- 
sponsibilities of pioneer life and after the 
gracious marital ties were severed by the 
death of Mr. Mowry she remained on the 
farm for a number of years, during which 
she showed marked acumen and judgment in 
its management. For several years past she 
has maintained her home in the village of 
Blue Springs, and few of the pioneer women 
of the county have a more interesting fund of 
reminiscences pertaining to the pioneer period 
of Gage county history. April 10, 1918, rep- 
resented the fiftieth anniversary of the day 
when with her parents she crossed the Blue 
river and entered the little pioneer hamlet of 
Blue Springs, this county, the village at that 
time having had but one store. Concerning 
this primitive mercantile establishment Mrs. 
Mowry has given the following statement: 
"About all that was sold in the store was 
green cofifee, brown sugar, calico and patent 
medicine, and more of these commodities were 
sold to the Indians than to white persons, 
simply by reason of the fact that the Indians 
were greatly in preponderance in the locality 
at that time." Mrs. Mowry was a girl when 
she thus came with her parents to Gage 
county and she states that at the pioneer home 
of the Harpster family it was not unusual 
even to look up from work and see one or 
more Indians peering in at the window. Mr. 



400 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



and Mrs. Mowry became the parents of four 
children, of whom two, George and Freder- 
ick, died in infancy. Edgar married Miss 
Anna Brinley and they reside in the city of 
Lincoln, this state, and Miss Leafy remains 
with her widowed mother in the pleasant 
home at Blue Springs. 

TH(JM.\S M. .M.\RTL\" was an honored 
pioneer who established his residence in Gage 
county in the year that marked the admission 
of Nebraska to statehood, and his was also the 
distinction of having been a gallant soldier of 
the Union in the Civil war. lie reclaimed and 
developed one of the fine farm properties of 
Sherman township and there continued his 
residence until the time of his death, which 
occurred January 27, 1917. A man of sterl- 
ing character and one who accounted well for 
himself in all the relations of life, it is fitting 
that in this history be incorporated a tribute 
to his memory. 

Thomas M. Martin was born in Union 
county, Indiana, on the 20th of December, 
1836, and was a son of Thomas and Marj' 
(Miller) Martin, the former a native of Scot- 
land and the latter of Pennsylvania. 

The subject of this memoir was but three 
years of age at the time of his father's death, 
and the widowed mother eventually came to 
Nebraska and took up a homestead claim in 
Pawnee county, where she passed the remain- 
der of her life. She contracted a second mar- 
riage and had two children by each marriage, 
all being now deceased. 

After his marriage, in 1859, Thomas M. 
Martin continued his association with farm en- 
terprise in Clinton county, Indiana, until the 
outbreak of the Civil war caused him to 
subordinate all else to tender his aid in de- 
fense of the Union. In August, 1862, he en- 
listed as a member of Company K, Seventy- 
second Indiana \'olunteer Infantn-, and with 
this valiant command he continued in service 
more than three years — until the close of the 
war. Mr. Martin took part in many of the 
historic campaigns and battles of the great 
conflict between the states of the north and 
the south, and among the various engagements 



in which he participated may be noted the bat- 
tles of Chickamauga, Stone's River, Mission- 
ary Ridge, Selma (Alabama), and Hoover's 
Gap. He was with his regiment in the At- 
lanta campaign and was present at the battle 
of Atlanta, the burning of that city, and with 
Sherman on the subsequent march to the sea. 
In later years he vitalized the more gracious 
associations of his military career by his af- 
filiation with the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic. After the close of the war Mr. Martin 
continued his association with farm activities 
in Indiana until 1867, in the autumn of which 
year he set forth, in company with his wife 
and their three children, for the frontier as 
represented in the new state of Nebraska. 
The long and wearj^ journey was made with a 
team and covered wagon and thirty-four davs 
elapsed before the little family party arrived 
in Gage county, on the 4th of October. Mr. 
Martin entered claim to a homestead of one 
hundred and sixty acres, in Section 19, Sher- 
man township, and here initiated the reclaim- 
ing of a farm from the prairie wilderness. 
He and his brave and loyal wife endured to 
the full the tension incidental to frontier life 
and in the early days he was compelled at 
times to seek outside employment in order to 
provide for the needs of his family. With a 
courage equal to that which he had evinced as 
a soldier on the battlefields of the south, Mr. 
Martin girded himself for the winning of the 
victories of peace, and with the passing years 
success and independence crowned his earnest 
efforts. He developed one of the fine farm 
properties of Sherman township, and this 
estate, still retained by his widow, comprises 
two hundred and eighty acres, Mrs. Martin ij 
still remaining on the fine old homestead which ' 
is hallowed to her by the gracious memories 
and associations of the past. In the early days 
the home was isolated, with the nearest neigh 
bors far removed, and Mrs. Martin frequent- 
ly passed many weeks with her children in 
the pioneer home without seeing any other 
white person than the members of her own 
family, though Indians were still much in evi- 
dence. For a number of years Mr. Martin 
gave his attention to the operation of a thresh- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



401 



ing outfit, and on one occasion he handled 
work of this order on the site of the present 
court-house in the city of Beatrice. He was 
a Democrat in politics and was always a 
leader in the supporting of measures and en- 
terprises tending to advance the civic and ma- 
terial welfare of his home community and 
county. 

In Clinton county, Indiana, in the year 1859, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Martin 
to Miss MaT}r Dailey, who was born in Wash- 
ington county, that state, on the 4th of Sep- 
tember, 1840, a daughter of James and Eliza- 
beth (Feeler) Dailey, the former a native of 
North Carolina and the latter of Virginia: 
they were pioneer settlers in Indiana, where 
they passed the remainder of their lives and 
where the father was a prosperous farmer. 
In conclusion of this paragraph is given brief 
record concerning the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Martin : Mary E. is married and re- 
sides in the state of Colorado ; James W. is a 
prosperous farmer in Sherman township ; 
Charles W. is engaged in farm enterprise in 
Rockford township ; T. Malon is a substantial 
agriculturist and cattle-grower in Colorado ; 
John M. rents the old homestead fami, on 
which he and his wife remain with the wid- 
owed mother, and of him more specific men- 
tion is made elsewhere in this volume; Lillie 
is the widow of William R. Rainey and re- 
sides with her mother on the old home place ; 
and Ira Jackson is a substantial farmer near 
Liberty, this county. 

From another source have been gained ad- 
ditional data of genealogical and personal 
order that will consistently supplement the- 
foregoing narrative. Thomas ]Martin, father 
of the subject of this memoir, was boni in 
Scotland, in the year 1809, and at the age of 
fifteen years he came to America in company 
with his father and two brothers, settlement 
being made at Louisville, Kentucky, the 
father later removing to Indiana and buying a 
tract of land, which he divided among his 
sons. Thomas Martin was a young man when 
he wedded Miss Mar)' Aliller, who was born 
in Pennsylvania, in 1812, a daughter of Peter 
and Kate (Hafiford) Miller, who removed to 



Indiana soon after the close of the war of 
1812. Thomas Martin died in 1838 and his 
widow passed away in 1876. They became 
the parents of six sons and one daughter, all 
of whom are now deceased. 

Thomas M. Martin made his initial visit to 
Nebraska in 1858, a year prior to his marriage, 
and it was not until after he had later made a 
fine record as a soldier in the Civil war that 
he finally came with his family to Nebraska 
and established a permanent home, as noted 
in preceding paragraphs. He never sought 
office, but did well his part in the advancing 
of the communal prosperity, his interest in his 
old comrades of the Civil war having been 
shown through his affiliation with Scott Post, 
No. 37, Grand Army of the Republic, at Blue 
Springs. 

FREDERICK L. POTHAST has been 
cashier of the Farmers' State Bank of Pick- 
rell from the time of its organization, in 1904, 
has been a resourceful and progressive execu- 
tive and wielded primary influence in the up- 
building of this substantial financial insti- 
tution of Gage county. He is not only one 
of the principal stockholders of this bank but 
is also the owner of a valuable landed estate 
of four hundred acres in Gage county — -two 
hundred and forty acres in Holt township and 
the remaining one hundred and sixty acres in 
Highland township : his farms are leased to 
and operated by efficient tenants. 

Mr. Pothast was born in Stephenson county, 
Illinois, June 4, 1878, a son of David and 
Mary (.Wendt) Pothast. He was but two 
years old at the time of his father's death, 
and his mother later became the wife of Fred- 
erick J. Smith, to whom a memoir is dedicated 
on other pages of this work, so that further 
review of the family history is not demanded 
in the present connection. Mr. Pothast was 
a child of two years when he accompanied his 
mother and stepfather to Gage county, where 
he was reared to manhood and was given the 
advantages of the public schools of the vil- 
lage of Cortland. After his graduation in 
the high school he taught two terms of dis- 
trict school and in 1898 he entered a commer- 



402 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



A ' 




o 




A 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



403 



cial college in the city of Omaha. In this in- 
stitution he was graduated in the following 
year and he then entered into partnership 
with his stepfather, Mr. Smith, in the gen- 
eral merchandise business at Cortland, the 
enterprise having been conducted under the 
firm name of F. J. Smith & Company. In 
1901 Mr. Pothast and his brother Edward L. 
engaged in the agricultural implement busi- 
ness at Cortland, and after he sold his interest 
in this business, in 1903, he was for about one 
year a traveling representative for the Inter- 
national Harvester Company, in the mean- 
while maintaining his headquarters in the city 
of Lincoln. In May, 1904, Mr. Pothast be- 
came the organizer of the Farmers' State 
Bank at Pickrell, and of the same he has since 
been the cashier, as previously noted. In a 
frame building on the north side of the main 
street of the village the bank initiated busi- 
ness, after having been incorporated with a 
capital stock of five thousand dollars. Here 
operations were continued until 1912, when 
was erected the present modern and hand- 
somely appointed bank building, and the busi- 
ness of the institution is now based on a capi- 
tal stock of twenty thousand dollars, while its 
deposits are in excess of three hundred thou- 
sand dollars. The bank has been a valuable 
medium for the facilitation of industrial and 
commercial activities in this part of the 
county and is conducted with conservative 
policies but also with well ordered progress- 
iveness. Edward Bauman, a representative 
farmer of Holt township, is president of the 
institution, and its vice-president, Christopher 
Spilker, is likewise one of the prosj>erous 
farmers of Holt township. 

Though he is distinctly liberal and loyal in 
his civic attitude and a staunch supporter of 
the principles of the Republican party, Mr. 
Pothast has manifested no ambition for pub- 
lic office or political preferment of any kind. 
He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, 
as a member of the Beatrice lodge. Ancient 
Free & Accepted Masons, in the city of 
Beatrice, and he and his wife are zealous 
members of the United Brethren church at 
Pickrell, he being a member of its board of 



trustees and having contributed liberally to 
the erection of the present church edifice. 

December 12, 1900, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Pothast to Miss Delia Clark, who was 
born in Virginia and who was a child at the 
time when the family home was established 
on a pioneer farm in Lancaster county, Ne- 
braska, where she was reared and educated. 
She is a daughter of T. A. and Iva (Kinche- 
loe) Clark, both of whom likewise were born 
in the historic old Dominion state. The father 
died when about seventy-five years of age, 
and the mother is still living, at Firth, Ne- 
braska. Mr. and Mrs. Pothast have two win- 
some little daughters, Audrey and Mildred. 

ROBERT NICHOLAS — A history of 
Gage county would be incomplete without a 
record of the man whose name introduces the 
review. Mr. Nicholas was one of the very 
early pioneer settlers in Gage county, having 
come to Nebraska in 1860 and having settled 
in Gage county several years prior to the ad- 
mission of the state to the Union. 

Robert Nicholas was born in Glanstonbury, 
Somersetshire, England, in December, 1832, 
and his death occurred on his old homestead 
in Gage county, Nebraska, in 1913. His 
gracious wife, whose maiden name was Mary 
Ann Plucknett, was likewise born and reared 
in Glastonbury, England, but their acquaint- 
anceship was formed in the state of Illinois, 
where their marriage was solemnized and 
whence they came to Gage county in the ter- 
ritorial period of Nebraska history. Here 
Mrs. Nicholas passed the remainder of her 
life, and she was one of the venerable pio- 
neer women of the county at the time of her 
death, in 1910, at the age of seventy-six years. 
Robert Nicholas was reared and educated in 
his native land, and was an ambitious youth of 
eighteen years when he came to the United 
States and established his residence in Ohio. 
From that state he later removed to Hancock 
county, Illinois, where his marriage occurred 
and where he continued to be identified with 
farm enterprise until 1860, when he set forth 
for Nebraska Territory, transporting his fam- 
ily and little supply of household goods by 



404 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



means of wagon and ox team. Upon his 
arrival in Gage county he entered claim to a 
homestead of wild prairie land in Sections 29 
and 30, Grant township, where as soon as 
possible he completed a rude log house as the 
family domicile. With the ox team he then 
began' vigorously the breaking of the virgin 
soil, and he and his noble wife endured the 
trials and hardships of the early pioneers. 
With the passing of the years prosperity at- 
tended the energetic and efficient efforts of 
Mr. Nicholas and he added materially to his 
landed estate. He continued farming until 
his death and developed one of the best farms 
in Gage county. He raised and fed cattle 
upon a large scale, and was one of the first 
men in Nebraska to raise hay from the tame 
grasses. In the early days trains would be 
stopped when passing his farm in order that 
the passengers might view his fine fields, and 
officials of the railroad company sent sam- 
ples of his timothy and clover back to the east, 
in exploiting the fine resources of this section 
of Nebraska. Before the admission of the 
state to the Union and prior to the Civil war, 
Mr. Nicholas hauled wheat by team and 
wagon to St. Joseph, Missouri, and from the 
money received in payment for the same he 
purchased a corn-planter. This was the first 
implement of the kind put into commission in 
Gage count)', and when he arrived in Bea- 
trice the citizens gathered about to view the 
novelty, most of then not knowing to what 
purpose the machine was to be applied. On 
the old homestead were born all the children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas, and it may well 
be understood that to these children many 
gracious memories attach to the place. 

Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas were the parents of 
six children, as follows : Frank E. is success- 
fully established in the creamery business in 
Dewitt, Saline county; Alfretta is the wife of 
Walter W. Barney, president of the State 
Bank of Dewitt ; Norton B. died when about 
five years of age; Jessie N. is the wife of 
Frank Buss, of Hunter, Oklahoma ; George 
W. is now postmaster of Dewitt, and concem- 
him a record will be found on other pages of 



this publication ; Elizabeth is the wife of 
Frank O. Ellis, of Beatrice. 

M.\RTIN F. EICKMANN. — That surety 
of vision and judgment that makes for defi- 
nite success in connection with the practical 
affairs of life is being signally exemplified in 
the business career of Mr. Eickmann, who is 
a young man well entitled to classification 
among the efficient and progressive business 
executives of Gage county and its metropo- 
lis. He has won advancement through his 
ability and efficient service and now holds the 
responsible office of secretary of the German 
Savings & Loan Association, one of the strong 
and well ordered financial and fiduciary insti- 
tutions of this section of his native state. 

Mr. Eickmann was born in Thayer county, 
Nebraska, on the 9th of July, 1889, a son of 
Christ and Mary (Sorge) Eickmann, both 
natives of Germany — the former having 
been born in Brandenburg, in 1861, and the 
latter in the province of Hanover, in Oc- 
tober, 1866. Christ Eickmann was a boy at 
the time of the family immigration to America 
and was reared and educated in the state of 
Wisconsin, where he received the advantages 
of the public schools of Fond du Lac and 
where also he served an apprenticeship to the 
tailor's trade. He was eighteen years of age 
when he accompanied his father to Nebraska, 
the journey being made from Omaha to Grand 
Island by way of the Union Pacific Railroad 
and from the latter point they walked over- 
land to their destination in Thayer county, 
this state. Though he had virtually no finan- 
cial resources he purchased one hundred and 
twenty acres of land in Thayer county even- 
tually, and with the passing years substantia) 
success crowned his activities as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower. He became one 
of the representative farmers of Thayer 
county, where he continued to reside until 
his death, which occurred in July, 1908, his 
widow being still a resident of that county. 
His father, Christ Eickmann, Sr., likewise be- 
came a pioneer farmer of Thayer county and 
after there acquiring one hundred and twenty 
acres of land the father returned to Wiscon- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



405 



sin to make provision for bringing the re- 
mainder of his family to the new home. He 
achieved independence and prosperity in con- 
nection with the development of the natural 
resources of Thayer county and there he and 
his wife passed the remainder of their lives, 
he having followed the trade of wagonmaker 
during the period of his residence in Wiscon- 
sin. Frederick Sorge, maternal grandfather 
of the subject of this review, came with his 
family to America in 1862 and became one of 
the very early settlers of Thayer county, 
where he developed a valuable farm, and he 
is now a resident of the village of Deshler, 
where he is honored as one of the sterling and 
venerable pioneer citizens of Thayer county. 
Christ Eickmann, Jr., was a man of splendid 
energy and of superior mentality, so that he 
was well equipped for leadership in com- 
munity afifairs. In a basic way he gave sup- 
port to the principals of the Democratic party 
but in connection with local matters he held 
himself independent of strict partisan lines. 
He served for a number of years as a mem- 
ber of the school board of his district and 
otherwise he gave his earnest support to those 
things that tend to advance the general wel- 
fare. His religious faith was that of the Ger- 
man Lutheran church, of which his widow 
likewise is a zealous communicant. Of their 
five children four are living and of the num- 
ber, Martin F., of this sketch, is the eldest ; 
William remains with his widowed mother on 
the old homestead farm in Thayer county, as 
did also Richard until he entered the national 
army being raised to represent the United 
States in the great European war, he being at 
the present time (in the winter of 1917) with 
his command at Camp Funston, Kansas ; 
Arthur, youngest of the four sons, remains 
on the old home farm. 

Martin F. Eickmann acquired his prelim- 
inary education in the Lutheran parochial 
schools of Thayer county and supplemented 
this by an effective course in Northwestern 
College, at Watertown, Wisconsin, his uncle, 
Martin Eickmann, having been at that time a 
member of the faculty of that institution. 
Prior to the death of his father Mr. Eickmann 



had completed a course in the preparatory de- 
partment of this college, and as the eldest son 
he thereafter gave his attention for a short 
time to the management of the home farm. 
His tastes and ambition, however, lay in other 
directions, and he came to Beatrice, where he 
completed a course in a business college, after 
which he obtained a clerical position in the 
Union State Bank of this city, at a salary of 
fifteen dollars a month. He so applied him- 
self as to make the best possible use of the 
experience gained, and by faithful and effi- 
cient service he won advancement. He con- 
tinued with this banking institution from 1909 
to 1914, in which latter year he was elected 
secretary of the German Savings & Loan 
Association, a position of which he has 
since continued the efficient and popular in- 
cumbent, this institution having been founded 
in 1913. By his own efforts Mr. Eickmann 
has achieved success and an inviolable repu- 
tation, and in the city of Beatrice he is the 
owner not only of his own attractive residence 
property, but also of a number of vacant city 
lots. His political allegiance is given to the 
Democratic party and he and his wife are 
active communicants of the Gentian Lutheran 
church. 

On the 14th of October, 1914, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Eickmann to Miss 
Blanche M. Purdy, who was born and reared 
in this county, her father, William W. Purdy, 
being now a resident of Beatrice, where he 
follows the trade of plasterer and controls a 
successful contracting business in this line. 
Mr. and Mrs. Eickmann have a fine little , 
son — Martin F., Jr., who was born July 9, 
1917. 

EUGENE P. MUMFORD. — He whose 
name introduces this review is not only one 
of the progressive and representative business 
men of Gage county, but is also a descendant 
of one of the well known and influential pio- 
neer families of this part of the state. The 
name of Mumford is prominently linked with 
the early history and industrial development 
of Gage county, where its original representa- 
tives settled in territorial days. Eugene is 



406 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



upholding the honors of the family name, and 
his business life has given impetus to indus- 
trial and civic advancement in Gage county. 
By reason of his being reared and educated 
on the broad prairies of Nebraska, with fresh 
air and sunny skies, and under the freedom of 
pioneer days, he learned the first principles of 
good citizenship from early experiences on 
the farm, and he has kept pace with the march 
of development and progress. 

"Gene," the name by which he is generally 
known, was born in Lafayette county, Wis- 
consin, on the 1st day of April, 1863. He is 
a son of John B. and Mary A. (Roach) 
Mumford, the fomier of whom was bom in 
Maryland, of English parentage, on Septem- 
ber 20, 1829, and the latter of whom was bom 
in Adams county, Ohio, of Holland and Eng- 
lish lineage. 

John B. Mumford first came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, in May, 1860, in company 
with his brother Ismay, who was the first 
county treasurer of the county, and whose son 
Dawson Mumford was the first white boy 
bom in the county. John B. Mumford re- 
turned to Wisconsin, and in 1865 he again 
came to Gage county, with his brother Jacob. 
He settled on one hundred and sixty acres of 
land, ten miles north of Beatrice on Bear 
creek, one of the best farming localities in 
the county. To this in later years he added 
by the purchase of two hundred and forty 
acres, making his estate one of four hundred 
acres. On his farm he continued to reside 
during the remainder of his life. 
^ Mr. Mumford was an enterprising citizen 
and had much to do with the development of 
the county, and it may be said of him that he 
continued to contribute his quota to the 
county's progress until his death, Febmary 
14, 1904. His widow, now (1918) eighty 
years of age, still resides in Gage county, hav- 
ing moved to Beatrice after the death of her 
husband, and is one of the venerable and re- 
vered pioneers of the county, she being among 
the very few of the original settlers left. Of 
the nine children bom to Mr. and Mrs. Mum- 
ford, six survive: Sarah E. is the wife of 
William A. Foreman, who was a successful 



fanner and is the owner of a good farm of 
four hundred acres, located six miles north- 
east of Beatrice. They have now retired and 
live in Beatrice. Charles B. is noted for his 
love of fine horses and has owned many good 
ones. Of late years he has been engaged in 
the automobile business at Beatrice. Eugene 
P. was the next in order of birth. Ida N. is 
the wife of Lawrence W. Epard, and they re- 
side upon the old homestead of her father, 
adjoining the old home place, John B. Mum- 
ford having relinquished the homestead in 
the early days to his sister. Frank W. is still 
living in the old home where he was bom. 
He is also an extensive live-stock shipper. 
Luther E., former principal of the Beatrice 
high school, is now living in Lincoln, Nebras- 
ka, and is engaged in school work. 

The late John B. Mumford took a decided 
interest in political and public affairs, and was 
always a Democrat. He did much to advance 
the party but never consented to be a candi- 
date for office. His religious faith was that 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his 
venerable widow is a member of the Christian 
church. 

Eugene P. Mumford was about two years 
old at the time the family moved to Gage 
county. He profited by the advantages of the 
country school and later attended the Blake 
Select School of Beatrice, but never com- 
pleted the regular course of study. He has 
devoted much time to reading, and had the 
good fortune of having association and friend- 
ship with such pioneer characters as J. B. 
Weston, George P. Marvin, Judge Alfred 
Hazlett, R. S. Bibb, and D. W. Cook, for all 
of whom he had much respect and who con- 
tributed much to his fund of useful informa- 
tion. He is a Democrat politically, as were 
his ancestors "from the time the memory of 
man runneth not to the contrary." He be- 
longed to the old school known as "gold" 
Democrats, and was opposed to free silver 
during the campaign on that issue. He was a 
student of Adam Smith on finance and be- 
lieved in a commodity basis for value. He 
has done much, with the assistance of his 
brother Frank, to build up the ranks of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



407 



party and has been twice recognized for loy- 
alty. He was appointed revenue collector for 
the southeast division of Nebraska during 
President Cleveland's administration, and al- 
though he filed his resignation at the end of 
four years, he was retained two years under 
President McKinley, owing to his familiarity 
with the service, and to the exigencies of the 
Spanish-American war. He was selected by 
Governor John H. Morehead as private secre- 
tary to that able executive during his several 
terms as governor of Nebraska. Mr. Mum- 
ford is now engaged in business at Beatrice. 
His reputation for absolute reliability in all 
transactions and his wide acquaintanceship 
and knowledge of affairs have established for 
him a good business in the real estate and in- 
surance enterprise, including the rental of 
properties, of which he has farm and city 
property to look after. He also has a furni- 
ture store, which he conducts with the assist- 
ance of his nephew, C. D. Mumford. 

On the 22d of June, 1898, Mr. Mumford 
was united in marriage to Lenda Mostert, 
who was born near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 
and came to Nebraska in 1878, when seven 
years of age. Mrs. Mumford is of German 
lineage, her people coming from Bavaria. 
She was studious during her school days and 
in 1888 was graduated with honor in the 
Beatrice high school. For ten years thereafter 
she was an instructor in the Beatrice schools. 
Mrs. Mumford has always been active in 
school affairs, and is held in high regard by 
her many friends and associates. She is a 
member of the Trinity Lutheran church and 
has taken an active part in the work of that 
organization. She is at the present time 
treasurer of the Young Women's Christian 
Association and is now serving her third 
term. Mr. and Mrs. Mumford are the par- 
ents of one son, Paul E., who was graduated 
at the Beatrice high school in the class of 
1918. 

CHARLES H. OJERS has been a resident 
of Nebraska for nearly half a century and 
since 1889 he has been numbered among the 
honored citizens and representative farmers 



of Lincoln township. Gage county, where he 
has made the best of improvements on a farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres that consti- 
tutes the northeast quarter of Section 3, this 
property having been a heritage received by 
his wife from the estate of her father, who 
was an influential pioneer of Nebraska. 

Mr. Ojers was born in Steuben county, 
New York, on the 15th of May, 1851, and is 
a son of John A. and Phoebe A. (Huntley) 
Ojers, the former of whom was born in the 
city of London, England, in 1821, and the 
latter of whom was born in Steuben county, 
New York, in April, 1823, a representative 
of one of the well known pioneer families of 
that section of the Empire state. In his 
native city John A. Ojers gained his youth- 
ful education and also served a thorough ap- 
prenticeship -to the shoemaker's trade. As a 
young man he came to the United States and, 
as a skilled workman, found employment at 
his trade. After his marriage he continued 
his residence in the state of New York until 
1856, when he removed with his family to 
Illinois and established his residence in Ogle 
county, where he continued in the work of his 
trade for a number of years. In 1874 he and 
his wife came to Nebraska, where he passed 
the remainder of his long and useful life, 
his death having occurred at DeWitt, Saline 
county, in 1909, at which time he was eighty- 
eight years of age. His venerable widow, 
who celebrated in the spring of 1917 the 
ninety- fourth anniversary of her birth, is one 
of the revered women of Gage county and is 
passing the gentle evening of her life in the 
village of Wymore. 

Charles H. Ojers was five years of age at 
the time of the family removal to Illinois, 
where he was reared to manhood and where 
his educational advantages were those of- 
fered by the common schools. There he gave 
his attention principally to farm work, being 
employed by the month, until he had attained 
to his legal majority, when, in 1872, he came 
to Nebraska and rented land in Johnson 
county. Under these conditions he there con- 
tinued his operations as a farmer until 1887, 
when he removed to Saline county and set- 



408 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



wt 


R 


1 






n 


^ni 


a*^ 


1 




■ ^^ 


1 


Ei 


^K^ 7 t 


i 




^^^^'^ 


1 


^V ^T 




i 






■ 


^^^^^^Kv 


WKmk, 


J 






I 



Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Ojers 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



409 



tied on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
which his wife inherited and which they still 
own. In 1889 they came to Gage county and 
established their home on their present at- 
tractive farm, upon which he has made ad- 
mirable improvements in the way of build- 
ings and other permanent evidences of thrift 
and good management, and which he has 
made one of the fine farms of Lincoln town- 
ship. He has been a vigorous and productive 
representative of farm industry during the 
many years of his residence in Nebraska and 
has achieved success worthy of the name. He 
is progressive and judicious in his business 
policies and in addition to his valuable farm 
holdings he is a substantial stockholder in the 
Blue Valley Mercantile Company of Beatrice. 
Though he has had neither time nor inclina- 
tion for political activity or public ofifice of 
any kind, he accords loyal support to the cause 
of the Republican party, and he is affiliated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
On the 20th of August, 1871, was solemn- 
ized the marriage of Mr. Ojers to Miss Fan- 
nie R. Rathburn, who was born in Ogle 
county, Illinois, and who is a daughter of the 
late Job B. Rathburn, an honored pioneer who 
accumulated a very extensive and valuable 
landed estate in southeastern Nebraska and 
was one of the prominent and influential 
citizens of Gage county at the time of his 
death. Of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. 
Ojers, Charles, who was born in 1872, died 
at the age of five years ; George L., born in 
1874, died in early childhood ; Annie R., who 
was born in 1874, is the wife of Edward 
Zobel and they reside with her parents on the 
latter's homestead farm, of which Mr. Zobel 
has much of the active management ; and 
Addie R., who was bom in 1881, is the wife 
of Essa A. Lash, a prosperous farmer in Sa- 
line county, where he operates a farm owned 
by his wife's father. Mr. and Mrs. Lash have 
six children — Lloyd, Myrtle, George, John, 
Mar}', and Gertrude. 

JEFFERSON B. WESTON. — Not too 
often and not through the agency of too many 
vehicles can be recorded the life history of 



one who lived so honorable and useful a life 
as did the late Jeiiferson B. Weston, who 
wrote his name in large and indelible char- 
acters on the history of the state of Nebraska, 
within whose borders he established his home 
three years after the creation of the original 
territory and fully six years prior to the re- 
duction of its area to the present limitations. 
He was one of the founders and builders of 
this now noble and opulent commonwealth 
and he gave the best of an essentially strong 
and loyal nature to the service of the terri- 
tory and the state ; his life course was guided 
and governed by the highest principles of in- 
tegrity and honor. As offering a somewhat 
intimate and assuredly earnest and consistent 
estimate of the man and his services, there is 
all of propriety in perpetuating in this memoir 
the following extracts from an appreciative 
article that appeared in the Beatrice Sun at 
the time of the death of Mr. Weston, who 
passed from the stage of life's mortal en- 
deavors on the ISth of September, 1905, 
minor elimination and paraphrase being in- 
dulged in the reproduction of these excerpts : 
"Mr. Weston was born at Bremen, Lincoln 
county, Maine, on the 3d of March, 1831, and 
thus he was nearly seventy-five years of age 
at the time of his death. He was a scion of 
the staunchest of colonial New England an- 
cestry and in his personality always mani- 
fested the sturdy and rugged characteristics 
of a strong and worthy ancestr>'. When he 
was about twenty years of age Mr. Weston 
entered Union College, at Schnectady, New 
York, and in this institution he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1856. In less 
than a year thereafter he joined the exodus 
of emigrants who were pushing their way 
westward, and in April, 1857, he came to the 
new territor}' of Nebraska, which then ex- 
tended from the Missouri river west to the 
Rocky mountains and from the fortieth par- 
allel to the Canadian border. He was one of 
the leaders of that band of intrepid men and 
women who, on board the old river boat 
'Hannibal,' on the 3d of April, 1857, while 
stuck on a sand bar opposite Doniphan, Kan- 
sas, entered into a compact to remain together 



410 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKL\ 



and locate somewhere in the new territor)' of 
Nebraska, with the definite purpose of there 
founding a city. He was the principal mem- 
ber of the committee representing this com- 
pany of pioneers, and this committee, upon 
personal inspection in May of that year, de- 
termined uf)on the site which comprises the 
original town of Beatrice as the location of 
the prospective city to be founded by these 
sterling pioneers, and Mr. Weston was one 
of the enthusiastic young men who made 
prompt answer when the roll of this company 
was called on the site of Beatrice, June 27, 
1857. From the date of his arrival in the 
territory Mr. Weston identified himself fully 
and vigorously with the activities of pioneer 
life. In the early days he engaged in various 
freighting ventures and with ox teams crossed 
the plains to Denver and other points, besides 
having gained his quota of experience in 
trading with the Indians and with mining en- 
terprise. Early in his career he was admitted 
to the territorial bar, and for some time prior 
to 1872 he gave considerable time and atten- 
tion to the practice of his profession, as one 
of the pioneer members of the bar of Gage 
county and its judicial center. 

"In the autumn of 1872 ^Mr. Weston was 
elected auditor of public accounts of the state 
of Nebraska, and by successive re-elections 
he continued the incumljcnt of this office from 
January, 1873, until January, 1879. From 
1873 to 1886 he and his family resided in the 
city of Lincoln, capital of the state, but with 
this exception he held continuous residence at 
Beatrice from 1857 until the time of his 
death. 

"From the brief data here presented it will 
be seen that Mr. Weston was closely identi- 
fied with the historj' of Nebraska from the 
beginning. He belonged to that class of 
frontiersmen who have in a large degree the 
constructive faculty. Possessed of the true 
pioneer spirit which looks far into the future 
and sees states rise from tenantless wilder- 
nesses and naked plains, he never wavered 
from his trust that here God had marked the 
outlines of a great commonwealth. He lived 
to see the justification of his faith and to par- 



ticipate in a large measure in the fruition of 
his hopes. 

"Not only was ]Mr. Weston the possessor 
of a liberal education but he was also a man 
of large intellectual life. Deliberate and con- 
servative in his judgment, he was accustomed 
to take an accurate and comprehensive view 
of human affairs. His clear, comprehensive 
way of looking at things made him one of 
the most useful members of the community 
in which he lived and also a useful and valued 
citizen of his state. His charity was large, 
his kindness of heart without bounds, and in 
his habits and associations he was the most 
democratic of men. With a generous, open- 
hearted faith in humanity and a deep-rooted 
faith in God, he came to the end of his long 
journey in an atmosphere of hope, courage 
and cheer that was infectious and touched all 
who came within the sphere of his benign in- 
fluence. Men loved him, and to hundreds in 
his home community and in other portions of 
the state the world will be lonelier and less in- 
viting without JefTerson B. Weston." 

Measured by its beneficence, its rectitude, 
its productiveness, its unconscious altruism, 
and its material success, the life of Hon. 
Jefferson B. Weston counted for much, and 
Nebraska is perpetually favored in that as a 
young man he allied himself with all of tho- 
roughness and completeness with its interests, 
grew with its growth and dignified and hon- 
ored the territon- and the state by his char- 
acter and his achievement. Standing in the 
light and unassuming glory of life and 
character like this, those of the younger 
generation of Americans may gain lesson and 
inspiration and feel the thrill of buoyant 
loyalty and patriotism, the while there can 
not fail to be appreciation of the splendid 
and ever widening influence which such a life 
implies. 

In the stability of his mature judgment Mr. 
Weston was well fortified in his opinions con- 
cerning economic and governmental policies, 
and he gave his political allegiance to the 
Republican party. Mr. Weston was asso- 
ciated with other representative citizens in 
the founding of the Beatrice National Bank, 



i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



411 



which received its charter in the autumn of 
1883, and by the original board of directors 
he was elected president of the institution, 
an office of which he continued the incumbent 
until his death — a period of nearly a quarter 
of a century. 

In 1860, at Nebraska City, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Weston to Miss Helen 
Towie, who was born at Hennepin, Illinois, 
a daughter of Albert and Catherine (Holt) 
Towle, who likewise were numbered among 
the honored pioneers of Nebraska. Mrs. 
Weston sur\-ived her honored husband and in 
her gentle and gracious womanhood she 
proved a true complement to his virile and 
upright manhood, so that the home relations 
were ideal during a devoted companionship 
that continued nearly half a century and that 
was broken only by the death of the husband 
and father. Mrs. W^eston passed to the life 
eternal on the 25th of February, 1917, and 
her memory is revered by all who came within 
the compass of her gentle and gracious influ- 
ence. Mr. and Mrs. W'eston became the par- 
ents of four children — Ralph A., Elizabeth 
L., Herbert T., and Katharine. Ralph A. iS 
now a resident of Millet, Alberta, Canada, 
and Katharine, who became the wife of 
Thomas E. Wing, was a resident of Scars- 
dale, New York, at the time of her death. 
Elizabeth L- and Herbert T. remain in 
Beatrice. 

JOSEPH LUTHER WEBB, M. D.— 
Large, definite, and benignant was the im- 
press which this honored pioneer left in con- 
nection with this historj' of Gage county, and 
no work purporting to give record concern- 
ing those who have here been the vigorous 
apostles of civic and material development 
and progress can be consistent with itself if 
there is failure to accord an earnest tribute 
of recognition to Dr. Webb. He was one of 
the very first physicians to establish residence 
and engage in practice in the little frontier 
community which was the nucleus of the 
present city of Beatrice, and it has well been 
said that "all through the rest of his life he 
was closely associated with every movement 



looking toward the development, growth, and 
social and material well-being of the com- 
munity. 

Dr. Webb was born on a pioneer homestead 
farm near the city of Springfield, Illinois, and 
the date of his nativity was August 1. 1837. 
He was a son of Luther Hiram Webb and 
Martha (Bellows) Webb, both representa- 
tives of sterling families that were founded 
in New England in the early colonial period 
of our national history. The Doctor was the 
sixth in order of birth in a family of seven 
children and the youngest of the number was 
Hiram P., who likewise became prominently 
identified with pioneer activities in Gage 
county, Nebraska. Concerning the early 
period in the career of Dr. Webb the follow- 
ing record has been prepared, and it is worthy 
of perpetuation in this connection : "When 
the Doctor was but ten years old his father 
and elder brother died, only a day apart, leav- 
ing the widowed mother and the surviving 
children on the pioneer homestead. In the 
face of most strenuous hardships and trials 
the devoted mother struggled to keep her 
family together and saw to it that each child 
was cared for and afforded the best educa- 
tional advantages offered in that pioneer 
locality, the capital city of Illinois having been 
a. mere village at that time. After having 
availed himself of the advantages of the local 
schools. Dr. Webb went to Springfield, the 
state capital, and there he prosecuted his 
study of medicine in the offices of several of 
the leading physicians of the place, this meth- 
od of preliminary training having been com- 
monly in vogue in the locality and period. At 
this time Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. 
Douglas and many other men w-ho attained 
to eminence were residing in Springfield, and 
the ambitious young student came to an ap- 
preciable extent under their influence, his 
life ever afterward having shown the strong 
characteristics that such association tended to 
develop. With characteristic ambition and 
zeal Dr. Webb pursued his medical studies 
and finally he found it possible to enter the 
Eclectic Medical Institute in the city of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, an institution of celebrity at 



412 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the time and one notable for leadership in the 
development of medical reform and advance- 
ment, — one that continues to the present 
day as a strong and influential school of medi- 
cine. In this college the Doctor was gradu- 
ated as a member of the class of 1871 and in 
the same year he established his permanent 
residence in Gage county, which he had pre- 
viously visited. In 1867 the new country rep- 
resented in Nebraska, which was admitted to 
statehood in that year, was being much 
talked about and exploited in the eastern 
states, and a group of young men from the 
vicinity of Springfield, Illinois, and including 
Dr. Webb and his brothers, decided to pay a 
visit to this new land of promise. Accord- 
ingly, they set forth, and they made the trip 
partly by stage, partly by rail, partly on horse- 
back, and for a considerable distance on foot, 
gaining much from each experience. Before 
returning the Webb brothers had acquired in 
Gage county a tract of land, as an investment. 
They then returned to their home in Illinois 
and after having prepared himself thoroughly 
for the work of his chosen profession Dr. 
Webb reverted to the favorable impression 
which Nebraska had made upon him, with the 
result that, in 1871, he came to Gage county 
and established himself as one of the pioneer 
physicians and surgeons in the embrj-onic 
city of Beatrice. 

"The countrj' was sparsely settled and the 
practice of medicine must needs be carried on 
without the aid of any of the modem con- 
veniences, such as laboratories, hospitals, 
telephones, automobiles, consultants, and 
stores where needed appliances could be ob- 
tained. The life of the self-abnegating and 
faithful physician was full of exposure, long 
and irregular hours and all manner of inci- 
dental hardships. Dr. \\'ebb's ministrations 
in the early days often involved the making 
of trips that required several days to com- 
plete, and on numerous occasions he found 
his buggy unavailable for further progress, 
so that he would proceed on horseback and 
at times even on foot — moved by an in- 
violable sense of stewardship and consecrated 
professional zeal. Travel would follow the 



trails and ridges, streams were to be forded, 
and the Doctor must needs be both physician 
and nurse in cases of emergency. Still, the 
services thus rendered seemed to be more on 
a basis of friendship than mere remuneration, 
and the heartfelt appreciation and affection- 
ate regard which these old-time physicians 
won proved a greater and worthier recom- 
pense than that of mere money. Such close 
and inviolable relationships are seldom pos- 
sible between the physicians of the present 
day and their clients. Later in life Dr. 
Webb was pleased to recount, with animation 
and appreciation, many stories of experience 
gained during these early years, when the 
buffalo, the Indian, the desperado sometimes 
crossed his path. He had unexpected meet- 
ings with many whose names are prominently 
associated with frontier annals in the west, 
as well as border outlaws and other insubordi- 
nate characters, but his genial personality and 
indomitable courage were such that such en- 
counters never resulted in specially unplea- 
sant experiences." 

Dr. Webb was humanity's friend in the 
highest sense of the expression, was tolerant 
and kindly in his judgment, and he labored 
earnestly and efficiently in the alleviation of 
suft'ering and distress — a guide and coun- 
sellor to many of the representative pioneer 
families of Gage and adjoining counties. He 
continued in active practice until within a few 
years prior to his death, and even after his 
retirement many of his former clients re- 
fused to receive ministration from any other 
source. He was loved and revered in the 
county which so long was the stage of his 
earnest endeavors, and the entire community 
manifested a sense of personal loss and be- 
reavement when he passed from the scene of 
this mortal life. Pertinent, indeed, are the 
following quotations : "Dr. Webb was a man 
of vigorous health, regular habits and temper- 
ate living. He was active in church and other 
Christian work, true to his friends and pos- 
sessed of an exceptionally broad education, 
with a philosophy in life that made him a 
pleasant member of any group in which he 
appeared. He made a trip into the country 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



413 




Dr. Joseph L. Webb, Sr. 



414 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



on the morning of May 12, 1911, returned 
and was with his family at noon. He went to 
his down-town office as usual, and there he 
was suddenly taken ill, passing into uncon- 
sciousness about sundown, and his death oc- 
curred near midnight. His demise was so 
unexpected that it came as a distinct shock to 
the community when it was announced the 
next morning." 

Associating themselves with other repre- 
sentative citizens. Dr. Webb and his brother 
Hiram P. were closely identified with the 
early development of the community. They 
gave freely of their time and energy in the 
furtherance of every movement that seemed 
to promise good to the interests of the com- 
monwealth, and the early annals of Gage 
county historj' give record of much which 
they did to accelerate social and material prog- 
ress in the county and especially the city of 
Beatrice. 

On the 2d of October, 1873, was solemnized 
the marriage of Dr. Webb to Miss Kate 
Louise Sheppard, daughter of G. W. Shep- 
pard, who had come with his wife and chil- 
dren from England to America in the preced- 
ing year and who established a home in Gage 
county. In conclusion of this memoir is 
given brief record concerning the children of 
Dr. and Mrs. Webb, the latter continuing to 
occupy the attractive old homestead in the 
city of Beatrice and being an earnest member 
of the Episcopal church: Hiram L., eldest 
of the children, now resides near the city of 
Binghanipton, New York ; James Edgar died 
in infancy ; Dr. Joseph Lewis Webb is indi- 
vidually mentioned elsewhere in this volume ; 
and Kate L. remains with her widowed 
mother, being prominent in the women's ac- 
tivities of the Centenan*' Methodist Episcopal 
church of Beatrice and also in the local and 
national affairs of the Young Women's 
Christian Association, the while she is a 
popular figure in the representative social life 
of her native city. 

HON. LEWIS B. BOGGS. M. D.. a man 
of distinguished intellectual and professional 
ability and high ideals, came with his family 



to Gage county in 1872, and it was given him 
to wield a large and benignant influence not 
only as a pioneer physician and surgeon of 
this section of the state, but also as a man of 
afi'airs and a citizen whose civic loyalty and 
exceptional talents made him a most influen- 
tial factor in public affairs in the count)' and 
state of his adoption. Now venerable in 
years, he and his wife maintain their residence 
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to which state 
they removed from Gage county in 1894. As 
sterling pioneers who represented the best in 
civic life in Gage county for many years, it 
is fitting that they be accorded recognition in 
this history. 

Dr. Lewis Bowen Boggs was bom at New- 
castle, Indiana, September 3, 1828, the fourth 
in order of birth in a family of seven children. 
His paternal grandfather, Andrew Boggs, was 
born and reared in Ireland and upon coming 
to America established his residence in Vir- 
ginia, in which historic old commonwealth he 
passed the remainder of his life. James 
Boggs, father of the Doctor, was bom in Vir- 
ginia, where he was reared and educated, and 
as a young man of twenty years he went to 
Indiana and settled in the pioneer town of 
Newcastle. There was solemnized his mar- 
riage to Miss Martha Stinson, who was bom 
in eastern Tennessee, October 26, 1806, her 
parents having removed from Tennessee to 
Indiana and having become pioneer- settlers 
in Henry county, where they passed the rest 
of their lives, the father, John Stinson, having 
there become a prosperous famier. James 
Boggs continued his residence in Henry 
county, Indiana, until his death, November 7, 
1842, and he there reclaimed and improved a 
valuable farm, his status having been that of 
a substantial and influential citizen of that 
section of the old Hoosier state. His widow 
survived him by nearly a decade and was 
summoned to the life eternal on the 6th of 
March, 1852. 

Dr. Lewis B. Boggs was but fourteen years 
of age at the time of his father's death and 
was thus early thrown upon his own re- 
sources. For a time he worked for his board 
and clothing, in the meanwhile finding it pos- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



415 



sible to attend school during the winter terms. 
His alert mentality was on a parity with his 
ambition, and he determined to obtain a liberal 
education. He continued to be associated 
with farm enterprise until he had attained to 
the age of twenty years, when he entered 
Wabash College. In this institution he com- 
pleted the full classical course, and after leav- 
ing college he was employed for one year in 
a grain elevator at Michigan City, Indiana. 
At Leesburg, that state, he then took up the 
study of medicine, under effective private pre- 
ceptorship, and he applied himself with such 
characteristic diligence and receptivity that 
three years later he was able to engage in 
active general practice, at North Manchester, 
Indiana. There he remained until 1858, when 
he removed to Neponset, Illinois, which lo- 
cality continued to be the stage of his effective 
professional labors until 1865, when he re- 
turned to Indiana and established himself in 
practice at Argos, Marshall county. There 
he retained a large and representative general 
practice until 1870, when, on account of his 
impaired health, he turned over his practice 
to his younger brother. In 1872 he came with 
his family to Gage county, Nebraska, where 
he purchased one hundred and eighty-five 
acres of land in what is now Filley township. 
For this property he paid only four and one- 
half dollars an acre and with the passing 
years he reclaimed it into one of the fine farm 
properties of the county. Here he gave his 
attention primarily to the raising of live stock, 
and when it became known throughout the 
pioneer community that he was a skilled 
physician and surgeon he was prevailed upon 
to resume here the practice of his profession, 
in the meanwhile continuing his farm enter- 
prise with the eft'ective assistance of his sons. 
Within a short time he built up a large prac- 
tice, the same extending over a radius of 
twenty miles, and he devoted himself earnest- 
ly and unselfishly to the alleviation of human 
suffering under conditions that involved ardu- 
ous work and many hardships. This pioneer 
physician thus gained the aft'ectionate regard 
of the entire community and his name is re- 



vered in the county where he thus lived and 
labored to goodly ends. 

In 1887 Dr. Boggs retired from the active 
practice of his profession, but he still retained 
most vital interest in community affairs and 
those of governmental and general public 
order. He became deeply interested in the 
cause of prohibition and was associated with 
others in establishing a prohibition publica- 
tion to which was given the name of the New 
Republic. He was actively associated with 
the management of this periodical, which was 
made an influential organ of the cause. Dr. 
Boggs was reared in the faith of the Demo- 
cratic party but prior to the Civil war he had 
become a staunch abolitionist, doing all in his 
power to remove the institution of human 
slavery from the nation. 

In 1876 Dr. Boggs was elected representa- 
tive of Gage county in the Nebraska legisla- 
ture, and he made a characteristically effective 
record in the promotion of wise legislation. 
He was assigned to important committees of 
the house of representatives, including the 
judiciarj' committee, and his loyal activities 
as a legislator were of that exalted order 
which was to be expected of a man of his 
temperament and ability. The Doctor has for 
many years been affiliated with the Masonic 
fraternity and he was one of the founders 
and a director of the first banking institution 
established in the village of Filley. He was 
loyal and liberal in the support of measures 
and movements tending to advance the gen- 
eral well-being of his home county. He was 
one of the most influential representatives of 
the Prohibition party in Gage county and in 
1884 was a presidential elector on the party 
ticket. He acquired a large landed estate in 
Gage county and was the true apostle of civic 
and industrial progress. 

In LaPorte county, Indiana, on the 26th of 
October, 1854, was solemnized the marriage 
of Dr. Boggs to Miss Virginia R. Eraser, a 
daughter of James and Sarah (Campbell) 
Eraser, the former of whom was bom at 
Alexandria, Virginia, July 3, 1798, and the 
latter in the city of Washington, D. C, in 
the year 1808. The parents were married in 



416 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the city of Washington and in 1834 became 
pioneer settlers in LaPorte county, Indiana, 
in which state they passed the remainder of 
their Hves. Mrs. Boggs was bom in LaPorte 
county, March 28, 1836, and was there reared 
and educated, she having been the third in a 
family of eight children.. Dr. and Mrs. 
Boggs became the parents of a fine family of 
thirteen children, and of the nine now living 
the names and respective dates of birth are 
here noted: James F., Januarv- 7, 1856; 
Charles S., June 19, 1857 (individually men- 
tioned on other pages of this work) ; Eva L. 
(wife of P. E. Plumb), November 19, 1858; 
Marj- Ellen (wife of William H. Andrew), 
August 5, 1860; Luther A., April 16, 1862; 
Thomas W., March 8, 1864; Benjamin F., 
-March 16, 1866; Alice C. (wife of H. H. 
Halliday), March 4, 1868; and Minnie (wife 
of George Scott), February 11, 1881. 

GUSTAVUS A. ERICKSON merits con- 
sideration in this work by reason of his secure 
status as one of the representative farmers 
and citizens of Sherman township. He was 
born in Mercer county, Illinois, on the 2d of 
August, 1871, and is a son of Peter and Susan 
Erickson, both natives of Sweden. Peter 
Erickson was reared and educated in his na- 
tive land and was a sturdy and ambitious 
youth of twenty years when he came to the 
United States. For some time thereafter he 
was employed at Galesburg, Illinois, where 
his marriage was solemnized, and in 1876 he 
removed with his family to Iowa, where he 
remained until 1884, as a farmer, and whence 
he then came to Gage county, Nebraska. Here 
he became the owner of a half-section of land, 
in Sherman township, and he developed this 
into one of the well improved and valuable 
farm properties of the county. He finally 
sold one hundred and sixty acres, but the re- 
mainder of the place he retained in his posses- 
sion until his death, in 1901, his widow being 
now (1918) seventy-eight years of age. Of 
their four children three are living and of that 
number the subject of this sketch is the eld- 
est ; Minnie is the wife of E. G. Crook ; Frank 
is deceased; and Ida is the wife of William 



Kresbaugh, who has charge of the old home- 
stead farm of Peter Erickson. Mr. Erickson 
was a Republican in politics and was an earn- 
est member of the Lutheni church, as is also 
his venerable widow. He came to the United 
States without other reinforcement than his 
individual energ)' and determined purpose, 
and he achieved worthy success through his 
association with farm enterprise. 

Gustavus A. Erickson was a lad of five 
years at the time of the family removal from 
Illinois to Iowa, and in the latter state he re- 
ceived his early education in the public 
schools. He was thirteen years old when his 
parents came to Gage county, and here he con- 
tinued to attend school at intervals, the while 
he assisted materially in the work of the home 
farm. After beginning independent oper- 
ations as a farmer he utilized rented land for 
five years, and he then purchased eighty acres 
of his present farm, the place now com- 
prising one hundred and sixty acres. In ad- 
dition to this homestead he owns other Gage 
county land of such amount as to make the 
area of his estate in the county four hundred 
acres, besides which he is the owner of four 
hundred acres in the state of Kansas. He has 
made excellent improvements on his homestead 
farm and in addition to carrying on well 
ordered operations as an agriculturist he raises 
each year a large number of cattle and swine 
of good type. 

Mr. Erickson is a stalwart Republican and 
he is serving in 1918 as chairman of the town- 
ship board. He is afifiliated with the Masonic 
fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of 
America and his wife and children hold mem- 
bership in the Christian church. 

In 1893 Mr. Erickson wedded Miss Mary 
Mangus, who was born in Illinois and who is 
a daughter of William Mangus, who came 
with his family to Gage county in 1883 and 
who was here the owner of a valuable farm 
estate of four hundred acres at the time of his 
death, he having been bom in Virginia and 
his wife, who survives him, having been born 
in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Erickson became 
the parents of five children, all of whom are 
living except the third, Nellie, who died at the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



417 



age of two years ; Oliver is a sophomore in a 
leading dental college in the city of Omaha ; 
Walter is now associated with his father in 
farm enterprise ; and Edith and Alva are at- 
tending the local district school. 

AMOS L. WRIGHT is one of the honored 
territorial pioneers of Gage county and has 
become one of the specially successful expo- 
nents of industrial and business enterprise in 
this section of the state — an influential citi- 
zen who now resides in the village of Vir- 
ginia, Sherman township, and who is properly 
given a tribute in this history of the county 
to whose development and progress he has 
contributed in generous measure. 

Mr. Wright was born in Menard county, 
Illinois, on the 27th of February, 1844, and 
there he gained ample experience in connec- 
tion with the work of the piorneer farm, the 
while he made excellent use of the educa- 
tional advantages that were afforded him, as 
shown by the fact that he became a successful 
and popular representative of the pedagogic 
profession after he became a pioneer of Gage 
county, Nebraska, where he taught school 
three winter terms. He was an ambitious 
young man of twenty-two years when, in 1866, 
he came to Nebraska Territory, which was ad- 
mitted to statehood in the following year. 
Here he found work as a farm hand, at a 
compensation of ten dollars a month, and 
finally he began the breaking and improving 
of his homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Section 10 Blakely township. In 
1868 he hauled from this pioneer farm to Ne- 
braska City three wagon-loads of wheat, rep- 
resenting his entire crop for that season, and 
for the same he received sixty cents a bushel. 
That the loads were not large in volume is 
vouched for by the fact that the sacks of 
grain were hauled on a wagon without side- 
boards. In 1867, with ox and horse teams, 
he broke up a part of his land, and in that 
year he was a member of a company, includ- 
ing Jacob Rutherford and seventeen other 
pioneers, who made their way to the west to 
assist in quelling insubordinate Indians, he 
and Mr. Rutherford being now the only sur- 



viving members of this expedition against the 
Cheyeime Indians, but in the connection they 
failed to encounter a single Indian except one 
who was dead. 

Mr. Wright reclaimed his farm into one of 
the productive tracts of Blakely township and 
there remained until 1886, when he removed 
with his family to Sherman township, where 
he purchased a tract of six hundred and forty 
acres — the south half of Section 14 and the 
north half of Section 23. On this fine estate 
he made the best improvements and engaged 
extensively in general farm industry, includ- 
ing diversified agriculture and the raising of 
live stock. Later he was engaged in the grain 
and lumber business in the village of Virginia, 
but he still retains possession of his land in 
Gage county. He passes a portion of each 
year with his children, in Gage county, where 
are many associations and memories that are 
hallowed to him and where his circle of friends 
is limited only by that of his acquaintances, 
and the intervening periods he customarily 
utilizes in visiting his daughter in California. 

In Gage county was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Wright to Miss Clara Wickham, who 
was born in Holt county, Missouri, July 27, 
1848, and they became the parents of three 
children : Frances A. is the widow of Joseph 
E. Penry and resides at Bostonia, California, 
she being the mother of three children ; Bessie 
is the wife of William Holm, a representative 
merchant at Virginia, Gage county, and they 
have two daughters ; and Fred A. is individu- 
ally mentioned in this publication. 

Amos L. Wright is a son of James and 
Elizabeth (Offiel) Wright, natives respective- 
ly of Ohio and Kentucky. James Wright re- 
moved, in company with one of his brothers, 
to Illinois in the pioneer days, and there he 
remained until 1867, when he came with 
other members of his family to the new state 
of Nebraska, where his son Amos L. has lo- 
cated in the preceding year. Here he became 
a pioneer farmer, though in earlier years he 
had given much attention to work at the car- 
penter trade, he and his brother John having 
built an old-time box bridge across the Sanga- 
mon river at Springfield, Illinois, in the pio- 



418 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




Mr, and Mrs. Amos L. Wright 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



419 



neer days. James Wright died on his farm 
in SaHne county, Nebraska, at the age of 
seventy-one years, his wife having preceded 
him to eternal rest. His father, George 
Wright, was riding horseback along one of 
the narrow pioneer roads of Ohio when a 
falling tree killed both the rider and the horse. 

JACOB KLEIN. — The career of this hon- 
ored pioneer merchant of the city of Beatrice 
has been significantly characterized by cour- 
age, confidence, progressiveness and impregn- 
able integrity of purpose. None has a more 
secure status as a representative citizen and 
business man of southeastern Nebraska, and 
to the people of Gage county his name and 
achievement are practically as familiar as the 
name of the county. Aside from being the 
executive head and the founder of one of the 
largest and best ordered department stores in 
this section of the state and having other 
capitalistic interests of important order, Mr. 
Klein has been signally loyal and helpful as a 
public-spirited citizen and as one who has been 
a force in the furtherance of the civic and ma- 
terial advancement and prosperity of the com- 
munity in which he has maintained his home 
for more than forty years and to which he 
came as an ambitious young man with very 
limited financial resources but with the fullest 
measure of determination and resourcefulness. 
He eminently deserves classification among 
those self-made men who have distinguished 
themselves for their ability to master the op- 
posing forces of life and to wrest from the 
hands of fate a large measure of success and 
an honorable name. Mr. Klein has not only 
been the dominating force in the upbuilding 
of the extensive mercantile business now con- 
ducted under the corporate title of Klein's 
Mercantile Company, but has identified himself 
also with the development and promotion of 
other business enterprises of importance, has 
been the loyal supporter of all measures tend- 
ing to conserve the general wellbeing of his 
home city, county and state, and has been 
called upon to serve in various positions of 
public trust, including that of member of the 
state senate. 



In the Upper Palatinate of the Kingdom of 
Bavaria, Germany, and not far distant from 
the historic old city of Bingen, on the Rhine, 
Jacob Klein was born March 31, 1846, — a 
scion of old and honored families of that sec- 
tion of the German empire, where his paternal 
grandfather, John Klein, a weaver by trade 
and vocation, passed his entire life, as did also 
the maternal grandfather, Conrad Weiser, 
who gave his allegiance to the great funda- 
mental industry of agriculture. Mr. Klein is 
a son of Jacob and Margaret (Weiser) Klein, 
both likewise natives of Bavaria, where each 
was born in the year 1805. The parents 
passed the closing years of their lives in Liv- 
ingston county, Illinois, where the mother's 
death occurred in 1874 and that of the father 
in 1879, their marriage having been solemn- 
ized in 1832 and both having been earnest com- 
municants of the Lutheran church. Of their 
five children the subject of this review is the 
youngest and the other two now living are 
Charles, who is a resident of Montana, where 
he is a retired farmer, and Katherine, who is 
the widow of Louis Moschel and maintains her 
home in the city of Beatrice. 

In the year 1855 Jacob Klein, Senior, inmii- 
grated with his family to the United States, 
and soon after landing in the port of New 
York city he continued his westward journey 
and settled in Tazewell county, Illinois. He 
had incurred an indebtedness of six hundred 
dollars incidental to transporting the family to 
America, and thus a double responsibility 
rested upon him after he had established a 
home in this country. For the first year he 
was employed by others, and he then rented 
a farm from an Englishman who furnished 
him with all requisite tools and appliances, and 
he continued his operations on this farm, in 
Tazewell county, for a period of nine years. 
His energy and good judgment brought him a 
full measure of success as an agriculturist, 
though in his native land he had followed the 
trade of weaver. Through his operation in 
the control of the farm mentioned Mr. Klein 
accumulated a sufficient reserve of money to 
justify him in purchasing a farm of his own. 
Under these conditions he bought, at the rate 



420 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of twenu-five dollars an acre, a tract of eighty 
acres in Livingston county, Illinois, and to the 
improving and cultivating of this homestead 
he continued to give his attention until the 
death of his loved and devoted wife, in 1874, 
when he sold the property to his son, Philip C, 
with whom he remained until he too passed to 
the life eternal, about five years later. The 
son Philip was a resident of Illinois at the 
time of his death and the other deceased mem- 
ber of the immediate family circle was John, 
who died when about seventy-nine years of 
age. 

He whose name introduces this review ac- 
quired his rudimentary education in his native 
land and was a lad of about ten years at the 
time of the family immigration to the United 
States. He was reared to manhood under the 
sturdy discipline of the farm and in the mean- 
while he profited by the advantages afforded 
in the schools of Tazewell county, Illinois, his 
attendance in the same having continued at in- 
tervals during a period of three years, the 
while he was not denied a full quota of stren- 
uous and practical experience in connection 
with the work of the home farm. Like many 
another reared under similar conditions, he 
has rounded out his education through effec- 
tive self-discipline and through the lessons 
gained through his long and successful busi- 
ness career, so that he has become a man of 
broad mental ken and mature judginent. Mr. 
Klein initiated his independent career as a 
farmer when he was about twenty-three years 
of age, and he continued his active alliance 
with farm industry' in Illinois until 1873, when, 
at the age of twenty-seven years, he came to 
Nebraska and numbered himself as one of the 
pioneers of Gage county. His marriage oc- 
curred about two years previously and upon 
coming to this county he established the fam- 
ily home in the small but aspiring little city 
of Beatrice. Here he forthwith fonned a 
partnership with Charles Moschcl and Emil 
Lang and they engaged in the retail grocer}' 
business, under the firm name of J. Klein & 
Company. Success attended the enterprise 
and within a few years its scope was enlarged 
by the addition of departments devoted to dry 



goods and men's clothing. The partnership 
alliance continued until 1887, in January of 
which year the three principals made an equit- 
able division of the business and stock, Mr. 
Klein at this time taking control of the dry- 
goods and clothing department of the enter- 
prise. With characteristic energy and good 
judgment he made himself a leader in antici- 
pating the demands of the public incidental to 
the development and growth of the county and 
its judicial center, and finally he developed the 
large and important general merchandise busi- 
ness which marks the present department 
store of Klein's Mercantile Company as one 
of the most metropolitan and efficiently con- 
ducted institutions of the kind in this part of 
the state. For the accommodation of the 
large and constantly increasing business Mr. 
Klein erected the large and substantial brick 
block which bears his name, the building being 
two stories in height, not including basement, 
and occupying a ground area twenty-five by 
one hundred and ten feet in dimensions. Here 
is conducted under most favorable conditions 
and arrangement the general department store, 
and every department is known for efficiency 
and acceptability of service, so that the sub- 
stantial enterprise has the firmest of founda- 
tions, even as the executive policies attest to 
the sterling integrity and the progressivness 
of Mr. Klein, as well as of his sons, who have 
become his valued coadjutors in the control 
and management of the important enterprise, 
— the reputation of the concern constituting 
its best commercial asset. In 1901 the busi- 
ness was incorporated under the present name, 
Klein's Mercantile Company, the charter given 
under the laws of Nebraska designating the 
capital stock at one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars. The honored founder, as 
president and general manager of the com- 
pany, continues as the executive head of the 
business, his eldest son, Jacob A., who is in- 
dividually mentioned on other pages, being 
vice-president of the company ; the second 
son, Frederick K., being secretarj' and treasur- 
er, and the youngest son, Frank E., likewise 
being actively associated with the business. 
In noting the financial and civic status of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



421 



Jacob Klein at the present time it is interest- 
ing to record that when he came to Beatrice 
his available capitalistic resources were sum- 
med up in about five hundred dollars. His 
success has not been an accident but rather the 
logical result of well applied energy and abil- 
ity, and his many friends in the community 
honor him the more for the fact that he has 
always been an earnest and productive worker. 
His communal loyalty has led him to make 
his liberality keep pace with his cumulative 
prosperity, and thus he has given capitalistic 
co-operation in the furtherance of other busi- 
ness enterprises. Among his other and note- 
worthy connections may be mentioned his ac- 
tive and prolific association with the Gage 
County Agricultural Society, he having been 
one of the twenty progressive citizens who 
organized this society. 

Well fortified in his convictions pertaining 
to governmental and economic policies, Mr. 
Klein has always been found arrayed as a 
staunch supporter of the cause of the Demo- 
cratic party, and he has been influential in its 
councils and campaign activities in this part of 
the state. He served one term as treasurer of 
Gage county, has been a valued member of the 
Beatrice board of education, and the high 
popular estimate placed upon him was signifi- 
cantly shown when, in 1909, he was elected 
representative of the Fourteenth district in the 
state senate. He proved a well poised, sane 
and vigorous figure in the deliberations and 
work of the senate and those of the various 
committees to which he was assigned, and was 
given the best of popular commendation 
through his re-election in 1913. He and his 
family are communicants of the Lutheran 
church and he takes deep satisfaction in giv- 
ing to his gracious and popular wife a due 
mede of credit for the aid she has given him 
in the furtherance of his success, the while her 
gentle and kindly personality has gained to her 
the afifectionate regard of all who have come 
within the sphere of her influence. 

In the year 1871 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Klein to Miss Catharine Moschel, 
who was boni in Germany and who came with 
her widowed mother, Mrs. Margaret 



(Schantz) Moschel, to America in the year 
1865, the father. Christian Moschel, having 
died in Germany about the year 1854, his vo- 
cation having been that of cabinetmaker. The 
widowed mother brought her five children to 
the United States and the home was estab- 
lished in Illinois, the mother having there 
passed the residue of her life, her death hav- 
ing occurred on a farm near Chenoa, McLean 
county, in 1886. Three of her sons, Louis, 
Charles, and Daniel, became pioneers of Gage 
county, Nebraska, where they settled in the 
70s, and all became representative citizens of 
the county. Mr. and Mrs. Klein have four 
children, and in a preceding paragraph it has 
been noted that the three sons are actively 
associated with the business founded by their 
father. The only daughter, Ida M., remains 
at the parental home and is a popular assis- 
tant to her mother. 

HERMAN M. REYNOLDS, M. D. — 
For all time must Gage county pay a tribute 
of veneration and honor to the late Dr. Her- 
man Meyer Reynolds, who was one of the 
foremost pioneer physicians and surgeons of 
this part of the state, who wielded large and 
beneficent influence in the furtherance of 
civic and material development and progress 
and who was a leader in all movements tend- 
ing to advance the welfare and growth of the 
beautiful little city of Beatrice, the metropo- 
lis and judicial center of Gage county. He 
aided in upbuilding Beatrice from a frontier 
village to its present status as one of the 
vigorous and important muncipalities of Ne- 
braska, and his was the distinction of being 
elected the city's first mayor. His life was 
significantly one of service, was marked by 
unwavering optimism and abiding human 
sympathy, and even this succinct record con- 
cerning his life and labors can not fail of les- 
son and incentive. He was one of the best 
known and most beloved pioneer citizens of 
Gage county at the time of his death, which 
occurred on the 26th of April, 1875. 

Dr. Reynolds was born at Shelldrake, Sul- 
livan county. New York, on the 15th of April. 
1832, and was a scion of one of the old and 



422 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



honored families of that section of the Em- 
pire state. A youth of alert mind and valiant 
ambition, Dr. Reynolds early determined, 
after having availed himself of the advantages 
of the common schools, to prepare himself 
for the medical profession, and finally he 
provided ways and means to complete a course 
in a medical college in the city of Albany, 
New York. After having received the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine he engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession, and his ability soon 
gained him recognition, with the result that 
success attended his earnest efforts in the work 
of his chosen calling. For two years prior to 
coming to the west the Doctor was engaged in 
practice in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, 
and he was one of the leaders in the fine col- 
ony that came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
located the town site of Beatrice, the county 
seat. He was thus one of the founders of this 
city and had the distinction of being not only 
its pioneer physician and surgeon, but also 
the first man elected as chief executive of the 
municipal government of the ambitious little 
city. In the work of his humane mission Dr. 
Reynolds spared himself neither mental nor 
physical ettort in the pioneer days, and he 
rode on horseback over the Nebraska prairies 
for miles in every direction from Beatrice, to 
carr)- relief and solace to those in affliction 
and distress. He ministered with all of his 
unselfish zeal and marked ability in the work 
of his profession and his kindliness and sym- 
pathy transcended mere vocation to become 
an actuating motive for helpfulness. Under 
these conditions it may well be understood 
that his name and memor)' are held in lasting 
reverence in the community in which he lived 
and labored to goodly ends. In the attractive 
brick residence which the Doctor erected at 
800 Market street he passed the closing period 
of his life, and there his venerable widow has 
maintained her home for more than forty 
years, the place and the community being en- 
deared to her by the hallow^ed memories and 
associations of the past and hers being gra- 
cious status as one of the loved pioneer 
women of Beatrice. In this connection it may 
consistently be noted that the first home pro- 



vided for Dr. and Mrs. Reynolds in Beatrice 
was a pioneer log cabin, the same having been 
situated at the corner of Fourth and Court 
streets. Mrs. Reynolds has thus witnessed the 
development of Beatrice from a frontier ham- 
let into a populous and prosperous city of 
twelve thousand inhabitants, and though she 
has passed the psalmist's span of three score 
years and ten she retains in splendid degree 
her mental and physical vigor and finds that 
in the gracious evening of her life her lines 
are "cast in pleasant places," her circle of 
friends in the community being limited only 
by that of her acquaintances. Dr. Reynolds 
was a man of vigorous intellectuality and ma- 
ture judgment, was well fortified in his views 
concerning governmental and economic poli- 
cies, and gave his political allegiance to the 
Republican party, his religious faith having 
been that of the Christian church. He and his 
wife were charter members of the church of 
this denomination in Beatrice and Mrs. Rey- 
nolds is still active in its work. 

At Beatrice, Nebraska, on the 20th of Oc- 
tober, 1861, was solemnized the marriage of 
Dr. Reynolds to Miss Naomi Barcus, who 
was born at Covington, Indiana, on the 20th of 
October, 1841, and who was an infant at the 
time of the death of her father, Jesse Barcus. 
Her widowed mother, whose maiden name 
was Mary Blodgett, later became the wife of 
Thomas Sherrill, and in 1859 they came to 
Nebraska and numbered themselves among the 
earliest settlers of Gage county, where they 
passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. Rey- 
nolds was reared and educated in the old 
Hoosier state and was about eighteen year' 
age w-hen she accompanied her mother and 
stepfather to Gage county, Nebraska, so that 
It may readily be understood that hers are 
vivid memories touching the conditions and 
influences that obtained in the early pioneer 
days. Dr. and Mrs. Reynolds became the 
parents of six daughters and one son, two 
of whom died in infancy; Elsie is the wid 
of George W. Loeber and maintains her hon. 
at Beatrice; Mollie is the wife of George F. 
Randall, a large rancher in Morrill county, 
Nebraska, Redington being their postofflce 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



425 



address; Ruth is the wife of Charles C. Far- 
low, of Beatrice, and Mr. Farlow is serving, 
in 1918, as deputy treasurer of Gage county ; 
Miss Josephine is an efficient and popular 
teacher in the public schools of Beatrice and 
remains with her widowed mother at the old 
homestead; and Hemiina is the wife of Harry 
E. Sackett, a representative Gage county law- 
year, to whom is accorded mention on other 
pages of this work. 

JOHN W. WRIGHT was a man whose 
sterling character gave him excellent equip- 
ment for being master of his own destiny, and 
though his financial resources were of the 
most limited order when he came to Gage 
county, forty years ago, he so directed his 
activities as to achieve large and worthy suc- 
cess. He was a pioneer merchant and fanner 
of this county, commanded the unqualified 
respect of all who knew him and it is most 
fitting that in this history be entered a tribute 
to his memory. 

John Wesley Wright was born in Hawkins 
county, Tennessee, May 27, 1852, and there 
he was reared and educated. At the age of 
twenty-four years he drove with team and 
wagon from Tennessee to Illinois and settled 
in Macoupin county, where he found employ- 
ment at farm work, including the cutting of 
wood, his compensation at the start being only 
eight dollars a month. The following year 
was marked by his turning his attention to 
independent farm enterprise in that county, 
and there also the ambitious young man, on 
March 18, 1877, wedded the gracious young 
woman who was to continue as his devoted 
companion and helpmeet during the remainder 
of his earnest and worthy life. In 1878 Mr. 
Wright made, with team and wagon, the over- 
land trip from Illinois to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and his wife joined him within a few 
months thereafter, she having made the jour- 
ney by railroad. Soon after his arrival in the 
county Mr. Wright purchased land in Filley 
township, the farm now owned by John A. 
Burbank, and with characteristic vigor and 
resourcefulness he initiated the improvement 
and development of this place. When the 



village of Filley was platted Mr. Wright 
erected one of the first buildings in the new 
town and assumed the management of one of 
the first mercantile establishments there 
opened. Eater he purchased the stock and 
business and for twenty-one years thereafter 
he there conducted a substantial and prosper- 
ous business as a dealer in hardware, agri- 
cultural implements, and groceries. After 
selling his original farm he purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres in Filley township, 
just outside the corporate limits of the village 
of the same name, and upon this homestead 
he erected good buildings and made other im- 
provements of excellent order. Here he be- 
came a most successful and progressive ex- 
ponent of agricultural and live-stock enter- 
prise and he eventually added much to the 
area of his landed estate, so that he left to his 
family at his death a valuable farm property 
of two hundred acres, his widow still remain- 
ing on the attractive homestead and having at 
all times been the popular chatelaine of a 
pleasant home known for its gracious hospi- 
tality. 

Mr. Wright was a man well fortified for 
leadership in community affairs and while he 
had no desire for political preferment he was 
a stalwart advocate of the principles of the 
Republican party and showed his civic loyalty 
by his efficient ser\'ice in the office of justice 
of the peace. He became a member of the 
Masonic fraternity when he was twenty-one 
years of age and continued his active affilia- 
tion throughout the remainder of his life. He 
was an earnest member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, to the support of which he 
contributed liberally and with a high sense of 
personal stewardship, and his widow likewise 
is a zealous member. 

In the year 1877, as previously intimated, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wright 
to Miss Ella E. Fetter, who was bom and 
reared in Macoupin county, Illinois, and who 
is a daughter of Adam and Amelia (McDon- 
ald) Fetter, the former of whom was born in 
[Germany and the latter in Morgan county, 
Illinois, where her parents were pioneer set- 
tlers. Mr. Fetter became a prosperous far- 



426 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



iner in Illinois and there he and his wife con- 
tinued to reside until their death, when well 
advanced in years. Of the eleven children 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Wright all are living 
except the last, who died in infancy ; Clara is 
the wife of J. R. Landon ; Cora B. is the wife 
of William B. Little and they reside in the 
city of Omaha; Charles is a bachelor and re- 
mains with his widowed mother, he having 
active management of the home farm; Minnie 
is the wife of Elon E. Hill of Omaha; Alice 
remains at the maternal home, as do also 
James and Lillie; Otis is married and resides 
in the village of Filley ; Ella is the wife of 
Guy Steece, a farmer in Logan township ; and 
Marie is the wife of Edward Dobbs, of Logan 
township. 

AARON PALMER. — An indomitable 
energy that has triumphed over seemingly 
great obstacles, as well as varied misfortunes, 
is that which had dominated Aaron Palmer 
during the varied stages of a remarkably 
earnest and productive business career in 
which he has rallied to his cause splendid 
initiative ability and has made each recurrent 
stroke of adverse fortune but a spur to re- 
newed effort. Depending entirely upon his 
own resources he has pressed forward along 
the line of worthy ambition and that he has 
arrived at the goal of substantial success and 
influence in connection with business opera- 
tions needs no further voucher than the fact 
that he is now president of the A. Palmer 
Company, of Beatrice, which conducts the 
largest and most complete house- furnishing 
establishment in the entire state of Nebraska, 
this important enterprise being controlled by 
himself and his wife, the latter of w-hom is 
secretarj' of the company, even as she has 
been his devoted and efficient coadjutor 
throughout the entire period of their ideal 
marital companionship. Mr. Palmer is wide- 
ly known through Nebraska as the "Fire 
King." and this title has been gained through 
his having purchased and sold a greater num- 
ber and quantitv of stocks of merchandise sal- 
vaged from tires than has probably any othet 
one man in Nebraska — in fact the foundation 



of his success having been laid through this 
means. The company of which he is now the 
executive head gives special attention to the 
buying and selling of bankrupt stocks, fire 
stocks, first and second hand goods, etc., and 
a prosperous business has been developed. 
The extensive and well ordered business es- 
tablishment of the A. Palmer Company at 
Beatrice gives twenty-six thousand square 
feet of floor space in the main sales and dis- 
]>lay rooms, at 119-123 North Fifth avenue, 
and in the company's warehouse and manu- 
facturing building, at 417 Ella street, are 
utilized twelve thousand seven hundred and 
fifty square feet of floor space. The opera- 
tions of the company are based on a capital 
stock of fifty thousand dollars, and of this 
the stock has been issued to the amount of 
thirty-one thousand dollars. The modern 
storage building owned and occupied by the 
company is a four-story structure with double 
walls and is moisture-proof. All save a few 
shares of the stock of the company are owned 
by Mr. Palmer and his wife. 

Aaron Palmer, known and honored as one 
of the most substantial and progressive busi- 
ness men of southeastern Nebraska and as a 
citizen of loyalty and liberality, has the dis- 
tinction of being a native of Nebraska and a 
scion of a family that was here founded in 
the early territorial days. He was born in the 
old frontier town of Brownville, Nemaha 
county, this state, on the 9th of February, 
1857 — a decade prior to the admission of the 
state to the Union — and he is a son of James 
and Elizabeth (Bell) Palmer, the former of 
whom was born in Missouri and the latter in 
Illinois, her mother having been a childhood 
schoolmate of Abraham Lincoln. James 
Palmer came from Missouri to Nebraska in 
1856 and became one of the early settlers at 
Brownville, in which vicinity he began the de- 
velopment of a small fami, besides raising 
various garden products that found ready de- 
mand in the frontier settlement. He died at 
Brownville when he was but forty years of 
age, leaving his wife to care for their seven 
children, of whom the subject of this sketch 
was the eldest. Mrs. Palmer bravely faced 



HISTORY Ol' --AGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



427 



the responsibilities that devolved upon her and 
in providing for her fatherless children mani- 
fested the utmost self-abnegation and ma- 
ternal solicitude. She continued to reside in 
Brownville until her death and was one of the 
revered pioneer women of Nebraska, her 
death having occurred when she was about 
seventy-two years of age. 

Reared in his native town to adult age, 
Aaron Palmer was about twenty-three years 
old at the time o-f his father's death, and as 
the eldest of the seven children, he applied 
himself earnestly to aiding his mother in car- 
ing for and rearing the younger children, to 
the support of whom he contintied to con- 
tribute until they were old enough to assume 
individual responsibility for their own main- 
tenance. Under such conditions it may read- 
ily be understood that the early educational 
training of Aaron Palmer was limited to a 
somewhat irregular and desultory attendance 
in the pioneer schools at Brownville, but his 
alert and receptive mind later enabled him to 
profit largely through the lessons learned 
under the preceptorship of that wisest of all 
head-masters, experience. In aiding in the 
support of the family he applied himself to 
whatever work he could obtain, and finally he 
learned the trade of baker, in a modest bakery 
at Brownville. With this line of occupation 
he there continued his association until 1887, 
when he came to Beatrice and opened a bakery 
and restaurant. He had no available capital 
and thus initiated this enterprise on credit. 
The venture proved a failure, notwithstand- 
ing his earnest and assiduous efiforts, and 
within a year he came to involuntary liquida- 
tion, with an indebtedness of about eighteen 
hundred dollars. Thus temporarily astride 
the back of adversity, Mr. Palmer did not 
falter in courage or determination, and in 
order to provide for his family and rid him- 
self of the burden of debt he gained appoint- 
ment to the position of city mail carrier in 
Beatrice, in which capacity he continued to 
give effective service for eleven years, within 
which he brought himself triumphantly out of 
debt and also accumulated a modest reserve 
of sixteen hundred dollars. In 1894 the gen- 



eral merchandise establishment of Begole & 
Van Arsdale, of Beatrice, was destroyed by 
fire, and Mr. Palmer purchased the damaged 
goods salvaged from the fire, though he had 
only the sixteen hundred dollars to apply on 
the purchase price. He borrowed the balance 
required and in the sale of this stock of mer- 
chandise he made a profit of about two 
thousand dollars. Since that time he has con- 
tinued to deal extensively in bankrupt and fire 
stocks, in which field of enterprise he has de- 
veloped from a small inception a business that 
is now the largest of the kind in Nebraska. 
It has been consistently stated that in the 
Palmer establishment may be purchased any- 
thing from a needle to a piano, and the dis- 
play of merchandise includes clothing, dry 
goods, hardware, stoves, and general house 
furnishings of every description. 

Mr. Palmer has had no communion with 
apathy or idleness, has been a productive 
worker and has been found busily at work at 
all stages of his career. Essentially a busi- 
ness man, he has had neither time nor desire 
to enter the turbulence of practical politics or 
to seek public office, though he is liberal and 
public-spirited in his civic attitude and gives 
staunch support to the principles and policies 
for which the Republican party stands spon- 
sor. Widely known throughout this section 
of the state, he has by his earnest and honest 
endeavors entrenched himself firmly in popu- 
lar confidence and esteem, and this has con- 
tributed much to the success of his present im- 
portant business enterprise. In the Masonic 
fraternity he has completed the circle of the 
York Rite, his maximum affiliation being with 
Beatrice commandery of Knights Templars, 
liesides which he holds membership in the ad- 
junct Masonic organization, the Mystic 
Shrine. 

On the 11th of January, 1879, was officially 
recorded the marriage of Mr. Palmer to Miss 
Delia Furlow, who was bom in the state of 
Maine, but who was a child at the time of her 
parents' removal to Nebraska, where she was 
reared and educated, her father having been 
one of the pioneer settlers of Nemaha county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have no children, but in 



428 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 







HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



429 



their attractive home they dehght to extend 
welcome and entertainment to the young folk 
of the communty as well as to the friends of 
their own generation. Mrs. Palmer is an 
active member of the Presbyterian church of 
Beatrice, and is affiliated with the representa- 
tive Masonic subsidiary body known as the 
Order of the Eastern Star. 

WILLIAM C. MOORE. — In Sections 35 
and 36, Holt township, Mr. Moore and his 
wife are the owners of a fine rural estate of 
three hundred and twenty acres, and Mr. 
Moore, whose farm experience has touched 
various sections of Nebraska, looks upon 
Gage county as one of the best and most at- 
tractive districts for the successful prosecution 
of agricultural and live stock industry that 
can be found within the limits of this pro- 
gressive state. He has made his farm prop- 
erty one specially notable for thrift and good 
management and is essentially one of the rep- 
resentative citizens and substantial farmers 
of Holt township. 

Mr. Moore was born at Waterloo, Black- 
hawk county, Iowa, March 27, 1865, being the 
youngest in a family of ten children, of whom 
eight attained to maturity. He is a son of 
Jacob and Catherine (Waltz) Moore, the 
fonner of whom was born in Germany, March 
27, 1821. and the latter of whom was born in 
Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, August 28, 
1821. Jacob Moore was about eleven years 
old when he accompanied his parents on their 
immigration to America, and the family home 
was established in Pennsylvania, where he was 
reared to adult age and where his marriage 
was solemnized. In 1857, within a short time 
after their marriage, Mr. Moore and his wife 
left the old Keystone state and made their way 
to Green county, Wisconsin, both having 
walked a large part of the intervening dis- 
tance. He became a pioneer farmer in that 
county, where he remained until about 1864, 
when he removed to Blackhawk county, Iowa, 
where he repeated his pioneer experience as 
an agriculturist. One of his sons, John W., 
went forth as a soldier of the Union in the 
Civil war: he enlisted in a Wisconsin volun- 



teer regiment of infantrj' and took part in 
many engagements marking the progress of 
the conflict between the north and the south, 
he having been with Sherman on the historic 
march from Atlanta to the sea. This honored 
veteran of the Civil war is now venerable in 
years and maintains his home in Newburg, 
Oregon. Jacob Moore became a farmer in 
Iowa, where he remained until 1874, when he 
came to Nebraska, the closing period of his 
life having been passed in Hamilton county, 
this state, where he died March 27, 1877. He 
had been an invalid for eight years. A man of 
sterling character and indefatigable industry, 
he had the distinction of being a pioneer in 
each of three different states, and he lived a 
righteous and upright life, so that he com- 
manded unqualified popular esteem. His 
widow long survived him and was a resident 
of Newburg, Oregon, at the time of her death, 
in June, 1906. Both were reared in the faith 
of the German Lutheran church but after 
their removal they became members of the 
Dunkard church, with which they continued 
to be affiliated during the remainder of their 
lives. 

William C. Moore gained his preliminary 
education in the schools of Iowa and was nine 
years of age when his parents numbered 
themselves among the pioneers of Hamilton 
county, Nebraska, where he continued to at- 
tend school until he was fifteen years of age. 
When eleven years of age he received an in- 
jury that compelled him to abandon his school 
work for a year, and as a youth he turned his 
attention to farm work, his initial experience 
as a farm hand having been gained when he 
was a lad of fifteen years. At the age of nine- 
teen years he rented land in Hamilton county, 
where he conducted independent farm opera- 
tions for the ensuing four years. He then es- 
tablished the first dray line at Stockham. He 
later became the owner of a homestead farm in 
the southern part of Lincoln county, and after 
selling this property, in 1889. he became asso- 
ciated with his brother John W. in purchasing 
of Daniel and William Nicewonger a general 
merchandise store and business in the village 
of Pickrell, Gage county. In 1893 the subject 



430 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of this review sold his interest in the business 
to his brother and resumed his active associa- 
tion with farm enterprise, by renting a farm 
located to the east of Pickrell, in Holt town- 
ship. In 1895 he purchased forty acres in 
Section 23 of that township, for a considera- 
tion of eleven hundred dollars, and about six 
years later he sold the property for two 
thousand dollars. In 1899 Mr. Moore pur- 
chased the Jersey Smith farm of eighty acres, 
and this constitutes an integral part of his now 
large and admirably improved landed estate in 
Holt township. Energy, progressiveness, and 
correct business policies have enabled Mr. 
Moore to achieve unqualified success in the 
different departments of farm industry- and he 
is one of the substantial and influential citi- 
zens of Holt township, where he has been 
called upon to serve in various public offices 
of minor order and where he is now a director 
of the school board for District No. 57, his 
political allegiance being given to the Republi- 
can party and he and his wife being active 
members of the United Brethren church. 

Februar}% 1891, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Moore to Miss Mary Lewis, who was 
bom in Holt township, this county, November 
8, 1S70, a daughter of John E. and Sarah M. 
(Williams) Lewis, the former a native of 
Wales and the latter of the state of New 
York. Mr. Lewis became a pioneer of the 
state of Wisconsin, where he remained until 
1868, when he came to the new state of Ne- 
braska and became one of the earliest settlers 
in Holt township. Gage county, where he re- 
claimed and improved a valuable farm prop- 
erty and where he and his wife passed the 
residue of their lives as honored pioneer citi- 
zens of the county. Mr. Lewis died May 2, 
1913, at the age of seventy-two years, his wife 
having passed away February 17, 1905, at the 
age of fifty-two years. Of their eight children 
all are living except one, only two of the num- 
ber being residents of Gage county and the 
others maintaining their residence in Scotts 
Bluff county. Concerning the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Moore the following brief record is 
given : John is associated with his father in 
the management of the home farm ; Eva, who 



was graduated in the high school at Beatrice, 
is a successful and popular teacher in the dis- 
trict schools of the county ; Walter assists in 
the work of the home farm; Myrtle likewise 
was graduated in the Beatrice high school and 
is an efficient teacher in the district schools of 
her native county; Sarah is a member of the 
class of 1919 in the Beatrice high school ; Ed- 
ward and George remain at the parental 
home; and one son died in infancy. 

Mr. Aloore has been in the most significant 
sense the builder of the sturdy ladder on which 
he has risen to the plane of independence and 
worthy prosperity, and he is today not only 
the owner of a valuable landed estate and a. 
stockholder in the farmers' grain elevator at 
Pickrell but is also entirely free from indebt- 
edness. He had made good improvements on 
his farm property and has availed himself of 
the most modern farm machinery and acces- 
sories, including an elevator for the transfer- 
ring of the various grain products raised on 
his broad and fertile acres. In short, he is a 
successful exponent of modem and scientific 
farm enterprise. 

THE DOLE FLORAL COMPANY. — In 
the year 1916 was celebrated the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of the founding of one of the 
large, important, and interesting industrial 
enterprises of Beatrice and Gage county, that 
of the Dole Floral Company, and this publi- 
cation exercises a consistent function when it 
gives special recognition to this representative 
corporation, for in the upbuilding of its busi- 
ness has been exemplified the splendid energy 
and initiative ability of its honored founder, 
Mrs. Sophia H. Dole, who, while representing 
all of gracious womanhood, has proved her- 
self one of the most successful business women 
of Nebraska, has made of her individual suc- 
cess a medium of leverage for the uplifting 
of civic and material prosperity in her home 
city and county, the while she has ever re- 
tained an inviolable place in the affectionate 
regard of the community in which she has 
lived and labored to goodly ends. Of the in- 
ception and growth of the business founded 
by this representative exponent of business 



HISTORY OF r,\r,^, COUNTY, NEBR.\SKA 



431 



enterprise in the city of Beatrice, a brief, per- 
tinent, and interesting record was given in 
the anniversary catalogue issued by the Dole 
Floral Company in 1916, and it is pleasing to 
perpetuate in more enduring form this record : 

"In the spring of 1891 Mrs. Sophia H. 
Dole, with an investment of one dollar for 
flower pots and seventy-five cents for seeds, 
.and with a hot-bed sash for a greenhouse, 
began the ornamental plant business at 617 
Mary street. In the autumn of the same year 
a small greenhouse was built. The next year 
Josiah G. Dole and his two sons, Edward W. 
and Walter A., became associated with Mrs. 
Dole, under the firm name of S. H. Dole & 
Sons, and thereafter the greenhouse was en- 
larged from year to year until the location 
was outgrown. In 1898 three acres of land 
were leased and a new range of greenhouses 
was built at 609 Mary street. The business 
was incorporated in 1904, under the title of 
the Dole Floral Company. Capital stock was 
offered for sale and five acres of land were 
purchased by the company at the corner of 
Fifth and Hoyt streets. On this specially eli- 
gible site was erected in 1905 the present 
range of greenhouses, which has since been 
notably enlarged, in consonance with the con- 
stantly increasing demands placed upon the 
company in connection with its growing trade. 
The result is that at the present time the com- 
pany has twenty-five thousand feet of glass, 
besides well equipped work and storage rooms. 

"Our first down-town salesroom occupied 
a little building that was only five by seven 
feet in dimensions, at 114 North Fifth street. 
In 1908 the company purchased a lot at 518 
Ella street, and in the following year there 
was erected on this site the present Dole 
building, a substantial brick structure of two 
stories. The building has since been enlarged 
and is now equipped with a large and modern 
case for the preservation of cut flowers and 
with an artificial ice refrigerating plant." 

In a progressive policy that implies the giv- 
ing of thoroughly metropolitan service the 
Dole Floral Company has equipped its at- 
tractive salesrooms with the most modern ap- 
pointments and facilities, and the establish- 



ment is a source of pride to the city of 
Beatrice and its people. The large display 
cases in which the cut flowers are preserved 
after being taken from the greenhouses have 
cold air supplied from the company's artificial 
ice plant, which is operated by electricity and 
which has a capacity for the production of 
four tons of ice every twenty-four hours. 
The company has an attractive automobile de- 
livery car, which is utilized not only in deliv- 
ering floral products to patrons in Beatrice 
but also in transporting fresh-cut flowers 
from the greenhouses each morning, for dis- 
play and sale at the down-town store. The 
propagating facilities controlled by the com- 
pany are of the most approved order and the 
concern ofifers roses, carnations, sweet peas, 
and all other of the popular varieties of 
flowers, the same being grown entirely at the 
conservatories of the company. Large ship»- 
ments are made to other cities and many towns 
in this section of the state, and demands come 
also from points even farther removed. The 
company gives the best of service in the sup- 
plying of cut flowers, bedding plants, house 
plants, and bulbs. Special attention is given 
also to the producing of artistic floral designs 
for decorative and funeral purposes, and the 
company maintains a department for the 
handling of the finest varieties of gold fish. 

The Dole Floral Company now bases its 
operations on a capital stock of fifty thousand 
dollars, and the personnel of its executive 
corps is as here -noted : Edward W. Dole, 
president ; Victor Ryhd, secretarj' ; and George 
M. Johnson, treasurer and manager. Of each 
of these officers more specific mention is made 
on other pages of this volume, and similar 
recognition is given also to the popular foun- 
der of the enterprise, Mrs. Sophia H. Dole. 

CHARLES F. BONHAM was one of the 
organizers of the State Bank of Ellis, a thriv- 
ing village of Gage county, and has been cash- 
ier of this well ordered institution since 1909, 
his administration having proved potent in the 
upbuilding of the substantial business of the 
bank. 

Mr. Bonham was born in Andrew county, 



432 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Missouri, December 7, 1871, and is a son of 
William and Mary Ann (Nicholson) Bon- 
ham, of whose four children he was the third 
in order of birth, Eunice, the firstborn, having 
been about three years of age at the time of 
her death ; William B. died at the age of 
twelve years ; and Clarence L. is now engaged 
in the banking business at Ayr, Adams county. 
William Bonham was born near the city of 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1841, a scion of a 
sterling pioneer family of that state. His par- 
ents, David and Rebecca (Weaver) Bonham, 
were natives respectively of England and Wis- 
consin, and from the Badger state they finally 
removed to Missouri, making the long over- 
land journey in a covered wagon that was 
drawn by a mule and a blind horse, besides 
which they had an ox team. David Bon- 
ham engaged in fanning in Missouri and there 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives. They became the parents of eight chil- 
dren and four of their sons were soldiers of 
the Union in the Civil war — David, Jr., Rob- 
ert, John, and James — all now deceased. 

William Bonham became a substantial far- 
mer and influential citizen of Andrew county, 
Missouri, and later was engaged in farming 
in Gentry county, that state, where for a num- 
ber of years he was engaged also in the agri- 
cultural-implement business, at King City. He 
came to Nebraska about the year 1892 and he 
reclaimed and developed a good farm in Fur- 
nas county, where he passed the remainder of 
his life, his death having occurred in 1902. 
His widow, who was bom in Indiana, in 
1846, and whose death occurred in 1906, was 
a daughter of John F. Nicholson, who was a 
gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. 
William Bonham and his wife were most 
zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and in politics he gave his support to 
the Republican party. 

Charles F. Bonham was reared on the farm 
of his father in Missouri and after having 
profited duly by the advantages of the district 
schools he continued his studies in the village 
schools of King City until he had completed 
the work of the tenth grade. Later he com- 
pleted a commercial course in \\'esleyan Col- 



lege, at Cameron, Missouri, and after his 
graduation he became bookkeeper for his 
father, who was then engaged in the imple- 
ment business at King City. In 1892 he re- 
sumed his association with farm enterprise in 
his native state and in 1894 he accompanied 
his parents to Furnas county, Nebraska, 
where he was engaged in fanning until 1909, 
when he came to Gage county and became 
cashier of the State Bank of Ellis, of which 
position he has since continued the efficient 
and popular incumbent. This bank was or- 
ganized in 1907 by his brother Clarence and 
eight representative farmers of this section of 
the county, and in the general record con- 
cerning the banking interests of the county, 
on other pages, due mention is made of this 
[prosperous institution, of which Temple E. 
Pierce is president and Albert C. PefTerman, 
vice-president. 

Mr. Bonham takes vital interest in all things 
touching the wellbeing and advancement oi 
his home village and county, is a Republican 
in his political allegiance, is affiliated with the 
local organizations of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows and the Modem Woodmen 
of America, and he and his wife are zealous 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Ellis, of which he is serving as a steward 
in 1917-1918. He is the owner of village 
property in Ellis, including his pleasant home, 
and also has a well improved farm property 
of three hundred and twenty acres near \\'i\- 
sonville, Furnas county. 

January 7, 1893, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Bonham to Miss Elsie Timmons, who 
was bom in the state of Illinois, a daughter of 
Ephraim Timmons, and of this union have 
been born three children : Lee D. is assistant 
cashier of the Union State Bank in the city 
of Beatrice; Ada died at the age of two years ; 
and Russell died in 1915, at the age of seven 
years. 

ARNOTT D. McCANDLESS. — Each 
successive stage of a life that has been worth- 
ily lived bears its full measure of compensa- 
tion, and the man who has passed life's me- 
ridian, who has stored up the lessons of rich 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



433 




Arnott D. McCandless 



434 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and varied experience, and who has wrought 
wisely, justly, and effectively, must find each 
successive year thereafter radiant in personal 
contentment and gracious in memories. Such 
a sane, direct, and productive life has been 
that of Amott Duncan McCandless, who is 
one of the representative members of the bar 
of Gage county and whose buoyant optimism 
has enabled him to get the best out of life in 
its varied relations. He is a writer of excep- 
tional talent and another dominating attribute 
of his makeup is his love for the vital sports 
afield and afloat, in which domain of recrea- 
tion he has gained distinct prestige. He is en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession in the 
city of Wymore and his status as a citizen, a 
lawyer, and as a genial and popular man 
makes it specially pleasing to accord him rec- 
ognition in this history. 

Mr. McCandless is of staunch Scotch an- 
cestry on both the paternal and maternal sides, 
as the respective names fully indicate. He 
was bom on a farm six miles east of Alacomb, 
McDonough county, Illinois, on the 27th of 
August, 1849, and is a son of William Wal- 
lace McCandless and Sarah (Dimcan) Mc- 
Candless, both natives of Pennsylvania. A 
literal and fully substantiated fact pertinent 
to the McCandless family is singularly in con- 
sonance with a statement all too tritely made 
concerning the founding of other families in 
America. That is, the original progenitors of 
the McCandless family in this country were 
the proverbial three brothers, but it has been 
clearly established that one of the number 
established a home in Pennsylvania, that an- 
other located in the south and that the third 
became a seafaring man. From the one who 
settled in the old Keystone state the subject 
of this review is descended. 

Aniott D. McCandless was five years old 
when his parents removed from McDonough 
county, Illinois, and settled on a farm one- 
half mile southwest of Aledo, Mercer county, 
and he was a lad of about thirteen years when 
his loyal and patriotic father went forth to 
battle for the nation's integrity as a soldier of 
the Union in the Civil war. On the 14th of 
August, 1862, William W. McCandless en- 



listed as a private in Company H, Eighty- 
fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantrj', and with 
his command he set forth from Quincy, Illi- 
nois, marched across Kentucky and on to 
Nashville, Tennessee, the soldiers of his regi- 
ment sleeping at night under the open sky, as 
they were not provided with tents. Mr. Mc- 
Candless was destined soon to sacrifice his life 
in the righteous cause, for he was killed at the 
battle of Stone River, on the 31st of Decem- 
ber, 1862, little more than four months after 
he had enlisted. He had become the father of 
six children, and his widow and two of her 
married daughters eventually came to Ne- 
braska and settled in Box Butte county. 
While visiting at the home of her son Arnott 
D.. of this review, at Wymore, the widowed 
mother was summoned to eternal rest, her 
death having occurred in 1910, at which time 
she was eighty-eight years of age. 

Arnott Duncan McCandless attended the 
district schools in Mercer county, Illinois, and 
thereafter attended for two years a Presby- 
terian select school in that state. He was at 
this time about eleven years old and there- 
after he attended school only three months 
until after he had attained to his legal major- 
ity. The death of his father compelled him to 
assume heavy responsibilities when he was 
but a boy, and through his application to farm 
work he aided in the support of his mother 
and the other members of the family. His in- 
sistent determination to broaden his education 
led him to take his Latin grammar into the 
field with him, in order that he might apply 
himself to study during his all too few leisure 
moments. In the meanwhile his advancement 
had been such that he proved himself a suc- 
cessful teacher during four months of peda- 
gogic sen-ice in the district schools of his 
native state. 

Soon after reaching his legal majority Mr. 
McCandless entered the law office of Isaac N. 
Bassett, a leading lawyer at Aledo. Illinois, 
and, at a stipend of sixteen dollars and seven- 
ty-five cents a month, he here took charge of 
a set of abstract books, the while he vigorous- 
ly applied himself to the study of law. In 
1874 he had so effectively absorbed and as- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUxX'TY, NEBRASKA 



435 



similated the science of jurisprudence that he 
was admitted to the Illinois bar, at a session 
of the supreme court of the state held at Otta- 
wa. In 1875 Mr. McCandless went to the new 
town of Creston, Iowa, and became one of its 
pioneer lawyers. There he built up a substan- 
tial practice and there he continued his profes- 
sional activities until 1882, when he again evi- 
denced his predilection for being in at the start 
of things in a new town, as he cast in his for- 
tunes with the village of Wymore, Gage 
county, Nebraska, a place that had been 
founded about one year previously. A man of 
vigorous thought and action, he proved a 
staunch force in furthering civic and material 
development and progress at Wymore, and he 
has continued as one of the valued and public- 
spirited citizens of this thriving little city, even 
as he has been recognized as one of the able 
and representative members of the bar of the 
county. For fifteen years after their marriage 
Mr. McCandless and his wife kept their text- 
books constantly at hand in their home and 
devoted themselves earnestly to study and 
reading, vying with each other in enthusiasm 
for advancement along educational lines. 

In 1873 Mr. McCandless wedded Miss 
Gertrude Cabeen, who was bom at Keiths- 
burg, Illinois, a daughter of Richard C. Ca- 
been, an early settler and influential citizen of 
Mercer county, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Candless have no children, but their devoted 
companionship during the long years has been 
of ideal order — intensified, as it were, by their 
having had no child to divide even measur- 
ably their interests. 

In politics, as in other matters of vital im- 
portance, Mr. McCandless thinks and acts for 
himself, and he has not been constrained by 
strict partisan dictates. In his home village 
he is affiliated with Wymore Lodge, No. 104, 
Ancient Free & Accepted Masons ; Hiram 
Chapter, No. 28, Royal Arch Masons ; and 
Cypress Council, No. 22, Royal and Select 
Masters. 

For many years prior to the death of his 
loved mother Mr. McCandless made regular 
visits to her and his two sisters, in Box Butte 
county, and incidentally he made interesting 



hunting expeditions in Cherry county. As he 
says, he "loves to sleep out on the sand hills, 
with only a blanket for protection, to breathe 
the air no one else ever breathed, and to deter- 
mine the time of the night by observing the 
position of the Great Dipper." Along literary 
lines Mr. McCandless has gained no little re- 
pute by reason of the specially original and 
interesting articles which he has contributed 
to the periodical known as "Forest and 
Stream," his articles having been entitled 
"Days in Cherrj' County" and "Boyhood Days 
in Illinois." These articles have attracted 
wide attention on the part of devotees of out- 
door sport, and Mr. McCandless has not only 
received letters of marked appreciation from 
the editor of "Forest and Stream," but they 
have led also to his being called upon to act 
as escort to wealthy and influential sportsmen 
in expeditions in western Nebraska. Among 
such millionaire sportsmen with whom Mr. 
McCandless has been thus pleasantly asso- 
ciated may be mentioned Mr. Wilbur, of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Mr. Liles, of 
Aurora, Missouri. Mr. McCandless is an ex- 
pert shot and has made splendid record at the 
traps, in which connection he has come in 
close competition with Thomas ^Marshall, of 
Keithsburg, Illinois, the two having become 
acquainted when they were boys. 

Even this brief article indicates the broad 
mental grasp of Mr. McCandless and shows 
that while he has concentrated and won suc- 
cess in his profession he has had appreciation 
of other things that go to make up the full and 
complete life, and that he has made the pass- 
ing years count not only in achievement but 
also in giving the benefices of happiness and 
contentment. 

JOHN STROUGH. — In the career of the 
late John Strough, who was a resident of 
Gage county for more than a score of years, 
success and honor were inseparable, and he 
made his life count for good in its every rela- 
tion. His sudden death, as the result of heart 
disease, occurred at his home in the city of 
Beatrice, November 23, 1917, he having been 
stricken while engaged in his customary eve-- 



436 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



ning work about the home, at 1423 High 
street. 

Mr. Strough was born in Henn.' county, 
Indiana, on the 28th of January, 1844, and was 
a son of John and Sarah (Miller) Strough, 
who reared to years of maturity a family of 
eleven children. John Strough, Sr., was bom 
in Pennsylvania, in the year 1808, and in the 
earlier part of his career he followed the 
trade of tailor. As a young man he went to 
the historic old state of Virginia, and later he 
numbered himself among the pioneers of 
Henr}- county, Indiana, where he became a 
prosperous farmer and where his death oc- 
curred on the 20th of May, 1863. His wife 
was bom in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 
which state she was reared and educated, and 
there their marriage was solemnized, her 
father, George Miller, having been a native of 
Pennsylvania : she was born about the year 
1835 and passed to eternal rest about 1887, 
her first three children having been bom in 
Virginia, prior to the family removal to In- 
diana, where she continued to reside until her 
death. 

The subject of this memoir was reared on 
the old homestead farm in Indiana and ac- 
quired his early education in the pioneer 
schools of Henry county, that state. At the 
time of the Civil war he gave efficient service 
as a soldier in an Indiana volunteer regiment, 
and his service covered practically the entire 
period of the conflict between the North and 
the South. In his native state his marriage 
was solemnized in 1867, and in 1870 he re- 
moved with his family to Holt county, Mis- 
souri, where he purchased a farni of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, near the village of Craig. 
There he continued his successful activities as 
a famier until 1890, when he and his wife es- 
tablished their home in Gage county, Nebras- 
ka, after he had disposed of his farm in Mis- 
souri. Upon coming to Gage county Mr. 
Strough purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Section 33, Holt township, 
and, with his progressive policies and mature 
judgment he there proved notably successful 
in his farm enterprise, the while he made ex- 
cellent improvements on the homestead. He 



remained on the farm until 1908, when he re- 
tired from active labors and removed with his 
devoted wife to the city of Beatrice, where he 
passed the residue of his life, secure in the 
high regard of all who knew him. 

Mr. Strough was well fortified in his con- 
victions concerning governmental policies and 
was a stalwart advocate of the principles of 
the Republican party. He took deep interest 
in community aflrairs and while living on his 
Gage county farm he served as a member of 
the school board of his district. His religious 
faith was that of the Presbyterian church and 
his widow holds membership in the Congre- 
gational church of Beatrice. 

In the year 1867 Mr. Strough wedded Miss 
Sarah Ann Bowers, who was bom in Henry 
county, Indiana, April 14, 1849, a daughter of 
George and Lydia (Weane) Bowers, both 
natives of Rockingham county, Virginia, 
where the former was born in the year 1819 
and the latter on the 9th of August, 1831. 
Upon his removal to Indiana, Mr. Bowers 
became a pioneer of Henr>' county, and there 
he became a substantial farmer and influential 
citizen of his community. He was one of the 
venerable pioneer citizens of the county at 
the time of his death, in 1891, at the age of 
seventy-two years, and his widow, who at- 
tained to the age of eighty-one years, was a 
resident of Henry county, Indiana, at the 
time of her death, in 1908. Since the death 
of her honored husband Mrs. Strough has 
continued to reside in the attractive home 
which he provided upon their removal to 
Beatrice. In conclusion is given brief record 
concerning their children, eleven having been 
bom to them and two of the number having 
died in infancy: Laura is the wife of Giles 
Laughlin and they reside near Sheridan, 
Arkansas; Marj- B. is the wife of Thomas 
Harding, a prosperous farmer of Holt town- 
ship. Gage county, Nebraska ; Joseph Leonard 
resides in Beatrice, this county, where he 
operates a garage ; Dora E. is the wife of John 
Coonley, who is engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness in West Beatrice; Lloyd L., who owns 
and resides upon his father's old home farm 
in Holt township, is individually mentioned 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



437 



on other pages of this vohune; Rufus F. is 
engaged in the oil business in the city of 
Beatrice; Jesse F. is a resident of Ottumwa, 
Iowa; and Nona E. is the wife of WilHam 
Sherwood, a prosperous fanner in Logan 
township. 

ANDREW J. REEDY. — In nearly every 
village in the United States are to be found 
men who fought that our nation might re- 
main an indissoluble union, and one of such 
men is Mr. Reedy, of Blue Springs, this 
county. 

Andrew Jackson Reedy was born in Mor- 
gan county, Indiana, January 1, 1839, and is 
a son of William and Nancy (Cannedy) 
Reedy, the fonner bom in Ireland and the 
latter in Scotland ; they migrated to West 
Virginia with their respective parents and in 
that state their marriage occurred. With 
hearts full of hope and courage they traversed 
the wilds of Ohio and crossed over into In- 
diana, where they cleared a space for their 
rude log cabin and where William Reedy be- 
came a pioneer farmer. Sons and daughters 
grew up around them, and they became the 
parents of a fine family of sixteen children. 
Three of this large family are now living; 
George Reedy, a Civil war veteran, is living 
retired at Nebraska City, Nebraska ; Polly, 
widow of John Busha, resides at Council 
Bluffs, Iowa ; and Andrew J. Reedy is the 
subject of this sketch. In Morgan county, 
Indiana, the mother of these children passed 
to the life eternal. Her husband later con- 
tracted a second marriage and by this union 
six children were born. The latter years of 
the life of William Reedy were spent in Ore- 
gon, where his death occurred. He was a 
Douglas Democrat in politics and was a cap- 
tain in the Mexican war. 

The educational advantages that the times 
afforded in the boyhood of Andrew J. Reedy 
were very meager, but such as they were he 
profited by these. When a youth of seventeen 
years he went to Missouri to farm and was 
called from the plowing of his land to take 
up arms for his countr)^ He was in the ser- 
vice for a few months with the contingent from 



Harrison county, Missouri, but soon enlisted 
with Missouri cavalry, from Gentry county, 
in which command he served two years, two 
months, and seven days. He participated in 
the vigorous action incidental to the historic 
Price raids, fighting every day against Gen- 
eral Price from the Ozarks to Fort Scott. In 
1863 he was in the raid for Quantrell, and 
one time was taken prisoner by the rebels, but 
he made his escape from them. 

After the war Mr. Reedy went back to the 
peaceful occupation of tilling the soil in Mis- 
souri. It was here that he married Sarah 
Ann Lowe, who has been his faithful com- 
panion all of these years. She has borne him 
twelve children, ten of whom are living, as 
follows : Andrew lives at Blue Springs ; 
Florence first married O. T. Randall and is 
now the wife of Samuel Price, a farmer near 
Kansas City, Kansas ; William resides at Blue 
Springs, Daniel in Iowa, and Alonzo at Lin- 
coln, Nebraska ; Luther is in the military ser- 
vice of the United States as a member of a 
machine gun company ; Lucy, widow of Fred 
Stratford, is now employed in Palmer's store 
at Beatrice; Salome, widow of George Dens- 
more, is living in Lincoln ; Mary is the wife of 
John Herman, of Wymore ; and Harry is in 
the war service of the United States. 

Mr. Reedy farmed in Missouri until 1878, 
when he went to Kansas, and in 1886 he came 
to Gage county, where he continued farming 
until his retirement to Blue Springs twenty 
years ago. In politics Mr. Reedy has voted 
with the Republican party. He is a member 
of the Rawlins Post, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, at Beatrice, and is one of the valued 
members of the community in which he has 
long resided, he having given many useful 
years to agricultural industry. 

FREDERICK W. MESSMORE. — In the 
year that marked the semi-centennial of the 
admission of Nebraska as one of the sovereign 
states of the Union, Gage county numbered as 
one of its most efficient and valued officials 
Frederick W. Messmore, who is still serving 
as county attorney and who has the further 
distinction of being one of the youngest men 



438 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




Frederick W. Messmore 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



439 



to be the incumbent of such office in the entire 
state. He is making a splendid record as a 
pubHc prosecutor and through his official ac- 
tivities is enhancing his reputation and is 
solidifying his status as one of the representa- 
tive members of the bar of Gage county. 

Mr. Messmore was born in Boone county, 
Iowa, on the 11th of July, 1889, and is a son 
of H. A. and Clara J. (Davidson) Messmore. 
both of whom likewise are natives of the 
Hawkeye state, where the respective families 
were founded in the early pioneer days. H. A. 
Messmore was reared and educated in Iowa 
and there became actively identified with rail- 
way operations, as a conductor on the line of 
the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. About 
the year 1907 he removed with his family to 
Nebraska and established his residence at 
Randolph, Cedar county, where he success- 
fully conducted a hotel, later continuing in the 
same line of enterprise in turn at Laurel, that 
county ; Geneva, Fillmore county ; and Nelson, 
Nuckolls county. In 1915 he and his wife es- 
tablished their home at Beatrice, and here it is 
his intention again to engage in the hotel busi- 
ness within the near future. Mr. Messmore 
is unwavering in his allegiance to the Demo- 
cratic party, he and his wife hold membership 
in the Presbyterian church, and in the time- 
honored Masonic fraternity he has received 
the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite, besides being affiliated 
also with the Mystic Shrine. Of the four chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Messmore, the subject 
of this review is the younger of the two now 
living, and Sylvia is the wife of T. O. Hester, 
a banker at Wiota, Cass county, Iowa. 

The preliminary educational discipline of 
Frederick W. Messmore was acquired princi- 
pally in the public schools of the city of Coun- 
cil Bluffs, Iowa, where he completed the cur- 
riculum of the high school and also took a 
course in the Northwestern Business and Nor- 
mal College. After his graduation in the same 
he followed the trend of his ambition and well 
formulated plans by enrolling himself as a stu- 
dent in the Creighton Law School, in the city 
of Omaha. In this well ordered institution he 
was graduated as a member of the class of 



1912, and his admission to the Nebraska bar 
was virtually coincident with his reception of 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 1913 Mr. 
Messmore entered, with characteristic vigor 
and earnestness, upon his professional novi- 
tiate, and he was favored in being at this time 
able to associate himself with General L. W. 
Colby, of Beatrice, one of the leading members 
of the Gage county bar. He maintained this 
alliance until his election to the office of 
county attorney, in 1914, and the estimate 
placed upon his administration of the affairs 
of this important office was unequivocally 
shown in his reelection in 1916. 

Mr. Messmore is a most vital and effective 
advocate of the principles and policies for 
which the Democratic party stands sponsor 
and is one of the influential young men in its 
councils in his home county. Mr. Messmore 
is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the 
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the 
Delta Theta Phi college fraternity, and the 
Modern Woodmen of America, in which last 
mentioned organization he is past worthy ad- 
visor. He and his wife hold membership in 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

In April, 1913, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Messmore to Miss Jennie Frances 
Saxe, who was born at Belden, Cedar county, 
Nebraska, a daughter of Allison and Frances 
(Boughn) Saxe, and she was reared in the 
home of her mother's uncle, Zack Boughn, 
who was one of the pioneer settlers of this 
state. Mr. and Mrs. Messmore have no 
children. 

FRANK OVERBECK has been a resident 
of Gage county for nearly two score years and 
through his able and vigorous activities as a 
farmer he has achieved substantial prosperity. 
He is the owner of a well improved landed 
estate of three hundred and twenty acres, in 
Section 16, Holt township, and here he is 
now living virtually retired, his two sons hav- 
ing the active management of the farm prop- 
erty. 

Mr. Overbeck was bom in Prussia, Ger- 
many, July 26, 1841, a son of Frederick and 
Lizzie (Teisenbrink) Overbeck, who passed 



440 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



their entire lives in their native land. Frank 
Overbeck was reared and educated in Ger- 
many and there gained his initial experience in 
connection with farm industr)\ In May. 1882, 
he came to the United States and landed in 
the port of New York city. Shortly after- 
ward he came to Nebraska and established his 
residence in Gage county, where he found em- 
ployment as a farm workman. He continued 
to be thus engaged about five years and then 
engaged in farming in an independent way. 
He was encouraged to take this course by his 
friend Frederick Pohlman, who came to the 
farm on which Mr. Overbeck was at the time 
employed and made inquiry as to the amount 
of money the latter had available. Mr. Over- 
beck stated in reply that he had saved three 
hundred and twenty-five dollars, and Mr. 
Pohlman then said that he would lend him an 
additional one hundred dollars and that with 
the combined sum he could find him a farm 
that he could rent. Preparations were made 
by the two friends going to Dewitt, where Mr. 
Overbeck purchased a team of horses and the 
required agricultural implements, he having 
given his note for the purchase price of the 
team. He then rented the farm of John H. 
Steinmeyer, who established himself in the 
grain and elevator business at Dewitt, and on 
this farm ]Mr. Overbeck continued operations 
two years. He then purchased a Scully lease 
of land in Hanover township, and there he 
continued his successful activities as an agri- 
culturist and stock -grower until he purchased 
his present homestead farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres, upon which but little improve- 
ment had been made at the time. He has de- 
veloped his farm until it is now one of the 
model places of Holt township, the additional 
tract of one hundred and sixty acres having 
been purchased somewhat later and the farni 
being all in one body. Mr. Overbeck has 
erected good farm buildings and each of his 
sons has an attractive house on the half-sec- 
tion of land which has been under their ef- 
fective management since their father retired 
from the labors that were so long his portion. 
Mr. Overbeck is a Republican in politics and 



is a communicant of the Lutheran church, as 
are also the members of his family. 

As a young man Mr. Overbeck wedded Miss 
Caroline Stolde, who was bom and reared in 
Germany and who there passed her entire 
life, her death having occurred in 1882, and 
she having been survived by four children. 
In the same year Mr. Overbeck came to 
America with three of his children, Henry, 
the eldest of the four having come to this 
country a short time previously, and being 
now a resident of Jefferson county, Nebraska ; 
Lizzie is the wife of Charles Gerhardt, of 
Beatrice ; Frederick is a prosperous farmer in 
Hanover township ; and Charles is engaged in 
the real-estate business in the city of Beatrice. 

Prior to coming to the United States Mr. 
Overbeck contracted a second marriage, with 
Miss Lizzie Hansjurgen, who was bom in the 
year 1853, and whose death occurred April 
13, 1913. Of the eleven children of this union 
six are living: William is a successful far- 
mer in Hanover township ; Frank is associated 
in the operation of the home farm of his 
father; Ernest is engaged in fami enterprise 
in Holt township; John is the other son who 
farms a portion of his father's place; Her- 
man is a farmer in Nemaha township ; and 
Edwin is engaged in farming in Saline county. 

CHARLES M. MURDOCK, of Wymore, 
is not only one of the honored pioneer citizens 
of Gage county, but also a representative of a 
family whose name is one of singular and sig- 
nificant prominence in connection with the 
early annals of Nebraska, the subject of this 
review having gained wide and varied ex- 
perience in connection with life on the fron- 
tier and his noble father having been one of 
the early missionaries to the Indians in Ne- 
braska. A wealth of interesting data may be 
gleaned concerning this family, and the rec- 
ord cannot fail of enduring historical interest. 

Charles M. Murdock was bom in Greene 
county, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1843, and is 
a son of Rev. Daniel A. and Prudence L. 
(Smith) Murdock, both likewise natives of 
the old Keystone state. Rev. Daniel A. Mur- 
dock received a liberal education and as a 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



441 



young man he entered the ministry of the 
Presbyterian church. His marriage to Miss 
Prudence L. Smith was solemnized April 6, 
1841, and concerning their nine children the 
following brief record may be entered: Ly- 
sander B. was born March 24, 1842, and died 
January 10, 1858; Charles M., of this review, 
was the next in order of birth; Mary F. was 
born August 25, 1845, and her death occurred 
December 5, 1863 ; Alonzo D. was bom No- 
vember 11, 1847; Bashford E. W. was bom 
May 11, 1850, and died July 24, 1888; Alfa- 
retta L. was born September 22, 1852 ; Dualla 
R. was bom October 2, 1854, and her death 
occurred June 25, 1908; Effie T. was born 
June 30, 1858, and her death occurred March 
19, 1864; and Daniel A., Jr., was born Jan- 
uar 18, 1861. 

The following specially interesting record 
is taken in large part from an admirable ac- 
count prepared by Charles M. Murdock, to 
whom this sketch is dedicated. In the spring 
of 1853 Rev. Daniel A. Murdock removed 
with his family to the pioneer wilds of Iowa 
and established a home near Bloomfield, Davis 
county, but removal was soon afterward made 
to the vicinity of Holleyville, Page county. 
In September, 1856, Mr. Murdock and his 
wife, in company with their neighbors, Mr. 
and Mrs. Hayes, drove overland in covered 
wagons from Page county, Iowa, into the Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska, and they decided to locate 
in Richardson county, near the present village 
of Stell. This sturdy pioneer clergyman pur- 
chased in that locality a tract of land, and 
within a short time thereafter he returned to 
his home in Iowa. In the same year he was 
requested by the Presbyterian Missionary So- 
ciety, of New York city, to accept the posi- 
tion of missionary to the Otoe and Missouri 
tribes of Indians in Nebraska and Kansas, 
and he accepted this responsible post. On the 
7th of April, 1857, in company with his wife 
and their seven children. Rev. Daniel A. Mur- 
dock left Page county, Iowa, with teams and 
covered wagons and set forth for his new field 
of service. When they arrived at Sidney, 
Fremont county, Iowa, they found that the 
Missouri river was so high as to make it im- 



possible to cross the same. The family there- 
fore remained at Sidney until the 6th of May, 
when they crossed the river on a ferry boat, 
at Weeping Water, just above Nebraska City. 
Three days later the pioneer missionary ar- 
rived with his family at the Indian trading 
post conducted by Gideon Bennett, on Plum 
creek, and one mile west of the site of the 
present village of Liberty, Gage county. The 
next day the family continued its journey a 
distance of about seven miles and arrived at 
the Otoe and Missouri Indian mission build- 
ing, in Marshall county, Kansas. Here the 
Presbyterian Missionary Society had pur- 
chased half a section of land, the north half 
of Section One (1) in Township One (1) 
south. Range Eight (8) east, and erected 
thereon a concrete building forty by ninety 
feet in dimensions and three stories in height, 
this building having been about forty rods 
south of the Kansas and Nebraska territorial 
line and one and one-half miles distant from 
the east line of the Otoe and Missouri Indian 
reservation. Soon after the arrival of the 
Murdock family at this frontier mission the 
seven chiefs of the Otoe and Missouri tribes 
came to visit the new incumbent at the mis- 
sion. Here Arkeketa and the other six chiefs 
held conference and decided to send their 
children to the mission school. Mr. Murdock 
treated them with great consideration and ex- 
plained to them the purpose and object of his 
coming as a missionary. From New York 
were sent two women to become teachers of 
the young Indians, and about seventy-five boys 
and two girls came to receive instruction. 
With its various attaches the mission repre- 
sented a busy little community, and the Mur- 
dock family passed the first summer very 
pleasantly. When the Indians were about to 
set forth on their autumn hunting trip for 
buffalo, they asked Mr. Murdock to pennit 
the Indian boys in the school to accompany 
them on the expedition. The missionary tried 
to persuade them to let the children remain 
in school. The elder Indians seemingly gave 
their consent to this plan, but a little after 
dark the same evening "all of the Indian boys 
at the mission vanished like a flock of quail." 



442 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



While the Otoes were on this hunting expedi- 
tion a band of Sioux Indians, who were not 
on good tenns with the Otoes, appeared at the 
mission, evidently in search of the Indian 
boys, whom they doubtless wished to scalp or 
kidnap. When they found the boys absent 
they did not molest the mission, the two In- 
dian girls having in the meanwhile been se- 
creted. When, upon their return, the Otoes 
learned of the visit of the Sioux their super- 
stitious minds led them to believe that a mir- 
acle had been wrought, in that the boys had 
been absent, and they did not permit the 
youngsters to return to the mission in suffi- 
cient number to justify the continuing of the 
school. Only two of the Indian boys came 
back to the mission. The result was that the 
mission was given up in the autumn of IS.^7, 
the land and buildings being later sold by the 
missionary society. 

In 1861, however. Rev. Daniel A. Murdock 
and his family again occupied the mission 
building. In the interim he had removed to 
Doniphan county, Kansas, whence he went 
to Lawrence county, Missouri, to assume 
charge of a college at Mount Vernon. When 
the Civil war broke out he found his sym- 
pathy with the Union cause to be a source of 
trouble in his community, and he returned to 
Nebraska and settled on a tract of land which 
he had previously entered as a preemption 
claim, in Pawnee county. The next spring he 
went with his family to Washington county, 
Kansas, and within a short time thereafter he 
was made chaplain of the Thirteenth Kansas 
Infantry. In this capacity he served until his 
death, which occurred at Springfield, Mis- 
souri, on the 5th of April, 1863. A godly and 
righteous life marked by self-abnegating ser- 
vice was that of this pioneer clerg}-man and 
missionary', and his final days were given to 
his country's service in the Civil war. Mrs. 
Murdock subsequently contracted a second 
marriage and removed to Wray, Colorado, 
where her death occurred January 18, 1899, 
her remains being laid to rest in the cemetery 
at Wymore, Gage county, Nebraska. 

Charles M. Murdock was a lad of about ten 
years at the time of the family removal to 



Iowa, and was reared under the conditions 
and influences of frontier life, his educational 
training having been received largely under 
the direction of his father and mother, both of 
whom were persons of superior intellectuality. 
He accompanied his parents on their various 
removals, as noted in the preceding context, 
and was able to attend the college of which his 
father was the executive head in Missouri. 
On the 11th of July, 1862, about one month 
prior to his twentieth birthday anniversary, 
Mr. Murdock tendered his aid in defense of 
the Union. At Marj'sville, Marshall county, 
Kansas, he enlisted as a member of Company 
K, Ninth Kansas Cavalrj'. The command 
went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in Sep- 
tember, 1862, and there received a complete 
outfit. It thence marched to join the army in 
the field in southwestern Missouri, where it 
thus joined the active forces on the 2d of Oc- 
tober following. Under the command of 
General Blunt the Ninth Kansas Cavalry par- 
ticipated in the following named battles and 
other engagements : Newtonia, Missouri, Oc- 
tober 3d; Neosha, October 4th; Cane Hill, 
Arkansas, November 28th ; Prairie Grove, 
December 7th ; Van Buren, December 28th. 
The command then marched to Fort Scott, 
Kansas, and for the remainder of the winter 
it was employed in escorting trains loaded 
with supplies from that place to the Army of 
the Frontier, in Arkansas. In the perform- 
ance of this duty, Mr. Murdock's company 
had frequent engagements with guerrilla 
forces, which attempted to capture the trains 
under its escort. In March, 1863, the regi- 
ment was stationed at points on the Kansas- 
Alissouri state line, from the Missouri river 
to the Osage. Company K was stationed at 
Aubrey, in Johnson county, Kansas, and dur- 
ing the following year was engaged in scout- 
ing and fighting guerrillas and bushwhackers 
through the border tier of counties in Mis- 
souri. Mr. Murdock continued in serv'ice until 
victon,' had crowned the Union arms and 
peace had been re-established. He proved a 
loyal and gallant soldier, always at the post 
of duty, and was never wounded or captured. 
His record was one that shall ever reflect 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



443 



honor upon his name, and he was mustered 
out July 17, 1865, duly receiving his honor- 
able discharge. 

After the close of the war Mr. Murdock 
settled in Washington county, Kansas, and 
for several years thereafter he was engaged in 
freighting across the plains. He was well ac- 
quainted with William Hecock, commonly 
known as "Wild Bill," and has been in the 
room in which this frontier character shot 
jNIcCandless and four others of his gang, at 
Elkhom Station, in Jefferson county, Ne- 
braska. Those were strenuous times and Mr. 
Murdock, known for his courage and self- 
control, was elected and efficiently served as 
sheriiT of Washington county, Kansas. He 
relates many thrilling tales concerning the 
problems and danger which he faced in the 
performance of his official duties. The court- 
house of Washington county was destroyed by 
fire while he was serving as sheriiY, and he 
was employed by the county to draft a new 
set of abstract books, as the original county 
records had been destroyed in the fire. 

On the 18th of August, 1874, Mr. Murdock 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, and estab- 
lished his residence at Blue Springs, where he 
engaged in newspaper enterprise. He found- 
ed the Blue Springs Reporter, of which he 
became editor and publisher, and later he was 
editor and publisher of the Wymore Reporter. 
He was appointed right-of-way representative 
for the Burlington Railroad in this section of 
the state and was instrumental in locating and 
naming the present thriving city of Wymore, 
where he has maintained his residence since 
1881. He also gave efficient service in obtain- 
ing the right of way through Gage county for 
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the 
Union Pacific Railroads. A man of broad 
views, mature judgment, and utmost civic 
loyalty, Mr. Murdock has done much to fur- 
ther material and social advancement in Gage 
county, and he so thoroughly grounded him- 
self in the science of jurisprudence as to gain 
admission to the Nebraska bar. In later years 
he has given his attention principally to the 
practice of law and to the handling of real 
estate. 



Mr. Murdock has given unswerving alle- 
giance to the Republican party from the time 
of attaining his legal majority, and his loyalty 
to the party has been intensified by the thought 
that it represented the cause for which he 
fought at the time of the Civil war. He per- 
petuated the more gracious memories and asso- 
ciations of his military career by affiliation 
with Coleman Post, No. 115, Grand Army of 
the Republic, at Wymore. He is a charter 
member of this post, was elected its first com- 
mander, and is serving as its commander in 
1918. 

On the 25th of March, 1868, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Murdock to Miss Jane E. 
Pasko. who was born in Wisconsin, and they 
celebrated their golden wedding anniversary 
in the spring of 1918, their long companion- 
ship having been one of ideal order. Of 
their six children only two are living : Arthur 
A. is engaged in the newspaper business at 
Dewitt, Saline county ; and Glenn E. is in the 
employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railroad, at Great Falls, Montana. 

j\Ir. Murdock is a recognized authority on 
historical data in Kansas and Nebraska, and 
has dates and names at his tongue's end — 
an evidence of his remarkably vigorous and 
retentive memory. He figures as a pioneer of 
both Nebraska and Kansas, and has lived up 
to the full tension of life on the frontier, even 
as he has done his part in the progressive 
movements that have compassed the develop- 
ment of these two opulent commonwealths. 

ALBERT MILLER is one of the sterling 
pioneer citizens whose alert mentality, fine ob- 
servative powers, and distinct intellectuality 
make his reminiscences of the early days 
specially graphic and interesting, and it has 
been through his own industry and good man- 
agement that he has gained place as one of the 
prosperous exponents of farm industry in the 
county that has represented his home for 
nearly half a century, and to the development 
and progress of which he has contributed his 
quota. He is the owner of a well improved 
landed estate of two hundred and eighty acres, 
in Section 2, Logan township, and in the man- 



444 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



445 



agement of the place he is assisted most ef- 
fectively by his only son, Eilert, who is a 
bachelor, so that the two reign supreme in the 
pleasant home, the devoted wife and mother 
having passed to eternal rest December 4, 
1891. 

Mr. Miller was born in Germany, in Feb- 
ruary, 1847, and is a son of Eilert Miller. Mr. 
Miller was little more than an infant at the 
time of his mother's death and was six years 
old when he came with his father to the United 
States, settlement being made in St. Clair 
county, Illinois, where the father died a few 
months later. The orphan boy was taken into 
the home of a family by which he was reared 
to adult age on a fann in that county, and the 
somewhat meager education which he gained 
in his youth has since been supplemented by 
extensive and careful reading of the best in 
general and current literature, as well as by 
the diversified experiences of a singularly ac- 
tive and earnest life. In St. Clair county, Illi- 
nois, Mr. Miller continued his alliance with 
agricultural industry until he came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, in 1870, his wife, whose 
maiden name was Rachel Jurgens, having 
likewise been a native of Germany and having 
accompanied him to Gage county, where she 
passed the remainder of her life, the son Eil- 
ert being the only surviving child. 

Upon coming to this county Mr. Miller pur- 
chased one hundred and twenty acres of land 
in Section 2, Logan township, and with the 
passing years he has transformed this virgin 
prairie land into one of the fine farms of the 
township, where he has acquired a valuable 
estate of two hundred and eighty acres. His 
original domicile on the farm was a primitive 
dug-out of the pioneer type, and this was re- 
placed by a log house which he occupied until 
he erected his present frame house, which he 
has kept in excellent repair, besides supplying 
other farm buildings of good type. Mr. Mil- 
ler had his full share of trials and vicissitudes 
in the pioneer days, as did other early settlers 
of the county, and he went twelve miles across 
the prairie to Beatrice for his mail, the present 
attractive county seat having been a mere ham- 
let at that time and its postmaster having been 



Oliver Townsend. who, as Mr. Miller has 
facetiously stated, "kept postoffice in his over- 
coat pocket." From his youth Mr. Miller has 
been an earnest communicant of the Lutheran 
church, and the first meeting of the Lutheran 
society organized in Logan township was held 
in his home, the little dug-out, as was also the 
first school meeting for the district. Mr. Mil- 
ler has liberally done his part in support of 
progressive measures and movements, has 
continued active in the afi'airs of the Lutheran 
church, and is one of the honored and influen- 
tial pioneer citizens of Logan township, where 
his circle of friends is coincident with that of 
his acquaintances. His political allegiance is 
given to the Republican party and in the early 
days he had to go to Beatrice, the only polling 
place, to cast his vote. He served one year as 
township assessor and held for a quarter of a 
century the office of treasurer of Logan town- 
ship. 

FRANK BERAN. a representative farm- 
er of Glenwood township, is farming four 
hundred and eighty acres of land in Section 8. 
Mr. Beran is a son of Anton and Pauline 
(Shalla) Beran, who had three children, but 
he is the only one who survives ; the mother is 
deceased. Anton Beran was married the 
second time, to Josephine Beran, and the fam- 
ily history is recorded in another portion of 
this volume. 

Frank Beran was born November 16, 1876, 
in Washington county, Iowa, where his par- 
ents had followed their farming operations 
previous to their coming to Gage county in 
1878. At that time Mr. Beran was just a 
babe in arms and he has passed practically all 
of his life thus far upon Gage county soil, 
growing up with her sons and receiving the 
education of her institutions. From 1900 to 
1902 he rented land from his father and in the 
latter year he puchased his present farm, 
where he is enjoying the fruits of the labors of 
years gone by. He is a breeder of Duroc- 
Jersey hogs and is attending efficiently to his 
large and well improved farm. 

Februan,' 27, 1900, Mr. Beran married Mil- 
lie Vavruska and they are the parents of five 



446 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



children who are growing up in their home 
and being educated in the district school — in 
short, receiving the preliminary^ discipline that 
shall prepare them for the good citizenship 
necessary to make happy homes and national 
wellbeing. They are as follows : Frank, 
Alfred, Adolph, Rose, and Benjamin. Mrs. 
Beran was bom March 7, 1878, in Marshall 
county, Kansas, and is a daughter of John 
Vavruska, who, after years of active farming 
life, is now retired and living in Wilber, Ne- 
braska. 

In politics Mr. Beran is loyal to the Demo- 
cratic principles and in 1913 he was elected 
township clerk, in which position he is still 
serving his community. 

CARL F. WOLLENBURG. — As an ex- 
ponent of most modem and scientific policies 
as applied to farm industn' Mr. Wollenburg 
stands forth prominently as one of the dis- 
tinctly representative and influential agricul- 
turists and stock-growers of his native county. 
He is a member of one of the sterling and 
honored families of the county and by his own 
energy and well directed efforts he has made 
his way to the goal of success and prosperity, 
as evidenced in the fact that he is the owner 
of a valuable landed estate of two hundred 
and eighty-eight acres, eligibly situated in 
Sections 3, 4. and 10, Blakely township, his 
homestead place being in Section 4 and on 
rural mail route No. 3 from the village of De- 
witt. Saline county. Mr. W'ollenburg is asso- 
ciated with his brother Henry in operating 
each season a thoroughly modern threshing 
outfit, and in his plowing and various other 
work for which the modem device is available 
he utilizes a high-grade tractor. These state- 
ments indicate unmistakably his progressive- 
ness, which is further shown in his use of the 
best of fami implements and machinery' and 
the general air of thrift and good manage- 
ment that pervades his fine farm property. 

Mr. Wollenburg was bom on his father's 
old homestead farm in Grant township, this 
county, and the date of his nativity was March 
7, 1882. He is a son of the late William Wol- 
lenburg, to whom a memoir is dedicated on 



other pages of this volume, so that there is 
not demand for a further review of the family 
history in the present connection. In the 
Lutheran parochial schools and the district 
schools Mr. Wollenburg gained the discipline 
that matured his mental powers as a boy and 
j'outh, and he has shown his good judgment 
by his continued association with farm enter- 
prise, through the medium of which he has 
achieved splendid success. In 1913 he pur- 
chased his first land — a tract of one hundred 
and twenty acres, in Sections 3 and 10, Blake- 
ly township — and with increasing prosperity 
he continued to make judicious investments 
until he has accumulated one of the finely im- 
proved and well ordered farm estates of his 
native county. In making this excellent ac- 
count for himself in his independent activities 
Mr. Wollenburg has not become self -centered 
but has at all times shown loyal interest in 
community aft'airs, his political support being 
given to the Republican party and both he and 
his wife being communicants of the Lutheran 
church. 

On the 25th of April, 1905, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Wollenburg to Miss Ma- 
tilda Schafer, who was born near Wilber, 
Saline county, and is a daughter of Henr)' 
Schafer, who was bom in Germany and who 
was twelve years old when the family came to 
the United States and settled in Illinois. Mr. 
Schafer came to Gage county about 1887, he 
being still a resident of this county, where his 
wife died a few years ago. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wollenburg have six children — Matilda, El- 
sie, Wilhelmina, Carl, Theodore, and Helen, 
the twin sister of Helen having died in in- 
fancy. 

REV. J. B. REENTS has been a faithful 
and zealous worker in the vineyard of the Di- 
vine Master and is one of the able and hon- 
ored members of the clerg)' of the German 
Lutheran church in Nebraska. He has served 
since 1902 as pastor of what is familiarly 
known as the Hanover Gemian Lutheran 
church, the present edifice of which is in Logan 
township, near the Hanover township line. 
This splendid organization claims precedence 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



447 




Rev. J. B. Reents 



448 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




Z ion's LlTHEKAN ClIlRCH 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



449 



as one of the strongest and wealthiest rural 
churches in the entire state and offers a splen- 
did field for the earnest and consecrated 
labors of its honored pastor. 

Mr. Reents was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, Jainiary 15, 1874, a son 
of John and Jennie (Straate) Reents, both 
likewise natives of that historic province, 
where the father was bom February 11, 1834, 
and the mother November 21, 1833, their mar- 
riage having been solemnized in 1858. In his 
native land John Reents continued to be ac- 
tively identified with fann enterprise until the 
death of his loved wife, in 1911, and in the 
following year he came to America, the resi- 
due of his life having been passed in the home 
of his son J. B., the subject of this review. 
Both he and his wife were most devout com- 
municants of the German Lutheran church 
and exemplified their faith in their noble and 
gracious lives. Of their five children the eld- 
est is Joost, who is now a prosperous farmer 
near Clara City, Chippewa county, Minnesota ; 
Bernard likewise is a prosperous farmer in 
that county ; Ailt is engaged in farming near 
Allison, Butler county, Iowa ; Rev. J. B., of 
this sketch, was the next in order of birth; 
and Theda is the wife of William Kramer, a 
farmer near Bristow, Butler county, Iowa. 
Three of the sons served the required term in 
the German army. 

Rev. J. B. Reents acquired his early educa- 
tion in his native land, where he completed a 
course in a teachers' preparatory school. He 
was eighteen years of age when he came to the 
United States, in 1892, and has been a resi- 
dent of Nebraska since 1900. After coming 
to this country he maintained his residence 
for three years at Nora Springs, Iowa, where 
he was a student in a seminary, and for one 
year thereafter he continued his studies at 
Cedar Falls, that state. Thereafter he was for 
five terms a successful teacher in the public 
schools of Iowa, after which he entered 
Wartburg Seminary, in the city of Dubuque, 
Iowa, in which institution he completed a 
thorough course in philosophy and theology 
and was graduated as a member of the class of 
1900. In the same year he was ordained a 



minister of the German Lutheran church, 
and was assigned to the pastoral charge 
of the Lutheran church located four and 
one-half miles north of the village of 
Pickrell, Gage county, Nebraska. There 
he continued his service until February, 
1902, when he assumed his present im- 
portant pastorate, in charge of Zion's German 
Lutheran church in Logan township, near the 
Hanover township line. The original church 
building was located in Hanover township, 
within a comparatively short distance from 
the site of the present edifice, and the name 
of "Hanover Church" is still familiarly ap- 
plied. The present fine church edifice, which 
was dedicated in 1917, is one of the best 
church buildings in the entire state and has 
been definitely proclaimed as "probably the 
most beautiful rural church in the west." 
The edifice was completed at an approximate 
cost of forty-five thousand dollars and it is 
pleasing to record that all money necessary 
for the construction and equipment of the 
building was raised before the work of con- 
struction was initiated ■ — and that without 
calling for any assistance of financial order 
save from members of the congregation itself. 
The church is beautiful in its interior design 
and appointments, is equipped with a pipe 
organ of the best modern type, and it was 
dedicated without one cent of indebtedness, 
the normal seating capacity of the edifice 
being eight hundred. In this connection the 
following brief record is worthy of perpetua- 
tion : "The Hanover German Lutheran 
church was organized, with ten members, 
March 14, 1874. In 1875 a parsonage was 
erected, but this was destroyed by a tornado, 
on June 26th of the same year. Church ser- 
vices were held in the school house of the 
district No. 38 until 1881, when was erected 
a church building that was thirty by forty-six 
feet in dimensions. This soon proved too 
small, and an addition was made in 1898. A 
belfry also was built at this time and a bell of 
two thousand pounds was installed, this being 
now in the new church edifice, on the oppo- 
site of the road from the old church building. 
The pastors of the church from its organiza- 



450 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tion to the present have been as here noted : 
Rev. Mr. Martin, Rev. William Ehmen, Rev. 
Theodore Seylor, Rev. O. Lompe, Rev. Wolf- 
gang Ilertel, and Rev. J. B. Reents, the 
pastorate of the present incumbent having 
covered a period of nearly sixteen years. 
Constructed of cream-colored brick and not- 
able for the beauty and consistency of its 
architectural design, the new church edifice 
presents a very handsome appearance, two 
tall spires adorning the fagade. Standing on 
a hill, the church is visible for a considerable 
distance in each direction and the chimes that 
have been installed in the taller spire can be 
heard for miles." 

This vigorous and noble parish organiza- 
tion claims a membership of one hundred and 
fifty families — the largest congregation in 
Gage county and the largest of the Lutheran 
faith in the entire state. The present pastor, 
a man of fine intellectuality, is an earnest pul- 
pit orator, unselfish and indefatigable in all 
pastoral duties, and an able and progressive 
executive.. He takes deep interest in all 
things touching the communal welfare and his 
influence is in all ways beneficent, the while 
he has the unqualified esteem of all who know 
him. His political allegiance is given to the 
Democratic party. 

On Christmas day of the year 1900 was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Reents to Miss 
Louisa Hertel, daughter of Rev. W'olfgang 
Hertel, who was the immediate predecessor 
of Mr. Reents as pastor of the Hanover Lu- 
theran church. Mr. and Mrs. Reents have six 
children : John is attending college at Sterl- 
ing, this state; and the other children remain 
at the parental home — Walter, Irene, Arthur, 
William, and Bemhard. 

ALBERTUS II. KIDU. — This representa- 
tive member of the Gage county bar has shown 
in his professional activities and service the 
power of concentrating the full forces of the 
individual and raising them to the plane of 
large achievement. He has demonstrated his 
ability not only as a lawyer but also as a citi- 
zen well qualified for leadership in move- 
ments and enterprises contributing to the gen- 



eral wellbeing of the community, and thus, 
while never wavering in his fealty to his pro- 
fession, he has directed his energies also in 
successful exploitation of the basic industrial 
resources of Gage county and in fostering the 
progressive policies that make for civic and 
material advancement and prosperity in the 
communal life. Mr. Kidd has been engaged 
in the active practice of law at Beatrice, ju- 
dicial center of Gage county, since 1891, and 
since 1909 he has maintained a professional 
alliance with Samuel Rinaker, with offices in 
the First National Bank building. The firm 
of Rinaker & Kidd is uniformly conceded to 
be one of the strongest in the southern part 
of the state, and this fact in itself vouches for 
the character and technical ability of the prin- 
cipals in the firm. As a lawyer Mr. Kidd has 
achieved high repute and has definite profes- 
sional prestige throughout southeastern Ne- 
braska — a prestige based on results achieved. 

Albertus H. Kidd is a scion of sterling 
American colonial stock in both the agnatic 
and distaff lines, and takes definite pride in 
reverting to the fact that both paternal and 
maternal ancestors were numbered among the 
patriot soldiers of the Continental Line in the 
war of the Revolution. Family tradition is to 
the effect that the historic character, Captain 
Kidd, was of the same family line, and the 
subject of this review has never found it con- 
sonant to criticise the somewhat misdirected 
energfies of the redoubtable captain, who under 
more favorable circumstances probably would 
have marked his career with worthy achieve- 
ment as remarkable as were his storied ex- 
ploits of seeming depredation. 

Mr. Kidd was bom at Ada, Allen county, 
Ohio, on the 19th of March, 1863, and is a 
representative of one of the honored pioneer 
families of the old Buckeye state, within 
whose borders were born his parents, Rev. 
Jeremiah \\'. and Elvira (Lillibridge) Kidd, 
both of whom passed the closing period of 
their lives in the state of Illinois. Rev. Jere- 
miah W. Kidd, a man of broad intellectual 
ken and fervent piety, prepared himself for 
the ministr>- of the Methodist Protestant 
church, and as a clergA-man of this denomina- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



451 



tion he was called to service in Illinois in the 
year 1874. In that state he held thereafter 
pastoral charges in many different counties, 
and he was a revered patriarch of Bureau 
county, Illinois, at the time of his death, which 
occurred when he was nearly ninety years of 
age, his devoted wife having preceded him to 
eternal rest by many years. He labored with 
all of consecrated zeal in his chosen calling 
for a long term of years, and his ministerial 
services were given first in Ohio, later in In- 
diana, and finally in Illinois. Both the Kidd 
and Lillibridge family lines trace back to 
staunch English origin and both families sent 
representatives to America in the early col- 
onial period of our national history, as pre- 
viously intimated in this context. Mr. Kidd 
of this review has in his possession a compre- 
hensive genealogical record of the Lillibridge 
family, and data therein presented show that 
members of the family in various generations 
have been prominent and influential in Ameri- 
can afifairs and in varied walks of life. 

Albertus H. Kidd was about six years of 
age at the time of the family removal from 
Ohio to Indiana, and was a lad of about eleven 
years when removal was made to Illinois, in 
which latter state he acquired the major 
part of his early educational discipline, which 
included the curriculum of the high school at 
Wyoming, Stark county. Thereafter he pur- 
sued higher academic studies in a college at 
La Harpe, that state, and he put his scholastic 
acquirements to practical test and utilization 
by entering the pedagogic profession, as a 
teacher in the public schools of Illinois. In 
the meanwhile he had formulated definite 
plans for his future career, and in consonance 
therewith he began reading law under the ef- 
fective preceptorship of the firm of Matthews 
& Peacock, of Monmouth, Illinois. With char- 
acteristic earnestness and zeal he applied him- 
self to the study of the involved science of 
jurisprudence, and he proved himself well 
fortified in the same when he applied for and 
received admission to the bar of Illinois, in 
1887. In the same year Mr. Kidd came to 
Nebraska and engaged in the practice of his 
profession at Alma, Harlan county. There he 



continued to reside until 1891, when, for the 
purpose of obtaining a broader field of pro- 
fessional endeavor, he came to Gage county 
and established his residence at Beatrice, 
where he has continued in the practice of his 
profession during the intervening period of 
more than a quarter of a century and where he 
has won secure vantage-ground as one of the 
leading members of the bar of southeastern 
Nebraska. 

In Gage county Mr. Kidd has entered most 
loyally and fully into the communal life and 
has exemplified specially vital and well or- 
dered progressiveness and public spirit. He 
served six years as a member of the board of 
education of Beatrice and for fifteen years as 
a member of the board of directors of the 
Beatrice public library, of which he is still a 
member. While he gives unfaltering allegiance 
to the Republican party and has accorded yeo- 
man service in behalf of its cause, Mr. Kidd 
has considered his profession worthy of his 
undivided fealty and thus has manifested no 
desire for political office. His civic loyalty 
was shown, however, in two terms of effective 
service as city attorney of Beatrice. He was 
for four years the president of the Gage 
County Crop Improvement Association and 
his interest in agricultural industry has been 
shown in his ownership and improvement of 
several farms in Nebraska, in which connec- 
tion it may be noted that he is at the present 
time the owner of a fine farm in Midland 
township. He gives a general supervision to 
the operations of this farm and is active in 
the improving of the grades of live stock in 
this section of the state, as well as in the ad- 
vancing of scientific methods in agricultural 
enterprise. Mr. Kidd is president of the State 
Savings & Loan Association, of Beatrice, one 
of the substantial and important financial in- 
stitutions of the county, and he is also a stock- 
holder in the First National Bank of Beatrice. 
He is an influential and appreciative member 
of the Beatrice Commercial Club and has 
served for years as a member of its board of 
directors. In connection with the various 
movements incidental to the nation's partici- 
pation in the great European war, Mr. Kidd 



^52 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEISRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



453 



is now Federal Food Administrator for Gage 
county. 

In tlie year 1888, at La Harpe, Hancock 
county, Illinois, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Kidd to Miss Elizabeth Gilliland, who 
was born in Schuyler county, that state, and 
they have two daughters — Dora A. and 
Norma J., both of whom were graduated in 
the Beatrice high school and also in the Uni- 
versity of Nebraska. The elder daughter re- 
mains at the parental home and Miss Norma 
J. is assistant secretary of the Young Women's 
Christian Association in the city of Lincoln, 
this state. 

JAMES K. P. PETHOUD was a lad of 
fourteen years when he came with his parents 
to Nebraska Territory and his father became 
one of the earliest settlers of Gage county, 
where the family home was established nearly 
a decade prior to the admission of Nebraska 
to statehood. Here the subject of this memoir 
was reared to manhood under the conditions 
and influences which marked the initiation of 
civic and industrial development in this section 
of the state, and thus he was the more strong- 
ly fortified in mature years to carry forward 
his quota of the important work which has 
made Gage county one of the opulent and at- 
tractive divisions of a great and prosperous 
commonwealth. He was one of the world's 
constructive workers and was one of the hon- 
ored jjioneer citizens of the county at the time 
of his death, which occurred on the 7th of 
June, 1896. Adequate record concerning the 
family h'story is given on other pages of this 
work, in the specific tribute dedicated to John 
Pethoud, father of him whose name introduces 
this article. 

James Kno.x Polk Pethoud was born in 
Lawrence county, Ohio, November 24, 1844, 
and was named in honor of the Hort. James 
Kno.x Polk, who had in that year been elected 
president of the United States. He received 
his earlv education in the schools of the old 
Buckeve state and in 1858 accompanied his 
])arents to the frontier wilds of what is now 
Gage county, where he assisted in reclaiming 
a pioneer farm and where, upon attaining to 



his legal majority, he entered claim to a home- 
stead of one hundred and sixty acres of land 
in what is now Section 10 Midland township. 
For about three years after his marriage he 
and his wife remained on the old homestead 
farm of his father, in order that they might 
give proper filial care to his venerable parents, 
and after he had instituted the improvement 
of his own farm his parents there remained 
with him until they were called from the stage 
of life's mortal endeavors. Mr. Pethoud was 
a man of superabundant energy and ambition 
and thus he was specially successful in his 
progressive activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower. He continued to maintain the 
active supervision of his fine farm property 
until the time of his death, and though his 
early educational advantages were of necessity 
very limited, he profited greatly from the les- 
sons of experience and became a man of broad 
views and mature judgment, even as he was 
one of sterling integrity of character. His 
political allegiance was given to the Demo- 
cratic party, but he pursued the even tenor of 
his earnest and unassuming way with no de- 
sire for political activity or prefennent. He 
was one of the sturdy yeomen who aided in 
civic and material development and progress 
in Gage county, true to the duties and respon- 
sibilities that devolved upon him and known 
for simple and unpretentious rectitude. 

As a young man Mr. Pethoud wedded Miss 
Nancy Melissa Bunker, who was born in the 
state of Indiana, November 12, 1844, and who 
was reared in the state of Iowa, where her 
parents were pioneer settlers. She was a 
daughter of Daniel Bunker, a descendant of 
Nathaniel Bunker, who owned the farm on 
which was fought the great Revolutionary 
battle of Bunker Hill. Chief Justice Chase, 
of the United States supreme court, was a 
scion of the Bunker family and it was through 
his genealogical research that definite proof 
was given that the celebrated battle was thus 
fought on the property of his forebear, whose 
name is thus perpetuated in history. Mrs. 
Pethoud survived her husband by more than a 
decade and was one of the venerable and loved 
pioneer women of Gage county at the time of 



454 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



her death, June 3, 1908. They are survived 
by only one child, Miss Arabella Pethoud. who 
remains on the old homestead farm which her 
father obtained from the government under 
homestead entrj- in the early pioneer era, the 
place being endeared to her by the hallowed 
memories and associations of the past and the 
pleasant home being known for its generous 
hospitality. 

JOHN R. McCANN, who has held since 
1914 the office of postmaster of the city of 
Beatrice, was born at Mount Sterling, Brown 
county, Illinois, on the 11th of Januar\\ 1868, 
and is a son of Thomas and Bettie (McEntee) 
McCann, both natives of Ireland. Thomas 
McCann was born in the city of Dublin, No- 
vember 12, 1839, the youngest child and now 
the only survivor in a family of four sons and 
three daughters. Thomas McCann was a lad 
of about ten years when he accompanied his 
parents to America, the voyage having been 
made on a sailing vessel of the type common to 
tiiat period and the family having landed in 
the port of New York city on the 5th of June, 
1849. From the national metropolis the par- 
ents, Thomas and Rose McCann, ])roceeded to 
Cincinnati, Ohio, the journey having been 
made by canal and the Great Lakes, prior to 
the time when railroad facilities had been pro- 
vided. .After remaining about three months 
in Cincinnati the family went by steamer down 
the r)hio river and across the Mississippi to 
St. Louis, Missouri, where the home was 
maintained until 1854. Removal was then 
made to Brown county, Illinois, where Thomas 
McCann, Sr.. purchased land, near Mount 
Sterling. There l:e developed a productive 
farm and there he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives, both having been com- 
municants of the Catholic church, to the faith 
of which the later generations of the family 
have adhered. The father of the postmaster 
of Beatrice was reared to manhood on the pio- 
neer farm in Brown county, Illinois, where he 
owns and still resides upon the old homestead 
fann which was obtained by his father nearly 
sixty-five years ago. Mrs. Bettie (McEntee) 
McCann was bom in County Cavan, Ire- 



land, in 1838, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. 
Patrick McEntee, were pioneers of Brown 
county, Illinois, where they continued to re- 
side until their death. Mrs. McCann passed 
to the life eternal in 1879, and of the seven 
children John R., of this review, is the eldest; 
Thomas M. is a resident of the city of Chi- 
cago; Rose is the wife of Ilenrj- Moss, of 
Mount Sterling, Illinois ; Elizabeth is the wife 
of James W. Brady, of Mount Sterling: Clara 
died at the age of eighteen years and George 
in infancy; and Miss Anna remains with her 
venerable father on the old homestead farm. 

John R. McCann was reared to the sturdy 
discipline of the farm and acquired his youth- 
ful education in the public schools of his native 
county. At the age of seventeen years he went 
to Jewell City, Kansas, where for a period of 
about two years he was employed in a whole- 
sale grocer)- establishmeint. He next went to 
^lankato, Kansas, and there he learned the 
tinner's trade. After about two years his 
health became impaired to such an extent that 
he sought a less sedentary occupation and en- 
tered the employ of the Carpenter & Gage 
Nursery Company, at Fairbury, Jefferson 
county, Nebraska, where he had previously 
worked at his trade for some time. In 1888 
Carl Sonderegger, who was the proprietor of 
the German Nursery at Fairburj', had occa- 
sion to make a trip to Switzeriand, and he en- 
gaged Mr. McCann to assist in the manage- 
ment of the nursen- during his absence. Mr. 
McCann continued his alliance with the Son- 
deregger nursery and in the meanwhile lived 
in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Sonder- 
egger until the time of his marriage. He be- 
came a traveling representative of the concern 
and after his marriage he resided at Dewitt, 
Saline county, until 1893. Save for a brief 
interval he continued in the employ of Mr. 
Sonderegger for a period of fifteen years, 
during which he sold nursery stock to the 
value of thousands of dollars, the while his 
relations with his honored employer were ever 
of the most gracious and mutually apprecia- 
tive order. Mr. McCann established his resi- 
dence in Beatrice in 1893 and here he con- 
tinued his active connection with the Sonder- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



455 



egger nurseries, as a salesman, until 1898, 
when he here engaged in the real-estate busi- 
ness. His operations in this field of enterprise 
extended into Texas, Florida, and Georgia, 
where his transactions involved the handling 
of much land and also the promotion of immi- 
gration to those states. He continued as a 
successful exponent of important real-estate 
operations until his appointment to the office 
of postmaster of Beatrice, a position of which 
he has been the valued incumbent since 1914, 
as previously noted in this context. 

Mr. McCaim is unwavering in his allegiance 
to the Democratic party, and he has been 
active and influential in its councils in Ne- 
braska, where he served three years as a mem- 
ber of the Democratic state central committee. 

On the 17th of June, 1889, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. McCann to Miss Grace 
E. Gast, a daughter of William and Sarah 
(Moyer) Gast, who were pioneer settlers in 
Saline county, Nebraska. There Mr. Gast be- 
came the owner of an entire section of land 
and developed a large and valuable farm es- 
tate, his holdings including land also in Gage 
county. His widow now resides at Dewitt, 
Saline county. Mr. and Mrs. McCann became 
the parents of two children, Ethel G., who 
died the 28th of December, 1916, and Edith 
Grace, who is the wife of Walter C. Magee, of 
Beatrice, Nebraska. 

JOHN E. MURPHY. — The history of 
Gage county tells what has been done during 
the fifty years of struggle, striving, and work- 
ing toward the creation of a great county. It 
must tell of the individual achievements of the 
men who have taken an active part in the 
work of development and progress. These 
men are the foundations of the social struc- 
ture of Gage county. One of the number is 
John E. Murphy, who is a son of Patrick and 
Catherine (McCaflFrey) Murphy, early pio- 
neer settlers on the former Otoe Indian reser- 
vation in Gage county. Patrick Murphy was 
born in Ireland and when a youth he there 
wedded Miss Catherine McCaffrey. The 
young couple left their native land to seek 
their fortune in the United States, and they 



landed in Brooklyn, New York, where Pat- 
rick worked as a laborer. By hard work and 
patient saving he was finally able to buy thirty- 
two acres of land near Tribes Hill, New York. 

In 1878, when the eyes of the east were di- 
rected upon the new western lands being 
opened for settlement, Mr. Murphy decided 
to come to Nebraska and seek better oppor- 
tunities for acquiring a living and competence. 
This entailed a long and weary journey over 
rough roads that were not drained, while in 
many places there were virtually no roads at 
all. Finally, after weeks of travel, Mr. Mur- 
phy and his family arrived in Lincoln, Ne- 
braska. Here he heard of the Otoe Indian 
reservation land being opened up for settle- 
ment. He came to Gage county, and on the 
reservation purchased a squatter's right to 
one hundred and sixty acres of land, a few 
miles from the present village of Odell. Here 
the family was soon settled on the pioneer 
farm, and the father, with his only son, John, 
broke the virgin land, wresting from the soil 
in due time its treasures of wheat and corn. 

Mr. Murphy gave unstintingly of his time 
and talent to the community at large. As 
other settlers came in, there was need of civic 
and religious organizations. He was among 
the first to give aid in the organization of 
Paddock township and also to organize a 
school for the education of the children. Mr. 
Murphy gave liberally of his time and money 
to organize the Catholic church at Odell, and 
later he helped in the organization of the 
Catholic church at Wymore. All during his 
life thereafter these institutions received lib- 
erally of his support. In all of his labors on 
the farm, in the church and community Mr. 
Murphy's devoted wife shared. She was 
born March 12, 1827, in Darlyn, County Fer- 
managh, Ireland, and she came to this coun- 
try with her young husband, settled with him 
in the Otoe Indian reservation, and shared 
with him all of the hardships and trials of 
pioneer life. They became the parents of six 
daughters and one son. Mrs. Murphy lived 
to the venerable age of ninety years and six 
months, and passed the declining period of her 
life in the home of her youngest daughter. 



456 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEHRASKA 




3 






HIST(JRY OF GAGE COUNTY. XELiRASKA 



457 



Mrs. Rose JNTasek, where she died September 
23, 1917. Of the children the following rec- 
ord is given : Mrs. Mary McCarthy resides 
at Wymore, this county ; Mrs. Katherine Hat- 
maker is deceased; Mrs. Julia Comer resides 
in Paddock township ; John F. is the only son 
and is the subject of this sketch ; Mrs. Susan 
McCaffrey is a widow and resides at Hast- 
ings, Nebraska ; Mrs. Abbie Stanosheck lives 
at Odell, Gage county, Nebraska ; and Mrs. 
Rose Masek, of Odell, is deceased. 

John E. Murphy was the fourth child and 
only son born to his parents. He was born 
October 1, 1863, at Tribes Hill, New York. 
His education was received in New York 
prior to his coming to Nebraska with his par- 
ents. He was 15 years old when they arrived 
on the C)toe Indian reservation and he helped 
his father to build their cabin, break the land, 
and perform the various other duties that 
were to be done on a pioneer farm. He re- 
mained on this farm until he went to Odell, 
to sene as a clerk in a general merchandise 
store. He remained thus engaged until 1900, 
when he went into the general merchandise 
business for himself. He successfully con- 
ducted the enterprise until 1914, when he dis- 
posed of the business, and he has since de- 
voted his time to the real estate and insurance 
business. 

In 1904 the Odell Independent Telephone 
Company was organized and Mr. Murphy was 
the leading spirit in the organizing of this 
company, of which he was elected secretan- 
and treasurer. This substantial company has 
a modern building, erected at a cost of five 
thousand dollars, and in this the business is 
conducted. Mr. I\Iurphy was interested also in 
a cider and vinegar manufacturing company 
that was organized in 1907, and in 1913 the 
factory at Odell, Gage county, was transferred 
to Atchison, Kansas, where it is now located. 
Mr. Murphy was secretan,- and treasurer of 
the company until March, 1917, when he sold 
his interest in the business. 

The marriage of John Murphy and Katie A. 
Stanosheck was solemnized May 4, 1892. Mrs. 
Murphy was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and is 
a daughter of Albert and Pauline Stanosheck. 



(See Thomas W. Stanosheck sketch for the 
family history). Mr. and Mrs. Murphy became 
the parents of nine children : Frank E. is an 
electrician for the Atchison Railroad Special- 
ty Company, at Atchison. Kansas; Ruth is a 
teacher in the high school at McCook, Ne- 
braska ; Rosa and Lillian are twins, Rosa be- 
ing a dressmaker and remaining at the par- 
ental home, and Lillian being a teacher at 
Culbertson, Nebraska ; Adelaide died at the 
age of twelve years : Marie is attending the 
high school at Odell ; Frances is attending the 
public schools ; and John and Catherine, twins, 
are at home. The children have received the 
advantages of the schools of Odell, and the 
family is popular in the social life of the com- 
munity. 

Mr. Murphy votes the Democratic ticket 
and has held offices of trust in his commun- 
ity. He has served as a member of the city 
council of Odell and as township clerk. He 
affiliates himself with the Knights and Ladies 
of Security, the Ancient Order of United 
\\'orkmen, the Royal Neighbors, the Modem 
Woodmen of America, and the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks. He has real 
estate in Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, 
and Colorado. He is ever alert to the civic 
needs of Odell and is a citizen of utmost loy- 
alty and progressiveness. 

JOHN H. MENTER. — The great basic 
industries of agriculture and stock-growing 
yield substantial and worthy rewards to the 
man of enterprise and good judgment, and 
this is definitely signified in the prosperity that 
has attended the efforts of Mr. Menter as one 
of the vigorous and resourceful farmers of 
Grant township, where he is the owner of a 
\aluable landed estate of two hundred acres, 
besides which he is the owner of three hun- 
dred and twenty acres in Deuel county, this 
state. 

Mr. Menter claims the old Buckeye state 
as the place of his nativity, but the year 1918 
records for him thirty years of continuous 
residence in Nebraska, where he has achieved 
substantial success and independence entirely 
through his own ability and well ordered ef- 



458 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBRASKA 



forts. Mr. Menter was bom in Wood county, 
Ohio, October 21, 1868, and is a son of Fred- 
erick and Mary (Schuemian) Menter. the lat- 
ter of whom, a native of Prussia, Germany, 
died in 1874, at the age of thirty-six years, 
after having become the mother of four chil- 
dren, of whom three are living: Henrj- is a 
resident of Toledo, Ohio, and Louis of Pem- 
ber\-ille, that state. The father ultimately con- 
tracted a second marriage and of the children 
of this union five are living, all being residents 
of the state of Michigan — Edward, William, 
Carrie. Katherine, and Ida. 

Frederick Menter was born in the province 
of Hanover, Germany, May 20, 1840, and was 
six years of age at the time of the family im- 
migration to America, his parents having set- 
tled in Wood county. Ohio, where they passed 
the remainder of their lives, his father having 
there become a prosperous farmer. Frederick 
Menter was reared and educated in Ohio and 
there he continued his alliance with fami in- 
dustry until 1907, when he removed with his 
family to Huron county, Michigan, where, at 
a venerable age, he still resides on his well 
improved farm, the religious faith of the fam- 
ily having been for generations that of the 
Lutheran church. 

John H. Menter grew to maturity under the 
invigorating discipline of the old home farm 
in Ohio and in the meanwhile profited by the 
advantages ati'orded in the district schools of 
the locality. In 1888, shortly before attain- 
ing to his legal majority, he came to Nebraska, 
where for the ensuing nine years he worked as 
a farm hand, principally in Gage and Saline 
counties. His compensation during a consid- 
erable part of this period was only fourteen 
dollars a month, but he carefully saved his 
earnings and kept fully in view the goal of his 
ambition — that of becoming an independent 
exponent of farm enterprise. In 1896 he 
rented land in Webster county, and later he 
fanned on rented land in Adams and Saline 
counties. In 1911 Mr. Menter purchased his 
present Gage county farm, on which he has 
since made many excellent improvements of 
permanent order, including the erection of a 
barn and other fann buildings. His energy 



and progressiveness have enabled him to make 
his place stand forth as one of the best im- 
proved and effectively operated farms in 
Grant township, his attractive homestead be- 
ing situated three miles southeast of the vil- 
lage of Dewitt, Saline county, from which he 
receives service on rural mail route No. 3. 
He gives his attention to diversified agricul- 
ture and stock-growing, and is making a spe- 
cialty of raising graded swine. He gives 
loyal support to measures and enterprises 
tending to advance the civic and material wel- 
fare of the community, has served as road 
supervisor, and he and his family hold mem- 
bership in the Lutheran church. 

February 22, 1896, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Menter to Miss Marj' Ulrich, daughter 
of Charles G. and Johanna (Graff) Ulrich, 
concerning whom further mention is made on 
other pages, in the sketch of their son Edward 
W. A. In conclusion is given brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Men- 
ter: Carl has the management of his father's 
farm property in Deuel county ; Alfred is 
associated in the work and management of 
the home farm in Gage county ; Gertrude is 
decea"sed ; and Arthur, John. Alice, and Paul 
remain members of the gracious home circle. 

CHARLES B. MUMFORD. — From the 
early pioneer period in its histor}- to the pres- 
ent time Gage county has claimed members 
of the Mumford family as sterling and valued 
citizens, John B. Mumford, father of the sub- 
ject of this review, having been one of three 
brothers who came from Wisconsin to this 
county in the '60s, and each of these brothers, 
John B., Isniay, and Jacob, having taken 
vigorous part in the furtherance of the initial 
development and upbuilding of the county, 
where the family name has always stood forth 
for civic loyalty and progressiveness and for 
the intelligent and productive industry which 
makes for individual success and communal 
advancement. 

John B. Mumford was born in the state of 
Marjland, where his parents established their 
home upon coming from England to this coun- 
try, and he became one of the pioneer settlers 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



459 



in Wisconsin, where he engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits and became one of the substan- 
tial citizens of Lafayette county. His initial 
visit to the Territory of Nebraska was made 
in the year 1860, when he accompanied his 
older brother, Ismay, to what is now the opu- 
lent and beautiful county of Gage, and of the 
conditions that then obtained in this locality 
some idea is conveyed by the statement that 
Dawson Mumford, son of Ismay, was the first 
white child born within the limits of this 
county. The general historical department of 
this publication shows also that Ismay Mum- 
ford was the first treasurer of Gage county. 
After this pioneer visit to Gage county John 
B. Mumford returned to Wisconsin, but in 
1865 he brought his family to Gage county 
and here established a permanent home. He 
purchased four hundred acres of land, re- 
claimed and developed one of the excellent 
farms of the county, and he continued to re- 
side on his well improved homestead farm, in 
Logan township, until his death, when seventy- 
three years of age, his venerable widow still 
surviving him and being one of the loved pio- 
neer women of Gage county : her maiden name 
was Mary A. Roush and she was born in 
Ohio, the original American progenitors of the 
Roush family having come from Holland in 
the early period of our national history. John 
B. and Mary A. (Roush) Mumford became 
the parents of nine children, and of the six 
now living Charles B., of this review, is the 
second eldest ; Sarah, the eldest, is the wife of 
William A. Foreman, of Beatrice ; Eugene P. 
is individually mentioned within the pages of 
this publication ; Ida and Frank remain on the 
old homestead fann of their father, the for- 
mer being the wife of L. W. Eppert. who is 
associated in the work and management of the 
place ; and Luther A., formerly principal of 
the Beatrice high school, is now engaged in 
the school-textbook business in the city of 
Lincoln, capital of Nebraska. John B. Mum- 
ford was a leader in the local councils of the 
Democratic party, though never consenting to 
accept public office, and his religious faith was 
that of the Methodist Episcopal church, his 



venerable widow being a devout adherent of 
the Christian church. 

Charles B. Mumford was born in Lafayette 
county, Wisconsin, and was a small boy at the 
time the family home was established on the 
pioneer farm in Gage county, Nebraska, where 
he was reared to manhood and received the 
advantages of the common schools of the 
period. It can well be understood that in his 
boyhood and youth he acquired full fellow- 
ship with the sturdy work of the farm, and in 
initiating his independent career he naturally 
continued his allegiance to the great basic in- 
dustry of agriculture. For a period of years 
he was numbered among the progressive and 
successful farmers of Logan township, and in 
1894 he removed to Beatrice, the county seat, 
where he engaged in the livery business. A 
number of years later he sold this business and 
turned his attention to the buying of horses, 
which he sold for local use, besides develop- 
ing a substantial enterprise in the shipping of 
horses to various central markets. A thorough 
judge of values, he made a definite success of 
the business and was one of the prominent 
shippers of horses from this state. In the 
spring of 1915 Mr. Mumford gave evidence of 
his appreciation of the modern trend of pro- 
gress by identifying himself with the automo- 
bile business. He erected a large garage 
building on Seventh street and there installed 
the best of equipment, including a general re- 
pair shop and a line of automobile supplies 
and accessories, his broad experience and ag- 
gressive policies having been potent in the up- 
building of a very prosperous business and his 
active control of the same having continued 
until September, 1917, when he sold both the 
building and the business to the present owner, 
Austin Krous. Since that time he has renewed 
his allegiance to his former line of business 
and gives his attention to handling horses, 
both in placing them on the market and in fit- 
ting them for service. He is at the time of 
this writing the owner of two fine standard 
bred horses which are making good account 
of themselves in turf events. Mr. Mumford 
is well known throughout this part of Ne- 
braska, and his genial personality, as com- 



460 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



bined with his sturdy integrity in all of the 
relations of life, has gained to him a wide 
circle of friends. He is a staunch supporter 
of the cause of the Republican party, though 
he has manifested naught of ambition for pub- 
lic office, and his wife is an active member of 
the Christian church. 

As a young man Mr. Mumford wedded 
Miss Martha Dearborn, and she is now de- 
ceased. She is survived by three children : 
Charles D., who is associated with his uncle, 
E. P. Mumford, in the furniture business in 
Beatrice, where he was formerly employed 
fourteen years in the furniture store of Wal- 
ter Scott ; Leslie is now a resident of San 
Francisco, California; and Mabel is the wife 
of N. Townsend, a prosperous fanner in the 
vicinity of Taco, in the Canadian northwest. 

In September, 1904, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Mumford to Miss Mae Van 
Eoskirk, who was born in Linn county; Iowa, 
a daughter of Lincoln and Celia (Freer) Van 
Boskirk, whose marriage was solemnized in 
Wisconsin, whence they eventually removed 
to Iowa, from v:hich state they came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, in 1885, establishing their 
residence in Beatrice, where Mr. \'an Bos- 
kirk erected a large and attractive residence 
at the comer of Seventh and Summit street — 
this being the present home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Mumford. Mr. \'an Boskirk was a second 
cousin of Abraham Lincoln, and in the early 
territorial days he acquired a large tract of 
land in Nebraska, the patent to the same hav- 
ing been signed by President Johnson, and this 
property still continues in the possession of 
the family. More detailed mention of the Van 
Boskirk family is made on other pages, in the 
review of the career of Frederick Van Bos- 
kirk, a brother of Mrs. Mumford. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mumford have one daughter. Clara 
Belle, who was born February 28, 1912. 

JOHN B. RENARD is a successful far- 
mer and stock-raiser who owns a valuable and 
well improved farm in Section 1, Glenwood 
township. As a representative citizen of that 
township he is entitled to recognition in this 
history of Gage county. 



Mr. Renard was born at Keokuk, Lee 
county, Iowa. May 5, 1862. His parents, 
.\dam and Catherine (Wofe) Renard, were 
natives of Germany, and both passed the clos- 
ing period of their lives at Keokuk, Iowa-, 
where they had resided for many years and 
where the father was a cabinet maker by 
trade and vocation. John B. Renard was one 
of seven children, four of whom are living, 
he being the only one in Nebraska. When a 
young man he made his way to Page county. 
Iowa, where he remained two years, and he 
then came to Gage county, Nebraska. Here 
he farmed in Rockford township for one 
year, and for the ensuing five years he was 
engaged in farming in Logan township. For 
the past twenty-eight years he has conducted 
successful operations on four hundred and 
twenty acres of land in Sections 1 and 12 
Glenwood township. Here he has erected a 
splendid set of buildings, among the finest in 
the county, and is here engaged in general 
agricultural and stock-raising enterprise. He 
has the cooperation of Herman Lenger, who 
is a bachelor brother of ]VIrs. Renard, and 
who makes his home with the Renard family. 

Mr. Renard chose as his wife Miss Lottie 
Lenger, who was bom in Warren county, 
.Missouri, her parents having been early set- 
tlers of Gage county, Nebraska, and a record 
of the family being given elsewhere in this 
volume, in sketch dedicated to Lewis D. Len- 
ger, of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Renard are 
members of the Christian church at Odell. 
Mr. Renard takes an active interest in the 
affairs of his community and was one of the 
organizers of the Odell Telephone Company, 
of which he has been president for many 
years. He assisted also in organizing the 
State Bank of Odell. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of Odell Lodge. No. 97, Independent 
larder of Odd Fellows. He is a Republican 
in politics and has given years of service in 
the office of justice of the peace. Mr. and 
Mrs. Renard indulge themselves in travel and 
have recently made an extended trip on the 
Pacific coast. They are folk of sterling worth 
and have a host of friends. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



461 




Mr. and Mrs. John B. Ren.\rd 



462 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



REV. VICTOR F. CLARK. — The hon- 
ored pastor of the First Congregational church 
of Beatrice is a man of high intellectual at- 
tainments and has labored with all of conse- 
crated zeal and devotion in the work of the 
ministr\', besides having wielded much influ- 
ence in the field of educational senice. He 
was reared to manhood in Nebraska, where 
the family home was established prior to the 
admission of the state to the Union and when 
he was a lad of about ten years. His high 
sense of stewardship has been shown in every 
pastoral charge which he has held and also in 
all other relations of life, the while his be- 
nignant influence has touched most helpfully 
the general communal life in every place that 
has figured as the stage of his earnest and 
prolific endeavors. There are many points of 
surpassing interest in both his personal and 
ancestral history and he takes pride in being 
a scion of one of the sterling old colonial fam- 
ilies of New England, that gracious cradle of 
much of our national history. Mr. Clark 
plays a large part in the community life of 
Beatrice, aside from his ecclesiastical func- 
tions, and for this reason, as well as on ac- 
count of his being the spiritual and executive 
head of one of the important church organi- 
zations of the city, he is specially entitled to 
the tribute which is perpetuated through the 
medium of this publication. 

Rev. Victor Fremont Clark was bom at 
West Haven, Rutland county, Vermont, on 
the 20th of August, 1856, and is a son of 
Rev. Elipha Lyman Clark and Nancy (Mun- 
ger) Clark, both natives of Whiting, Addison 
county, \'ermont. where the former was born 
Febniary 27, 1813, and the latter on the 6th of 
March, 1815. The father died in April, 1873, 
and the gracious and devoted wife and mother 
passed to the life eternal in the following year, 
both having been representatives of honored 
and influential pioneer families of the old 
Green Mountain state. Rev. Elipha L. Clark, 
a man of fine intellectuality and exalted char- 
acter, as a youth prepared himself for the 
legal profession and was admitted to the bar 
of his native state. After having been for a 
time engaged in the practice of law he fol- 



lowed the course of his earnest conviction 
pertinent to his personal stewardship and en- 
tered the ministn- of the Baptist church, as a 
clero[\man of which he labored for many 
years, a true disciple of the Divine Master 
and one who gave himself with devotion to 
the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. 
He bore to the full the "heat and burden of 
the day," garnered a rich har\-est and also a 
gracious aftermath, and proved himself the 
friend and counselor of all who came within 
the sphere of his influence. In 1866 he came 
with his family to Nebraska Territor)- and en- 
tered claim to one hundred and sixty acres of 
government land in Seward county. There he 
gave his attention to the development of his 
farm, the while he continued his activities as 
one of the pioneer clergymen of the territory 
and state, and he was one of the revered citi- 
zens of Seward county at the time of his 
death, which occurred on his old homestead 
farm. His was definite leadership in popular 
sentiment and action in the pioneer commun- 
ity, he was stalwart in his allegiance to the 
Republican party, and he served as repre- 
sentative of Seward county in the last session 
of the territorial legislature, as well as in the 
first legislature under state regime. He be- 
came the father of eleven children, of whom 
only four are now living, and of the number 
the subject of this review is the youngest. 

Rev. Elipha L. Clark was a son of Elipha 
and Jemima (Moulton) Clark, and a grand- 
son of Isaiah and Eunice (Moore) Clark, 
whose marriage was solemnized December 24, 
1778, at Simsbury, Connecticut, and who re- 
moved in the same year to Vermont, their son 
Elipha having been born in that year and his 
death having occurred in 1813, the parents 
having passed the remainder of their lives in 
the old Green Mountain state and the family 
name having stood exponent of strong and 
noble manhood and gentle and gracious 
womanhood as one generation has followed 
another onto the stage of life. 

.\ugustus Mungcr. maternal grandfather of 
the subject of this review, was bom at Whit- 
ing, \'ermont, on the 22d of May, 1794, and 
his wife, whose maiden name was Temperance- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



463 



Babcock, was born June 30, 1793, their mar- 
riage having been solemnized Februar)' 22, 
1813, and both having passed the remainder 
of their Hves at Whiting, Vermont, where the 
fomier died in May, 1841, and the latter in the 
year 1870. Augustus Hunger was a son of 
Moses and Mercy (Baker) Munger, their 
marriage having occurred November 21, 1793. 
Moses Munger was born in the west parish of 
South Brimfield, Massachusetts, October 21, 
1769, and his wife was born in 1778. Both 
were residents of Whiting, Vermont, at the 
time of their death, he having passed to eternal 
rest on the 11th of January, 1861, and she in 
the year 1840. Moses Munger was a son of 
Jehiel Munger, who was born at Brimfield, 
Hampden county, Massachusetts, June 3, 
1737, and whose marriage to Elsie Rogers was 
celebrated in 1758, she having been bom at 
Brimfield in the year 1738 and both having 
passed the closing years of their life at Whit- 
ing, Vermont, where Mrs. Munger died in 
1798 and where he passed away August 3, 
1817. Jehiel Munger was a distinguished pa- 
triot soldier in the Revolution, in which he 
rose from the rank of sergeant to captain. 
He took part in important engagements mark- 
ing the progress of the great war for inde- 
pendence, including those of Concord and the 
Brandywine, and in the "piping times of 
peace" he manifested the same spirit of loy- 
alty and patriotism. This sterling Revolu- 
tionary soldier erected as a home for his fam- 
ily the first two-story house built at Whiting, 
\'ermont, and in the same were frequently 
held church services, he having been a deacon 
of his church. Authoritative family records 
still extant show that Nicholas ]\Iunger, who 
was born and reared in England, came to 
America in 1639 and established his home in 
Massachusetts. He married Sarah Hall, in 
1659, and their son Samuel, bom in 1665, 
married Sarah Hand. The next in line 
of descent to the subject of this review 
was Nathaniel, who was bom in 1712, a son 
of Samuel and Sarah (Hand) Munger, and 
in 1736 Nathaniel wedded Elizabeth BuUen, 
they having become the parents of Colonel 



Jehiel Munger, of whom mention has been 
made. 

As previously stated in this context. Rev. 
Victor F. Clark was about ten years of age at 
the time when the family home was established 
in Nebraska Territory, which in the follow- 
ing year gained the dignity of statehood, and 
he was reared thereafter under the benignant 
influences of the pioneer farm and those of a 
home of distinctive culture and refinement. 
After having made good use of the advantages 
aftorded in the schools of the locality and 
period he entered Tabor College, at Tabor, 
Iowa, and in the preparatory' department of 
this institution, which was founded in 1866, 
under the auspices of the Congregational 
church, he continued his studies until his 
graduation Thereafter he was a student in 
the college proper until he went to Chicago, in 
1880, and entered the theological seminary. In 
this institution he was graduated as a member 
of the class of 1883, his ordination to the min- 
istry of the Congregational church having oc- 
curred in that year. His first pastoral charge 
was at Milbum, Illinois, where he remained 
four years and he then devoted a year to ef- 
fective post-graduate study in Princeton Uni- 
versity, New Jersey. For the ensuing four 
years he held a pastorate at David City, Ne- 
braska ; the next five years found him as pas- 
tor of the Congregational church at Holdrege, 
this state. He then accepted a call to the pas- 
torate of the Congregational church at Liv- 
ingston, ]\Iontana, where he remained six 
years. He then returned to Nebraska and 
became pastor of the Congregational church 
at Neligh, Antelope county, an incumbency 
from which he retired six years later, to be- 
come pastor of the church at Ashland, Saun- 
ders county. After two years of characteristi- 
cally earnest and fruitful senice in this pas- 
toral charge Mr. Clark was tendered and ac- 
cepted the position of state secretary of Doane 
College, at Crete, this state — • an institution 
maintained under Congregational church aus- 
pices. In this position Mr. Clark did eflFective 
work in promoting the interests of the col- 
lege and after three years he resigned his 
post to accept, in 1914, the pastorate of the 



464 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



First Congregational church of Beatrice. 
Here he has done much to further the spiritual 
and material prosjierity of his charge and has 
gained to his church many new members. He 
is not only a forceful and eloquent pulpit 
orator, but his every utterance bears the im- 
press of sincere conviction and utmost altru- 
ism, while his entire freedom from intellectual 
intolerance makes his work in his high calling 
the more efiective and benignant. .Aside from 
his pastoral functions of direct order he has 
marked executive ability, and has shown splen- 
did success in gaining the earnest cooperation 
of the people of the various churches which 
he has served. 

It is to be presupposed that a man of such 
patriotic ancestr\' would manifest a deep in- 
terest in the welfare of the nation and the 
state, and the civic loyalty of Mr. Clark is 
shown in his giving his influence and aid in the 
support of measures and enterprises tending 
to advance the general wellbeing of the com- 
munity. He pronounces himself an inde- 
pendent Rej^ublican in politics and while he 
has never sought public office he has yielded 
to urgent importunities and is giving effective 
service at the present time in the office of pro- 
bation ofticer of Gage county. He is affiliated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
antl the Modem Woodmen of America. 

In August, 1879, .Mr. Clark wedded Miss 
Katie M. Woods, who was born at Tabor, 
Iowa, a daughter of Daniel Woods. Mrs. 
Clark passed to the life eternal in 1886 and is 
survived by one son, Roy Victor, who is en- 
gaged in the insurance business at Wilming- 
ton, California. In 1888 was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Alice .Mathews, 
who was born in the state of Wisconsin, a 
daughter of Charles and Myra (Simmons) 
Mathews, the former of whom was born at 
Norwich, Vermont, iti 1825, and the latter at 
Kinderhook, New York, in 1831 : she died in 
1857, in Wisconsin. Mr. Mathews was a car- 
penter by trade and became a successful con- 
tractor, his home having been established near 
the state line between Wisconsin and Illinois 
for many years and his death having occurred 
in the latter state, in 1895. Mr. and Mrs. 



Clark have but one child, Martha Leavitt 
Clark, who was graduated in the high school at 
Crete, this state, where she is now a member 
of the class of 1919 in Doane College. 

ANTON NOVOTNY. — The Bohemian 
farmer is industrious and accumulative. His 
pinched opportunities for advancement in his 
native land make him appreciative of the op- 
portunities offered in the new world. This 
nationality is found in great numbers in Elm 
township, and Anton Novotny is a son of Bo- 
hemian parents, Frank and Mary (Vostry) 
Novotny. With their family of nine children, 
the youngest, Anton Novotny, but a child in 
arms, the parents settled in Pawnee county, 
Nebraska, in 1878. There were years of hard 
work and many deprivations facing this sterl- 
ing pioneer couple, who were called upon to 
feed and clothe the large family of children, 
but Frank Novotny lived to see his children 
all grown to manhood and womanhood. He 
passed away in 1906. He was bom in Bo- 
henna in the year 1829. His wife, Mrs. Marj- 
(Vostry) Novotny, was born in Bohemia, and 
since her husband's death she has made her 
home with her youngest daughter, Mrs. 
Emma Fritz, of Washington county, Kansas. 
The following is brief record concerning the 
children : Louisa died in Bohemia ; Kather- 
ine is the wife of Anton Blecha, living near 
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Anna is the wife 
of Amos Hubka, living in Washington county, 
Kansas; Mar)' is the widow of Joe Herring, 
and lives in Washington county, Kansas : Jos- 
eph is a resident of Washington county, Kan- 
sas ; Frank lives near Virgirfia, Gage county, 
Nebraska: James lives near Gretna, Nebras- 
ka ; Louis resides in Washington county, Kan- 
sas ; Anton, of this sketch, was next in order 
of birth: Amos lives near \\'heat!and. Okla- 
homa; and Emma is the wife of John Fritz, 
of \\'ashington county. Kansas. 

Anton Novotny was born October 15. 1876, 
m Bohemia, and he was only fifteen months 
old when his parents immigrated to the United 
States. He received his education in the mral 
schools of Pawnee county, Nebraska, and 
early began to assist in the work of the home 



HISTORY OF GAGE COfNTY, NEBRASKA 



465 




Mr. axd ^^Rs. AvTON Novotny 



AfyT, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASIC\ 



farm. He left the parental roof in 1901, when 
he married and bought land south of \'irginia. 
Gage county. This place he fanned until 
1906, when he purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in Section 34, Elm town- 
ship, where he has since resided. Februan* 
19, 1901, Mr. Novotny married Miss Marj- 
Chadima, who was born in 1878, in Iowa. 
Her death occurred October 20, 1916, and she 
left three sons to be cared for by their father 
— Alvie, Fred, and George. 

Mr. Xovotny is a Democrat in politics but 
has never sought any political honors. He is 
a member of Western Bohemian Lodge, and 
is a shareholder in the Farmers' Telephone 
Comijany at Odell. this county. His sons re- 
main on the farm with him and help him in 
the many ways in which boys of such age can 
be of use. 

WILBUR S. BOURNE. — This repre- 
sentative member of the Gage county bar has 
been established in the practice of his profes- 
sion at Beatrice, the county seat, for the past 
thirty-five years, and he has exemplified in his 
activities the best ethics of his profession, which 
he has dignilied alike by his character and 
achievement. He is now ( 1918) serving as city 
attorney, and his inviolable hold upon popular 
confidence and esteem has been shown by his 
having been called upon to serve in various 
other offices of public trust. He presided six 
years on the bench of the county court of 
Gage county, has held the offices of city clerk 
and member of the board of education of 
Beatrice, and in 1898 he was elected mayor of 
the citv, an office in which he gave a most 
aljle and popular administration, marked by 
well ordered progressiveness, his tenure of 
the position of chief executive of the munici- 
pal government having continued for two 
years. Judge Bourne is unswerving in his 
allegiance to the Republican party and has 
given effective service in the furtherance of 
its cause. In tlie Masonic fraternity he has 
completed the circle of the York Rite, in which 
his maximum affiliation is with Mount Her- 
man Cominandery of Knights Templars, be- 
sides which he holds membership in the ad- 



junct Masonic organization, the Ancient 
Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, his affiliation in this being with 
Sesostris Temple, in the city. of Lincoln, Ne- 
braska. Both he and his wife are active and 
valued members of the Christian church of 
Beatrice. 

Wilbur S. Bourne was born at Macomb, 
McDonough county, Illinois, on the 22d of 
June, 1854, and is a son of Rev. Milton Bourne 
and Melvina (Gardiner) Bourne, the fomier 
of whom was bom in the state of Massachu- 
setts and the latter in that of New York, she 
having been the second wife of Rev. Milton 
Bourne, and the latter having been the father 
of five children by his first marriage and five 
by the second. One of the sons, Milton, Jr., 
went forth from Illinois as a valiant soldier of 
the Union in the Civil war. Rev. Milton 
Bourne was a child at the time of his par- 
ents' removal to the state of Vermont, where 
he was reared and educated. He entered the 
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and became one of its pioneer clergymen in 
Illinois, where he formed the personal ac- 
quaintance of his historic contemporary-, Peter 
Cartwright, while he was presiding elder of 
the Monmouth district of the Methodist 
church in Illinois at a time when said district 
comprised fully one-third of the entire state. 
Rev. Milton Bourne labored with all of zeal 
and self-abnegation in his chosen calling and 
the closing period of his life was passed on a 
farm in McDonough county. Illinois, where 
he died when his son William S., of this re- 
view, was a lad of nine years, his loved wife 
surviving him by a number of years. 

\\'ilbur S. Bourne passed the period of his 
childhood and early youth in his native county 
and after having profited by the advantages 
of the public schools he provided ways and 
means that enabled him to supplement this 
training by a course in a normal school of 
Illinois. 

In 1878, with a team and old-time "prairie 
schooner," Mr. Bourne and his young wife 
made the overland journey from Illinois to 
Nebraska, and for the ensuing year he was 
here engaged in farming, in Gage county. He 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



467 



then returned to Illinois, where he completed 
his interrupted law studies and gained admis- 
sion to the bar. In 1882 he returned to Ne- 
braska and established his home at Beatrice, 
where he has since continued in the practice 
of his profession and where he is not only a 
representative member of the bar of south- 
eastern Nebraska but also one of the most 
honored citizens of Gage county. 

In the year 1878 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Judge Bourne to Miss Georgia Rile, 
who likewise was born and reared at Macomb, 
Illinois, and they have three daughters : Fan- 
nie L., who is the wife of Edward Buhler, of 
Lincoln, Nebraska, and Etsel and Velma, who 
remain at the parental home. 

GEORGE W. PITTS. — The early '80s 
saw great numbers of farmers coming to Gage 
county and possessing themselves of their sev- 
eral portions of land. They built their sod 
huts and set themselves with a will to win 
the wild prairie to fertility. One of these men 
is George W. Pitts, who for nearly forty 
years has tilled Gage county soil on Section 7, 
Glenvvood township. 

Mr. Pitts came to Gage county February 
22, 1880, and purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land from the government, for $3.50 
an acre. As far as the eye could see there 
was nothing to obstruct the view of the roll- 
ing prairie with the exception of one lone tree, 
which Mr. Pitts cut down to provide fuel for 
cooking the first meal after the family arrival 
in the county. 

Mr. Pitts was born September 16, 1844, in 
Ross county, Ohio, where his parents, George 
and Lucinda (Turk) Pitts, followed their 
farming operations upon coming from Penn- 
sylvania, their natal state. It was in the year 
1840 they established their Ohio home and in 
1848 the father was called to his eternal rest. 
His widow later married a Mr. White, and 
her last days were spent in Kansas, where her 
death occurred in 1882. 

The early days of Mr. Pitts' life were 
spent amid the rural environments of Ohio, 
and it was here he met and married, in 1865, 
the companion of these many years, Albina 



Runnels. She was born October 17, 1845, in 
Licking county, Ohio, and is a daughter 
of Solhs and Eliza (Nash) Runnels, who 
were born in Vermont and became pioneers 
of Ohio, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives. 

In 1869 Mr. Pitts and his good wife re- 
moved to Washington county, Iowa, where he 
continued farm operations until 1880, when 
he made selection of his present farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres, in Gage county, Ne- 
braska. Mr. and Mrs. Pitts are the parents 
of the following named children: Flora, the 
wife of D. Baker, living in Idaho; Sollis, a 
resident of Alda, Nebraska; Cora, the wife 
of H. Coleman, living at Diller, Nebraska ; 
Walter, residing in Louisiana ; Arthur, of 
Thedford, Nebraska; and Eva, wife of O. A. 
Dean, farming the home place of subject. 
One child died in infancy. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pitts are members of the 
Methodist church and in politics he is inde- 
pendent of partisan lines. 

SAMUEL D. RUTH. — Controlling a 
large and representative trade, the John H. von 
Steen Company holds prestige as one of the 
leading business corporations of Gage county 
and its progressive metropolis, and more spe- 
cific mention of this important Beatrice busi- 
ness house is made on other pages of this 
publication. Of this company Mr. Ruth is 
the secretary, and his activities as an execu- 
tive and a progressive business man have in- 
ured materially to the success of the enter- 
prise with which he is thus identified. 

Mr. Ruth was born in St. Clair county. Illi- 
nois, on the 29th of March, 1873, and he re- 
ceived his early education in the schools of 
his native state. He was there graduated in 
the McKendree College as a member of the 
class of 1898. He then came to Beatrice, 
Nebraska, and entered the employ of the John 
H. von Steen Company, with which he has 
since maintained his alliance and in connection 
with which he has advanced to the responsible 
oflfice of secretary, of which he has been the 
incumbent since 1908. He has entered fully 
into the general communal life of his adopted 



468 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



city and is essentially liberal and progressive 
ill his civic attitude. He gives his political 
allegiance to the Republican party and he and 
his wife hold membership in the Mennonite 
church. 

In the year 1904 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Ruth to Miss Marie C. Dueck, 
who was born in the city of St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, and their two children are Clinton and 
Mildred. 

JOHN W. McKISSICK is known and 
valued as one of the loyal and influential citi- 
zens of Gage county, which he has represent- 
ed in the Nebraska legislature, and he is now 
an e.xecutive of the pure-food department of 
the state, in which position he is serving his 
fourth consecutive year, his official duties de- 
manding virtually his entire time and atten- 
tion and involving his traveling through all 
parts of the state. He maintains his home in 
the city of Beatrice, and this history of Gage 
county properly accords to him specific recog- 
nition. 

Mr. McKissick is a native son of the west 
and during the course of his earnest and 
constructive career he has exemplified most 
full}- the progressive western spirit. He was 
born near Hamburg, Fremont county, Iowa, 
on the 2d of November, 1875, and is a son of 
^\'illiam .\. and Ruth (L'tterback) McKissick, 
both likewise natives of Fremont county and 
Ijoth representatives of pioneer families of 
that section of the Hawkeye state. William 
-A. McKissick was born June 11. 1842, on the 
same farm as was his son John W., of this 
review, and in Fremont county, Iowa, he 
passed the closing years of his life. He was 
a son of Cornelius McKissick, who was bom 
in Scotland and who was a boy at the time of 
the family immigration to the United States, 
where he was reared and educated. The 
family home was established in Missouri, and 
from that state he removed to Fremont 
county. Iowa, in 1830. He was the first set- 
tler of that county, where he took up a squat- 
ter's claim and where eventually he developed 
a valuable farm property. He became one of 
the influential citizens of Fremont countv and 



remained on his old homestead until his death, 
in 1894 — a patriarchal pioneer who had been 
a leader in the march of development and 
progress in the great empire of the west and 
whose name and achievement merit enduring 
place in the annals of Iowa history. Cornel- 
ius McKissick assisted in the construction of 
the pioneer stage road between St. Joseph, 
Missouri, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in 
compensation for his services he received an 
allotment of land in Iowa, which was under 
the territorial jurisdiction of Michigan Terri- 
tory at the time when he there established his 
home on the frontier. His wife survived him 
and remained on the old homestead until her 
death, at the remarkable age of one hundred 
and two years. Airs. William A. McKissick 
is a daughter of James R. Utterback, who was 
born in Indiana and who was the second per- 
son to make settlement in western Iowa, Cor- 
nelius McKissick having been the first settler. 

William A. and Ruth (Utterback) McKis- 
sick became the parents of seven children, of 
whom John W., of this review, is the eldest 
son; Edward resides at Riverton, Iowa, and 
is engaged in the telephone business; Mattie 
is the wife of Ora Hatton, of Fremont, Ne- 
braska ; Miss Stella remains with her widowed 
mother in the pleasant home at Riverton, 
Iowa; Winnie is the wife of Herbert Jones, 
a farmer near Riverton, Iowa; Nellie is the 
wife of Frederick Beam, who is engaged in 
the agricultural implement business at River- 
ton ; Gosper is associated with the Palmer- 
Wheelock Company, in the metroiX)lis of 
Gage county, Nebraska. 

William A. McKissick had a broad expe- 
rience in connection with life on the frontier, 
and it is worthy of record that he made, with 
wagon and ox team, eight trips across the 
plains in the eariy days. On the last of these 
venturesome journeys he made his way to 
California, where he remained seven years 
and was engaged in the buying and selling of 
horses. Upon his return to Iowa he brought 
with him from the Pacific coast several horses, 
besides which he was accompanied bv some 
faithful Indians. Mr. McKissick gained 
through his own ability and eflforts a generous 



4i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



469 



measure of success and prosperity and he 
wielded much influence in his native county, 
where he was held in unqualified popular es- 
teem. He was sixty-three years of age at the 
time of his death, December 18, 1908, and, as 
before intimated, his widow now resides at 
Riverton, Iowa. Her father, James R. Utter- 
back, settled in Fremont county, Iowa, in 
1833, and there he remained on his original 
homestead until his death, in April, 1893, his 
wife having passed away in 1883. William 
A. McKissick was a staunch supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party and his 
religious faith was that of the Presbyterian 
church, of which his widow has long been a 
devoted member. 

John W. McKissick, the immediate subject 
of this sketch, acquired his youthful educa- 
tion in the public schools of Riverton, Iowa, 
and he passed his childhood days on the old 
home farm of which mention has been made 
in preceding paragraphs. As a lad of thirteen 
years he accompanied one of his brothers to 
western Nebraska, where he passed about two 
years on a large ranch owned by his father. 
During the ensuing two years he was at the 
parental home and in the meanwhile he con- 
tinued his educational work. In 1895 he set- 
tled in Polk county, Nebraska, where he con- 
tinued his successful activities in connection 
with agricultural and live-stock industry 
until 1902, when he came to Gage county and 
established his residence in the city of Be- 
atrice, where he has since maintained his 
home. Here he engaged in the insurance 
business, in connection with which he was 
made general agent for the Nebraska Mutual 
Life Insurance Company, of Hastings. For 
a few years he held the position of actuary of 
this company, besides having served for a 
term of years as a member of its board of 
directors. Since 1914 he has been one of the 
most efficient and valued executives of the 
Nebraska pure-food department, and he is 
doing also an important work as secretary of 
the Munici]»l Code Commission, of Lincoln, 
this state. This commission was organized 
for the authoritative handling of the work of 
codifying the ordinances of cities and minor 



municipalities, and in each instance it makes 
a definite guaranty to the accuracy of its 
work and to the legal impregnability of the 
same. The commission has already produced 
valuable work in its special province and this 
has been in connection not only with Nebras- 
ka municipalities, but also those of other 
states of the Union. In this connection it is 
interesting to record that the commission is 
at the time of this writing, in the summer of 
1918, completing the codification of the ordi- 
nances of Gage county's judicial center and 
metropolis, the city of Beatrice. 

Admirably fortified in his opinions con- 
cerning economic and governmental policies, 
Mr. McKissick is a staunch advocate of the 
principles of the Democratic party and has 
been an influential figure in the party coun- 
cils in Nebraska. He served from 1911 to 
1915 as representative of Gage county in the 
lower house of the Nebraska legislature, and 
here made an excellent record in the further- 
ance of wise legislation and the forwarding 
of the interests of his constituency. He is 
prominently affiliated with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and he is serving in 
1918 as deputy grand master of the Nebraska 
grand lodge. He has passed the official chairs 
also in the Modern Woodmen of America. 

On the 26th of February, 1895, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. McKissick to 
Miss Delia E. vSwan, who was born in Polk 
county, Nebraska, January 8, 1876, and who 
is a daughter of William H. and Ida (Blow- 
ers) Swan, the former a native of Iowa and 
the latter of Indiana. Concerning the brothers 
and sisters of Mrs. McKissick the following 
brief data may consistently be given : Wil- 
liam H. and Clara reside in the city of 
Beatrice and the latter is the wife of Rudolph 
R. Woelke ; Harr\' is a resident of Shelby, 
Polk county, this state ; Jennie is the w-ife of 
Edward Globes, of the same place ; Minnie is 
the wife of Andrew Peterson and they like- 
wise reside at Shelby, as do also the younger 
children — • Perry, Pearl, Vernal, and Floyd. 
The names and respective dates of birth of 
the children of Mr. and Mrs. McKissick are 
here noted: William A., March 26, 1896; 



470 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Ida Ruth, December 5, 1897; Bertha June, 
June 24, 1901 ; Frances Gertrude, December 
19, 1903; and Woodrow Wilson, July 26, 
1913. 

REV. WILLIAM T. McKENNA. — The 
life work of a priest of the Holy Roman 
Catholic church is essentially one of self- 
sacrificing devotion to the needs of his peo- 
ple, his church, and the Divine Master whom 
he serves. The work demands years of pre- 
liminary study and preparation, for the high- 
est of intellectual standards and the broadest 
of practical humanitarianism are demanded, 
the while there can be in prospect no temporal 
rewards commensurate with the service to be 
rendered, save the satisfaction of having 
labored faithfully and well in behalf of Christ 
and humanity. Father McKenna has mea- 
sured up fully to the demands and exactions 
of his high calling and is one of the repre- 
sentative members of the Catholic priesthood 
in this section of Nebraska. He is pastor of 
St. Mary's church at Odell, and commands 
the high esteem and affectionate regard of the 
members of his parish, as well as the confi- 
dence and good will of the entire community. 

Father McKenna was bom on Prince Ed- 
ward Island, Canada, on the 21st of Septem- 
ber, 1873, and he received his preliminary 
educational discipline in the rural schools of 
his native province. He remained with his 
parents on the home farm until he was a lad 
of twelve years, and was then sent to a Can- 
adian college in which he prosecuted his 
studies of preparatory order as well as along 
higher academic lines. In 1893 he entered St. 
Mary's Seminary at Baltimore. Man^land, 
and in this institution he completed the philo- 
sophical and ecclesiastical studies that pre- 
pared liim for the priesthood. In this cele- 
brated theological seminary he was graduated 
in 1896, and in the same year he was or- 
dained to the priesthood. Shortly afterward 
he was assigned to a pastoral charge at Fair- 
bur\', Nebraska, but after three months of 
service at that place he was transferred to 
Nebraska City, where he remained six vears 
and gave effective pastoral service, in the 



parish of St. Mary's church. In July, 1916, 
Father McKenna came to Gage county and 
assumed his present charge, as pastor of St. 
Mary's church at Odell. He has been since 
that time the zealous and devoted shepherd of 
this fold and has given earnestly of his time 
and talents to the furtherance of the spiritual 
and temporal wellbeing of his parish. 

CHARLES D. KNOX has the best of mod- 
ern facilities in the conducting of his success- 
ful livery and transfer business in the city of 
Beatrice, and is one of the wide-awake and 
progressive citizens of the Gage county metro- 
polis. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, 
November 23, 1855, and is a son of Isaac and 
Jane (Foster) Knox, who were born and 
reared in West \'irginia, where their marriage 
was solemnized, and who removed thence to 
Belmont county, Ohio, where the father en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1865 Isaac 
Knox removed with his family to Illinois, and 
later he became a pioneer settler in eastern 
Kansas, where he entered claim to a quarter 
section of land near the present town of Erie. 
There both he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. Of their ten children 
the subject of this sketch was the sixth in 
order of birth and of the number six are now 
living. Isaac Knox was a gallant soldier of 
the Union in the Civil war, his service cover- 
ing a period of about three years ; his political 
allegiance was given to the Republican party 
and both he and his wife were earnest mem- 
bers of the Christian church. James Knox, 
father of Isaac, was a native of Ireland and 
was a resident of West Virginia at the time 
of his death. 

Charles D. Knox acquired his early educa- 
tion in the schools of Illinois and Kansas, and 
he has just claim to pioneer distinction in Ne- 
braska, to which state he came in 1873. He 
settled in Seward county and later took up land 
and engaged in fami enterprise in the south- 
western part of the state. Still later he en- 
gaged in the stage and livery business at Grant, 
Perkins county, where he continued oper- 
ations in this line of enterprise for ten years. 
He tlien returned to the eastern part of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



471 



state and engaged in the livery business at 
Seward, judicial center of the county of that 
name. Several years later he established him- 
self in the same business at College View, a 
suburb of the city of Lincoln, and in 1913 he 
came to Beatrice and purchased the livery and 
transfer business which he has since conducted 
with marked success. That his establishment 
is thoroughly modern in its equipment needs 
no further voucher than the statement that he 
now operates a number of taxicabs and other 
motor vehicles, his business being the most im- 
portant one of the kind in the city. In poli- 
tics Mr. Knox gives his allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, he is affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and his wife 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

In 1879 Mr. Knox wedded Miss Arpha 
Hickman, who was born at Newton, Iowa, and 
they have four children : Clarence B. is now 
engaged in buying and shipping horses at 
Beatrice; Clara is the wife of Chas. B. Hand, 
of Seward, this state ; Fern remains at the 
parental home; and Eva is the wife of Frank 
R. Shelley, of whom mention is made on other 
pages of this volume. 

HARVEY O. MASON, owner of an ex- 
cellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
in Section 1, Lincoln township, was born in 
Ontario county. New York, March 21, 1841, 
and has been a resident of Nebraska since 
1867, the year that marked the admission of 
the state to the Union. His life has been one 
of varied experiences and consecutive pro- 
ductiveness, and he stands forth as one of the 
sterling pioneer citizens of Gage county. 

In a little log house of one room, in Fami- 
ington township, Ontario county, New York, 
Harvey O. Mason was born March 21, 1841, 
a son of Robinson and Mary (Brandt) 
Mason, of whose six children he was the 
fourth in order of birth; Hannah E. and Sam- 
uel are deceased ; George is a resident of Fort 
Dodge, Iowa ; and Franklin and Byron are de- 
ceased. Robinson Mason was a representative 
of one of the pioneer families of Ontario 
county. New York, where he was born, in 



Farmington township, in August, 1813. He 
continued his alliance with farm enterprise in 
the old Empire state until 1848, when he re- 
moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois, 
the future metropolis having then been little 
more than a straggling village. It was his in- 
tention to buy land in Illinois, but his wife 
found so little appeal in the west that he con- 
sented to return to New York. At Church- 
ville, that state, he engaged in the general 
merchandise business, but about a year later 
he removed with his family to Wisconsin and 
engaged in the same line of business at Port- 
age City. Two years later he became identi- 
fied with lumbering operation near Grand 
Rapids, that state, and in 1856 he became a 
pioneer in the same line of enterprise at 
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, in which locality 
he became the owner of three thousand acres 
of valuable timber land. In his lumbering 
camps he gave employment to sixty men, and 
work was continued night and day, with con- 
sistent shifting of the working forces. In 
1864 Mr. Mason returned to the state of New 
York and purchased a large farm, besides 
which he became concerned in the oil develop- 
ment business in Pennsylvania. Finally he 
established the home of his family in Monroe 
county. New York, after which he went to 
South Pass, Wyoming, and engaged in mining 
for gold. He shipped in from Chicago, via 
the Union Pacific Railroad, his ten-stamp 
quartz mill, and from Bryan, Wyoming, he 
hauled the mill across the desert to South 
Pass — one hundred and ten miles distant. 
John C. Fremont, the great "pathfinder," had 
visited South Pass in 1848 and the name was 
given to the point in honor of the expedition 
which he led through this newly discovered 
pass to the Pacific coast. Mr. Mason failed 
to develop gold in vein quality, and finally 
abandoned his undertaking. The government 
then employed him to saw lumber for use at 
Fort Stambaugh, besides finally purchasing 
his power plant. Mr. Mason eventually re- 
turned to his family and he was a resident of 
Monroe county. New York, at the time of his 
death, in 1885. His wife was born in On- 



472 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tario county, New York, in 1815, and her 
death occurred in September, 1890. 

Harvey O. Mason attended school in Fami- 
ington and Churchville, New York, and also 
at Portage, Wisconsin. One of his school- 
mates at Churchville was that noble and re- 
Tcred woman. Miss Frances E. Willard, 
founder and president of the Woman's Chris- 
tian Temperance Union, and their friendship 
endured until this gracious gentlewoman 
passed to eternal rest, in 1898. Mr. ]\lason 
was associated with his father's business activi- 
ties until 1865, when he engaged in the meat 
business in the city of Chicago, where also he 
became a member of the Board of Trade. In 
1866 he sold his interests in Chicago and re- 
turned to the state of New York, but in the 
following year he came to the new state of Ne- 
braska and purchased land in Douglas county, 
three miles south of Omaha. In 1870 he sold 
this property, and thereafter he remained in 
the state of New York until 1874, on the 9th 
of May of which year he arrived at Beatrice, 
the judicial center of Gage county. The fol- 
lowing day he went by stage to Plymouth, Jef- 
ferson county, in which locality he purchased 
land and engaged in farming on an extensive 
scale. In 1887 he sold his property in that 
county and settled on his present attractive 
homestead in Gage county. For eighteen 
years, while continuing his association with the 
management of his farm, Mr. Alason was a 
traveling representative of the Beatrice Cream- 
er\' Company, one of the foremost concerns of 
the kind in the west. He has stood exponent 
of broad-gauged and progressive citizenship, 
has achieved independence and prosperity 
through his own efTorts and is one of the well 
known and highly esteem citizens of Gage 
county. His political allegiance is given to 
the Republican i)arty and he and his wife hold 
membership in the Presbyterian church. 

In February, 1869, Mr. Mason wedded Miss 
Jeiuiie Shindoll. who was born in Racine 
county, Wisconsin, in 1857, a daughter of John 
G. and Mary (Nelson) Shindoll. In conclu- 
sion is given brief record concerning the chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Mason: Luella is a 
popular teacher in the schools of Long Beach, 



California ; Byron, who is engaged in the drug 
business at Riverton, Wyoming, married Miss 
Mar}' Griffeth of Chicago, and they have one 
child; George is a successful ranchman near 
Blackfoot, Idaho; Gertrude is the wife of D. 
M. Bendernagel, of Lincoln township, Gage 
county; Harvey is a successful farmer in 
Riverside township ; Roy is a resident of Dead- 
wood, South Dakota ; Elmer resides at River- 
ton, Wyoming ; Esther is a trained nurse at the 
Green Gables Institute, Lincoln, Nebraska ; 
Marjorie remains at the parental home; and 
two children died in infancy. 



HENRY ALBERT. — The attractive vil- 
lage of Clatonia claims as one of its honored 
citizens this venerable and revered pioneer, 
whose has been a large and beneficent part in 
connection with the development and upbuild- 
ing of Gage county along both civic and in- 
dustrial lines. Mr. Albert is president of the 
Clatonia Bank and is the owner of a valuable 
landed estate of eight hundred acres in Sec- 
tions 23, 25, 26, and 27, Clatonia township, 
besides which he has six hundred and forty 
acres in Hand county. South Dakota, and a 
fine farm of one hundred and thirty acres in 
Allen county, Kansas. As an extensive land- 
holder he has done most effective sers'ice in 
connection with the march of progress in the 
nation's great emjiire of the west. 

Mr. Albert was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, on the 24th of April, 
1837, and while he has attained to the age of 
four sc(5re years he excmplities in his sound 
mental and physical powers the effectiveness 
of right living and right thinking during the 
course of a signally active and useful career. 
Mr. Albert is a son of David and Katherine 
(Kinker) .\lbert, of whose four children he 
is the firstborn; Mrs. Elizabeth Shafi'er, the 
next in order of birth, remains a resident of 
Hanover, Gemiany ; Eberhart has been a resi- 
dent of Gage county since 1874 and is now 
living retired in the village of Clatonia; and 
Katherine, who is the widow of August i | 
Struckmeier. likewise maintains her home in 
this village, her husband having been another 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



473 




Henry Albert 



474 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of the honored pioneer setters of Clatonia 
township. 

David Albert continued his residence in the 
Hanovarian fatherland until 1874, when, in 
company with his wife, he came to America, 
to which countrj' three of their children had 
preceded them, and they gained likewise a 
pioneer distinction by joining their two sons 
and one daughter in Gage county, the closing 
years of their earnest and upright lives hav- 
ing here been passed in the home of their 
daughter, Mrs. Stuckmeier. 

Henry Albert is indebted to the excellent 
schools of his native land for his early educa- 
tional discipline, and he was but fifteen years 
of age when his father provided him with 
sufficient funds to pay the cost of the ocean 
voyage. It was in the year 1852 that the 
United States thus gained this youthful immi- 
grant. Mr. Albert landed in the port of the 
national metropolis and soon afterward made 
his way to Ohio, where he turned his atten- 
tion to the vocation of teaming and where he 
continued his residence until he manifested 
his unbounded and insistent loyalty to the 
country of his adoption by going forth as a 
soldier of the Union in the Civil war. In re- 
sponse to President Lincoln's first call for vol- 
unteers, he enlisted, July 15, 1861, at Cincin- 
nati, as a private in Company M, Second 
United States Artillerj', with which gallant 
command he saw wide and varied campaign 
service in Virginia, North Carolina and other 
sections on which were staged activities inci- 
dental to the great conflict between the north 
and the south. He was a member of the 
famous brigade commanded by General Cus- 
ter, who later sacrificed his life in conflict 
with the Indians in Montana, and he partici- 
pated in many engagements, including a good- 
ly number of the important and sanguinary 
battles marking the progress of the war. His 
military career in the field extended from 
July 15, 1861, until he received his honorable 
discharge at Light House Point, Virginia, on 
the 16th of July, 1864, at which time he was 
near the spot on which, about one year later, 
General Lee made his historic surrender. It 
mav well be understood that Mr. .\lbert has 



continued to feel vital interest in his old com- 
rades and that he signalizes the same through 
his active affiliation with the Grand Army of 
the Republic, as a member of which he was 
one of the organizers of Rollins Post, No. 35, 
at Beatrice, Nebraska, of which he served as 
senior vice-commander, his present affiliation 
being with the post in the city of Lincoln. 

After the close of his military career ^Ir. 
Albert continued his residence in Ohio until 
the spring of 1865, when he came to Nebras- 
ka Territor)- and numbered himself among 
the early pioneer settlers of Nebraska City, 
Otoe county. He arrived in Gage county on 
the 1st of April, 1866, and soon afterward 
entered claim to a homestead of one hundred 
and sixty acres, in what is now Clatonia 
township. This ambitious young veteran of 
the Civil war was fertile in resources and ex- 
pedients, as befits one who essays the burdens 
and responsibilities of a pioneer, and in insti- 
tuting the improvement of his land he pur- 
chased four yoke of oxen at Nebraska City, 
from which point he drove them overland to 
his embryonic farm, fully seventy-five miles 
distant. With these faithful but plodding 
animals Mr. Albert broke about one hundred 
acres of his land, and in the meanwhile he 
constructed a rude "dugout" as a domicile for 
himself and his devoted young wife, who 
proved his true helpmeet in these days of 
struggle and hardship. It may be mentioned 
also that he assisted in the construction of the 
little dugout which was placed in commission 
as the first schoolhouse in Clatonia township. 
The passing years rewarded the earnest and 
indefatigable activities of Mr. Albert with 
cumulative success and prosperity and he 
finally developed his old homestead into one 
of the fine farms of this section of the state. 
He erected on the old homestead modem 
buildings, besides making other improvements 
of the best order, and there he continued to re- 
side for the long period of thirty-eight years, 
in the meanwhile having gained recognition 
as one of the most substantial and influential 
citizens of the county. 

In 1912 Mr. Albert sundered the gracious 
associations of the old fann and removed to 



i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



475 



the village of Clatonia, where, in a commo- 
dious and modem home known for its gener- 
ous hospitality, he is now living in semi-retire- 
ment, though his important capitalistic and 
landed interests make imperative demands 
upon much of his time and attention. He 
owns one-third of the stock of the Clatonia 
Bank, of which he has been president since 
1894, and his mature judgment and conserva- 
tive policies have made this institution a valu- 
able factor in the furtherance of the civic and 
material interests of this section of the county. 

In 1876 Mr. Albert was elected a member 
of the board of county commissioners, and 
incidental to his eflfective service in this im- 
portant ofifice he was a member of the com- 
mittee which had the supervision of matters 
pertaining to the erection of the county court 
house, as well as that in charge of the building 
of the bridge across the river on Court street. 
He served six years as county coinmissioner 
and did much to advance public improvements 
of an enduring order as well as to provide for 
the county effective governmental policies. 
In politics Mr. Albert has never wavered in 
his allegiance to the Repubican party, and he 
reverts with satisfaction to the fact that his 
first presidential vote was cast for Abraham 
Lincoln. In 1901-02 he represented Gage 
county in the state legislature, where he made 
his influence distinctly felt in the promotion 
of wise legislation, though he was of the mi- 
nority forces in that signally Populistic session 
of the legislature. He has served as mayor 
of Clatonia, was one of the organizers and 
original members of the school board of this 
village, and has given his service in other vil- 
lage offices. Mr. Albert is an active member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church of Cla- 
tonia and contributes liberally to the support 
of the various departments of its work. 

At Portsmouth, Ohio, on the 9th of April, 
1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Albert to Miss Emma Steinmeyer. who was 
born and reared in Germany and who became 
a resident of Ohio soon after coming to the 
United States. Mrs. Albert shared with her 
husband in the tension incidental to pioneer 
life in Nebraska and lived to enjoy the gra- 



cious rewards that eventually attended their 
endeavors. She was summoned to the life 
eternal on the 14th of December, 1909, at the 
age of sixty-three years, secure in the affec- 
tionate regard of all who knew her. She was 
a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and exemplified her faith in her daily 
life and her association with others. Of the 
ten children born of this union brief record 
is here consistently given : Anna died when 
about twenty years of age ; Ella is the wife of 
Frank W. Jones, of Clatonia, who is indi- 
vidually mentioned on other pages of this 
work ; John died at the age of about thirty- 
three years ; Frank resides upon and has ac- 
tive charge of the old homestead farm of his 
father and concerning him specific mention 
is made in this volume; Mrs. Minnie Lat- 
shaw and her husband reside at Chetek, Bar- 
ron county, Wisconsin ; Benjamin is a resi- 
dent of Clatonia township and a sketch of his 
career appears on other pages ; Augusta is the 
wife of J. W. Lydick, of Clatonia; Daniel is 
a resident of Clatonia township and is repre- 
sented individually elsewhere in this publi- 
cation ; Alma became the wife of Roy Barker 
and is now deceased ; and Clara is the wife 
of Edward Chittenden, who is an executive 
in the Clatonia Bank. 

On the 12th of July. 1911, Mr. Albert con- 
tracted a second marriage, when Mrs. Au- 
gusta Kroff became his wife. She was born 
and reared in Lippe, Germany. By her first 
marriage she became the mother of six chil- 
dren, all of whom are living. She was a resi- 
dent of Lincoln, Nebraska, at the time of her 
marriage to Mr. Albert, and she is the gra- 
cious and popular chatelaine of their pleasant 
home at Clatonia. 

ELMER I,. HEVELONE. — The effi/ient 
and popular secretar\^ of the State Savings & 
Loan Association of Beatrice became a resi- 
dent of Gage county when he was a lad of six 
years, and that in his character and achieve- 
ment he has proved fully equipped for keeping 
pace with the march of development and pro- 
gress in this favored commonwealth is attested 
by the fact that he has been called upon to 



476 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



serve in various positions of distinctive re- 
sponsibility and trust, including that of treas- 
urer of Gage county. He has been in the most 
significant sense the builder of the ladder on 
which he has risen to the plane of definite suc- 
cess and prestige, and his activities have been 
varied, though each stage of his career has 
been marked by his consecutive advancement, 
the while he has so ordered his course as to 
merit and retain the inviolable confidence and 
esteem of all with whom he has come in con- 
tact in the varied relations of life. 

Mr. Hevelone, though imbued with the ut- 
most loyalty to Nebraska and fully appreci- 
ative of its manifold attractions and advant- 
ages, takes a due measure of satisfaction in re- 
verting to the old Buckeye state as the place 
of his nativity, — perhaps in consonance with 
the humorous paraphrase which Hon. Chaun- 
cey M. Depew once made of a familiar quota- 
tion, his version being as follows : "Some men 
are born great ; some achieve greatness, and 
some are born in Ohio." Mr. Hevelone was 
born in Seneca county, Ohio, on the 12th of 
May, 1874, and is a son of Sylvester and 
Cynthia C. (Wonder) Hevelone, the former 
of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the 
latter in Ohio. Sylvester Hevelone was bom 
on the 28th of December, 1847, and was young 
at the time of the family removal from 
Pennsylvania to Ohio, where his marriage was 
later solemnized. In the climacteric period of 
the Civil war he manifested his intrinsic pa- 
triotism by tendering his sen-ices in defense 
of the Union. In 1864 he enlisted as a mem- 
ber of Company A, Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantn,', and with this gallant command he 
continued in active service until the close of 
the war. Mr. Hevelone lived up to the full 
tension of the great conflict between the north 
and the south, participated in numerous en- 
gagements of important order and as a soldier 
made a record that shall ever reflect honor and 
distinction upon his name and memory. In 
later years he vitalized the more gracious 
associations of his militan,- career by retaining 
active afiiliation with the Grand Army of the 
Republic. His political allegiance was given 
to the Republican party and both he and his 



wife held membership in the Evangelical 
church. 

After the close of the Civil war Sylvester 
Hevelone continued his association with agri- 
cultural pursuits in Ohio until 1880, when he 
came with his family to Nebraska and settled 
in Gage county, where he established the fam- 
ily home on a farm owned by his father-in-law, 
George Wonder, in Blue Springs township, 
near the present thriving village of Blue 
Springs. He marked the passing years with 
earnest and well directed endeavor and became 
one of the substantial farmers and influential 
citizens of his township. Both he and his 
wife passed the closing years of their lives at 
Blue Springs, where his death occurred in the 
year 1897 and where she was summoned to 
the life eternal in 1908. They are survived 
by eight children, concerning whom brief men- 
tion may consistently be made at this juncture : 
George D. resides at Blue Springs and is a 
farmer by occupation; Samuel J. is a success- 
ful farmer in Riverside township, this county ; 
Sidney F. is engaged in the merchandise busi- 
ness at Beatrice, the county seat ; Ralph R., of 
Alma, Harlan county, is a farmer by vocation ; 
Emma P. is the wife of David I. Ault, of Alma 
Harlan county ; Eva P. is the wife of Frank 
Hatch, of Greeley, Colorado; Alice T. is the 
wife of Abraham L. Bowers, of Edinburg, 
Texas ; and Elmer L., the immediate subject 
of this review, was the first in order of birth. 

Reared to the sturdy discipline of a semi- 
pioneer farm, Elmer L. Hevelone acquired his 
early education in the excellent public schools 
of Gage county, and in 1890 he completed an 
eflfective course in the Beatrice Business Col- 
lege. As a boy and youth he had found both 
diversion and valuable experience by working 
about the depot of the Chicago, Burlington & 
Quincy Railroad at Blue Springs, and there he 
learned efficiently the art of telegraphy. As a 
skillful operator he was given employment by 
the railroad company mentioned, and for a 
time he was in service at Atchison, Kansas. 
Later he became station agent for the same 
company at Kesterson, Jeflferson county, Ne- 
braska, where he sened in this capacity until 
1899, when he was transferred to a similar 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



477 



post in the village of Filley, Gage county, 
where he remained thus engaged until 1901. 
For eighteen months thereafter he gave his 
attention to the buying and shipping of grain, 
with headquarters at Tecumseh, Johnson 
county, and from 1903 to 1906 he was Bur- 
lington station agent at Blue Springs, near the 
old homestead farm. 

In the year 1906 Mr. Hevelone was ap- 
pointed deputy treasurer of Gage county, 
under the administration of Julian A. Barn- 
ard, and of this position he continued the in- 
cumbent four years. His efficiency and his 
strong hold upon popular confidence and good 
will then marked him as a logical candidate 
for the office of county treasurer, and to this 
responsible position he was elected in 1910, 
as the candidate on the Republican ticket. He 
received at the polls a most gratifying sup- 
port, and the high estimate placed upon his 
administration was shown in his re-election 
at the close of his first term, without opposi- 
tion in either political party. By a change in 
the state laws during his second term the ad- 
justment was such that instead of serving for 
a total of four years, the regular two terms 
of the previous regulation, he retained the 
office for five consecutive years. His ability 
in the management of the fiscal affairs of the 
county marked Mr. Hevelone as a man well 
fortified for the administration of financial 
business of a general order, and after his re- 
tirement from the office of county treasurer 
he was chosen president of the Farmers & 
Merchants Bank at Wymore, this county. 

Of this position he continued in tenure two 
years, and in 1914 he became a stockholder 
and director of the State Savings & Loan 
Association of Beatrice, which is recognized 
as one of the strong, well ordered and repre- 
sentative financial institutions of southeastern 
Nebraska. In February, 1917, Mr. Hevelone 
was elected secretary of this banking corpora- 
tion and as such he has the active adminis- 
tration of its large and substantial business, 
with incidental status as one of the efficient 
and representative figures in financial circles 
in this part of the state. The State Savings 
& Loan Association of Beatrice was organized 



and incorporated in the year 1890 and it has 
proved a valuable conservator of civic and 
material progress and prosperity in Gage 
county. Of this institution Albertus H. Kidd, 
of Beatrice, is president ; Thomas J. Chides- 
ter, of Western, Saline county, is vice-presi- 
dent, Mr. Hevelone being its secretary, as al- 
ready noted, and Louis Graff holding the of- 
fice of treasurer. The assets of the institu- 
tion are $1,700,000.00 and it gives special at- 
tention to the handling of savings accounts 
and to assisting in the purchasing and improv- 
ing of real estate. 

Mr. Hevelone, as intimated in a preceding 
paragraph, is a veritable stalwart in the local 
camp of the Republican party and as a citizen 
he stands exponent of the loyalty and public 
spirit that are potent in the furtherance of the 
general wellbeing of the community. He is 
one of the active and valued members of the 
Beatrice Commercial Club and served two 
years as its president. He is affiliated with 
the Masonic fraternity, the Eastern Star, the 
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and 
the Royal Highlanders. Both he and his wife 
hold membership in the Christian church in 
their home city and are popular factors in the 
representative social life of the community. 

On February 23, 1898, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Hevelone to Miss Anna M. 
McVey, who was born in the state of Mis- 
souri a daughter of Solomon and Lean (Kib- 
ler) McVey, the former of whom passed the 
latter years of his life in Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and Republic county. Kansas, his 
widow being now a resident of Blue Springs. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hevelone have one child — 
Maurice Sylvester, born October 23, 1905, at 
Blue Springs. 

JOSEPH MANGUS, who has figured as a 
successful farmer and stockman in Gage 
county, was born in Macoupin county, Illi- 
nois, August 17, 1871, and is a son of Wil- 
liam and Catherine (Garst) Mangus, a rec- 
ord of whom appears elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. 

Joseph Mangus was educated in the public 
schools of Illinois and attended school for a 



478 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



short time after coming to Nebraska. He 
came to Gage county with his parents in 
1881. He has always followed fanning, be- 
ginning by renting land and later buying one 
hundred and twenty acres in Sherman town- 
ship. After operating this for a few years he 
purchased eighty acres on Section 33, Rock- 
ford township, where he established his home. 
There were no buildings on this farm when 
Mr. Mangus bought it, with the exception of 
a small shack. Mr. Mangus greatly improved 
this farm, upon which he erected a fine two- 
story house, a good modern barn, and other 
buildings. 

On September 2, 1915, Mr. Mangus was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret Hutch- 
inson, daughter of James and Frances 
(Coinl)s) Hutchinson, who were born in 
Illinois and who removed to Kansas in 1882. 
Mr. Hutchinson now makes his home in Mis- 
souri, his wife having passed away several 
years ago. 

Joseph Mangus and wife are members of 
the Congregational ciuirch. Mr. Mangus is 
independent in politics and has never desired 
or held public office, thinking it better to de- 
vote his entire time and energj' to his farm 
and the raising and feeding of live stock, in 
which line of enterprise he has been success- 
ful. 

WALTER J J. DkBOLT. — If persever- 
ance, self-reliance and worthy purpose consti- 
tute the genius of success, then there is no 
need for indirection or puzzling in determining 
the forces that have been brought to bear in 
gaining advancement for Mr. DeBolt. who has 
depended entirely upon his own ability and 
resources in making his way in the world, who 
has shown himself a master of expedients and 
who has pressed steadily forward to the goal 
of ambition. He is now one of the stock- 
holders of the John H. von Steen Company, 
one of the leading wholesale concerns of 
Beatrice, Nebraska, and has an active part in 
directing the executive policies and general 
business of this representative coqioration, 
which is engaged in the wholesale and retail 
lumlier l>usiness. 



Mr. DeBolt can well claim to be intrinsically 
an American of Americans, as he is a scion of 
a family that was founded in this country- 
prior to the war of the Revolution. In 1772 
three brothers, William, George and Henry 
DeBolt, each bearing a personal name spelled 
according to the French method and the 
original French surname of DeBaul, immi- 
grated from the fair French province of Al- 
sace — the present stage of much of the 
frightful militarj' operations incidental to the 
great European war — to America, little wot- 
ting that more than two centuries later the 
land of promise to which they thus made their 
way would become involved in warfare in 
their native province, to which W illiam and 
Henry finally returned, the brother George 
remaining to perpetuate the family name and 
honors in the new world and to become the 
worthy ancestor from whom the subject of 
this review traces his lineal descent, the pre- 
sumption being that this founder of the fam- 
ily in America established his residence in the 
historic Old Dominion — • Virginia. Isaac 
DeBolt, grandfather of him whose name 
initiates this article, was born and reared in 
Ohio, and thus is given assurance that his 
parents were numbered among the pioneer 
settlers of the buckeye commonwealth. 

Walter H. DeBolt was born at Edinburg, 
Johnson county, Indiana, on the 27th of July, 
1860. and is a son of George and Mary 
(Webb) DeBolt, both natives of Indiana, 
where their marriage was solemnized. In 
1866 George DeBolt removed with his family 
to Sterling, Illinois, but in the following year 
he numbered himself among the pioneers of 
Moulton, Appanoose county, Iowa. In the 
spring of 1878, with team and wagon, he made 
the overland journey from the old home in 
Iowa to the state of Nebraska, and became 
one of the early settlers of the village of 
Utica, Seward county, where he opened a shop 
for the repairing of wagons and where he 
maintained his home for many years. He 
passed the closing period of his life at St. 
Petersburg, Florida, where he died at the age 
of eighty-three years, his wife having been 
seventy-seven years of age when she was sum- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



479 



moned to eternal rest and her death having 
occurred at Seward, Nebraska. 

Walter H. DeBolt was a lad of about seven 
years at the time when the family home was 
established in Appanoose county, Iowa, where 
he early became inured to active labor and 
responsibility, the while he made the best use 
of the educational advantages afforded him in 
the public schools. Through his own re- 
sources Mr. DeBolt defrayed the expenses of 
his course in the ' Iowa Normal School at 
Moulton, and it is a matter of record that he 
attended extra classes three evenings a week, 
under the instruction of Mrs. H. M. Buslinell, 
who now resides in the city of Lincoln, Ne- 
braska. He applied himself diligently to 
study during the midnight hours, found em- 
ployment through the day and bent every 
energy to bringing himself up to the standard 
of his class, in which he was three years be- 
hind in his studies, owing to the conditions 
under which he applied himself. Of his in- 
domitable perseverance and his marked mental 
receptiveness no further voucher need be 
asked than the statement that he made good 
on all his studies, though covering three years' 
work in one, and was triumphantly gradu- 
ated in regular order with his class, that of 
1877, besides having had the distinction of 
delivering the valedictory address. 

Reinforced with the academic honors thus 
sturdily won, Mr. DeBolt set forth, in 1878, 
to join his parents in Seward county, Ne- 
braska. Upon his arrival in Seward county 
he found employment at farm work, and 
though he had received absolutely no expe- 
rience in the job assigned to him, he contrived, 
with much mortification of the flesh, as we 
may well imagine, to turn out his share of 
work in the binding of grain in the trail of 
a Marsh harvester. In the spring of 1880 
Mr. DeBolt went to Montana, and he passed 
four years moving about in that frontier sec- 
tion of the country. He then returned to Ne- 
braska, where for several years he was identi- 
fied with the lumber business, a portion of 
the time in the position of auditor for the 
Searle & Chapin Lumber Company, of Lin- 
coln. In 1909 he came to Beatrice, still in 



the employ of the company mentioned, and 
from this center he continued his activities as 
auditor until he accepted a place as traveling 
salesman for the John H. von Steen Com- 
pany. In this capacity he made an admirable 
record of productive business and finally he 
became a stockholder of the company, be- 
sides which he has served as a member of its 
directorate since 1914. He now remains at 
the headquarters of the company and is ac- 
tively identified with the general management 
of its extensive business. Mr. DeBolt has 
lost none of his characteristic nerve and 
energy and holds prestige not only as one of 
the representative business men of the Gage 
county metropolis and judicial center but also 
as a progressive and wide-awake citizen who 
is always ready to lend his influence and co- 
operation in the furtherance of measures for 
the general good of the community. He has 
not been assailed by ambition for political of- 
fice but has never swerved in his allegiance to 
the cause of the Democratic party. 

In 1888 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
DeBolt to Miss Alice Corkens, daughter of 
James Corkens, of Beaver Crossing, Seward 
county, and they are popular factors in the 
social life of their home city: they have no 
children. 

SILAS BRYSON. — No one who knows 
the facts concerning the early settlement of 
Gage and Johnson counties would consider 
the history of these counties complete were 
the story of the Bryson family omitted from 
its pages. Silas Bryson v.'as one of the great- 
est and noblest of the early pioneers of this 
vicinity. 

Silas Bryson was born June 20, 1835, in 
Athens county, Ohio. There he spent his boy- 
hood days and he completed his education at 
the Zanesville Academy. On April 12, 1855, 
he was united in marriage to Clarinda 
Young, of Morgan county, Ohio. To this 
union were born fifteen children, twelve of 
whom are still living at the opening of the 
year 1918. 

In April, 1862, the Bryson family came to 
Nebraska Territory and settled in what is now 



480 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 





HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



481 



Johnson county, near the Bents Mills. Here 
they remained four years and they removed 
to Gage county and estabished their home 
near Adams, where Silas Bryson continued 
to reside until the time of his death. Shortly 
after coming to Nebraska the family had rea- 
son to be considerably in fear of the Indians, 
and on one occasion word came of an In- 
dian uprising. All of the neighbors for miles 
around banded together and started for Ne- 
braska City, sixty miles distant. Terrible rain 
storms came on, all the bedding became 
soaked, the victuals were ruined and the set- 
tlers were in dire distress. The third morn- 
ing Mother Bryson arose in camp and an- 
nounced her intentions of going back home. 
She said, "This style of living is worse than 
the Indians, and I am going back." Her 
courage inspired the crowd and by night the 
next day all arrived at home and found that 
their habitations had not been disturbed or 
their property molested. One winter when 
meat was scarce Father Bryson saw a fine 
big turkey coming into the clearing from the 
woods, and nmning back for his gun he soon 
brought the turkey down. This was the day 
before Christmas, and there was surely holi- 
day rejoicing in the pioneer home. The older 
children have often said, "It was the finest 
Christmas dinner we ever had, and no turkey 
since has tasted half so good." 

Mr. Bryson was one of the early pioneer 
school teachers of Gage and Johnson coun- 
ties, where he spent thirty-five years in the 
noble work of moulding the characters of 
Nebraska boys and girls. He organized the 
Adams Methodist Episcopal Sunday School 
and for seventeen years was its superinten- 
dent. Mr. and Mrs. Bryson were charter 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
of Adams. Their oldest grandson, Dr. Roy 
D. Brj'son, is one of the Nebraska surgeons in 
the war and is now in France. Three other 
grandsons, Edgar Evans, Horace Patch, and 
Frank L. Bryson, and a grand-son-in-law, 
James F. Brown, also are in the government 
service in connection with the great world 
war. Mrs. W. W. Barnhouse, eldest daughter 
of Mr. and Mrs. Silas Bryson, lives at 



Wheeler, Kansas ; William E. makes his home 
at University Place, Nebraska ; three daugh- 
ters, Mrs. George Horrum, Mrs. Viola Shep- 
pard, and Mrs. Mollie Barmore, live at Adams, 
Gage county, as do also the sons David F., the 
well-known auctioneer, and John A. ; one 
daughter, Mrs. Jennie Patch, lives at Canby, 
Oregon; Mrs. Ruth Bassett lives at Bayard, 
Nebraska; S. Y. resides at Grand Island, this 
state ; George lives at Arcadia, Nebraska ; and 
another daughter, Mrs. Gertrude Evans, lives 
at Lincoln, Nebraska's capital city. 

Although the members of this good family 
are much scattered, yet their influence is still 
felt throughout Gage county. Mother Bryson 
passed to her reward on April 2, 1909, and 
Father Bryson remained with us until No- 
vember 10, 1915, when he answered the sum- 
mons of his Maker and joined the heavenly 
assembly around the throne of God. 

JAMES W. SHELLEY, whose mental, 
moral, and physical powers well fitted him for 
enduring the trials and responsibilities of pio- 
neer life and who marked the passing years 
with large and worthy achievement, came to 
Gage county in the territorial epoch of Ne- 
braska history and here played a prominent 
and influential part in connection with civic 
and material development and progress. He 
was one of the honored pioneer citizens of 
the county at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred October 24, 1908, and this history 
properly pays a specific tribute to his memory. 

Mr. Shelley was born in Derbyshire, Eng- 
land, February 5, 1843, a son of Francis and 
Frances (Hollingsworth) Shelley, who, in 
1855, came with their family to the United 
States and established a home in Portage 
county, Wisconsin, in which state they re- 
mained until 1861, when they came to Ne- 
braska Territory and numbered themselves 
among the very early settlers of Rock ford 
township. Though Francis Shelley had fol- 
lowed in his native land the trade of shoe- 
maker he showed versatility and adaptability 
when he became a pioneer farmer in Gage 
county, and he developed a good farm in the 
township mentioned. On the old homestead. 



482 



HISTORY OF GAGE COrXTV. NEBRASKA 



in Section 19, he passed the remainder of his 
life, his death having occurred May 25, 1884, 
at which time he was seventy-two years of 
age: his widow survived him by nearly a 
quarter of a century and passed to the life 
eternal in 1897, at a venerable age, their chil- 
dren having been six in number. 

James W. Shelley acquired his early edu- 
cation in his native land and was twelve years 
old at the time of the family immigration to 
America. He continued to attend school in 
Wisconsin, but there his advantages along this 
line were meager. He was a sturdy youth of 
eighteen years when he accompanied his par- 
ents to Gage county, Nebraska, and he drove 
an ox team through from the former home 
in Wisconsin. In 1864 he took up a home- 
stead claim of one hundred and twenty 
acres, and while giving vigorous attention to 
reclaiming and improving this land he 
continued to remain at the parental home for 
six years after acquiring the property. \\'ith 
increasing prosperity, he made judicious in- 
vestment in adjoining land and finally he de- 
veloped a well improved landed estate of 
more than four hundred acres, the while he 
stood forth as one of the energetic and pro- 
gressive exponents of agricultural and live- 
stock enterprise in this section of the state. 
He provided excellent buildings for his farm 
property and was known and valued as a 
leader in community affairs in Rock ford town- 
ship, where he continued to maintain his resi- 
dence until his death, his venerable widow, one 
of the revered pioneer women of the county, 
being now a resident of the city of Beatrice. 
Mr. Shelley was a man whose course was ever 
guided and governed by the highest principles 
and his broad range of vision made him 
naturally a leader in community affairs. Con- 
scientious in every relation of life, he voted 
in consonance with his convictions and was ,a 
stalwart supporter of the cause of the Prohi- 
bition party. He and his wife became early 
members of the Methodist ICpiscopal church 
at Holmesville. a village not far distant from 
their farm, and he sen-ed a number of years 
as a meml)cr of the board of trustees of this 
church. He was zealous in the support of 



educational work and served three years as 
moderator of his school district. 

January 1, 1870, Mr. Shelley wedded Miss 
Mary E. Bailey, who was bom in Kenosha 
county, Wisconsin, January' 31, 1851, the 
fourth in a family of eight children, and she 
was twelve years old when the family came 
to Gage county, in 1863, her parents, Asa F. 
and Jeanette (Ford) Bailey, having here 
passed the remainder of their lives, the father 
having been born in New Hampshire, of 
Colonial ancestrj', and the mother having 
been a native of the state of New York. Mrs. 
Shelley shared with her husband in the vicissi- 
tudes and labors of pioneer life and prior to 
their marriage she had been a successful and 
popular teacher in the rural schools of Gage 
county. A woman of gracious personality, 
she is loved by all who have come within the 
sphere of her influence and she has many in- 
teresting reminiscences concerning the pioneer 
period in Gage county history'. Of the chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Shelley, Violetta died 
at the age of eight years; Anna remains with 
her widowed mother at their pleasant home 
in the city of Beatrice; William is a substan- 
tial farmer in Rockford township; Eloise is 
the wife of Robert H. \Miittaker. a prosper-t 
ous farmer in Rockford township; Harriet E. 
died in 1915, at the age of thirty-three years; 
Merton J. at the time of this writing, in the 
spring of 1918, is in government service, as a 
member in the aviation corps at Waco, Texas ; 
(lilbert R. has the management of his father's 
old homestead farm; Frank R. is president 
of the Northwestern Business College at 
Beatrice, and is individually mentioned on 
other pages ; and Harold E. is now a member 
of the United States army forces in the can- 
tonment at Fort McArthur. Waco. Texas, 
where, as an aviator, he is preparing to take 
his place as a patriot soldier in the great 
European war. It will be noted that three of 
the sons are in the aviation corps — located 
at Fort McArthur, Texas. 

VIRGIL E. McGIRR. — The city of Be- 
atrice proves a most attractive residence 
place for those who have been successful in 



HISTORY UF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



483 



farm enterprise in the county and who have 
achieved the independence that justified their 
retirement from active labors. Among the 
many popular citizens who are thus enjoying 
the attractions and privileges of the judicial 
center of the county is Mr. McGirr, who has 
been active not only as a representative of 
farm industry but also has been a successful 
exponent of the real-estate business. He was 
born in Kankakee county, Illinois, January 31, 
1S75, and thus is in the very prime of life. He 
is a son of Francis M. and Judith (Barkey) 
McGirr. and adequate record concerning the 
family is given on other pages, in the sketch 
of Dr. John I. McGirr. 

Virgil E. McGirr was eleven years of age 
at the time of the family removal from Illi- 
nois to Gage county, and in the public schools 
he here continued his studies until his gradu- 
ation in the Beatrice high school, as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1894. He continued his 
active association with farm enterprise until 
he had attained to the age of twenty-seven 
years, and he then established his residence 
at Beatrice, where he served three years as 
deputy sheriff of the county. For several 
years thereafter he was successfully engaged 
in the real-estate business', and his operations 
included the selling of land not only in Ne- 
braska but also in other states of the Union. 
He built up a substantial and prosperous busi- 
ness and since his withdrawal from this line 
of enteqjrise he has lived virtually retired. 
He is the owner of a well improved farm of 
two hundred and sixty-five acres, in Holt 
township. 

In politics Mr. McGirr is found aligned as 
a stalwart in the camp of the Democratic 
party and he has been influential in its local 
campaign activities. He has twice been his 
party's candidate for sheriff of Gage countv, 
and on one occasion reduced materially the 
large Republican majority, his defeat being 
compassed by only twenty-seven votes. He 
served six years as chief of police at Beatrice, 
and gave a most efficient and satisfactory ad- 
ministration. Mr. McGirr has passed the 
various official chairs in the local lodge of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is now 



president (1918) of the Beatrice aerie of the 
Fraternal Order of Eagles, and he is affiliated 
also with the Benevolent & Protective Order 
of Elks. In their home city both he and his 
wife became members of the Centenary 
Methodist Episcopal church, with which he is 
still actively identified. 

December 22, 1898, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. McGirr to Miss Bessie Hoopes, who 
was born in the state of Iowa and whose 
death occurred February 15, 1902. In 1905 
Mr. McGirr wedded Miss Bertha G. Skinner, 
who was bom in Kansas, and they have three 
children — Francis D., John, and Paul. There 
are no children resultant of Mr. McGirr's 
first marriage. 

FRANK W. ACTON. — In the adminis- 
tration of the office of sheriff of Gage county 
Mr. Acton has so ordered affairs as to prove 
conclusively the wisdom of the popular esti- 
mate that placed him in this exacting posi- 
tion. His experience in connection with police 
and constabular sendee has covered a period 
of fully a quarter of a century, and thus he 
was specially well fortified for assuming the 
office of sheriff of Gage county, to which he 
was elected in 1914, and reelected in 1916, at 
the close of his first term. 

Sheriff' Acton claims the Hawkeye state as 
the place of his nativity and is a representa- 
tive of one of the sterling pioneer families of 
that commonwealth. Jle was bom on a pio- 
neer farm in Henry county, Iowa, October 
21, 1857, and is a son of William N. and 
Mima E. (Cook) Acton, the former of whom 
was bom in the state of Maryland, in 1820, 
and the latter was born in Ohio, in 1827. 
\\'illiam N. Acton was a boy at the time of his 
father's death, which occurred in Marj-land, 
and he was reared and educated principally 
in the state of Ohio. His energy, self-reli- 
ance, and ambition led him as a young man 
to number himself among the pioneer settlers 
of Iowa, where he entered claim to one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, in Henry county. 
He improved this property and after perfect- 
ing his title thereto he finally sold the farm 
and removed to Montgomery county, that 



484 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA. 



state, in 1865. There he continued his suc- 
cessful activities in agriculture and stock- 
growing until 1892, when he removed to 
Kansas and purchased a tract of land. In the 
following year he came to visit at the home 
of his son Frank W., at Wymore, Gage 
county, and here he was attacked with severe 
illness, in November of that year, his death 
having here occurred on the 2d of Februar)', 
1894. His loved and devoted wife survived 
him by nearly fifteen years and was a resident 
of Furley, Kansas, at the time of her death, 
in July, 1908. 

William N. Acton was essentially a self- 
made man, and he achieved definite and 
worthv success in connection with normal 
lines of industrial and business enterprise, the 
while he so ordered his course as to merit and 
receive the unqualified respect and esteem of 
his fellow men. Mis religious faith was that 
of the Protestant Episcopal church and his 
wife held membership in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, she having been a daughter of 
Jesse Cook, who was bom in Pennsylvania, 
whence he removed to Ohio, and who removed 
from the old Buckeye state to Iowa in the 
pioneer period of the history of the latter 
commonwealth : he became the owner of a 
valuable landed estate in Iowa and there he 
and his wife passed the residue of their lives. 
William N. and Mima E. (Cook) Acton be- 
came the parents of six children, and of the 
number the present sheriflf of Gage county, 
Nebraska, is the eldest : A. B. is a repre- 
sentative merchant in the village of Furley, 
Sedg\vick county, Kansas ; Ella M. is the wife 
of A. M. Stanley, a merchant at Palms, Cali- 
fornia ; O. D. is a successful carpenter and 
contractor at Colfax, Iowa; J. L. is asso- 
ciated with his brother A. B. in the general 
merchandise business at Furley. Kansas, as is 
also C. M.. the youngest of the children. 

Frank W. Acton received excellent educa- 
tional advantages in his youth, and after hav- 
ing availed himself of the privileges of the 
public schools of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, he 
entered the University of Iowa, graduating as 
a member of the class of 1875, and receiving 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He defrayed 



the expenses of his higher education largely 
through the revenue received from his ef- 
fective services as a teacher in the public 
schools, his pedagogic work having included 
three terms of service in the district schools 
of Iowa, two terms in the schools of Cali- 
fornia, and two in Kansas. At Red Oak, 
Iowa, Mr. Acton gained his initial experience 
as a member of a police force. 

In 1910 Sheriff Acton removed from Wy- 
more to Beatrice, Nebraska, the capital of the 
same county, and here he soon afterward as- 
sumed the position of deputy sheriff, under 
the administration of Sheriff J. L. Schiek. 
Prior to this he had served for twenty years 
as a member of the police force of Wymore, 
Gage county, in which thriving little city he 
held also, for fourteen years, the position of 
street and water commissioner. Known and 
honored in Gage county, Mr. Acton retired 
from the position of deputy sheriff' only to 
assume the more important post of sheriff. 
In connection with the conscription of the 
young men of the United States for service 
in the great European war Sheriff Acton is 
serving as a member of the exemption board 
for Gage county. As a stalwart in the camp 
of the Republican party he has at all times 
taken an active and loyal interest in political 
affairs and has been influential in the local 
councils of his party. The sheriff is promi- 
nently affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, 
in which he is past chancellor, besides which 
he has on several occasions served as a dele- 
gate to the Iowa grand lodge of this order. 
He holds membership also in the Improved 
Order of Red Men and the Fraternal Order 
of Eagles. 

In the year 1881 was recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Acton to Miss Mary E. Harris, who 
was bom and reared in Jefferson county, Iowa, 
and she was summoned to the life eternal in 
1911, her memory being revered by all who 
came within the sphere of her gracious influ- 
ence. Mrs. Acton is survived by two chil- 
dren : i^aul holds the position of bookkeeper 
in the offices of the warehouse of the Chi- 
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Wy- 
more, this county; and Maude is the wife of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



485 



Paul W. Hitchins, foreman in the establish- 
ment of the Dempster Mill Manufacturing 
Company, at Beatrice. Christine, a foster 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Acton, is now the 
wife of R. M. Burroughs, an electrician at 
Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. Mrs. Acton was a 
devoted member of the Christian church and 
active in its work. 

I. T. MERCHANT, the efficient postmaster 
at Adams, Gage county, claims the old Buck- 
eye state as the place of his nativity. He was 
born in Paulding county, Ohio, on the 19th 
of March, 1856, a son of Isaac and Nancy 
(Caylor) Merchant. The father was born 
at a place eighteen miles southwest of Wash- 
ington Court House, Ohio, on the 25th of 
November, 1823. He was a prosperous far- 
mer in Ohio at the time when the Civil war 
was precipitated, and he showed his intrinsic 
patriotism by enlisting in an Ohio volunteer 
regiment and by serving valiantly with the 
same during the period of the great conflict 
between the states of the north and the south. 
When his country no longer needed his ser- 
vices as a soldier he returned to Ohio, and in 
1866 he removed to Kingston, Missouri. In 
that locality he was engaged in farming until 
the time of his election to the position of 
county judge. In this office he served until 
1873, when he came to Lincoln, Nebraska. In 
the following year he went to Custer county, 
this state, where he took up a homestead claim 
and became one of the pioneer settlers of that 
large and now prosperous section of Ne- 
braska. He there continued his agricultural 
activities until 1885, when he sold his farm 
and established his residence at Broken Bow, 
the county seat, where he practiced law for 
several years thereafter. In 1911, after hav- 
ing spent some time in a visit to his native 
state, Mr. Merchant came to Adams, Gage 
county, where he passed the closing period of 
his life in the home of his son, the subject of 
this review, his death having here occurred 
November 10, 1913. His wife was born Feb- 
ruary 5, 1830, her birthplace having been not 
far distant from that of her husband, in Wash- 
ington county, Ohio. She died at Broken 



Bow, Nebraska, January 22, 1892, and in the 
cemetery at that place were laid to rest the 
mortal remains of both her and her husband. 
They became the parents of ten children, con- 
cerning whom the following brief record is 
available: Mrs. T. J. Todhunter lives at 
Washington Court House, Ohio ; John was a 
soldier of the Union at the time of his death, 
which occurred in a hospital at Memphis, 
Tennessee, within the progress of the Civil 
war; George W. is a resident of Bedford, 
Iowa ; Mrs. W. H. Huffer lives at Urbana, 
Ohio; the subject of this sketch was the next 
in order of birth ; Mrs. John Armstrong re- 
sides in San Francisco, California ; Emma 
and William are deceased ; and Mrs. R. D. 
Ross lives at Anselmo, Custer county, Ne- 
braska. 

I. T. Merchant continued his studies in the 
public schools until his graduation in the high 
school at Kingston, Missouri, as a member of 
the class of 1873. In 1873, as previously 
noted, the family removed to Lincoln, Nebras- 
ka, and there he became bookkeeper in his 
father's hotel. In the following year he ac- 
companied his parents to Custer county, this 
state, where he entered claim to a homestead 
and engaged in the feeding of sheep and cat- 
tle. He finally disposed of his farm inter- 
ests and removed to Broken Bow, where he 
became deputy sheriff of Custer county. 
Thereafter he was appointed postmaster at 
Broken Bow, an office of which he continued 
the incumbent until 1890. Thereafter he was 
there engaged in buying and shipping grain 
and live stock until 1893, when he became a 
keeper in the shops of the Nebraska peniten- 
tiary, at Lincoln. The next year he went to 
Toronto, Canada, where he became actively 
identified with lumbering enterprise. 

In 1900 Mr. Merchant established his 
residence at Liberty, Gage county, Nebraska, 
where he continued to be engaged in the buy- 
ing and shipping of grain for the ensuing nine 
years. He then removed to the village of 
Adams, this county, and here he was success- 
fully engaged in buying and shipping grain 
and other farm produce until 1913, when he 
was appointed postmaster of the village, a 



486 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



position in which he has since continued his 
effective administration. 

At Broken Bow, Custer county, on the 4th 
of September, 1880, was recorded the mar- 
riage of Mr. Merchant to Miss Sarah E. 
North, who was born in the Dominion of 
Canada and who is a daughter of Samuel and 
Mar>' (Kilpatrick) North, natives of Ire- 
land. Mr. and Mrs. Merchant have one son, 
T. O., who has become a member of the na- 
tional army and who is, in the spring of 1918, 
stationed at Camp Cody, New Mexico. Mr. 
and Mrs. Merchant belong to the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and in politics he is a Demo- 
crat. He has rendered efficient service as a 
member of the township board, as justice of 
the peace and as police judge. In a fraternal 
way he is affiliated with the Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows. Mr. Merchant is a man 
of ability and civic loyalty and he takes deep 
interest in all things pertaining to the com- 
nniiial welfare. 

DAVID F. BRYSON. — Some one has 
said, "Expect great things, attempt great 
things and great things will result." This may 
not be true in every instance, but in the case 
of David F. Bryson it most undoubtedly is. 
Nebraska might be called "The young man's 
state," for she has within her borders many 
brilliantly successful young men. In this 
class should be included the subject of this re- 
view. 

David S. Bryson is a native of Gage county, 
l)orn in Adams township, July 1, 1872, and he 
is a son of Silas and Clarinda ( Young') Brj'- 
son, a record of whom appears elsewhere in 
this volume. David F. Bryson spent his boy- 
hood days on his father's farm in Adams 
township. He attended the district school in 
acquiring his early education and assisted in 
the work of planting, cultivating, and harvest- 
ing the crops. On reaching man's estate he 
engaged in farming on his own account, and 
no man in Gage county has met with greater 
success in his chosen calling. He is the owner 
of six hundred acres of well improved land 
and leases 1700 acres. He is a breeder of 
pure-bred Angus cattle, and deals extensively 



in cattle and hogs, which he buys and ships. 
He is the best known and most successful 
auctioneer in southeastern Nebraska, making 
a specialty of selling fancy live-stock, as well 
as land. 

December 24, 1891, Mr. Bryson married 
Miss Martha L. Kensing. Her father, Au- 
gust Kensing, was bom in Germany and came 
to America when a lad of sixteen years. He 
worked as a stone-mason and on a farm until 
1861, when he enlisted as a soldier in the 
Civil war. sensing under General Ulysses S. 
Grant. He was a loyal and valiant soldier, 
and after being captured by the enemy he was 
held a prisoner at Andersonville until his ex- 
change was effected. He was mustered out at 
the close of the war. in 1865, when he went to 
Iowa and located on the farm where he re- 
mained until the time of his death. The 
mother of Mrs. Bryson was born in New 
York state, June 5, 1847, a daughter of Solo- 
mon and Martha (Davis) Perrin. She is now 
the widow of David T. Olmstead. and makes 
her home with her daughter. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bryson became the parents of 
ten children : Velma is the wife of Guy At- 
kins, of Adams, Gage county ; George Doug- 
las died in infancy; Reuben K. married Belle 
Hargis, and lives at Adams ; Elnora May, 
Frank LeRoy. Martha Pearl Joy. David 
Silas, Alma Clarinda. June, and Queenie 
Hazel are still under the parental roof : and 
James I. died in infancy. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bryson are members of the 
Methodist church, and in politics Mr. Bryson 
is a Prohibitionist, the cause of temperance 
finding in him a stalwart champion. 

With no unusual advantages, except a laud- 
able aml)ition and abundance of self-reliance 
and ability. Mr. Bryson has so intelligently 
directed his efforts that to-day he stands in 
the front rank of the men of large affairs in 
his native county. 

HARRY R. BROWN, M. D.. a successful 
and representative physician and surgeon of 
the younger generation in Gage county, is es- 
tablished in the practice of his profession in 
the city of Beatrice and also holds the position 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



487 




Mr. and Mrs. D.wid F. Bryson 



488 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of assistant surgeon of the German Lutheran 
hospital in his home city. 

Dr. Brown was born in Jefferson county, 
Nebraska, on the 9th of January, 1883, and is 
a son of Joshua P. and Dora Bell Brown, 
both natives of the state of Pennsylvania. 
Joshua P. Brown was born in the year 1856 
and is a son of Orlando Brown, who likewise 
was born and reared in the old Keystone state 
and who died in 1915, at the patriarchal age 
of ninety years. Joshua P. Brown was for 
many years a successful teacher in the schools 
of Penn.sylvania and finally he came to Ne- 
braska and became a pioneer teacher in the 
schools of this commonwealth. He purchased 
land in Jefferson county and there reclaimed 
and developed a good fami. He there con- 
tinued his active association with farm enter- 
prise until 1909, when he removed to Kansas, 
in which state he had become the owner of two 
sections of land. He and his wife now main- 
tain their home at White City, Kansas, and 
both are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Mr. Brown is a man of broad intel- 
lectual ken and high ideals, and he has proved 
successful in the lines of productive enterprise 
along which he has directed his energies. His 
jx)litical allegiance is given to the Republican 
party and he has served in various township 
offices and as a member of school boards since 
he came to the we:t. He is affiliated with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which 
he became a member while he was still a resi- 
dent of Pennsylvania. Levi K. Karschner, 
father of Mrs. Joshua P. Brown, continued 
his residence in his native state of Pennsyl- 
vania until he came with his family to Ne- 
braska and became a pioneer settler and home- 
steader in Jefferson county. He made the 
long journey to this state by means of wagon 
and ox team. Mr. and Mrs. Joshua P. Brown 
became the parents of four children and of 
the two surviving Dr. Brown of this review 
is the elder; Merle is now (1918) attending 
school at Manhattan, Kansas. 

Dr. I [arn,- R, Brown acquired his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of Nebraska and 
in the same he continued his studies until his 
graduation, in 1901, in the high school at To- 



bias, Saline county. In 1901-1902 he was a 
student in the University of Nebraska, and 
he then entered Marion Sims Medical College, 
now the medical department of the St. Louis 
L'niversity, in the metropolis of Missouri, and 
in this celebrated institution he was graduated 
as a member of the class of 1907. After thus 
receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he 
initiated the active practice of his profession 
at Dakin, Nebraska, where he built up a sub- 
stantial business and where he continued his 
activities until 1915, when he removed to Be- 
atrice, where he has since been associated in 
practice with Dr. Harry M. Hepperlen, of 
whom specific mention is made on other pages 
of this work. 

In March, 1910, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Dr. Brown to Miss Alta Briggs, 
daughter of Russell Briggs. who came to Ne- 
braska in the pioneer days and who now lives 
on his extensive cattle ranch near Broken 
Bow, judicial center of Custer county. Dr. 
and Mrs. Brown have two children — Harry 
R., Jr., and Helen Loure. 

Dr. Brown is found arrayed in the ranks 
of the Republican party, he is affiliated with 
the local organizations of the Benevolent & 
Protective Order of Elks and the Modem 
Woodmen of America, and both he and his 
wife are communicants of Christ church, 
Protestant Episcopal. The Doctor has gained 
special prestige through his ability as a sur- 
geon and has to his credit many delicate opera- 
tions, both major and minor. 

FRANCIS ELIAS, M. D., established his 
residence in the thriving little city of Wymore 
in the year 1911, and here he has since been 
engaged in the successful practice of his pro- 
fession, in which his ability and effective ser- 
vice have given him secure place among the 
representative physicians and surgeons of 
Gage county. 

Dr. Elias was born in the state of Kansas, 
on the 17th of June, 1883, and the place of 
his nativity was his father's home farm, in 
Clay county. He is a son of Henry A. and 
Emma ( Younkin) Elias, the former of whom 
was boni in Pennsylvania, and the latter in 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



489 



Illinois. In the early 70s Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
A.. Elias removed from Illinois and numbered 
themselves among the pioneer settlers of Clay 
county, Kansas. There Mr. Elias reclaimed 
and developed a valuable fami property and 
since his retirement from active farm enter- 
prise he and his wife have maintained their 
home in the city of Manhattan, Kansas. In 
the Sunflower state were born their three 
children — Anna, who is the wife of Rev. Mr. 
Tannehill, of Centralia, Kansas ; Mary, who 
is the wife of Jacob Nelson, of Wakefield, 
that state ; and Dr. Francis Elias, who is the 
immediate subject of this review. Henry A. 
Elias is aligned in the ranks of the Republi- 
can party and while residing on his farm in 
Kansas he was called upon to serve in various 
local offices of public trust. Both he and his 
wife are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. 

Dr. Francis Elias acquired his preliminary 
education in the public schools of Clay county, 
Kansas, and the discipline included a course 
in the high school. In preparing for the pro- 
fession of his choice Dr. Elias entered the 
medical department of the University of Kan- 
sas, and in the same he was graduated as a 
member of the class of 1910. After thus re- 
ceiving his well earned degree of Doctor of 
Medicine he was engaged in practice at St. 
George, Kansas, about one year. He then, in 
1911, came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
established his residence at Wymore, where 
he has since continued in active general prac- 
tice as a well fortified physician and surgeon 
who keeps in full touch with advances made 
in the profession that has enlisted his earnest 
and efTective services. The Doctor has de- 
veloped a substantial and representative prac- 
tice and is one of the loyal and progressive 
citizens of Wymore. He holds membership 
in the American Medical Association, the Ne- 
braska State Medical vSociety, and the Gage 
County Medical Society. In 1915 he took an 
effective post-graduate course in the medical 
department of the famous Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. 
He gives undivided allegiance to his exacting 
profession but is loyal to all civic duties and 



responsibilities, his political support being 
given to the cause of the Republican party. 
In his home city he is affiliated with Wymore 
Lodge, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, 
and Hiram Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. 

The year 1911 recorded the marriage of 
Dr. Elias to Miss Olive Todd, who was bom 
and reared in Clay county, Kansas, where her 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Todd, still 
maintain their home. Dr. and Mrs. Elias 
have three children — Houghton, Winfield, 
and Allison. 

DWIGHT S. DALBEY has identified him- 
self most closely and loyally with the interests 
of Gage county, where he has been influential 
in public life and civic and industrial affairs, 
and where he has been called upon to sen^e 
in various positions of distinctive public trust, 
including that of representative of the county 
in the Nebraska legislature. 

Mr. Dalbey was born in Christian county, 
Illinois, on the 22d of September, 1878, and 
is a son of William M. and Mary N. (Hall) 
Dalbey, the former a native of Ohio and the 
latter of Illinois. Dwight S. Dalbey found 
the period of his boyhood and early youth 
compassed by the benignant influences of the 
old home farm in Christian county, Illinois, 
and in his native state he continued his studies 
in the public schools until he was graduated in 
the high school at Taylorville, as a member 
of the class of 1897. For the ensuing two 
years he was engaged in independent farm 
enterprise in his home county, and he then 
entered the college of agriculture of the Uni- 
versity of Illinois, in which he was graduated 
in 1902 and from which he received the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Science. His definite pro- 
ficiency was recognized by his being appointed 
an instructor in agronomy in the agricultural 
college after his graduation, and after serving 
in this capacity about eighteen months he re- 
signed the position and went to Arkansas, 
where he purchased a one-third interest in a 
large cotton plantation, near Marianna. He 
gave the greater part of his time to the super- 
vision of this plantation until his marriage, 
in 1903, after which he continued his resi- 



490 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



dence at Jerseyville, Illinois, the old home of 
his wife, until 1907, when they came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and established here their 
permanent home, their removal having been 
prompted by their desire to assume personal 
direction of the large landed interests which 
Mrs. Dalbey had received in this state as a 
heritage from her father. .Mr. Dalbey found 
in the new home splendid opportunities for 
the utilizing of his vital energies and the ex- 
ercising of his progressive civic policies. His 
ability and personal popularity soon brought 
him into service in offices of local trust, for 
in 1910 he was elected a member of the board 
of supervisors of Gage county, the efticiency 
of his service having led to his reelection 
thereafter for three additional terms. He 
was a member of the board at the time when 
was constructed the first concrete bridge in 
the county, and he had been so conspicuously 
influential in bringing about this modem im- 
l^rovement that, at the suggestion of the 
supervising engineer, the new bridge was 
named the Dalbey bridge. 

In 1915 Mr. Dalbey was elected representa- 
tive of Gage county in the lower house of the 
Nebraska legislature, as candidate on the Re- 
publican ticket, and it should be recorded that 
he ran ahead of the party ticket in this elec- 
tion, as did he also at the time of his reelec- 
tion, in 1917. He has proved a most valuable 
working member of the house and the various 
committees to which he has been assigned, 
and has done much to further the interests of 
his constituent district, as well as wise legisla- 
tion for the state at large. Mr. Dalbey is a 
stalwart advocate of the principles and poli- 
cies for which the Republican party has ever 
stood sponsor in a basic way, and he and his 
wife are active members of the Presbyterian 
church. Mr. Dalbey was president of the 
Beatrice Young Men's Christian Association 
for a number of years and is now director. 
He has been a member of the Beatrice li- 
brary board for eight years, and is president 
of the Comiiusker Highway, which runs 
through Beatrice from Marysville, Kansas, to 
Sioux City, Iowa. He also is a director in the 
Beatrice National Bank, and has been a di- 



rector of the Commercial Club for ten years. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dalbey own about eight 
thousand acres of Nebraska land — in Gage, 
Otoe, and Pawnee counties — the same being 
a heritage which Mrs. Dalbey received from 
her father, the late Ford Lewis, to whom a 
memoir is dedicated on other pages of this 
publication. They are unflagging in their ef- 
forts to further the prosperity of the two 
towns founded by the latter's father — Vir- 
ginia, in (jage county, and Lewiston, in Paw- 
nee county — -the first having been named for 
Mrs. Dalbey, whose Christian name is \'ir- 
ginia, and Lewiston having been given its 
name in honor of its founder, the late Ford 
Lewis. Mr. and Mrs. Dalbey are prominent 
in connection with the representative social 
activities of Gage county and the city of 
Beatrice, in which they have a beautiful home, 
and they retain also the fine old Lewis home- 
stead at Jerseyville, Illinois, between which 
city and Beatrice they divide their time. They 
have a host of friends in Nebraska — in fact, 
it may consistently be said that the number is 
limited only by that of their acquaintances. 
Mrs. Dalbey has been specially active in 
philanthropic and charitable work since estab- 
lishing her home in Gage county, and is doing 
a generous share in the war activities to 
which the women of America are devoting 
themselves so loyally and etTectively. She 
has served two terms as regent of Elizabeth 
Montague Chapter of the Society of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, in the 
city of Beatrice, and at the time of this writ- 
ing, in the summer of 1918, she is state cor- 
responding secretary, and has been chairman 
of the state committee of the Nebraska So- 
ciety of the Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, which has as its special function the 
prevention of desecration of the nation's flag. 
•\t \'irginia, this county, the town named in 
her honor, Mrs. Dalbey has erected a most 
modern and attractive hotel, known as the 
Virginia Inn. and at Lewiston, Pawnee 
county, named in honor of her father, she 
and her mother erected the Lewiston Hall, a 
most modern building for general public as- 
semblage and community use. At both 



HISTORY OF n-\GE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



491 



Lewiston and Virginia Mrs. Dalbey donated 
public parks, and in 1918 she donated a site 
of fifteen acres at eacli of the towns for the 
new consoHdated schools. 

December 2,3, 1903, recorded the marriage 
of Dwight S. Dalbey to Miss Virginia Lewis, 
the onlv daughter of the late Ford Lewis, of 
lerseyville, Illinois, where Mrs. Dalbey was 
1)orn and reared, her early educational advan- 
tages having included those of the public 
schools of her native city and those of Monti- 
cello Seminary, at Godfrey, Illinois. 



JOHN H. VON STEEN, a man of ad- 
mirable and pronounced initiative and con- 
structive ability, has been the primary factor 
in the developing of one of the largest and 
most important industrial and commercial en- 
terprises of Gage county, and he is one of the 
most valued and influential citizens and busi- 
ness men of Beatrice, where he is president 
and treasurer of The John H. von Steen Com- 
pany, a pioneer concern which controls an 
extensive wholesale and retail business in the 
handling of building material, coal, etc., be- 
sides having developed an important and 
I>rosperous industry' in the manufacturing of 
the woven-wire fence designated as the "Be- 
atrice Barbed Border," and also of the cele- 
brated "Beatrice Portable Corn Cribs." Bas- 
ing its operations upon large capital and most 
[irogressive policies, this company is one of 
the foremost of the kind in Nebraska, and it 
maintains four branch yards, under the fol- 
lowing titles and at the designated locations, 
at other points in the state : Hallam Lumber 
& Coal Company, Hallam, Lancaster county ; 
Huntley Lumber & Coal Company, Huntley, 
Harlan county ; and The John H. von Steen 
Company, Bruning, Thayer county, and 
Strang, Fillmore county. In addition to being 
the founder and president of The John H. von 
Steen Company of Beatrice, Mr. von Steen is 
executive head also of the subsidiary com- 
panies just mentioned. The business of The 
John H. von Steen Company is widely dis- 
seminated throughout Nebraska, and the cor- 
poration handles all kinds of building ma- 



terial on a large scale, at both wholesale and 
retail. 

In 1879, about two years after he had es- 
tablished his residence at Beatrice, John H. 
von Steen here engaged in the retail lumber 
business. The enterprise which he thus es- 
tablished on a very modest scale formed the 
nucleus around which has been developed the 
great business enterprise of which he is now 
the head. In 1892 he expanded his enterprise 
to include the wholesale dealing in building 
material, supplies, and accessories, and in 
1908, under the provisions of the laws of Ne- 
braska, The John H. von Steen Company was 
incorporated with a capital stock of one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars, fully paid in. 
Lhider date of March 6, 1912, the company's 
charter was so amended as to permit its in- 
crease of authorized capital to two hundred 
thousand dollars, almost fully paid now. The 
history of the enterprise has been one of con- 
secutive growth in scope and importance and 
has been marked by those legitimate and hon- 
orable commercial policies that must underlay 
all worthy success along such lines. Mr. von 
Steen has been president and treasurer of the 
company from the time of its incorporation 
and the other members of the executive corps 
are here designated : Clarence W. Gralif, 
vice-president, and Sam D. Ruth, secretary. 
In addition to these oflicers the directorate of 
the company includes also John H. Pletscher, 
and Walter H. DeBolt. 

John H. von Steen was bom near the city 
of Dantzic, capital of the Prussian province 
of the same name, and the date of his nativ- 
ity was May 15, 1852. He is a son of John H. 
and Johanna (Zimmerman) von Steen, who 
were born and reared in that same province, 
where the father followed the vocation of 
farming until 1875, when he came with his 
family to America. He and his wife were 
zealous members of the Mennonite church, 
the tenets of which deprecate all activities of 
military service, and his principal reason for 
leaving his native land was to avoid, in con- 
sonance with his religious views and firm per- 
sonal convictions, conscription of himself and 
his sons for service in the German army. In 



492 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1877 John H. von Steen, Sr., established the 
family home at Beatrice, and here he and his 
wife remained as honored and valued citizens 
until they were summoned to the life eternal, 
secure in the high regard of all who knew 
them. 

The subject of this review received in his 
native city excellent educational advantages, 
besides which he i)assed four years in the 
cities of London and Liverpool, with the pri- 
mar}' object of familiarizing himself with the 
English language and business methods. He 
accompanied his parents to America when he 
was twenty-five years of age and he has re- 
sided continuously at Beatrice since 1877. 
Here he was employed eighteen months in the 
lumber yard of LePoidevin Brothers, and in 
1879 he engaged independently in the retail 
linnber business, on part of the grounds where 
the Burlington Railroad station now stands. 
Energy, integrity, faithfulness, and broad 
vision insured cumulative success to the am- 
bitious young man, and that he has wrought 
earnestly and well needs no further voucher 
than his status to-day as one of the most sub- 
stantial men of affairs in this section of the 
state of his adoption. While thus promoting 
his individual advancement Mr. von Steen has 
at all stages been mindful of his civic respon- 
sibilities and has stood forth as a liberal and 
public-spirited naturalized American citizen, 
his course in all of the relations of life having 
been such that he has gained and retained the 
inviolable confidence and good will of his 
fellow men. 

The political allegiance of Mr. von Steen 
has been given to the Prohibition party, but 
he is primarily and essentially a business man 
and has had no ambition for political activity 
or preferment. He was reared in the faith of 
the Mennonite church and has been an earn- 
est and active member of the same from his 
early youth to the present time. He is one of 
the influential representatives of this denomi- 
nation in Gage county, has for many years 
been a valued teacher in the Sunday school of 
the Mennonite church in Beatrice. He at- 
tended the general conference of the Mennon- 
ite church held in California in the summer of 



1917, and incidental to his trip to the Pacific 
coast he, with his wife, visited the Yellow- 
stone National Park — an indulgence that af- 
forded them special satisfaction, this also 
being true in connection with his annual vaca- 
tions, which are usually given to travel for 
recreation. 

In 1882 Mr. von Steen wedded Miss Mary 
McKibbin, who was bom at Fishlake, Indiana, 
and whose death occurred in 1893, she having 
been a devout member of the Mennonite 
church. She is survived by two daughters — 
Edith, who completed her education in Bethel 
College, at Newton, Kansas, and who is now 
the wife of Professor D. H. Richert, a mem- 
ber of the faculty of that institutioii : and 
Ada, who is the wife of Dr. Louis E. Penner, 
a representative physician and surgeon en- 
gaged in practice at Beatrice. In 1895 Mr. 
von Steen contracted a second marriage, when 
Mrs. Katie (Ruth) Hirschler became his wife, 
and she is now the worthy chatelaine of their 
beautiful home, on North Fourth street, in 
Beatrice. 

HENRY J. TROEMPER, D. V. S.— 
Broad and accurate technical knowledge and 
marked facility in making practical application 
of the same have given to Dr. Troemper defi- 
nite prestige as one of the able and represen- 
tative exponents of the veterinarj' profession 
in this section of the state, and, with residence 
and professional headquarters in the city of 
Beatrice, he has developed a substantial and 
important practice, his efficient serv'ice being 
of special value in its direct pertinence to the 
large live-stock interests of this section of Ne- 
braska. He is a young man who is an en- 
thusiast in his profession and in connection 
with his widely extended professional prac- 
tice he is the projirietor of the Beatrice Veter- 
inary Hospital, a well ordered institution of 
the best modem facilities. 

Dr. Troemper was bom at Alma, Waubaun- 
see county, Kansas, on the 9th of December, 
1883, and is a son of Christian and Ursula 
(Myer) Troemper. the former of whom was- 
born at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and the lat- 
ter in Germany. Christian Troemper was a 



^ 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



♦93 



pioneer in the state of Kansas, where he en- 
tered claim to a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in Waubaunsee county, and where 
he eventually accumulated and improved a 
large and valuable landed estate. He still 
continues his activities as one of the represen- 
tative agriculturists and stock-growers of that 
county and is an honored citizen of his com- 
munity. His wife died June 7, 1917, at the 
age of sixty-eight years. 

Reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm. 
Dr. Troemper early learned the lessons of 
practical industry, the while he made good 
use of the advantages afforded in the excellent 
public schools of his native commonwealth. 
In formulating plans for his future career he 
followed the course of his ambition by enter- 
ing the Kansas City Veterinary College, after 
having previously been for two years a stu- 
dent in the State Agricultural College of Kan- 
sas, at Manhattan. During the vacation of 
his freshman year in the veterinary college 
Dr. Troemper fortified himself by practical ex- 
perience gained along the line of his chosen 
profession, this service having been given in 
Kansas City. In his junior year he gave to 
the government efficient professional service 
in the work of eradicating an epidemic of 
scab in sheep in the state of New Mexico, his 
headquarters for this interval having been in 
the city of Albuquerque. He was graduated 
in the Kansas City Veterinary College as a 
member of the class of 1908, and in August of 
that year, after having thus received his de- 
gree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery, he es- 
tablished his residence in Beatrice, where he 
has built up a large and representative prac- 
tice that extends over a radius of many miles 
from the judicial center of Gage county. His 
veterinary hospital has the most approved ap- 
pliances and facilities for the treatment and 
general care of horses, cattle and other ani- 
mals, and he has made the same an institution 
bf much value in this section of the state. 

In politics Dr. Troemper is found aligned 
in the ranks of the Democratic party, he is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both 
he and his wife hold membership in the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 



In 1910 was recorded the marriage of Dr. 
Troemper to Miss Nannie Hadinger, who was 
born and reared at Shickley, Fillmore county, 
Nebraska, and they are popular factors in 
the representative social activities of their 
home city. 

GENERAL LEONARD WRIGHT COL- 
BY was born in Cherry Valley, Ashtabula 
county, Ohio, August 5, 1846, the fifth son of 
the seven children born to Rowel and Abigail 
(Livingston) Colby. His parents were Ameri- 
cans and natives of Grafton county, New 
Hampshire. When he was about four years 
old his parents removed to a farm five miles 
from Freeport, Stephenson county, Illinois, 
where he resided until his enlistment as a 
private soldier in the great war of the Rebel- 
lion and his assignment to the Eighth Regi- 
ment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with 
which he served until the close of the war. 
He was wounded on April 9, 1865, in almost 
the last battle of the Civil war, and was recom- 
mended for promotion and commission for 
gallant and meritorious services in the charge 
at Fort Blakely and the siege of Mobile, Ala- 
bama, where he captured a Confederate flag. 
.\fter his discharge from the Union army, in 
1865, he with about fifty others from his regi- 
ment enlisted with the forces of Maximilian, 
serving with the rank of captain for several 
months, until his resignation, in December, 
1865. On his return home he entered the high 
school at Freeport, Illinois, from which he 
graduated in July, 1867, with the highest hon- 
ors of his class. In the fall of the same year 
he entered the University of Wisconsin, in the 
regular classical course, and he was gradu- 
ated in June, 1871, with the degree of Bach- 
elor of Arts, again taking the highest honors 
of his class. He was graduated also from the 
military and engineering courses at the same 
institution, obtaining the degrees of Civil En- 
gineer and Mechanical Engineer and the rec- 
ommendation for a lieutenant's commission in 
the United States army. During the last two 
years of his college course he was commis- 
sioned and served as captain of the university 
cadets at Madison, Wisconsin. Thereafter he 



49« 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEBRASICA. 



was graduated from the law department of the 
university, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Laws, and in the fall of 1872 (August 22d), 
he came to Nebraska and opened a law office 
in Beatrice, being associated in business with 
Lynus B. Sale, a former college friend. In 
1874 the University of Wisconsin conferred 
upon him the degree of Master of Arts. On 
June 25, 1875, he became associated with 
Alexander W. Conley in the organization of a 
company of state militia at Beatrice, and was 
commissioned first lieutenant of such com- 
pany, which was designated as the Paddock 
Guards, in honor of United States Senator 
.Mgernon Sidney Paddock. In the summer of 
1877 he was commissioned captain by the 
governor of Nebraska and placed in command 
of four companies of mounted rifles. He 
marched his battalion from Beatrice to Red 
Cloud, thence to northern Nebraska and Wy- 
oming in pursuit of bands of marauding In- 
dians. On his return he was commissioned 
captain of the Paddock Guards, which com- 
mand he held until June 13, 1881, when he 
was commissioned colonel of the First Regi- 
ment Nebraska National Guard. lie had 
command of the Nebraska state troops and six 
companies of United States regulars during 
the labor strike in Omaha in March, 1882, at 
which time the city was placed under martial 
law ; he was re-commissioned colonel July 10, 
1884, and before the end of his term, on April 
11, 1887, was promoted, by appointment and 
commission, to brigadier general and placed 
in command of the First Brigade, comprising 
two infantry regiments, a troop of cavalry, 
and a batter\- of artiller}-. On April 11, 1890, 
his commission as brigadier general was re- 
newed for another term of three years. 

During the winter of 1890-1891 General 
Colby and his command were called into 
active service on the occasion of the uprising 
of the Sioux Indians of Pine Ridge and other 
agencies in South Dakota and Nebraska. The 
command took part with great credit in the 
engageinent at Wounded Knee and many 
skirmishes along the borders of the Bad 
Lands, where the hostile Indians were located, 
and won the congratulations of Major General 



Nelson A. Miles, of the United States army, 
who complimented General Colby on his sue 
cessful management of the Nebraska troops. 
On his return home General Colby was pre- 
sented with a gold medal for "gallant and effi- 
cient services rendered the state of Nebras- 
ka." The fourth day after the battle of 
Wounded Knee, when the detail went out to 
bury the dead, an Indian baby girl about 
four months old was found on the battlefield, 
tied, in the usual fashion, on her dead mother's 
back, and found under a covering of snow. 
Her head, hands, and feet were frozen in the 
severe storm that followed the battle, but 
under proper care she fully recovered. The 
child was taken by General Colby to his home, 
was given the Christian name of Margaret 
Elizabeth, and the Indian name of Zintkala 
Nuni, meaning in the Sioux language "Lost 
Bird." She was reared and educated at his 
home, being given all the advantages of civi- 
lization. 

April 10, 1893, General Colby was for the 
third time conuriissioned brigadier general of 
the Nebraska state troops, and in July of the 
following year his command was again called 
into active service, in the suppression of the 
strike at the packing houses in South Omaha, 
where order was restored without damage or 
casualty. In December, 1896, during the pro- 
gress of the Cuban revolution against Spain, 
General Colby commenced the organization of 
the .Vmerican-Cuban Volunteer Legion, and in 
the following year he completed the enroll- 
ment of twenty-five thousand American vol- 
unteers, with headquarters at Matamoras, 
Mexico, and raised one million two hundred 
thousand dollars for the establishment of the 
Cuban republic. Upon the destruction of the 
battleship Maine, in Havana harbor, he ten- 
deretl the services of the Cuban Legion in the 
approaching war between the United States 
and Spain. General Colby was commissioned 
June 3, 1898, by President McKinley, as 
brigadier general of United States Volunteers; 
he was first assigned to the command of the 
Third Brigade, First Division, Third Army 
Corps, stationed at Chickamauga Park, Ga. ; 
for some weeks he had command of the First 





/I 



/ 



y 





/ 












tvi^^ ADat^^^a^^'JUa^^ , 



7r^^^/ nvriL^iD.^U. 



Ar-t^L, 




t 



. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



499 



Division of the Third Army Corps, and was 
the ranking general in command at the time 
of the great review at that camp. He was 
afterward given command of the Second 
Brigade, Second Division of the Fourth Army 
Corps, and was thereafter for some time in 
command of the camp and the division at 
Anniston, Alabama. In January, 1899, he was 
sent to Havana, Cuba, and upon his return to 
Washington, the last of February of that 
year, he was mustered out of the service, with 
the rank of brigadier general of volunteers. 
Upon his return to Nebraska, General Colby 
was appointed adjutant general of the state, 
which office he held from May 6, 1901, to 
February 20, 1903. On August 8, 1906, he 
was placed on the retired list, with the rank of 
brigadier general. 

In November, 1876, General Colby was 
elected state senator to represent Gage and 
Jefferson counties, and in 1886 he was reelect- 
ed to the state senate, to represent Gage 
county. During the latter term he introduced' 
fifty bills of importance, of which about thirty 
passed the senate, and of the latter number 
more than half became laws. In June, 1891, 
General Colby was appointed by President 
Harrison as assistant attorney general of the 
United States, his duties embracing, among 
other important litigation, the defense of 
claims for damages against the govennnent 
and Indian tribes. These involved over ten 
thousand cases in the court of claims and the 
United States supreme court, and over forty 
million-dollars. Upon his retirement from the 
(le[)artnient of justice he was employed by the 
Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminoles, three of 
the civilized tribes of Indians in Indian Ter- 
ritory, as their attorney in Washington, D. C, 
and during this employment he obtained a 
judgment against the government and in favor 
of the Cherokee Nation for the sum of 
$6,742,000. 

Since the declaration of war against the im- 
perial government of Germany, General Colby 
has been active in all pa4Fi9tic and war mea- 
sures in the interest of winning such war. At 
the commencement he tendered his services to 
the United States and to the state of Nebraska 



and requested to be recalled from the retired 
list into active service. He has been placed on 
the list of officers subject to call by the war 
department, and, having the personal assur- 
ance of Secretary of War Baker that his ser- 
vices will be required in the near future, he 
has passed his physical examination for such 
service. In the meantime he has served as 
government agent and attorney for the draft 
board, as chainnan of the Gage County Coun- 
cil of Defense, as a member of the War 
Works Committee, and has taken an active 
part in the campaigns for the several Liberty 
Loans, the Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. drives 
in the county and district. 

General Colby has had a law office at Be- 
atrice and been engaged in the practice of his 
profession in the several courts of the states 
and nation and has maintained his residence 
at Beatrice during all of the years since his 
location in the state in August, 1872. He is a 
member of the Society of Foreign Wars, 
Loyal Legion, Grand Army of the Republic, 
Spanish-American War Veterans, Aero 
League and Naval League of the United 
States, the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Ma- 
sons, the Red Men, Knights of Pythias, Ne- 
braska State Historical Society, Nebraska 
Pioneers, the Nebraska and American Bar 
Associations, the Republican Club, and the 
Christian church at Beatrice. 

Marie Moller Colby, wife of General Leon- 
ard Wright Colby, was born in Robel, Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin, Germany, and is a daugh- 
ter of John F. Moller and Marie Henrietta 
(Miiller) Moller, both being of pure German 
stock, and of long established and well known 
families in the fatherland. The parents left 
their old German home on account of political 
oppression and came to the United States to 
enjoy the blessings of a free government, 
arriving in Lancaster county, Nebraska, in 
April, 1875, and locating on a farm three 
miles west of Firth. Six years later they 
moved to Roca, and on April 1, 1882, they re- 
moved to Beatrice, which has since been the 
family home. Mrs. Colby is the second of 
seven children, all of whom are living. 

Mrs. Colby was educated in the public 



500 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



schools of Beatrice and at the Western Nor- 
mal College at Lincoln, and later took a course 
in the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. 
She has added to her general knowledge by 
systematic courses of reading, a Chautauqua 
course, travel in this country, Canada, Cuba, 
and Mexico and by thorough business train- 
ing. She is a member of several social organi- 
zations and clubs of the city, and in addition 
to attending to her many business interests 
has time for church and social work, and to 
assist her husband in his many duties as well 
as manage her domestic affairs and care for 
her attractive home. 

THOMAS LePOIDEVIN. — This ven- 
erable citizen of Gage county is now living 
retired in the city of Beatrice, the prosperity 
that is his representing the results of his use 
of the advantages that have been afforded 
with the development of the natural re- 
sources of this favored section of the state, 
he having come to Gage county shortly before 
the admission of the state to the Union and 
having become one of the pioneer representa- 
tives of agricultural industry in Midland town- 
ship. As a sterling citizen who has contrib- 
uted generously to the material upbuilding 
of Gage county, he is entitled to recognition 
in this history. 

As his name indicates, Mr. LePoidevin is 
of French lineage, and he was born on the 
beautiful island of Guernsey, in the English 
channel, on the 25th of March, 1840, the eld- 
est of the seven children of Job and Rachel Le 
Poidevin, both of whom were bom on the 
island of Guernsey, descendants of old and 
honored families of that island, many of the 
inhabitants of which still speak the old Nor- 
man French language. John, the second son, 
is a resident of Odell, Gage county : Rachel 
died at the old home on the island of Guern- 
sey; Joseph is a resident of the state of New 
York ; Amelia is living on the island of Guern- 
sey ; Alfred is a resident of New York state; 
and Alice died on the island of Guernsey, 
where the parents passed their entire lives. 
In the schools of his native island Thomas re- 
ceived his limited educational training in his 



youth, and it later became his to profit by tht 
lessons gained and under the direction of that 
wisest of all teachers, experience. Within the 
reign of Queen Victoria of England he ser\-ed 
seven years, in the English militia, and this 
experience is one to which he often reverts 
with special satisfaction now that England and 
France have become allied in fighting for hu- 
manity in the greatest war in the annals of 
history, for he feels a natural and inherent 
loyalty to both England and France. 

In 1863, at the age of twenty-three years, 
Mr. LePoidevin came to the United States. 
Within a short time after arriving in the 
port of New York city he made his way to 
Racine county, Wisconsin, where he found 
employment at farm work. He continued his 
residence in the Badger state until 1866, when 
he came to Nebraska Territory and entered 
claim to a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in what is now Midland township. 
Gage county. He forthwith began with vigor 
the work of reclaiming and developing his 
pioneer farm, and the first dwelling which he 
there erected was a modest house constructed 
of rough lumber from the native Cottonwood 
timber, the little home being fourteen by six- 
teen feet and one and one-half stories in 
height, — a home superior to those of the aver- 
age pioneers of the county, many of whom 
used primitive dugouts and sod houses. As 
prosperity attended his efforts Mr. LePoi- 
devin made gradual improvements on his 
farm, to which he added by the purchase of an 
adjoining tract of eighty acres, and he pro- 
vided a substantial and commodious house as 
the home for his family. In his pioneer ex- 
periences he relates that he cut his first crop 
of wheat with an old-time cradle, and that in 
those early days there were but two threshing 
machines in the entire county. He took a 
great interest in the movement which brought 
statehood to Nebraska and gave his help in 
other enterprises for the general good of the 
community. With the passing years he de- 
veloped one of the valuable farms of Gage 
county, where he still retains ownership of a 
fine estate of two hundred and forty acres, 
well improved. He remained on his old home- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



501 



stead until 1903, when he removed to the city 
of Beatrice, where, still hale and vigorous, he 
and his devoted wife are enjoying the rewards 
of former years of earnest toil and endeavor, 
and where they are known and honored as 
venerable pioneer citizens of the county. Both 
are earnest members of the Christian church 
and he is a Republican in politics. He has 
never sought public office but while residing 
on his farm he served for a number of years 
as school director for his district. 

On the 5th of December, 1867, he married 
IMiss Teanna Tanner, who was born in the 
fair little republic of Switzerland, on January 
16, 1847, and who was about eight years old 
when her parents, John and Babette Tanner, 
came to America and established their home at 
Etna, Licking county, Ohio. From that state 
they came to Nebraska in the year 1867, 
and the father obtained a homestead of 
one hundred and sixty acres, east of Beatrice, 
both he and his wife having passed the re- 
mainder of their lives in this county and their 
names having a place on the roll of the pion- 
eers of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. 
LePoidevin became the parents of ten chil- 
dren, and it is most gratifying to record that 
death has never yet invaded the family circle. 
In conclusion is given brief record concerning 
the children: Adelia is the wife of Lincoln 
Thornburg, a successful farmer of Midland 
township ; Almeda is the wife of Edward Es- 
sam, living five miles east of Beatrice ; John is 
a prosperous farmer in Rockford township ; 
Bertha, who resides at Beatrice, is the widow 
of Hanford Chase: Mabel is the wife of Merl 
Hughes, of this county ; Ezra is a successful 
farmer and resides eight miles north of 
Beatrice ; Charles is a representative expon- 
ent of agricultural industry in Midland town- 
ship ; and Marie, Josephine and Ceba remain 
at the parental home, — an attractive residence 
at 522 South Ninth street, Beatrice. 

JOHN S. JONES has been a resident of 
Gage county since his childhood and has here, 
in his mature years, found ample opportunity 
for the achieving of success worthy of the 
name. Here he has been closely identified 



with banking enterprise during the entire 
course of his active business career, and of the 
same he is now a prominent representative in 
the county. He holds the position of cashier 
of the First National Bank of Wymore, which 
is recognized as one of the leading financial 
institutions of Gage county, and to the ad- 
vancement of the interests of which his care- 
ful and progressive administrative policies 
have largely contributed. Mr. Jones is essen- 
tially one of the representative citizens and 
business men of the thriving little city of Wy- 
more and is properly accorded consideration in 
this history, — a publication on whose advisory 
board he has served during the period of com- 
pilation. 

John S. Jones was born on a farm near Wil- 
liamsburg, Iowa, and the date of his nativity 
was August 3, 1877. He is a son of John S. 
and Ann S. (Lloyd) Jones, both natives of 
Wales and representatives of staunch old 
families of that portion of the great British 
empire. John S. Jones, Sr., was born in 
Wales in September. 18-14, a son of Thomas 
Jones, and in his native land he was reared 
and educated. As a youth he became asso- 
ciated with the great coal-mining industry in 
Wales, and he was twenty-seven years of age 
when he came to the United States. His 
prior experience readily gained to him em- 
ployment in coal mines in Pennsylvania, but 
after remaining about two years in the old 
Keystone state he removed to Iowa county, 
Iowa, and turned his attention to farm enter- 
prise, in the vicinity of Williamsburg. There 
he continued operations along this line for a 
period of four years, and he then, in 1881, 
came with his family to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and established his residence on a farm 
four miles south of Wymore. There he gave 
his active supervision to the work and im- 
provement of his farm until the time of his 
death, which occurred July 10, 1888. His 
marriage to Miss Ann S. Lloyd, daughter of 
John and Elizabeth Lloyd, was solemnized in 
Wales and his young wife accompanied him on 
his immigation to America; she is still living 
and resides with her youngest daughter, at 
Wymore. John S. and Ann S. (Lloyd) Jones 



502 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



became the parents of eight children, all of 
whom are now married and well established in 
life, all save the eldest of the number having 
been bom after the family home was estab- 
lished in the United States. The names of 
the children are here noted in the respective 
order of birth : Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Mag- 
gie, John S., jr., .Mary Ella, Robert V., Edith, 
and Luther Ellis. 

John S. Jones, Jr., the immediate subject 
of this review, was about four years old at the 
time of the family removal to Gage county, 
and here he has since maintained his home. He 
was but ten years of age at the time of his 
father's death and as he was the eldest son 
large responsibilities thus early fell upon him 
in connection with the work and management 
of the home farm. He was associated with 
his devoted mother in carrj-ing forward the 
activities of the farm until he had attained to 
the age of twenty-four years, his educational 
advantages in the meanwhile having been those 
of the district schools and of the high school 
at Wymore, where he was a student two years. 
Upon leaving the farm Mr. Jones assigned its 
management to his brother Robert and became 
bookkeeper in the First National Bank of W y- 
more. One year later he was tendered and 
accepted the position of assistant cashier of 
the newly organized State Bank of Wymore. 
of which he was made cashier two vears later. 
In 1907 this well ordered institution received 
charter as a national bank and was incor- 
jiorated with a capital stock of fifty thousand 
dollars. Mr. Jones continued as cashier of 
the bank until its building was destroyed by 
fire, in 1910, and in that year its stockholders 
and directors made a move of distinctive ex- 
pediency and wisdom, in purchasing the stock 
and business of the First National Bank. Upon 
the consolidation of the two institutions the 
title of First National Bank of Wymore was 
retained, and Mr. Jones has continued as cash- 
ier of the vital and substantial institution to 
the present time. The bank bases its opera- 
tions on a capital stock of fifty thousand dol- 
lars, its surplus fund is ten thousand dollars 
and its deposits are now in excess of six hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars 



^Ir. Jones is loyal and progressive as a citi- 
zen and is always ready to given his co-oper- 
ation in the furtherance of projects advanced 
for the general good of his home city and 
county. In politics he is found staunchly 
aligned in the ranks of the Republican party, 
and he and his wife are active members of the 
Methodist Epicopal church of Wymore. Mr. 
Jones is affiliated with Wymore Lodge, An- 
cient Free & Accepted Masons, of which he is 
past master; with Hiram Chapter, Royal Arch 
Masons, of which he is past high priest, and 
with Mount Herman Commandery, Knights 
Templars, in the city of Beatrice, besides 
which he holds membership in Sesotris Tem- 
ple of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Lin- 
coln, and in \'iolet Chapter, Order of the 
Eastern Star, at Wymore, of which latter he 
is serving as worthy patron in 1918, his wife 
being likewise affiliated with this chapter. 
Mr. Jones takes specially deep interest in edu- 
cational affairs and is serving at the time of 
this writing as j)resident of the Wymore 
board of education. 

On the 28th of June, 1905, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Marv Eliz- 
abeth Roberts, who was born near Iowa City, 
Iowa, on the 9th of January-, 1878. her j)arents 
soon afterward coming to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, where they still maintain their home. 
The names and respective dates of birth of the 
three children of Mr. and ^Irs. Jones are here 
entered: Gordon John, October 12, 1908; 
Eleanor Mav, May 19. 1911 ; and Dwight, July 
4, 1914. 

In connection with the nation's participation 
in the great world war ^Ir. Jones has been very 
active in Red Cross and Liberty Loan work, 
with a spirit of loyalty that prompts him to 
give to the government and its gallant military 
and naval forces every possible assistance. 

SIMON B. HARTZELL, a progressive 
farmer of Rock ford township, was bom 
March 21, 1879, and was an infant at the time 
when his parents established their home in 
Gage county. He is a son of Eli E. Hartzell, 
who is now living retired at Holmesville. this 
county. Eli E. Hartzell was born in Mahon- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



503 



ing county, Ohio, March 19, 1837, and his par- 
ents, George and Jane (Smart) Hartzell, who 
were bom and reared in Pennsylvania, re- 
moved in an early day from the old Keystone 
state to Ohio. Eli E. Hartzell received in his 
youth the advantages of the common schools 
and as a young man he went to Indiana, 
where he engaged in the lumber business. 
Later he resided, for intervals of vary- 
ing duration, in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, 
and Pennsylvania, and in 1881 he came 
with his family to Gage county, Nebraska. 
He settled in Riverside township, and there 
he continued his successful activities as a 
farmer for fully twenty years. Several years 
ago he removed to Arkansas, but after re- 
maining there a short time he returned to 
Gage county, where he has since hved virtu- 
ally retired and where he now maintains his 
home at Holmesville. His wife, whose maid- 
en name was Miralda Quigley and who was a 
resident of Mahoning county, Ohio, at the 
time of their marriage, was born December 
13, 1840, a daughter of Dr. Quigley, her 
father having been a physician and having 
been engaged in the practice of his profession 
in Ohio for more than half a century. Eli 
E. and Miralda Hartzell became the parents 
of seven children : Willis is deceased ; Rush 
and Jay are engaged in farm enterprise in 
Nemaha township, this county ; Homer is a 
resident of Portland, Oregon ; Mar>', who be- 
came the wife of Rev. Gustave Briegleb, is 
deceased ; Simon Bert, of this review, was the 
next in order of birth ; Harry is a physician 
and surgeon by profession and is engaged in 
practice at Eldorado, Kansas. 

Eli E. Hartzell, who has passed the age of 
four score years, is one of the venerable and 
highly honored citizens of Gage county, and 
is a man of broad mental grasp, a citizen who 
has been loyal in all of the relations of life. 
His religious faith is that of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

Simon Bert Hartzell gained his early edu- 
cation in the schools of Gage county, includ- 
ing the public schools of the city of Beatrice, 
and his initial activities as an independent 
farmer were conducted on land owned by his 



father. Later he was engaged for eleven 
years in the operation of a farm in Hanover 
township, under a Scully lease, and three 
years ago he purchased his present fine farm, 
in Rockford township, the same comprising 
two hundred acres. When he purchased the 
property it was not provided with buildings, 
as those formerly on the place had been swept 
away by a cyclone, a few years previously, 
the disaster being the more malign by reason 
of the fact that on the farm two persons were 
killed at the time. Mr. Hartzell erected a 
good house on the farm and also provided a 
modern barn and other requisite farm build- 
ings. He gives his attention to diversified 
agriculture, raises and feeds cattle for the 
market and is proving successful in all de- 
partments of his vigorous farm enterprise. 

Mr. Hartzell married Miss Jewell Hick- 
man, who was born in Macoupin county, Illi- 
nois, and who is a daughter of the late J. T. 
and Sarah (Piper) Hickman. Mr. and Mrs 
Hartzell have four children — Ruth, Blanche, 
Simon B., Jr., and Raymond. 

Mr. Hartzell is a member of the school 
board of his district and he and his wife hold 
membership in the Methodist church. 

DAVID GRAF has been a resident of Gage 
county since 1875 and for more than forty 
years he and his wife have maintained their 
home on their present farm, in Section 4, Mid- 
land township. His sons now have the active 
management of his extensive farm estate and 
he and his wife are, under most gracious en- 
vironment and associations, enjoying the gen- 
erous prosperity and comfort that properly 
crown their former years of earnest en- 
deavor — sterling pioneer citizens to whom is 
accorded the fullest measure of popular es- 
teem. 

David Graf was born on his father's fann 
in Northville township, LaSalle county, Illi- 
nois, September 27, 1845, the second in order 
of birth in a family of six sons and four 
daughters, and of the number seven are still 
living. The honored father, Samuel Graf, 
was born and reared in the fair little republic 
of Switzerland and was a voung man when he 



504 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




o 



< 

Q 




O 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



505 



came to America and in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania found employment at his trade, that of 
tailor. In Somerset county, that state, was 
solemnized his marriage to Miss Louise Anna 
Parker, and about the year 1833 they num- 
bered themselves among the pioneer settlers of 
La Salle county, Illinois. There Mr. Graf re- 
claimed and improved one of the excellent 
farms of Northville township, and upon this 
homestead he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives, he having passed away 
in 1876, at the age of seventy-five years, and 
his widow having been one hundred years of 
age at the time of her death, which occurred 
in October, 1916. Both were zealous mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian church. 

David Graf was reinforced for his later 
service through the experience he gained on 
the old homestead farm in Illinois, where his 
early educational advantages were those af- 
forded in the district schools of his native 
county. There he continued his active asso- 
ciation with farm enterprise until he had at- 
tained to the age of twenty-seven years, when 
he found employment as a farm hand, work- 
ing by the month. In 1875 he came to Gage 
county, where his father had purchased for 
the sons six eighty-acre tracts of land, and on 
one of these tracts, east of Beatrice, the sub- 
ject of this sketch initiated his independent 
activities as a farmer. The following year 
he purchased his present homestead place of 
one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 4, 
Midland township, where he and his gracious 
wife have continuously maintained their resi- 
dence during the long intervening years, which 
have been marked by constantly increasing 
prosperity, won through earnest and honest 
endeavor on their part. On the place the 
original home of the family was a frame 
shanty that had been erected by the previous 
owner, Andrew J. Pethoud, who was one of 
the earliest settlers of the county and did 
much important surveying work in the early 
days. This primitive house continued as the 
Graf abode for fifteen years, and then re- 
moval was made to the commodious and at- 
tractive frame house which Mr. and Mrs. 
Graf now occupy, the buildings which he 



has erected on his farm property being among 
the finest in the township and being kept in 
the best of repair — a fitting token of thrift 
and prosperity. Mr. Graf is now the owner 
of a fine landed estate of two hundred acres 
and his wife owns farm property of equal 
area in the same township. Vigorous and pro- 
gressive policies always marked the activities 
of Mr. Graf as an agriculturist and stock- 
grower, and the principles which he thus in- 
culcated in his sons have caused them to fol- 
low with equal efficiency the same policies in 
their management of the fine estate owned by 
him and his wife. 

In LaSalle county, Illinois, March 3, 1875, 
recorded the marriage of Mr. Graf to Miss 
Adeline Hazemann, who was there bom 
March 25, 1856, her parents, Jonathan G. and 
Amelia (Smith) Hazemann, having been 
natives of France and having become pioneer 
settlers of LaSalle county, Illinois, where they 
passed the residue of their lives. Mr. and 
Mrs. Graf have four children : Alpha D. and 
John G. remain with their parents and have 
the active management of the home farm ; 
Clarence D., who is a successful farmer in 
Filley township, married Miss Elizabeth Jen- 
sen and they have three children ; Fordyce H., 
the maiden name of whose wife was Hazel 
Burket, is serving, in 1917-1918, as city clerk 
of Beatrice, judicial center of the county. 

Mr. Graf has been distinctively the sup- 
porter of civic and industrial progress and de- 
velopment in Gage county and while he has 
shown loyal interest in community affairs and 
given staunch support to the cause of the 
Democratic party he has never consented to 
serve in official positions other than those of 
road supervisor and school director. He and 
his wife are earnest members of the Reorgan- 
ized Church of Latter Day Saints, and they 
are genial and kindly pioneer citizens whose 
circle of friends in Gage county is limited only 
by that of their acquaintances. 

GEORGE HUNKLE, secretary and man- 
ager of the Farmers' Elevator Company, at 
Holmesville, in Rockford township, is one of 
the leading exponents of the grain business in 



506 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



this part of the county and is held in high 
esteem in the county that has represented his 
home for more than thirty years. He was 
born in the state of New York, June 1, 1876, 
and as he was left an orphan in early child- 
hood he has no definite information concern- 
ing the family history. He was placed in an 
orphans' home in New York city, and when 
nine years of age he was sent with other boys 
from that institution to Nebraska, where he 
became a member of the family circle of Wil- 
liam Woolsey, a farmer in Lincoln township, 
Gage county. Here he was reared to man- 
hood and received the advantages of the local 
schools. He remained with his foster-parents 
until he had attained to his legal majority and 
for some time thereafter he was independent- 
ly engaged in farm enterprise in Lincoln town- 
ship. He then went to the village of Ellis, 
where he learned the trade of telegraphist, and 
after having been employed as an operator at 
Jansen and Plymouth, Nebraska, he returned 
to Ellis, Gage county, and engaged in the 
grain business. In December, 1901, he was 
made manager of the firm's business and of 
this position he continued the incumbent until 
the business was sold to Black Brothers, with 
whom he continued in a similar capacity, at 
Holmesville, until they sold their elevator and 
business to the Farmers' Elevator Company, 
in 1913, since which time he has given most 
efficient service as secretary and manager of 
this company. Mr. Hunkle is a Republican 
in politics, and is affiliated with the Ellis 
Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, as is he also with Beatrice Lodge of the 
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. 

In 1912 Mr. Hunkle wedded Mi.ss Fannie 
Lemmel, who was bom in Saline county, this 
state, a daughter of Philip and Eliza Lemmel, 
the former of whom is deceased and the lat- 
ter of whom now resides in the city of 
Beatrice. Mr. and .Mrs. Hunkle have a fine 
little son, Donald G. 

CHARLES J. McCOLL has been a resi- 
dent of Gage county since 1888 and in the 
city of Beatrice he has long controlled a sub- 
stantial and representative business as a 



skilled painter and paperhanger, his pleasant 
home being at 225 North LaSelle street. A 
scion of the staunchest of Scottish ancestry, 
Mr. ]McColl was born in Argyleshire, Scot- 
land, on the 13th of August, 1852, a son of 
James and Mary (McGinness) McColl, who 
the next year, 1853, immigrated to America 
and established their home in York county, 
Province of Ontario, Canada, where the 
father became the owner of a small fann and 
where he and his wife passed the residue of 
their lives. Of their eleven children the sub- 
ject of this review is now the only survivor. 
After the death of James McColl his widow 
engaged in the dairy business, and by her 
energy and ability she made the enterprise 
distinctly successful. Both were members of 
the Presbyterian church. 

Reared to adult age in York county, On- 
tario, Charles J. McColl received in his youth 
but limited educational advantages, but in con- 
nection with the practical aflairs of life he 
has efTectively made good this handicap. In 
the city of Toronto he learned in his youth 
the trade of painting and graining, and after 
there following his trade for a number of 
years he decided to identify himself with the 
progressive western section of the United 
States. On the 1st of May, 1888, he arrived 
in the city of Beatrice, and here he has since 
continued his residence, the while he has been 
consecutively engaged in business as a painter 
and paperhanger, in which field of enterprise 
he has built up a prosperous business that 
makes him one of the leading exponents of 
the same in the judicial center and metropolis 
of Gage county. 

March 6, 1881, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. McColl to Miss Susan Bates, who was 
born in Huron county, Ontario, Canada, a 
daughter of Thomas and Susan (Sterling) 
Bates, the former a native of Ireland and the 
latter of Scotland. In Canada Mr. Bates fol- 
lowed the trade of plasterer and there both 
he and his wife continued to reside until their 
death. Mr. and .Mrs. McColl became the par- 
ents of three children : Ethel died at the age 
of twenty-three years : Eva is a popular teacher 
in the Central school in the city of Beatrice. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



507 



and Mary is an efficient teacher in the high 
school at Shickley, Nebraska. Mrs. JMcColl 
and her daughters are members of the Pres- 
byterian church. 

Mr. McColl is affihated with the Knights & 
Ladies of Security, the Order of Ancient 
Foresters, and the Ancient Order of Shep- 
lierds, in each of which he has passed all of 
the official chairs. In politics he has been 
a staunch Republican during the entire period 
of his residence as a naturalized citizen in the 
United States, and he has been influential in 
political affairs in Gage county. While a 
resident of St. Thomas, Canada, he served as 
a member of the city council, and this ex- 
perience gave him special resourcefulness 
when he was called upon to give similar ser- 
vice as a member of the city council of 
Beatrice. His ability and popularity marked 
him as an eligible candidate for higher offi- 
cial preferment, and in 1908 he was elected 
representative of Gage county in the Nebras- 
ka legislature, in which he served one term. 
Though the lower house of the legislature was 
strongly Democratic, Mr. McColl proved a 
strong minority leader and was assigned to 
various important committees, including those 
on public lands and buildings, towns and 
cities, and labor and insurance. 

JACOB ESS AM has been a resident of 
Gage county since he was a youth of eighteen 
years and by his well ordered industry and en- 
terprise has gained secure vantage-place as 
one of the representative farmers of Midland 
township, where he is the owner of a well im- 
proved farm property of four hundred acres, 
his attractive homestead place being situated 
in Section 24, on rural mail route No. 3 from 
the city of Beatrice, which is about four and 
one-half miles distant. 

Mr. Essam was born in Schuyler county, 
Illinois, May 10, 1863, was there reared on 
his father's farm and there acquired his early 
education in the district schools. He is a son 
of James and Susanna (Fitz) Essam, both 
natives of York county, Pennsylvania, where 
the former was born April 8, 1834, and the 
latter on the 12th of Alay, 1840. James Es- 



sam was a young man when he removed from 
the old Keystone state and settled in Illinois, 
where his activities as a farmer were carried 
on first in Fulton and later in Schuyler 
county. In 1880 he disposed of his property 
in Illinois and came with his family to Gage 
county, where he purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of land, in Logan township. He 
improved one of the excellent farms of the 
county and continued to reside on the old 
homestead until his death, which occurred 
August 22, 1902, his widow having been sum- 
moned to the life eternal on the 5th of May, 
1909. Both were earnest members of the 
Dunkard church and exemplified their faith 
in their daily lives, their names meriting en- 
during place on the roster of the honored pio- 
neers of Gage county. Of their eight children 
the firstborn is Henrj', who is a prosperous 
farmer in Riverside township ; Jacob, of this 
review, was the next in order of birth; Mary 
is the wife of James Canning and they reside 
in the state of Kansas; Edward is a success- 
ful farmer in Logan township; Miss Rebecca 
resides in the city of Beatrice, and is the home- 
keeper for her bachelor brother, John, the 
next younger of the children ; Charles like- 
wise resides in Beatrice ; and Harvey resides 
upon and operates his father's old home farm, 
in Logan township. 

As previously intimated, Jacob Essam was 
a youth of eighteen years when he accompan- 
ied his parents to Gage county, and for some 
time thereafter he was employed by the month 
at farm work, his compensation being twelve 
and one-half dollars a month. For several 
years he farmed on rented land and it was 
about twenty-five years ago that he purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres, the old home- 
stead of his father-in-law, in Midland town- 
ship. This proved to be the nucleus of the 
large and valuable landed estate of four hun- 
dred acres which he has since accumulated 
through his energetic and well directed activi- 
ties as an agriculturist and stock-raiser, and 
he has made many permanent improvements 
of excellent order on his property, including 
the rebuilding and remodeling of the house 
on his homestead and the erection of other 



508 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



farm buildings of model type and facilities. 
Mr. Essam is one of the substantial and 
popular citizens of Midland township, where 
he has served fifteen years in the office of 
township treasurer and for many years as a 
member of the school board of his district. 
He is independent of strict partisan lines in 
poHtics and gives his support to men and mea- 
sures meeting the approval of his judgment. 
His wife is an active member of the Christian 
church. 

February' 14, 1880, recorded the mar- 
riage of Mr. Essam to Miss Mary E. Bar- 
tram, who was born in Macoupin county, Illi- 
nois, a daughter of William and Mary Bar- 
tram, with whom she came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, in 1878, her parents settling on the 
farm which is now the homestead of Mr. and 
Mrs. Essam, both having here passed the re- 
mainder of their lives and Mr. Essam having 
purchased the farm at the time when the prop- 
erty was placed on sale in the final adjustment 
of the estate. Mr. and Mrs. Essam have four 
children : James, the maiden name of whose 
wife was Esta Doan, is a prosperous farmer 
in Midland township; Bessie is the wife of 
Ezra LePoidevin, a farmer in Holt township ; 
Evart remains at the parental home and is 
associated with his father in the work and 
management of the farm; and Gilbert, who 
married Miss Pearl Bible, is one of the pro- 
gressive young farmers of Midland township. 

JOHN W. BURGESS, treasurer of the 
Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company, 
which is the most important industrial cor- 
poration not only in the city of Beatrice but 
also in Gage county, has been for more than 
thirty years actively and prominently identi- 
fied with the civic and business affairs in 
Beatrice and he is properly accorded recogni- 
tion in this history. 

John Warren Burgess was born in Cook 
county, Illinois, on the 3d of November, 1865, 
and is a son of Eli and Marietta (Childs) 
Burgess, who were bom in Saratoga county, 
New York. Their marriage was solemnized 
in the old Empire state and thence they re- 
moved to Cook county, Illinois, prior to the 



Civil war. Eli Burgess was a man of staunch 
character and of much intellectual ability. In || 
the earlier period of his career he was a suc- 
cessful teacher in the public schools and there- 
after he was engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness for some time. He became a fanner near 
Dundee, Illinois, and finally removed from the 
farm to that village, where he continued to be 
engaged in mercantile enterprise until his 
death, his wife also having there passed the 
closing years of her life. They became the || 
parents of four sons, of whom the eldest is 
Edwin A., a civil engineer by profession and 
a resident of the city of Chicago ; Arthur C. 
still resides at Dundee, Illinois, where he is a 
representative business man ; William E. is 
deceased ; and John W., of this review, is the 
youngest of the number. 

The lineage of the Burgess family traces 
back to Welsh origin and the Childs family 
was one of early settlement in the state of 
New York, where members of the family mar- 
ried representatives of the fine old Van Tassell 
family, whose name is linked with the found- 
ing of the early Holland Dutch colonies in the 
Empire state. 

The early educational advantages of John 
W. Burgess were those afforded in the public 
schools of his native state, and after having 
attended the high school at Dundee he was 
for one year a student in Wheaton College. 
at \\'heaton, Illinois, after which he completed 
a normal course in what is now Valparaiso 
University, at Valparaiso, Indiana. As a rep- 
resentative of the pedagogic profession he 
taught in the public schools of Henry and 
Kane counties. Illinois, besides which he gave 
effective service in the office of superintendent 
of schools for the latter county. 

In the autumn of 1887 Mr. Burgess came 
to Beatrice, Nebraska, where he has since been 
actively associated with the Dempster Mill 
Manufacturing Company, of which he is a 
stockholder and director and of which he has 
served long and effectively as treasurer. He 
has done much to further the upbuilding of 
this large and important industrial corpora- 
tion and as a citizen has shown marked loy- 
alty and progressiveness. He and his wife 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



509 



hold membership in the Presbyterian church. 
In December, 1891, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Burgess to Miss Sarah E Demp- 
ster, who, like her husband, was graduated in 
the institution now known as Valparaiso Uni- 
versity. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess have three 
sons : Warren C., who is a graduate of the 
University of Colorado, is now in the employ 
of the Westinghouse Electrical Manufactur- 
ing Company; Harold D. is a student, in 1918, 
in the University of Kansas ; and John Paul 
is a student in the Beatrice high school. 

JOHN I. McGIRR, M. D. — In promoting 
general efficiency along all lines of human en- 
deavor there has come in these later years a 
distinct recognition of the supreme value of 
concentration of etifort, and this is specially 
true in the medical profession, in which ex- 
ponents find the maximum success and are 
able to give the most benignant service through 
devoting their attention to perfecting them- 
selves and exploiting special departments of 
practice. In Gage county Dr. McGirr has 
gained exceptional prestige by such concen- 
tration and he gives his time and attention 
primarily to the diagnosis and treatment of 
diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. He 
maintains his residence and professional head- 
quarters in the city of Beatrice and is known, 
through his character and high professional 
attainments, as one of the representative 
physicians and surgeons of this part of the 
state. 

Dr. McGirr was born at Reddick, Kankakee 
county, Illinois, on the 23d of March, 1873, 
and in his native commonwealth he received 
his rudimentary education, his age at the time 
of the family removal to Nebraska having 
been twelve years. The Doctor is a son of 
Francis M. and Judith (Barkey) McGirr, the 
former of whom was born in the fair Old 
Emerald Isle, a scion of a family of patrician 
antecedents and superior educational status, 
and the latter of whom was born in the state 
of Pennsylvania, their marriage having been 
solemnized in the state of Illinois. Francis 
M. McGirr was reared and educated in his 
native land, where he received excellent ad- 



vantages, his father, Joseph McGirr, who con- 
tinued to maintain his home in Ireland until 
his death, at the venerable age of eighty-five 
years, having been a man of fine intellectual- 
ity and having served many years as a school- 
master, in which connection it may be noted 
that he spoke and taught eight different lan- 
guages. Francis M. McGirr was a young man 
when he came to the United States and that 
his loyalty to the land of his adoption was of 
perfervid order needs no further voucher 
than the statement that he went forth as a 
valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, 
in which conflict he served three years, as a 
member of Battery K, First Illinois Light 
Artillery. During his later years of residence 
in Nebraska he perpetuated the more gracious 
memories of his military career through affil- 
iation with the Grand Army of the Republic, 
and in all of the relations of life he exempli- 
fied the same instinctive loyalty and high sense 
of personal stewardship that prompted him 
thus to defend in his young manhood the 
righteous cause through which was perpetu- 
ated our national integrity. His wife was a 
girl at the time of her parents' removal from 
the old Keystone state to Illinois, where she 
was reared and educated, her father, the late 
Enos Barkey, having finally removed with his 
family to Nebraska and become one of the 
early settlers of Gage county, where he was a 
prosperous farmer and where he and his wife 
passed the residue of their lives. 

After the close of the Civil war Francis M. 
McGirr engaged in farming in Kankakee 
county, Illinois, and in that state he remained 
until 1885, when he came with his family to 
Nebraska and purchased land in Gage county. 
Here he developed one of the valuable farms 
of the county and he continued to reside upon 
his old homestead until 1901, when he re- 
moved to the city of Beatrice, his death hav- 
ing here occurred in 1905, and his widow hav- 
ing passed to eternal rest in 1913. Mr. Mc- 
Girr was one of the honored and influential 
citizens of Gage county, a man of broad men- 
tal ken and well fortified convictions, and he 
commanded the unequivocal respect of his 
fellow men. He was reared in and ever held 



510 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



to the faith of the Catholic church, and his 
wife was a member of the Mennonite church. 
They are survived by four children : Ed- 
ward B. is successfully engaged in the real- 
estate business at Beatrice; Frederick O. is 
engaged in the practice of his profession at 
Beatrice, as a representative member of the 
Gage county bar, and is serving, 1917-1918, 
in the office of supreme court commissioner; 
Dr. McGirr, of this review, was the next in 
order of birth : and Virgil E. is a retired far- 
mer residing in Beatrice : he served as dep- 
uty sheriff of Gage county and for several 
terms as chief of police of Beatrice. 

As previously stated, Dr. McGirr was a lad 
of twelve years at the time of the family re- 
moval to Nebraska, and he was reared to ma- 
turity in Gage county, where he continued to 
attend the public schools until he had profited 
by the advantages of the Beatrice high school. 
Thereafter he pursued higher academic studies 
in Western Normal College, in the city of 
Lincoln, and in preparation for the work of 
his chosen profession he went to the city of 
Omaha, where he was matriculated in the 
medical dei)artment of the University of Ne- 
braska. Here he completed the prescribed 
curriculum and was graduated as a member 
of the class of 1897. After thus receiving his 
coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine he en- 
gaged in the general practice of his profession 
at Ellis, Gage county, where he remained 
three years. In the meanwhile he detennined 
that he could expand his field of service and 
usefulness by devoting himself to special 
I)hases of professional work, and to fortify 
himself properly for such service he took ef- 
fective post-graduate work in a leading medi- 
cal school of New York city and later in one 
of the important institutions in Vienna, Aus- 
tria. In each of tliese connections he gave 
special attention to study and clinical work 
pertaining to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose, 
and throat, and in 1901 he established his 
residence in the city of Beatrice, where he 
now gives his close and efficient attention to 
his special domain of practice, in which he has 
gained repute as one of the leading eye, ear, 
nose, and throat specialists in this section of 



the state, so that his practice is derived in ap- 
preciable part from points outside of local 
environs. The Doctor controls a large and 
representative practice, keeps in close touch 
with the advances made in medical and surgi- 
cal science and is unremitting in his study of 
the best standard and periodical literature of 
his profession. He holds membership in the 
American Medical Association and is one of 
the active and valued members of the Ne- 
braska State Medical Society, of which he has 
ser\'ed as vice-president, and of the Gage 
County Medical Society, of which he was 
formerly secretary. The Doctor owns his at- 
tractive residence property in the city of 
Beatrice and also a valuable farm near Pick- 
rell, this county. As a broad-gauged and 
progressive citizen he gives his cooperation in 
the furtherance of measures and enterprises 
tending to conserve the communal welfare, 
and his political allegiance is accorded to the 
Democratic party. He is prominently identi- 
fied with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, in which he is affiliated with both the 
local and encampment bodies, as well as with 
the auxilliary organization, the Daughters of 
Rcbekah, and he is past grand of Beatrice 
Lodge, No. 187, of the Odd Fellows, besides 
having represented the same as a delegate to 
the grand lodge of Nebraska. He gives lib- 
eral support to the Baptist church of Beatrice, 
of which his wife is an active member. 

In June, 1915, was solemnized the marriage 
of Dr. McGirr to Miss Alyrtle Gue, who was 
born and reared at York, the judicial center 
of the Nebraska county of the same name, 
and the one child of this union is a son — 
John I., Jr., born November 6, 1916. 

JOHN PETHOUD. — Ten years prior to 
the time when the Territory of Nebraska was 
transformed into a new state of the Union the 
late John Pethoud became a pioneer of what 
is now Gage county, and his was the distinc- 
tion of turning the first furrow that was ever 
plowed on Gage county soil. A man of su- 
perior intellectuality and dauntless spirit. 
Judge Pethoud represented the finest type of 
pioneer, and it was his to wield large and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



511 



benignant influence in the formative period of 
the history- of southeastern Nebraska. This 
publication exercises a most consistent func- 
tion when it accords a tribute to his memory. 

John Pethoud was of French ancestry and 
was born in Lawrence county, Ohio, in Au- 
gust, 1798, the place of his nativity having 
been a tract of land that had been a French 
grant to the Pethoud family. His parents 
were called upon to meet the trials and hard- 
ships incidental to the pioneer period in the 
histon,' of the old Buckeye state, and there he 
was reared to manhood, his early educational 
advantages having been limited, as a matter 
of course, but his alert mind and broad intel- 
lectual grasp having eventually made him a 
man of exceptional mentality and mature judg- 
ment. In his native state he became familiar- 
ly known as Esquire Pethoud, doubtless owing 
to the fact of his having served in the office 
of justice of the peace. 

In 1857, in company with Edward Austin 
and H. J- Pierce, Judge Pethoud set forth for 
the wilds of Nebraska Territory. The three 
venturesome pioneers made the journey down 
the Ohio river and up the Mississippi and 
Missouri rivers by boat and upon arriving at 
some point near the Nebraska line, they 
bought ox teams and wagons, with which they 
continued their way to what is now Gage 
county. Within the limits of the county as 
then existing Judge Pethoud entered a pre- 
emption claim, for which he paid two hun- 
dred dollars. Gage and old Clay counties 
then lay contiguous and he built his modest 
frontier house on the Gage county side of the 
line, thus becoming the first settler in Gage 
county as then constituted. The land which 
he thus obtained from the government is now 
owned by David Graf and lies in Midland 
township. On this pioneer farm Judge Pe- 
thoud continued to reside until his death, 
which occurred September 5, 1883, after he 
had attained to the venerable age of eighty- 
five years. He was buried on that farm. 

Judge Pethoud was a great reader and stu- 
dent, was well informed concerning history 
and current events, and though he was not spe- 
cifically a professor of religion he was a deep 



student of the Bible, with whicli he was fa- 
miliar from cover to cover, and lie liad an 
abiding appreciation of the spiritual verities 
of the Christian faith. He was a man of 
strong convictions and prejudices, but both 
were usually well taken, and he guided his 
life according to the highest principles of in- 
tegrity and honor. Though he was a resident 
of Gage county, he was called upon to serve 
as the first judge of the probate court of Clay 
county. 

In Ohio was solemnized the marriage of 
Judge Pethoud to Miss Mary Thompson, who 
was born in Pennsylvania, and she shared 
with him in the experiences of life on the 
frontier after their home had been estab- 
lished in Nebraska. Concerning their chil- 
dren brief record is given, in conclusion of 
this memoir: Mrs. Cynthia Ann Blanken- 
ship was a resident of Ohio at the time of her 
death, which occurred more than sixty years 
ago ; Elizabeth was the wife of John Wilson, 
one of the early pioneer settlers of Logan 
township, Gage county ; Francis M. was a 
resident of Midland township at the time of 
his death, and to him a memoir is dedicated 
on other pages of this volume; John T. is de- 
ceased, as are also Mrs. Rebecca Jones, An- 
drew J., and James K. P. All of the children 
except the eldest became residents of Gage 
coimty and the family name is one that has 
been signally prominent and honored in con- 
nection with the county's histon,'. 

KIRK GRIGGS. — In Sections 30 and 31 
Blakely township is situated the well improved 
farm estate of Kirk Griggs, the place compris- 
ing six hundred acres and being given over to 
diversified agriculture and stock-growing. 
The owner has gained special success and 
precedence as a breeder of Holstein cattle, 
Hampshire swine, and Shire horses, and has 
made numerous exhibitions of his fine stock 
at various county fairs. He is one of the 
most progressive stock-growers of the county 
that has represented his home from the time 
of his birth and in which his parents were 
pioneer settlers. 

Mr. Griggs was bom at Beatrice, this 



512 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV. NEBRASKA 



county, on the 8th of January, 1875, and is a 
son of Lewis T. and Caroline (Gale) Griggs, 
of whose five children he was the fourth in 
order of birth; Mollie is the wife of Freder- 
ick W. Daniels, of Sheridan, Oregon: George 
L. is a resident of the city of Alliance; Clif- 
ton C. resides at Eureka, Utah ; and Burt re- 
sides at Buffalo, Wyoming. Lewis T. Griggs 
was born in Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1843. 
a son of Lucien and Mary T. (Kirk) Griggs, 
and in the old Buckeye state he was reared on 
the home farm, with such educational ad- 
vantages as were afforded in the common 
schools of the locality. He was a youth of 
eighteen years at the inception of the Civil 
war and he tendered his aid in defense of the 
Union by enlisting, early in 1862, as a mem- 
ber of the Eleventh Indiana Cavalrv-, with 
which gallant command he participated in 
many battles and important campaigns, it hav- 
ing been his fortune to receive a wound while 
taking part in the battle of Chickamauga. He 
was with his command in the battle of Fort 
Donelson and those of Lookout Mountain and 
Vicksburg, Ijesides which he was with Gen- 
eral Sherman on the historic march from At- 
lanta to the sea. In 1864 he was promoted to 
the office of first lieutenant, and as such he 
served until the close of the war. when he re- 
ceived his honorable discharge, .\fter the 
war he returned to Indiana, to which state his 
parents had removed from Ohio, and in 1866 
he and his half-brother, Thomas J. Griggs, 
each entered claim to a homestead of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in Pawnee county, Ne- 
braska Territory. On his pioneer homestead, 
seven miles southeast of the present thriving 
town of Liberty, Lewis T. Griggs erected a 
small house, the material for which he trans- 
ported with team and wagon from Nebraska 
City. He instituted the development of his 
farm and in due time perfected his title to the 
property. In 1869 he wedded Miss Caroline 
Gale and soon afterward they established 
their residence at Beatrice, which was then a 
mere frontier village. On the site of the 
])resent Beatrice National Bank he had a little 
store in wliich he engaged in the liandling of 
agricultural implements and macliincry, and 



here he continued his successful operations in 
this line of enterprise until 1883, when he re- 
moved with his family to Atchison, Kansas, 
where he became a representative of one of 
the leading harvesting machine companies, 
the death of his wife having there occurred 
in 1885. Soon afterward he returned to 
Beatrice, and thereafter he was a traveling 
salesman for agricultural implements until ,. 
1888. In that year he removed to Newcastle, || 
Wyoming, prior to the extension of the rail- 
road to that locality, and there he became a 
successful exponent of stock-raising industry, 
with which he continued to be identified until 
his death, which occurred November 11, 1908. 
He was one of the influential pioneers of 
Weston county, Wyoming, where he served as 
clerk of the court and also as county attorney, 
he having studied law previously and having 
been admitted to the bar in the early '70s. At 
Newcastle, Wyoming, he engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession, as one of the leading 
members of the bar of Weston county, and in 
a fraternal way he was affiliated with the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, the Inde])endent Order of 
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the 
Grand Army of the Republic, in which last 
named organization he was a charter member 
of Rawlins Post, at Beatrice. His wife was 
born in the western part of Massachusetts 
and was reared by kinsfolk, members of the 
Gale family having been numbered among the 
early settlers of Gage county. Coming to this 
county prior to the admission of Nebraska to 
the Union, Mrs. Griggs became one of the 
early and popular teachers in the village 
schools of Beatrice, she having been, in fact, 
one of the first teachers thus rendering ser- 
vice in the little frontier village that has be- 
come one of the attractive and prosperous 
cities of the state. She was forty-two years 
of age at the time of her death, June 13, 1883, 
and was a devoted member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Upon coming to Gage 
county, in 1867. .Mrs. Griggs, two years prior 
to her marriage, entered a homestead claim, 
and a considerable i)art of this property is now 
included in the Glenover addition to the city 
of Beatrice. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



513 



Kirk Griggs, immediate subject of this re- 
view, was born in a house that stood on the 
site of the present Beatrice high school build- 
ing, and his youthful education was gained in 
the schools of this city and those of Newcastle, 
\V}'oming, where the family home was estab- 
lished when he was a lad of twelve years. 
That he profited by these advantages is shown 
by the fact that he proved himself eligible 
for pedagogic honors and was for six months 
engaged in teaching in a rural school in \\'y- 
oming. In that state he remained on his 
father's extensive cattle ranch until he had at- 
tained to the age of twenty years, and for six- 
teen years thereafter he was successfully 
identified with railroad construction enter- 
prise, with Kilpatrick Brothers and later with 
the McArthur Company, leading New York 
contractors in this line of enterprise. His 
first service was in the capacity of stenog- 
rapher, but later he became allied closely with 
the practical executive details of construction 
work, in which connection he organized camps 
of workmen, acted as auditor and superin- 
tendent and proved in all ways a vigorous and 
resourceful executive. 

In 1913 Mr. Griggs purchased of his former 
employers. Kilpatrick Brothers, his present 
fine landed estate in his native county, and in 
the same year he erected his present modern 
and attractive residence, at a cost of six 
thousand dollars. His farm is one of the best 
improved and most effectively equipped of all 
in the county, and on the same he has two 
artesian wells, the while his modem facilities 
including a gas-lighting system for his house. 
After his return from the west Mr. Griggs 
purchased the house of his birth, in the city of 
Beatrice, and this property he finally sold to 
the board of education as a site for the present 
modern high school building. A man of 
thought and action, Mr. Griggs has become 
one of the representative agriculturists and 
stock -growers, as well as a popular and repre- 
sentative citizen of his native county. His po- 
litical support is given to the Republican party 
and he is serving at the time of this writing 
as a director of school district No. 22. Both 



he and his wife are active members of the 
Christian church. 

June 12, 1901, recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Griggs to Miss Mabel C. Pyrtle, the younger 
of the two children of James and Nancy E. 
(Murphy) Pyrtle, the former of whom was 
born in Missouri, in 1847, and the latter in 
Indiana, on the 15th of September, 1852. 
Mrs. Griggs, prior to her marriage, had been 
for five years a successful and popular 
teacher in the schools of Gage county, her 
work including four years' service in the city 
schools of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Griggs 
have four children — Theodore, Roger, Gale, 
and Jessie M. 

HENRY FISHB.\CH. — Under the gen- 
eral communal conditions and exigencies of 
the present day no city can claim definite 
metropolitan facilities if there has been fail- 
ure to provide proper accommodations for the 
conserving of food stuff's, and Beatrice is sig- 
nally favored in this respect, as the city takes 
just pride in the excellent service given by the 
large and modern plant of the Beatrice Cold 
Storage Company, of which Henry Fishbach 
was the founder and of which he has continu- 
ously been the executive head. In establishing 
this important enterprise Mr. Fishbach dem- 
onstrated alike his civic loyalty and his pro- 
gressiveness as a business man, and through 
his careful and effective administration the 
business has been developed from a modest 
inception to one of large volume and definite 
success. 

Mr. Fishbach was born at Franklin Grove, 
Lee county, Illinois, on the 16th of October, 
1859. and is a son of Philip and Catherine 
( Hausknecht) Fishbach, both of Vvhom were 
born in the now devastated province of Al- 
sace-Lorraine, which was then an integral part 
of French domain and which has again become 
the stage of terrible polemic activities inci- 
dental to the great war in which France is 
again arrayed against Germany. The parents 
of ^Ir. Fishbach were young at the time of 
the immigration of the respective families to 
America and both families established resi- 
dence in the state of Illinois, in the pioneer 



514 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



history of that commonwealth. Philip Fish- 
bach devoted Ihe greater part of his active 
life to his trade, that of stone-cutter, and both 
he and his wife continued their residence at 
Franklin Grove, Illinois, until their death — 
folk of sterling character and honored by all 
who knew them. To the public schools of 
his native county Henry Fishbach is indebted 
for his early educational training and there he 
continued to reside until he had attained to 
the age of nineteen years, when he went to 
the state of Colorado and turned his attention 
to farm work and other service that would 
give him a living recompense. He remained 
in Colorado three years and then returned to 
Illinois, where he was engaged in agricultural 
enterprise, in Lee county, until 1884. In the 
year last mentioned he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and though he had virtually no 
financial resources he had an abundance of 
ambition and self-reliance, as shown by the 
fact that he purchased eighty acres of land, 
in Greenwoood township, assuming indebted- 
ness for practically the entire purchase price 
The land had received but the slightest im- 
provement, and for the first seven years of his 
residence on his embryonic farm Mr. Fish- 
bach used as his house a primitive graner>- 
that had been constructed on the place. En- 
erg)- and industry brought returns, and even- 
tually Mr. Fishbach was able not only to clear 
himself of the burden of debt but also to add 
eighty acres to the area of his landed estate. 
He made good improvements upon his farm 
property, brought the greater part of the land 
under effective cultivation, and there con- 
tinued his vigorous activities as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower for a period of nine 
years. That he had been successful is shown 
by the fact that in 1893, in company with his 
wife, he visited the great World's Columbian 
Exposition, in the city of Chicago, and in this 
connection his alert mind caused him to see an 
opportunity for the development of a prosper- 
ous business enterprise in his home county. 
His attention was called, while in Chicago, to 
a carload of live poultry that was being sent 
in for the use of consumers in the citv, and 
he soon decided to establish himself in the 



poultry business in Gage county. To carry 
out his plans he purchased the small poultry 
business that had been established by a man 
named Greening, at Beatrice, and two years 
later he removed his business to the site of 
his present well equipped cold-storage plant, 
his original place of business having been in 
a building that was only ten by twelve feet in 
dimensions. Bringing to bear his character- 
istic energy and good judgment and having 
secure place in popular confidence and good 
will, Mr. Fishbach caused his business to ex- 
[)and substantially and normally in scope and 
importance, and to keep pace with demands 
he enlarged his quarters from time to time. 
In 1906, as a matter of business expediency, 
he effected the incorporation of the Beatrice 
Cold Storage Company, of which he has since 
been the president and active manager. His 
plant for cold-storage is of modern type in all 
respects and as an important adjunct to the 
same he has established a plant for the manu- 
facturing of ice, besides conducting a cream- 
er}' in connection and doing also a substantial 
business in the manufacturing of ice cream 
for the trade. Natural ice is harvested to 
supplement the artificial supply, and the com- 
I)any now controls an extensive business in 
the buying and shipping of poultry and eggs, 
with branch headquarters in the Nebraska 
towns of Norfolk, Fremont. Columbus, ^^^-lke- 
field, and Blair. In connection with the Be- 
atrice plant of the company an average of 
eighty-five employes is retained, and at times 
the roster of employes includes as many 
as one hundred and fifty persons. Mr. 
Fishbach deserves much credit for the suc- 
cess which he has achieved and also for 
liaving given a substantial and progressive 
industrial and commercial enterprise to Gage 
county and its judicial center. He takes 
loyal interest in all measures and enter- 
prises tending to advance the civic ana 
material progress and prosperity of his 
home city and county, is the owner of two of 
the well improved and valuable farms of Gage 
county, each comprising one hundred and sixty 
acres, and recently, in comiection with the na- 
tional movement for the consen-ation of food 




jT^ 4^^^y»<KS«-j ^^rf vVJ' 




i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



517 



products, he has had the distinction of being 
called to the national capital for conference 
with the food administrator, Mr. Hoover, in 
connection with the poultry, egg, and cold- 
storage business, as one of the leading expo- 
nents of these lines of enterprise in Nebraska 
His advice in this conference has been of defi- 
nite general value in connection with conser- 
vation policies. In politics Mr. Fishbach gives 
his allegiance to the Republican party, and he 
and his wife are earnest members of the 
Christian church. 

As a young man of twenty-five years Mr. 
Fishbach wedded Miss Mary Ellen Wolf, who 
was born at Leaf River, Ogle county, Illinois, 
and she passed to the life eternal in 1895, being 

rvived by four children, concerning whom 
the following brief data are entered : Ralph 
is the manager of the Beatrice Cold Storage 
Company's plant at Norfolk, Madison county, 
Nebraska ; Eulalie, a young woman of much 
business ability, as well as social popularity, 
is treasurer of the company of which her 
father is president; Oscar is identified with 
ranching enterprise in the Canadian north- 
west ; and Ethel is the wife of William Myers, 
who is associated with the Beatrice Cold Stor- 
age Company as an employe at the headquar- 
ters in Beatrice. 

On the 6th of March, 1898, Mr. Fishbach 
contracted a second marriage, in his union 
with Miss Laura Peck, who was born in the 
state of Kansas, and their attractive home is 
brightened by the presence of their three chil- 
dren — Agnes, Bertha, and Priscilla. 

HEINRICH REIMER. — Though Mr. 
Reimer claims the great empire of Germany 
as the place of his nativity he was not yet two 
years of age at the time of his parents' im- 
migration to America and his entire experience 
has been gained in association with conditions 
and influences of the middle western states of 
the Union. He was yet an infant at 
the time when the family home was estab- 
lished in Gage county, in the pioneer days, and 
here he has made the best possible use of the 
advantages and opportunities afiforded him, 
as is evident when it is stated that he is now 



numbered among the representative exponents 
of agricultural and live-stock industry in 
Blakely township, his well improved farm, of 
one hundred and fifty-five acres, being situ- 
ated in Section 21, that township, and on rural 
mail route No. 1 from the city of Beatrice, 
which is about eight miles distant from his 
home. 

Mr. Reimer was born in Prussia, Germany, 
December 13, 1874, and is a son of Bernhard 
and Helen (Goosen) Reimer, who became the 
parents of six sons and seven daughters, the 
father having had also two children by his 
first marriage. In 1876 Bernhard Reimer 
came with his family to the United States and 
engaged in farming in Iowa, but before the 
close of that year he came to Gage county and 
established the family home on a pioneer farm 
three miles west of Beatrice. He developed 
and improved this property into one of the 
productive farms of the county and there he 
continued to reside until his death, in 1896, at 
the age of sixty-four years, his devoted wife 
having passed away in 1885, at the age of 
forty-two years. Both were zealous members 
of the Mennonite church and assisted in the 
organization of the church of this denomina- 
tion in their home district in Gage county. 

Heinrich Reimer was reared under the in- 
fluence of the pioneer farm and early began 
to lend his aid in its work, the while he pro- 
fited duly by the advantages afl'orded in the 
local schools. In 1900 he rented a portion of 
the land belonging to his father's estate, and 
a few years later he purchased his present 
farm, upon which he has made good improve- 
ments, including the erection of a modern 
barn that is thirtv-six by sixty-four feet in 
dimensions. Thrift and enterprise have given 
him place among the most progressive and 
successful agriculturists and stock-raisers of 
Blakely township and he is one of the stock- 
holders of the farmers' grain elevator in the 
village of Hoag. He is a Republican in poli- 
tics, and he and his wife are earnest members 
of the ]\[ennonite church. 

April 27, 1900, Mr. Reimer married Miss 
Agatha Penner, who was born and reared in 
Gage county and who is a daughter of Rev. 



;i8 



HISTORY OF GAGE COIXTV. NEBRASKA 



Gerhard Penner and Anna (Froese) Penner, 
her parents having been members of a sterl- 
ing Mennonite colony that came from western 
Prussia and settled in Gage county in 1874. 
Mr. Penner is now pastor of the Mennonite 
church at Beatrice and is one of the revered 
pioneer citizens of Gage county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Reimer have one child. Gerhard, who 
was born October 27, 1902. 

LOUIS GRAFF. — Successfully estab- 
lished in business in the city of Beatrice, Mr. 
Graff is a scion of one of the most honored 
and influential territorial pioneer families of 
Gage county and takes just pride in claiming 
the county as the place of his nativity. He 
was born on the old homestead farm of his 
father, Joseph Grat^', in Blakely township, 
three miles west of Beatrice, and the date of 
his nativity was March 3. 1862, due record 
concerning the family histor)' being given on 
other pages of this volume. Mr. Graff is a 
son of Joseph and Teresa ( Meyers") Graff, 
and in his boyhood days he gained a full 
quota of ex])erience in connection with the 
conditions and influences of the pioneer era 
in the history of this now opulent section of 
Nebraska. He herded cattle on the wide- 
stretching prairie, had experience in the fight- 
ing of i)rairie fires, and made his share of 
youthful inroads on the wild strawberries, 
plums, and gooseberries that were then plen- 
tiful in this locality. He assisted in the work 
of the home farm and in the meanwhile made 
good use of the advantages of the schools es- 
tablished in Blakely township by the ambi- 
tious and jirogressive pioneers. He remained 
at the parental home until he had attained to 
the age of twenty-six years, and he then en- 
tered the employ of his older brothers, who 
were engaged in the agricultural-implement 
business at Wymore. this county. In 1889 he 
purchased an interest in a well established 
lumber yard in the city of Beatrice, and later 
he became sole owner of the business, which 
he has since successfully continued in the 
original location, at 413 West Court street, 
where he also controls a substantial trade in 
the handling of coal, paints, builders' hard- 



ware, etc. He has secure vantage-place as 
one of the most substantial and progressive 
business men of the capital and metropolis of 
his native county and is equally well en- 
trenched in popular confidence and esteem, as 
attested by the success that has attended his 
business activities. He is financially interested 
also in important cement manufacturing 
plants in Dallas, Texas ; near Kansas City, 
Missouri, and at ^lason City, Iowa; and he 
handles the products of the same in connection 
with his extensive business at Beatrice. Mr. 
Graft' is the owner of fifty acres of valuable 
land on the Rio Grande river, in Hildridge 
county, Te.xas, and twenty acres near Lake 
\'iew, Oregon. He is liberal and public- 
spirited in his civic attitude, is a Republican 
in politics, is affiliated with the Beatrice or- 
ganizations of the ?iIodern Woodmen of 
America, the Benevolent & Protective Order 
of Elks, and the Woodmen of the World, and 
he and his wife are communicants of the 
Catholic church in their home city. 

February 8. 1888, recorded the marriage of 
.Mr. Graft' to Miss Elizabeth Buckley, who was 
born in Canada and who was a daughter of 
John and Man,' Buckley. Her father was 
born in Ireland and was a young man when 
lie came to America and established his home 
in Canada, where he married and where he 
remained until after the death of his wife. 
Finally he came with his six children to Gage 
county, Nebraska, where he engaged in farm- 
ing and where he passed the remainder of his 
life, his remains being interred in the Catholic 
cemeter)', at Beatrice. Mrs. Graflf passed to 
the life eternal on the 8th of March, 1908, 
and is survived by three children: Irene T. 
is the wife of Leo Werner, who is associated 
with Mr. Graff in the conducting of the lum- 
ber business at Beatrice; Joseph J. is a mem- 
ber of the United States aviation corps that is 
prci)aring for ser^-ice in the great European 
war, and at the time of this writing, in the 
winter of 1917-1918, he is stationed at San 
.\ntonio, Texas; and Carl H., in January. 
1918, passed the examination in the training 
camp for officers in the United States aviation 
service in the European war. In 1910 Mr. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



519 



Grafif wedded Miss Mary Buckley, a sister of 
his first wife, and she is the gracious chate- 
laine of their pleasant and hospitable home. 
No children have been born of this union. 

JESSE L. SCHLOSSER. — At this point 
it is possible to accord merited recognition to 
another of the venerable and honored pioneer 
citizens of Gage county, Air. Schlosser having 
been a resident of Nebraska for the past 
fort}- years and now maintaining his home in 
the city of Beatrice. 

Jesse E. Schlosser was born in Greene 
county, Ohio, on the 13th of October, 1842, 
and in the old Buckeye state he was reared to 
the sturdy discipline of the farm, the while he 
made good use of the advantages offered by 
the common schools of the locality. He was 
still a youth at the time of the family re- 
moval to Michigan, where he continued his 
active association with agricultural industry, 
and in that state was solemnized his marriage 
to Miss Polly Schock, who was born at Tiffin, 
Seneca county, Ohio. In 1877 Mr. Schlosser 
came with his family to Nebraska, and, prior 
to the construction of a railroad, they made 
the overland trip with team and wagon from 
Falls City to Gage county. Mrs. Schlosser 
had received as a heritage from the estate of 
her father a tract of eighty acres of land in 
Blue Springs township, this county, and on 
this embryonic farm Mr. Schlosser erected 
as a domicile for his family a pioneer shanty, 
twelve by fourteen feet in lateral dimensions 
and provided with a "lean-to" about ten feet 
square. With the passing years he developed 
his farm and made good improvements on the 
same, and there he continued his active al- 
liance with agricultural industry for twenty- 
two years. In the early days he hauled his 
wheat to Marysville, Marshall county, Kansas, 
two days being required to compass this over- 
land trip, and he sold wheat at times for a 
price as low as thirty-five cents a bushel — a 
statement that is specially significant in com- 
parison with prices demanded at the present 
time, when the government is putting forth 
every effort for food conservation, incidental 
to the nation's entrance into the great Euro- 



pean war. It may further be noted that the 
first hogs which Mr. Schlosser raised on his 
farm were sold at the rate of three and one- 
half dollars a hundredweight. 

Mr. Schlosser remained on his farm, to the 
area of which he had added by degrees, until 
about" the year 1898, when he sold the prop- 
erty and removed with his family to Beatrice, 
the county seat. For three or more years 
thereafter he was employed in connection with 
the grain business conducted by William N. 
Spellman, and later he was similarly asso- 
ciated with Henry H. Norcross, whose business 
finally was developed into that now controlled 
by the Dobbs Grain Company, with which Mr. 
Schlosser is connected. He is a recognized 
authority in the grain trade, as his experience 
has been long and varied, and though he is 
now venerable in years he preserves marked 
vigor of mind and physical powers, so that the 
thought of retiring from active association 
with business is repugnant to him. 

Mr. Schlosser is a stalwart in the camp of 
the Republican party' and while residing on 
his farm he served for a number of years in 
the office of treasurer of Blue Springs town- 
ship. He is afililiated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity and both he and his wife hold mem- 
bership in the Presbyterian church. They be- 
came the parents of one child, Carrie M., who 
is the wife of Dr. Clemens A. Spellman. a 
leading dentist of Beatrice and individually 
mentioned oti other pages of this work. 

ALBERT T. MILBURN. — He whose 
name initiates this paragraph is the senior 
partner of the Milburn & Scott Company, 
printers and bookbinders, and the well estab- 
lished business with which he is thus con- 
nected is one of the important enterprises of 
Beatrice. This company has an establishment 
of most modem facilities for the handling of 
all kinds of job printing and book binding, a 
specialty being made of the manufacturing of 
high-grade blank books and the handling of a 
general line of supplies for county offices, 
banks, etc., while the concern keeps in stock 
also a full assortment of office stationery and 
supplies, so that the enterprise has been ex- 



520 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



tended far outside the boundaries of Gage 
county. Mr. Milburn has been a resident of 
Gage county since he was about twelve years 
of age and in his independent career has here 
found ample opportunity for the achieving of 
substantial success and established place as 
one of the representative business men of the 
metropolis and judicial center of the county. 

]\Ir. Milburn was born on a farm near Chc- 
bansc, Iroquois county, Illinois, on the 22d 
of March, 1874, and is a son of Thomas H. 
and Sarah E. (Fanning) Milburn, who were 
born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and 
whose marriage was solemnized in the state 
of Illinois. The paternal grandfather, John 
Milburn, was born and reared in England, 
whence he finally immigrated to America and 
established his residence in the Dominion of 
Canada. Later he removed with his family 
to the state of Illinois, where he passed the 
remainder of his life, his vocation having been 
that of farming during the greater part of his 
active career. George Fanning, the maternal 
grandfather of the subject of this review, 
came to .\mcrica from Ireland and after hav- 
ing li\ed for a term of years in Canada he 
removed to Illinois, where he became a pros- 
perous farmer and where he died at the ven- 
erable age of eighty-four years. 

Thomas II. Milburn established his resi- 
dence in Illinois prior to the Civil war and he 
was one of the early employes of the cele- 
brated McCormick Harvester Company. 
Later he engaged in farming near Chebanse, 
that state, and through this medium he laid 
the foundation for his substantial success. 
In 1886 Mr. Milbum came with his family to 
Gage county, Nebraska, and established his 
residence at Beatrice. He purchased farm 
land in the county, having owned two or three 
different farms, and he gave his personal 
supervision to his farm properties in a general 
way, though he continued to reside in Beatrice 
until his death, in 1901, at the age of sixty- 
two years. His political support was given to 
the Rejiublican jiarty and his religious faith 
was that of the Methodist l-^piscopal church, 
of which his venerable widow likewise is a 
devoted member, she still maintainingf her 



home at Beatrice and the year 1918 recording 
the seventy-eighth anniversar)- of her birth. 
Of their three children the subject of this 
sketch is the younger of the two surviving, 
and George H. is actively identified with mer- 
cantile enterprise at Beatrice. 

To the public schools of Illinois Albert T. 
Milburn is indebted for his preliminary' edu- 
cational discipline and after the family re- 
moval to Beatrice he here continued his studies 
until he had profited by the advantages of the 
high school. At the age of seventeen years he 
initiated his apprenticeship to the trade of 
book-binding, and also that of printer. He 
became skilled in all technical details of these 
lines of business and finally engaged inde- 
pendently in business by associating himself 
with others in founding the enterprise with 
which he is now connected and to the upbuild- 
ing of which he has given his best energies, 
his associates in Milburn &: Scott Company 
being John C. Scott and Albert H. Buckman 

\\'hile unremitting in his application to 
business, Mr. Milburn has simultaneously 
stood exponent of loyal and progressive citi- 
zenship and has taken deep interest in the 
social and material advancement of his home 
city. His political views are indicated by the 
unwavering support which he gives to the 
cause of the Republican party, and as a rep- 
resentative of the same he was elected a mem- 
ber of the city council when he was but 
twenty-eight years of age. He held this office 
four years, during which he was the youngest 
member of the municipal body, and he did all 
in his power to further wise and economical 
administration of the city government and to 
promote needed public improvements. He is 
one of the appreciative and popular members 
of the local lodge of the Benevolent & Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, his religious faith is 
that of the Methodist Blpiscopal church and 
his wife is an active member of the Presby- 
terian church. 

In June, 1909, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Milburn to Miss Martha McClellan. 
who was born and reared at Holmesville, this 
county, and whose father, the late Robert H. 
McClellan, was one of the early pioneer set- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



521 



tiers of Gage county, where he reclaimed and 
improved a valuable farm and where he served 
for a long period in the office of justice of the 
peace. Mr. and Mrs. Milburn have three chil- 
dren — Robert, William, and Martha Vir- 



JOHN T. YULE. — In the spring of 1879 
John T. Yule became associated with his hon- 
ored father in the preparation of the first set 
of abstracts of real-estate titles for Gage 
county, and these initial records, as supple- 
mented by the careful additions made in the 
intervening years, continue to be recognized 
as the ultimate abstract authorities in this 
county, the while John T. Yule continues 
actively to conduct the important abstract 
business in which he was the coadjutor of his 
father until the latter's death, on the 2d of 
Jmie, 1907. He is not only one of the best 
known and most essentially representative 
citizens of Gage county but takes deep pride 
in the position of influence gained by his 
father, who was long numbered among the 
foremost and most honored citizens of this 
county, a special tribute to his memory being 
entered on other pages of this work, so that in 
the present connection is not demanded further 
review of the family history. 

John T. Yule was born in Columbia county, 
Wisconsin, on the 3d of June, 1856, and is one 
of the two surviving children of Thomas and 
Alary (Todd) Yule. In his native county 
John T. Yule was reared to adult age and 
after having there availed himself of the ad- 
vantages of the high school at Portage, the 
county seat, he followed the course of his 
ambition by entering the law department of 
the University of Wisconsin, in which he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1877, 
his admission to the bar of his native state 
having been virtually coincident with his re- 
ception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. 
He served a brief professional novitiate by 
engaging in the practice of law at Portage, 
but within a year after his graduation he ac- 
companied his parents on their removal to 
Beatrice, Nebraska, where the family home 
was established in Mav, 1879. Here Mr. Yule 



did not find it expedient to engage in the work 
of his profession, but he became closely asso- 
ciated with his father in the extending of 
financial loans on real-estate security and also 
in the important work of compiling from the 
county records the first complete set of books 
containing concise and authoritative abstracts 
of title to all realty in the county. Later they 
expanded their abstract business into other 
counties in this section of the state, as well 
as into adjoining sections of Kansas, and the 
business became one of extensive and impor- 
tant order, its cumulative ramifications having 
continued to the present time and the subject 
of this sketch having continued in full control 
of the enterprise since the death of his father. 
He maintains his well appointed offices in the 
Drake building, and so admirably has all work 
been systematized that the most absolute effi- 
ciency of service is given by this pioneer ab- 
stract institution, the records being kept con- 
stantly up to date, by the proper entrance of 
data concerning every real-estate transaction 
in the county. In connection with his long 
and active association with this line of enter- 
prise Mr. Yule has found his knowledge of 
the law of inestimable value, though he has 
not engaged actively in the practice of the pro- 
fession for which he so carefully prepared 
himself. By virtue of his intellectual and 
business ability he is well fortified for leader- 
ship in popular sentiment and action and he 
has been active and influential in the local 
councils of the Republican party, though never 
manifesting any ambition for political prefer- 
ment in an official sense. His civic loyalty 
has been of insistent and helpful order and he 
has given effective service both as city clerk 
and city treasurer of Beatrice. Through his 
business activities he has contributed his quota 
to the civic and industrial progress of his 
home city and county and he commands the 
unqualified esteem of all who know him. He 
and his family are active members of the 
Presbyterian church. 

On the 24th of October. 1877, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Yule to Miss Emma 
Shattuck, who was born at Moundsville, 
Marshall county. U'est Virginia, and who was 



:<Z 



77 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



a girl at the time of the family removal to 
Wisconsin, where she was reared and edu- 
cated. Mr. and Mrs. Yule became the par- 
ents of eleven children, and concerning the 
nine now living the following brief record is 
given in conclusion of this review : Alice is 
the wife of James R. Robinson, who is en- 
gaged in the automobile business at Elnnis, 
Texas; Lucille is the wife of C. R. Taylor, of 
Beatrice; Laura is the wife of Dale Chapman, 
of this city; Thomas K. is successfully and 
extensively engaged in the sheep-growing 
business in Colorado, with residence at Fort 
Collins, and it may be noted that in the season 
of 1917 he fed on his ranch twenty-one 
thousand head of sheep and lambs ; Mar\' is 
employed as cashier in a leading meat market 
in Beatrice ; Miriam and Mildred hold respon- 
sible positions in business offices in their home 
city ; 1 lattie holds a clerkship in a local mer- 
cantile establishment ; and Arlene is the 
youngest of the number, she being at the par- 
ental home, as are also the other unmarried 
daughters, the family being one of marked 
popularity in the representative social activities 
of Beatrice. 

JOHN B. FULTON, M. D. — To no man 
should be accorded a higher degree of honor 
than to the skilled and loyal physician and sur- 
geon who has given years of earnest and ef- 
fective service in the alleviation of human 
suffering and distress, and to Dr. Fulton is 
uniformly accorded this honor in Gage county, 
where he has lived and labored unselfishly 
and devotedly in the work of his humane pro- 
fession and where, as a pioneer physician and 
surgeon, he lived uj) to the full tension of ex- 
acting service demanded of him in the early 
days, when he traversed the country over a 
radius of many miles, in summer's heat and 
winter's rigorous blasts, often finding his way 
on horseback over almost impassable roads and 
even across the prairie where no roads were 
defined — and all this in his zeal to aid those 
who made call for his ministrations. Though 
he has now passed the eightieth mile-stone on 
the journey of life, he retains splendid mental 
and physical vigor, keeps in touch with the 



advances in his profession and responds fre- 
quently to the calls made for his ministrations 
on the part of families to which he has given 
such service during the course of many years. 
A man of strength and honor, he has been the 
friend and benefactor of humanity, and it 
may well be understood that he is held in 
reverent affection in the county that has so 
long represented his home and been the stage 
of his able and sympathetic services. Thus 
historic consistency is conserved in according 
to him a tribute in this publication, and even 
this brief record must bear its measure of les- 
son and inspiration. 

Dr. John Blythe Fulton was born in High- 
land county, Ohio, on the 9th of June. 1833, 
and is a son of William and Catherine (Bas- 
kin) Fulton, the former a native of Pennsyl- 
\ania and the latter of Ireland. The paternal 
grandparents of Dr. Fulton were born in Ire- 
land and were numbered among the sterling 
pioneers of Pennsylvania. William Fulton, 
father of the Doctor, was reared and educated 
in the old Keystone state and thence went to 
( )hio, where he became a pioneer farmer in 
Highland county, both he and his wife there 
continuing their residence until they were 
summoned from the stage of their mortal en- 
deavors — secure in the re.spect and esteem 
of all who knew them. 

Under the sturdy and invigorating disci- 
pline of the home farm Dr. Fulton waxed 
strong of brain and brawn during the period 
of his childhood and youth, and his alert 
and receptive mind caused him to profit fully 
b> the advantages afforded in the common 
schools cjf the locality and period. He sup- 
plemented this training by a course of higher 
study in Hillsboro .Academy, a well ordered 
institution in his native county, and in prep- 
aration for the work of his profession he went 
to the state of Pennsylvania, where he prose- 
cuted his technical studies under effective 
preceptorshi]) and earnestly fortified himself 
for his exacting and responsible vocation. He 
began his professional novitiate in Pennsyl- 
vania, later removing to Fairbury, Living- 
ston county, Illinois, and there he continued in 
active and successful general practice for the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



523 



long period of twenty-one years. Gracious 
were the environment and associations which 
he there forsook to number himself among 
the pioneer representative of his profession 
in Nebraska, to which state he came in 1879, 
somewhat more than a decade after its admis- 
sion to the Union. He established his home 
at Beatrice, the judicial center of Gage county. 
the now beautiful little city having then been 
a straggling frontier village, and in those 
days he was one of only three physicians in 
the county, the other two who were his con- 
temporaries in this pioneer prestige having 
been Dr. Webb and Dr. Huff, both of whom 
have passed to the life eternal. 

Dr. Fulton was earnest and indefatigable in 
his professional ministration during the pio- 
neer epoch and in the latter years of opulent 
prosperity and progress, and in the early days 
he made a remarkably successful record in the 
treatment of the all prevalent fever from 
which the settlers suffered. The Doctor is an 
optimist by very nature and his altruism has 
always been on a parity with his abiding 
human sympathy, so that it may well be under- 
stood that his ministrations have been benefi- 
cent in the bringing of cheer as well as in re- 
lieving physical ailments. Aside from slight 
lameness, due to the improper adjustment of 
a broken hip when he was a youth, Dr. Ful- 
ton is still active and vigorous, the years rest- 
ing lightly upon him and his lines being cast 
in pleasant places, as he lives and moves 
among a people who accord to him affection- 
ate regard and hold him always as persona 
grata. 

Dr. Fulton has been a leader in popular 
sentiment and action in Gage county during 
the many years of his residence within its 
borders and has been found aligned as a stal- 
wart advocate of the principles and policies for 
which the Democratic party has ever stood 
sponsor in a basic way. He has for manv 
years maintained affiliation with the Masonic 
fraternity, and while he was reared in the 
faith of the Presbyterian church, of which his 
father was an elder for forty years, his per- 
sonal study and research have in later years 



led him to endorse many of the tenets of the 
spiritualistic faith. 

In 1882 Dr. Fulton purchased two blood- 
hounds and for thirty-six years he has main- 
tained the "Beatrice Bloodhound Kennels," 
widely known for their effectiveness in 
breeding, raising, and training bloodhounds 
for use in tracing and locating criminals. The 
dogs are trained and managed by the Doctor's 
son, Richard, familiarly known as "Dick," 
who has a wide reputation as a detective. In 
the kennels are, in the spring of 1918, twenty 
or more animals, and at various times the 
number of hounds in these celebrated kennels 
has been as high as forty. A market for 
these animals is found all over the United 
States and in foreign countries, and high 
prices are paid for the animals. 

As a young man of about twenty-nine 
years Dr. Fulton wedded Miss Sarah Phipps. 
who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of 
Judge David Phipps, and she passed to the 
life eternal in the year 1903. Of this union 
were born nine children, of whom eight are 
living, and concerning them the following 
brief data are available; Mary Maggie is the 
wife of W. W. Johnston, of Omaha, Ne- 
braska ; Oliver P. is engaged in the real- 
estate business in Beatrice ; Belle is the widow 
of A. D. Butt, of Los Angeles, California; 
Thos. B. is associated with the Beatrice Sun 
and has been engaged in the newspajjer busi- 
ness for thirty years ; William S. is a success- 
ful sign painter in Beatrice ; Hattie is the wife 
of J. H. Simon, of Boston, Massachusetts; 
Richard maintains his residence in Beatrice; 
Jesse E. died at the age of about thirty-five 
years ; and Fitch B. is a talented artist, now a 
resident of the state of California. 

In contracting a second marriage, Dr. Ful- 
ton wedded Miss Emily May. a daughter of 
one of the early clergymen of the Methodist 
church in Nebraska. No children have been 
born of this marriage. 

FRANK E. LEFFERDINK. — Banking 
enterprise in Gage county numbers among its 
successful and popular exponents of the 
younger generation Frank E. Lefferdink, who 



524 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



is giving effective service in the position of 
cashier of the Farmers & Merchants' Bank of 
\Yymore. 

Mr. Lefferdink was born in Lancaster 
county, Nebraska, on the 16th of September, 
1885, and his parents now maintain their resi- 
dence at Hickman, that county, where his 
father is Hving virtually retired. William 
Lefferdink was born near the city of Amster- 
dam, Holland, in the year 1847, and was reared 
and educated in his native land. In 1868, 
about the time of attaining to his legal major- 
ity, he came to the United States. He passed 
the ensuing year in Wisconsin and then, in 
1869, came to Nebraska, a state that had been 
admitted to the Union only two years previous- 
ly. In Lancaster county he obtained a home- 
stead claim of eighty acres, and he- was so 
deeply impressed with the advantages and at- 
tractions of the new commonwealth that he 
soon returned to his native land and induced 
eighty of his fellow countrymen to come like- 
wise to America and acquire for themselves 
government land in Nebraska. Later he made 
a second trip to Holland, and on his return he 
was accompanied by one hundred and thirty- 
two earnest and industrious Hollanders, who 
became colonists in the vicinity of Hickman, 
Nel)raska. He was thus primarily instrumen- 
tal in gaining to Lancaster county a goodly 
contingent of most valuable citizens, as the 
Hollanders are known for their frugality, in- 
dustrj', and effective methods of intensive 
farming — not an inch of ground being by 
them permitted to go to waste in the matter 
of productiveness. William Lefferdink merits 
from Nebraska enduring gratitude for his ef- 
forts in bringing to th« state in the early 
period of its history a valuable element that 
has been conspicuous in the development and 
advancing of the agricultural interests of 
this now opulent commonwealth. Mr. Leffer- 
dink was a carpenter by trade, and as an able 
contractor and builder he assisted in the erec- 
tion of many buildings in the city of Lincoln 
in the early days when the fine capital city 
contained not more than twelve or thirteen 
buildings. With the passing years he added 
to his landed estate and gained substantial 



prosperity, so that, as the shadows of his 
earnest and useful life begin to lengthen from 
the golden west, he is enjoying well earned 
peace and comfort in the attractive home 
which he has provided in the village of Hick- 
man. 

While residing in W'isconsin William Lef- 
ferdink wedded Miss Anna Port, who was 
born in that state, in 1850, her parents having 
been pioneers of Wisconsin, where they con- 
tinued to reside until their death and where 
the father was a farmer by vocation. \\'illiani 
and Anna (Port) Lefferdink became the par- 
ents of seven children, concerning whom 
brief mention may be consistently made at 
this point: Dena is the wife of William 
Smith, a prosperous farmer in western Ne- 
braska ; Nellie is the wife of Richard Schutte, 
who has charge of one of her father's farms 
near Hickman, Lancaster county ; Henry is a 
retired banker and resides in the city of Lin- 
coln ; Emma is the wife of Alfred Christo- 
pher, a farmer near Ashton, South Dakota ; 
Frank E., of this review, was the next in 
order of birth ; William is cashier of the State 
Bank of Iladar, Pierce county, Nebraska; 
and Cornelius is cashier of the State Bank of 
Calumet. Iowa. 

Frank E. Lefferdink acquired his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of his native 
county, and this discipline included a course 
in the high school in the city of Lincoln. He 
was graduated in the high school as a member 
of the class of 1904, and thereafter he com- 
pleted a course in a business college in the 
capital city, with special attention given to the 
theory and practical work of banking. In his 
initial experience in connection with the bank- 
ing business he was employed two and one- 
half years at Platte, South Dakota, and there- 
after he held for a short period the office of 
president of the State Bank of Denton, Lan- 
caster county, Nebraska. Prior to coming to 
Wymore, Gage county, he had been employed 
two years in the Farmers' Savings Bank of 
Gaza, Iowa, a position from which he retired 
to assume that of cashier of the Farmers' & 
Merchants' Bank of Wymore. Of this office 
he has been the incumbent since November 20, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



.=i2 = 



1916, and within his tenure of this executive 
position the deposits of the bank have in- 
creased from one hundred and thirty thousand 
to two hundred and thirty-six thousand dol- 
lars — a definite testimonial to his ability and 
effective executive policies. 

In politics Mr. Left'erdink gives his alle- 
giance to the Republican party, he was reared 
in the faith of the Dutch Reformed church, 
and his wife holds membership in the Luth- 
eran church. After estabHshing his residence 
in Wymore he here erected the attractive mod- 
ern house which is the family home and which 
is one of the beautiful and hospitable domi- 
ciles of the thriving little city. While he 
gives close attention to the banking business, 
Mr. Lefferdink has made judicious investment 
in valuable land in Lancaster county, this 
property having been purchased by him from 
his father. 

In June, 1916, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Left"erdink to Miss Maude Martin, 
who was born at Hickman, Lancaster county, 
her parents having been pioneer settlers in 
that county. Mr. and Mrs. Lefferdink have 
a winsome little daughter, Dorothy. 

JOHN L. HERSHEY is the efficient and 
popular incumbent of the position of official 
engineer for Gage county and also the city of 
Beatrice, and in his chosen profession he has 
won a station of substantial success 

Mr. Hershey was born in Monmouth, Illi- 
nois, on the 19th of September, 1881, and is a 
son of Samuel and Barbara Ella (Swiler"> 
Hershey, both natives of the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, where the former was born December 
6, 1843, and the latter on the 22d of Septem- 
ber, 1850, she being a daughter of David 
Swiler, who removed with his family to Kan- 
sas in an early day. Samuel Hershey was 
reared and educated in the old Keystone state 
and he was a young man when he accompanied 
his parents on their removal to Illinois. He 
is a son of Jacob Hershey, who was a farmer 
and miller in Pennsylvania and who became a 
successful exponent of agricultural enterprise 
after his removal to Illinois, where he and his 
wife passed the residue of their lives. 



Samuel Hershey learned in his youth the 
trade of carpenter and he became a success- 
ful contractor and builder in Illinois. In 
1884 he came with his family to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and established his residence in 
Beatrice, where he continued his activities as 
a contractor and builder and had the super- 
vision of the erection of a number of impor- 
tant public and business buildings, including 
the Gage county court house, the Beatrice 
postoffice and many of the attractive business 
blocks of the city of Beatrice. He and his 
wife still maintain their home in the county's 
metropolis and he is now in the employ of the 
Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hershey became the parents of five 
children, of whom four are living: Frances 
R. is the widow of Charles F. Rogers and is 
now a popular teacher in the public schools of 
Beatrice ; Charles W. is in the employ of the 
Pacific Electric Company, in the city of Los 
Angeles, California; Archibald C. is engaged 
in the real-estate business in Los Angeles ; and 
John L., of this review, is the youngest of the 
number. The children received excellent edu- 
cational advantages, all attending the Univer- 
sity of Nebraska except Charles W., who fin- 
ished his education at Knox College, Gales- 
burg, Illinois. Samuel Hershey is a Republi- 
can in politics, is affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he 
and his wife hold membership in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. 

John L. Hershey, the immediate subject of 
this review, was about three years of age when 
the family home was established in Beatrice. 
Here he attended the public schools until he 
had completed the curriculum of the high 
school, in which he was graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1900. In 1906 he gradu- 
ated from the Engineering College of the 
University of Nebraska, and for two years 
thereafter he was employed in the construc- 
tion of reinforced concrete buildings in the 
state, for a Lincoln fimi. The next five years 
found him in charge of important irrigation 
work in Colorado and Idaho, and this ex- 
perience added greatly to his practical skill in 
his profession. In 1913 Mr. Hershey returned 



526 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



to Beatrice and, as an able and experienced 
civil engineer, was given appointment to his 
present responsible position as special engineer 
for the city and as county engineer, in which 
connection he had done a large amount of im- 
portant work, especially for the city of 
Beatrice. 

In politics Mr. Hershey is a Republican, and 
he takes loyal interest in all things pertaining 
to the welfare and progress of his home city 
and county. He is a member of the American 
Society of Civil Engineers and both he and his 
wife hold membership in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

In March, 1907, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Hershey to Miss Mae E. Bru- 
baker, a daughter of the late I. H. Bnibaker, 
who was a successful farmer and grain dealer 
in Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Hershey have 
a winsome little daughter, Martha E. 

PHILIP GRAFF. — The man who can to- 
day qualify as a progressive and successful 
exi)onent of the great basic industries of agri- 
culture and stock-growing as carried forward 
under the admirable conditions and influences 
provided in the state of Neliraska, may well 
consider himself fortunate and have full con- 
fidence that his "lines are cast in jileasant 
places." Gage county is favored beyond mea- 
sure in the personnel of its representative 
farmers and stock-raisers, and as one of the 
specially vigorous and resourceful exemplifiers 
of these all-important branches of productive 
enterprise Mr. Graff is eminently entitled to 
recognition in this history. He is the owner 
of one of the finely improved and distinctly 
model landed estates of Gage countv, the same 
comprising six hundred and eighty acres, 
situated in Blakely township, with service on 
rural mail route No. 1, from the city of Be- 
atrice. 

Mr. Graff was born in the city of Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin, on the 21st of May, 1S57, and 
is a scion of one of those sterling German 
families that were destined to play so large 
and benignant a part in the development and 
progress of the Badger state. Mr. Graf? is a 
son of Joseph and Theresa (Meyer) Graff, 



both of whom were born in Baden, Germany, 
where they were reared and educated, and 
who were married in Wisconsin. In 1854 
Joseph Graff severed the ties that bound him 
to the German fatherland and came to 
.\merica. For a few years after his marriage 
tlie family home was maintained in the city of 
Milwaukee, and eventually he removed to 
Iowa, where he worked on the river. Soon, 
however, he determined to cast in his lot with 
the Territory of Nebraska, which was then 
a.spiring to statehood. On the 15th of April, 
1860, he arrived with his family in Gage 
county, which at that time was little more 
than an unljroken prairie wilderness, Indians 
and all manner of wild game being still plenti- 
ful in this section of the territory. He pur- 
chased a tract of wild land in what is now 
Blakely township and the same constitutes an 
integral part of the present highly improved 
farm property of his son Philip, tlie imme- 
diate suljject of this review. Jose])h Graff be- 
gan the breaking of his land and making it 
available for cultivation. This work was done 
witli ox teams and afforded no svbaritic in- 
dulgence, as may well be imagined. Ne- 
braska City, about sixty miles distant, was at 
that time the nearest trading point and many 
deprivations and hardships were necessarily 
liorne by these early settlers who laid the foun- 
dation for future opulence and progress in 
this section of Nebraska. After Nebraska had 
gained the dignity of statehood he was still 
found vigorously employed in the improve- 
ment and cultivation of his farm, and with the 
passing years he made the same one of the 
best in the county. As prosperity attended his 
efforts, he erected good buildings and made 
other modern provisions on the homestead, 
and here he remained, respected by all who 
knew him, until his death, on the 10th of Oc- 
tober, 1897, at the age of sixty-seven years, 
his devoted wife, who had been a true help- 
meet, having passed to the life eternal on the 
2d of June. 1894, at the age of fifty-six years. 
Both were devout communicants of the Cath- 
olic church and the first Catholic services to 
be noted in the historv- of the county were 
held in the modest log-cabin home of these 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTY, NEBRASKA 



527 




Philip Graff 



U8 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



honored pioneers, besides which they assisted 
materially in the organization of the first 
Catholic church in the county and in the erec- 
tion of the first church edifice. They became 
the parents of nine children, concerning whom 
the following brief data are accessible : Henr\' 
died at the age of fifty-five years; PhiHp, of 
this review, was the next in order of birth ; 
Gustav is now a resident of Pasadena, Cali- 
fornia ; Caroline died in infancy : Louis is suc- 
cessfully established in the lumber business at 
Beatrice; George, John, Otto, and Frederick 
are deceased. Of the immediate family only 
two continue as residents of Gage county, as 
the above record indicates. 

Philip GrafT was three years of age at the 
time of the family removal to the frontier 
wilds of Nebraska Territory, and on the old 
homestead farm in Gage county he was reared 
under the conditions and influences of the pio- 
neer era, so that his memory compasses the 
entire period in which have been wrought the 
marvelous progress and development in this 
now favored section of the state. As soon as 
possible the pioneers established primitive 
schools for their children, and in these early 
"institutions of learning" the subject of this 
sketch acquired his youthful education. From 
his boyhood to the present day he has con- 
tinued to be closely and actively associated 
with the agricultural and live-stock enterprise 
in Gage county, and in 1898, shortly after the 
death of his father, he purchased the interests 
of the other heirs and assumed full ownership 
of the old home place. 

When but seventeen years of age Mr. Graff 
initiated independent enterprise in the opera- 
tion of a threshing machine, incidental to the 
garnering of the generous harvests in this sec- 
tion of the state, and he has continued his 
active alliance with this important industrial 
accessory during the long inter\ening years. 
From his youth he has done all of the thresh- 
ing on the old homestead, as well as on many 
neighboring farms, and he has owned and op- 
erated several threshing outfits, in which con- 
nection he has kept his equipment up to the 
best standard, his present threshing outfit be- 
ing of the most modern type. In addition to 



giving attention to w^ell ordered agricultural 
exploitation Mr. Graff has been an extensive 
grower and feeder of cattle and has made this 
an important and successful feature of. his 
farm enterprise. His progressiveness is fur- 
ther shown in his being a stockholder and vice- 
president and treasurer of a well ordered ce- 
ment manufacturing company at Bonner 
Springs, Kansas; the New Monarch Mining 
Company, of Leadville, Colorado ; and also of 
the company operating a modern smelter at 
Salida, Colorado. In a local way he has ex- 
tended his business and capitalistic interests by 
becoming one of the principal stockholders of 
tlie German Savings & Loan Company, of 
Beatrice, of which important financial and 
fiduciary organization he is now the president, 
his well ordered executive policies having 
added much to the success of the business. 

Mr. Graiif has not been troubled with politi- 
cal ambition and though he has not consented 
to appear as a candidate for public office and 
is independent of strict partisan lines in poli- 
tics, his influence and cooperation may always 
be counted upon in support of those things 
that conserve the best interests of the com- 
munity, the state and the nation. He and his 
family are communicants of the Catholic 
church, as members of the parish of St. Jo- 
seph's church in the city of Beatrice, where 
he also maintains affiliation with the Knights 
of Columbus. 

On the 24th of November, 1886, w-as sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Graff to Miss 
Mary Meyer, who was born February 2, 1867, 
in Effingham county, Illinois, and who is a 
daughter of Joseph and CreceiUia (Hiebler) 
Meyer, natives of Germany. The parents of 
Mrs. Graft came from Germany and settled 
in Illinois about the year 1853, and there they 
remained until 1870, when they came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and settled on a fann in 
Blakely township, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. In the concluding para- 
graph of this review is given brief record con- 
cerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. GrafT: 

Josephine is the wife of George H. Sulli- 
van, a successful carpenter and contractor at 
Beatrice ; Edwin is actively associated with his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



PQ 



father in the work and management of the 
home farm; and the younger children of the 
ideal family home circle are Theresa, Linda, 
Hugo, and Harold. 

JAMES E. BEDNAR. — It is gratifying 
to the publishers of this history to ofl'er with- 
in its pages recognition of James E. Bednar, 
a native son of Gage county, who is honoring 
the county in his eflfective services as a mem- 
ber of the Nebraska bar. He is now success- 
fully engaged in the practice of his profession 
in the city of Omaha, as junior member of the 
firm of Ringer & Bednar, with offices in the 
First National Bank Building. Mr. Bednar 
is a son of the late Albert Bednar, an honored 
Gage county pioneer to whom a memoir is 
dedicated on other pages of this volume. 

James E. Bednar was bom on the family 
homestead in Sicily township. Gage county, 
September 28, 1882. As a boy and youth i\Ir. 
Bednar contributed his due quota to the work 
on the home farm, and after having availed 
himself of the advantages of the district 
schools, he continued his studies in the high 
school at Wymore. He defrayed the expenses 
incidental to acquiring his higher academic 
training and his professional education largely 
through his own resources. He taught the 
Sunny Side district school in Lancaster county 
prior to entering the University of Nebraska, 
was graduated from the University of Ne- 
braska, in 1907, with the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts, but continued his service in the peda- 
gogic profession for a short time as instructor 
in rhetoric and debating in the high school at 
Beatrice, Nebraska. In the meanwhile he was 
but working definitely along the course of his 
ambitious purpose, which was to prepare him- 
self for the legal profession. Finally he was 
matriculated in the law department of his 
alma mater, the University of Nebraska, and 
from this department he was graduated in 
June, 1910, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Laws and with virtually coincident admission 
to the bar of his native state. Shortly after- 
ward he formed a professional partnership 
with J. Dean Ringer, with whom he has since 
continued to be associated in the practice of 



law in the city of Omaha, under the firm title 
of Ringer & Bednar. He has proved resource- 
ful and successful both as a trial lawyer and 
well fortified counselor and is now serving 
his second year as deputy county attorney of 
Douglas county. 

In politics Mr. Bednar accords staunch al- 
legiance to the Democratic party. In the time- 
honored Masonic fraternity he has completed 
the circle of the Scottish Rite to the thirty- 
second degree, besides being afl^liated also 
with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles 
of the Mystic Shrine. Both he and his wife 
hold membership in the Presbyterian church. 
On the 16th of June, 1910, the same day he 
received his long coveted "sheepskin" from 
the college of law, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of iVIr. Bednar to Britania Daughters, 
who was born at Mooreshill, Indiana, but 
who at the time was a student in the graduate 
college of the University of Nebraska. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bednar have two children — James 
E., Jr., born October 13, 1911, and Bryce Ren- 
wick, born August 3, 1916. 

ELBERT J. DOLE, who is a leading pho- 
tographer in Nebraska's capital city, is a 
native son of this state and is a representative 
of a family that has been specially prominent 
and honored in Gage county, as is shown by 
reference to the review of the life of his 
mother, .Mrs. Sophia H. Dole, of Beatrice, the 
founder of the Dole Floral Company, of which 
also is given specific record in this volume. 

Elbert J. Dole was reared and educated in 
Gage county and thus is fully entitled to per- 
sonal recognition in this history. He was born 
in Seward county, Nebraska, December 3, 
1877, and he was about nine years old when 
the family home was established in the city of 
Beatrice, judicial center of Gage county. Here 
he continued his studies in the public' schools 
until he had completed a course in the high 
school, in which he was graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1898. Soon afterward he 
took up the study of the photographic art, and 
in the same he has become a recognized expert 
and successful professional exponent of the 
photographic business. He has in the past 



530 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



been employed in some of the best studios 
both in Beatrice and Lincohi, as well as by 
the State Journal Company, and his experience 
in his chosen profession has been wide and 
varied. Since 1912 he has conducted in the 
capital city of Nebraska his present hand- 
somely appointed and thoroughly modern 
photographic studio, at 1125 O street, and his 
large and representative patronage denotes 
alike his professional skill and his personal 
jjopularity. Mr. Dole is afifiliated with the 
Knights of Pythias and he and his wife hold 
membership in the Christian church. 

In 1904 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Dole to Mrs. Sadie Crumpton, who was 
born in the state of Ohio and who was a resi- 
dent of Lincoln, Nebraska, at the time of their 
marriage. They have no children. 

ELWOOD BIGLER. — Prominent among 
those whose successful activities are potent in 
upholding the commercial prestige of the city 
of Beatrice is El wood Bigler, who here con- 
ducts a substantial and prosperous general 
hardware and implement business, the same 
having been established in 1896, under the 
firm title of Jacob Bigler & Son. He has con- 
ducted the enterprise in an individual way, 
under his own name, since 1907. His honored 
father, who was senior member of the origi- 
nal firm, was a resident of the city of Lin- 
coln, this state, at the time of his death, in 
1S9S. 

Mr. Bigler was born in Hardin county, 
Ohio, on the 2M of November, 18f)5, and is a 
son of Jacob and Margaret (Runyan) Bigler, 
the former of whom was born in the fair little 
republic of Switzerland, in 1838, and the lat- 
ter of whom was born in the state of Ohio, in 
1842. Jacob Bigler was reared and educated 
in his native land and was a yoimg man when 
he came to the United States. He found em- 
ployment in connection with navigation activi- 
ties on the Mississippi river, with headquar- 
ters in the city of New Orleans, and he was 
on the last packet boat that passed up the 
river prior to the outbreak of the Civil war. 
His loyalty to the Union was marked by de- 
cisive action, as he enlisted in a regiment of 



volunteers that was organized in the city of 
St. Louis, and was with his command in nu- 
merous engagements, including the battle of 
Wilson's Creek, Missouri, in 1861 — an en- 
gagement in which the gallant General Lyons 
met his death. After the war !\Ir. Bigler 
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, 
and he was engaged in farming in Hardin 
county, Ohio, for some time prior to 1869, 
the year that was marked by his removal with 
his family to the new state of Nebraska. He 
settled on a pioneer farm near Crete, Saline 
county, in 1869, and there he continued his 
successful activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower until the Centennial year, 1876, 
when he was elected sheriff of Saline county. 
At that period the office of sheriff was no 
sinecure in Nebraska, for the state had an un- 
due quota of lawless and incorrigible men 
within its borders, but Mr. Bigler gave so 
efTective an administration in his county that 
he was continued as the incumbent of the 
shrievalty for six consecutive years, the ensu- 
ing two years finding him giving equally ef- 
fective administration in the office of county 
clerk. After his retirement from this position 
he engaged in the hardware business at Crete, 
that county, where he remained until 1887, 
when he removed to Imperial, the judicial cen- 
ter of Chase county, where he established him- 
self in the hardware and lumber business. He 
developed a large and prosperous enterprise 
in these lines and continued his residence at 
Imperial until 1895, when he removed to Lin- 
coln, the capital city of the state, where he 
thereafter lived virtually retired until his 
death, which occurred in 1898. He was one 
of the sterling pioneers who contributed a gen- 
erous quota to civic and material progress and 
prosperity in Nebraska and he commanded 
the high regard of all who knew him. His 
venerable widow now resides in the home of 
her son Elwood. subject of this review, and in 
addition to receiving the utmost filial solici- 
tude she is graciously compassed by many 
friends who pay to her tribute as one of the 
noble pioneer women of this now favored 
commonwealth. Three children survive the 
honored father and of the number the sub- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COfXTV. NEBRASKA 



531 



ject of this sketch is the youngest ; WilHam 
T. is a resident of Casper, Wyoming, and Mrs. 
Rosa B. Reed resides in Aurora, IlHnois. 

Elwood Bigler was a lad of about three 
years at the time of the family removal to Ne- 
braska. He was reared to adult age in Sa- 
line county, and was one of a few scholars in 
the first school established in that county. He 
profited by the advantages of the pioneer 
schools and early began to assist his father in 
the latter's varied business operations. In 
1896 he became associated with his father in 
the establishing of a well ordered hardware 
business at Beatrice, and of the enterprise he 
assumed full charge, his father having been at 
the time a resident of Lincoln, as previously 
noted. He is now one of the leading expo- 
nents of the general hardware trade in Gage 
county, his well equipped store being situated 
at 400 Court street and each department of 
the same being well stocked at all times, so 
that the most efficient service is always given 
to the large and appreciative patronage. 

Mr. Bigler takes loyal interest in all things 
touching the civic and material welfare and 
progress of his home city. He accords 
staunch allegiance to the Democratic party and 
does his part in the furtherance of its cause. 
In the time-honored Masonic fraternity he 
has received the thirty-second degree of the 
Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, his maximum 
York Rite affiliation being with Mount Her- 
man Commander}' of Knights Templar, be- 
sides which he is a member of the Ancient 
Arabic r)rder of the Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine. In his home city he is likewise a 
popular member of the lodge of the Benevo- 
lent & Protective Order of Elks and the 

:aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. 

In 1909 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Bigler to Miss Nellie B. Swartz, who was born 
in Brown county, Kansas, and who was a resi- 

■dent of Beatrice at the time of her marriage. 
Mr. and Mrs. Bigler have no children. 

JAMES G. LAWRENCE. — In Gage 
•county, Nebraska, not to know James G. Law- 
rence is virtually to argue oneself unknown, 
for 'this sterling pioneer citizen of Nebraska 



has served as assistant postmaster at Beatrice 
for fully thirty years, his incumbency having 
continued under the administrations of eight 
different postmasters, including John R. Mc- 
Cann, who is now in tenure of this office and 
who is individually mentioned on other pages 
of this publication. Mr. Lawrence came to 
Nebraska shortly after attaining to his legal 
majority, and that he gained his quota of pio- 
neer experience is assured by the fact that he 
here established his residence in 1871, about 
four years after the territory had gained the 
dignity of statehood. He has done specially 
efficient service as an educator and was one 
of the efficient and popular representatives of 
the pedagogic profession in Nebraska in the 
early days, as well as in later years. . Known 
and honored for his character and service, his 
circle of friends is coincident with that of his 
acquaintances and it is gratifying to be able 
to accord him recognition in this history. 

A scion of sterling New England colonial 
stock, ]\Ir. Lawrence was born in the city of 
Clinton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, on 
the 3d of February, 1850, and is a son of 
James S. and Caroline (Lowe) Lawrence, the 
former of whom was bom at Harvard and the 
latter at Clinton, both in Worcester county, 
Massachusetts. James S. Lawrence learned in 
his youth the trade of comb-maker, and for 
many years he was employed as shipping clerk 
in the Foster & Lawrence wholesale furniture 
house in the city of Boston. He later engaged 
independently in comb manufacturing at 
Clinton, Massachusetts, and through this me- 
dium he achieved definite success and prestige, 
both he and his wife having continued their 
residence at Clinton until their death and both 
having been zealous members of the Congre- 
gational church, in which connection it may 
be noted that during the period of his resi- 
dence in the city of Boston Mr. Lawrence 
maintained membership in the historic old 
Winthrop church of this denomination. The 
subject of this review was the third in order 
of birth in a family of six children, and con- 
cerning the others the following brief data 
are available: Oscar is in the ser\-ice of the 
municipal government of Worcester, Massa- 



532 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



chusetts; John is a prosperous farmer near 
Northboro, Worcester county, Massachusetts ; 
Charles and Caroline are twins, the former 
being a resident of Northboro, Massachusetts, 
and the latter the widow of Harrison P. Fay, 
maintaining her home at Nanuet, New York, 
where her husband had been principal in the 
public schools ; and the sixth child, a son, died 
in infancy. From the above record it will be 
discerned that of the immediate family James 
G. Lawrence is the only representative in the 
west, and his loyalty to Nebraska is on a 
parity with his appreciation of the historic old 
commonwealth of which he is a native son. 

Mr. Lawrence is indebted to the public 
schools of his native city for his early educa- 
tional discipline, and there he was graduated in 
the high school as a member of the class of 
1S68. Soon afterward he became a clerk in 
the postoffice at Clinton, and there he served 
as assistant postmaster for two years. In 
1871, at the age of twenty-one years, he came 
to the new state of Nebraska and after visit- 
ing Beatrice, which was then a mere village, 
he made his way to Thayer county, where he 
entered claim to a homestead of one hundred 
and sixty acres of virgin land. He remained 
on the place until he had perfected his title 
thereto and later he disposed of the property. 
Mr. Lawrence soon found opportunity for 
making effective use of his ability as a teacher, 
and for a number of years he taught in the 
public schools of Thayer and Gage counties. 
After his marriage Mr. Lawrence returned to 
the east and engaged in comb manufacturing 
at Clinton, Massachusetts, but after an ex- 
perience of two years he was unable to resist 
the lure of the vital and progressive west and 
accordingly returned to Beatrice, where he 
gave his attention to teaching in the county 
schools until he was appointed assistant post- 
master, in 1887, under the administration of 
President Cleveland. He has held this posi- 
tion during the long intervening years, his 
original appointment having been made under 
the regime of Samuel E. Rigg as postmaster, 
and it may well be understood that each suc- 
cessive incumbent has placed high and fully 
justified estimate upon the value of his ser- 



vices, for no man in Gage county has a wider 
acquaintance with its people and none has so 
comprehensive a grasp upon all details per- 
taining to the administration of the postoffice 
business in Beatrice, where his service has 
kept pace with the march of civic and material 
development and progress that has made 
Beatrice one of the vital and prosperous cities 
of the state. A man of broad mental ken, 
strong in his convictions and unequivocally 
loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. 
Lawrence is unfaltering in his allegiance to 
the Democratic party and has been prominent 
in its local councils in Gage county. He is af- 
filiated with the Modern \\'oodmen of America 
and attends and supports the Christian church, 
of which his wife was an active member. 

On the 25th of December, 1878, Mr. Law- 
rence wedded Miss Laura E. Pheasant, whose 
father, the late Edward Pheasant, was one of 
the representative pioneers of Gage county, 
where he became the owner of a large tract of 
land and developed the same into a well im- 
proved and valuable property. In conclusion 
is entered brief record concerning the children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence: Harold E. is 
assistant superintendent of the Dempster Mill 
Manufacturing Company, of Beatrice; CHf- 
ford J. remains at the parental home; James 
E. is city editor of the Lincoln Daily Star, in 
the cai)ital city of Nebraska, and he has been 
very successful as a representative of news- 
paper work, even as he showed his ambition 
and resourcefulness by defraying almost en- 
tirely through his own efforts the expenses 
incidental to his course in the University of 
Nebraska, in which he was graduated: he 
married Miss Helen Graves, of Lincoln, and 
they have one child, Helen E. : Esther, the 
only daughter now living, was graduated in 
the Beatrice high school and since the death 
of her mother, which occurred November 23, 
1917, she has taken the latter's place in the 
family home; Ruth, the youngest child, died 
at the age of eleven years. 

JOSEPH HEBEL, who owns and reside.'^ 
upon a fine farm estate of two hundred anci 
forty acres, in Section 6, Paddock township, i.s 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



533 



a representative of one of the sterling pioneer 
families of Nebraska, and in his independent 
career he has well maintained the honors of 
the family name, both in the matter of loyal 
citizenship and also through his productive 
activities in connection with agricultural in- 
dustry. 

Air. Hebel was born in Bohemia, Austria- 
Hungar)', and the date of his nativity was 
Januarj' 3, 1858. He is a son of Joseph and 
Mary (Machova) Hebel, who likewise were 
born and reared in Bohemia, the former hav- 
ing been born in 1833 and the latter in 1840. 
In 1869 Joseph Hebel, Sr., immigrated with 
his family to America and in the same year he 
numbered himself among the pioneers of the 
new state of Nebraska. Prior to coming to 
the United States Mr. Hebel had served eleven 
years in one of the governmental military or- 
ganizations of his native land. Upon coming 
to Nebraska he obtained a homestead claim in 
Saline county, and upon this wild prairie 
tract he built as a home for his family a 
primitive dug-out of the type common to the 
earlv pioneer days. This rudimentary build- 
ing had a roof that was thatched with hay. 
and the only floor was the earth. On this pio- 
neer farm Mr. Hebel continued his sturdy 
activities for ten years, at the expiration of 
which, in 1879, he came to Gage county and 
established a home on a tract of one hundred 
and sixty acres that is now in Section 7, Pad- 
dock township, the land having originally been 
a part of the Otoe Indian reservation, which 
had but shortly before been opened to settle- 
ment. Here Mr. Hebel continued his farm 
operations with vigor and success until he 
was called from the stage of his mortal en- 
deavors, his death having "occurred in 1889. 
His widow subsequently contracted a second 
marriage and she now resides at Wilber, Sa- 
line county, she being a devout communicant 
of the Catholic church, as was also Joseph 
Hebel, her first husband. Mr. and Mrs. Hebel 
became the parents of twelve children : Jo- 
seph is the immediate subject of this review ; 
James was a resident of Rawlins county, Kan- 
sas, at the time of his death ; Annie is the 
wife of Lewis Rathbun, of Glenwood town- 



ship. Gage county ; Charles likewise is a resi- 
dent of this county ; Mary is the wife of John 
Cacek, of Paddock township ; Nettie is the 
wife of Joseph Synovec, of Paddock township ; 
Robert is a resident of Fairbury, Jefferson 
county; ]\Iary is the wife of Joseph Turh- 
licka, of Glenwood township. Gage county : 
and the other four children died when young. 

He whose name introduces this review was 
a lad of ten years at the time of the family 
immigration to the United States and he was 
reared under the conditions and influences 
that marked the pioneer period of Nebraska 
histon,'. As a boy and youth he herded cat- 
tle and worked on his father's farm in Sa- 
line county, and in the meanwhile he attended 
school when opportunity afl^orded. He was a 
sturdy youth of about twenty years when he 
accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Gage county, and before he had attained to 
his legal majority he purchased one hundred 
and twenty acres of land in Paddock township, 
this being the homestead place on which he 
has resided during the long intervening years. 
When he came into possession of this em- 
bryonic farm not a furrow had been turned on 
the land and no improvement had been made 
in any way, as the tract had but recently been 
placed on the market, as a part of the former 
Otoe Indian reservation. Within the forty 
years of his residence on this farm Mr. Hebel 
has made excellent improvements upon the 
place, as he has erected good farm buildings 
and given other distinct evidences of his pro- 
gressiveness and good judgment. The pass- 
ing years have brought to him a generous 
measure of prosperity, as attested by the fact 
that he has gradually added to his holdings 
until he now owns a valuable farm property 
of two hundred and forty acres. This achieve- 
ment and success represent the tangible results 
of his own well directed eiTorts and unflag- 
ging industry. 

As his wife and helpmeet Mr. Hebel chose 
Miss Mary Fitte, who was born in Bohemia, 
March 8, 1862, and who was twelve years of 
age when she came with her parents to the 
United States. She was a daughter of 
Michael and Anna Fitte, who were numbered 



534 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, XEP3RASKA 



among the early settlers of Saline county, Ne- 
braska, and who now reside in the village of 
Swanton, that county. Mrs. Hebel was called 
to the life eternal on the 12th of September, 
1908, and concerning the children the follow- 
ing brief record is consistently entered : 
Emma is the wife of Frank Vanosek, of 
Glenwood township; Minnie is the wife of 
Emil Novotny, of the same township; Kate is 
the wife of Frank Fleisleber, likewise of 
Glenwood township; Xellie is the wife of 
Philip GrafT, of Sicily township; and Annie. 
Mattie, and Augusta remain at the paternal 
home. 

Joseph Hebel is one of the highy respected 
pioneer citizens of his community, and he is 
alwavs ready to give his influence and support 
to any cause tending to advance the best in- 
terests of the county in which he has main- 
tained his home for more than forty years. 
In politics he maintains an independent atti- 
tude and votes for men and measures that 
meet the approval of his judgment. He has 
for eighteen years given efficient and valued 
service as treasurer of his school district, and 
has been influential in bringing the educa- 
tional work of the district up to its present 
high standard. 

Reverting to his many youthful experiences 
in connection with pioneer life in Nebraska, 
Mr. Hebel relates that on one occasion he ac- 
companied his father on foot from the home 
in Saline county to Nebraska City. When 
night came they asked for lodging at a farm 
house, but no place could be found to ac- 
commodate them. They then attempted to 
sleep on a pile of straw in the barnyard, but 
they became so cold that they had to arise 
and travel on. They covered on foot the en- 
tire distance of eighty-five miles between their 
home and Nebraska City, and on their return 
trip they were more fortunate in obtaining a 
night's lodging, as they were given a place on 
the floor of a j)ioneer fami house and pro- 
vided with a covering of sheep pelts. This is 
but one of many incidents which Mr. Hebel 
recalls concerning the conditions of the early 
davs. 



HENRY WILLIAMSON. — A resident 
of Gage county for nearly forty years, Mr. 
Williamson proved himself specially energetic 
and resourceful in his productive activities as 
an exponent of farm industr)- in this section 
of the state, and he developed one of the 
valuable farm properties of Glenwood town- 
ship. He finally retired from the old home- 
stead to establish his residence in the city of 
Beatrice, but a life of ease had no allurement 
for him and he has here proved again his 
success-proclivities by engaging in the coal 
liusiness, in which line of enterprise he con- 
trols a large and representative trade — based 
alike on fair and honorable dealings and upon 
his unqualified personal popularity in the 
community. A share of pioneer honors at- 
taches to his name and achievement and con- 
sistency is observed when he is here accorded 
recognition as one of the representative citi- 
zens of Gage county. 

Mr. Williamson was boni at Dixon, Lee 
county, Illinois, on the 6th of December, 
1855. and is a son of John and Margaret 
(Uhl) Williamson, the former a native of 
Ireland and the latter of the state of Mary- 
land, where their marriage was solemnized. 
In the early '50s John Williamson and his 
wife enrolled themselves as pioneers of Lee 
county, Illinois, to which section of the state 
they made their way from Chicago by means 
of team and wagon. In that county Mr. Wil- 
liamson purchased, at the rate of one dollar 
and twenty-five cents an acre, a tract of land 
that is now worth more than two hundred 
dollars on acre. He continued to give his 
close attention to the reclamation and develop- 
ment of his farm until the outbreak of the 
Civil war brought to him the call of higher 
duty. In response to President Lincoln's 
first call, he enlisted, early in 1861, as a pri- 
vate in Company A. Seventy-fifth Illinois 
\'olunteer Infantry. He proceeded with his 
command to the front, took part in the various 
engagements in which it was involved up to 
and including the battle of Missionary Ridge, 
in which engagement he was captured by the 
enemy. He was incarcerated as a prisoner of 
war in the famous Libby Prison of odious 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



535 



memon-, and there it was his to endure the 
horrors and privations that made the name of 
that Conferedate prison-pen infamous in the 
annals of history, besides which he made the 
sujireme sacrifice in behalf of the cause for 
which he had enlisted, as he died while in 
Libby Prison, in November, 1863. His widow 
survived him by more than twenty years and 
was a resident of Carroll, Carroll county, 
Iowa, at the time of her death, on the 31st of 
January-, 1887. They became the parents of 
six children, of whom four are living: 
George, a painter by trade and vocation, re- 
sides at Odell, Gage county, Nebraska ; Lydia 
is the widow of E. L. Burkett, and maintains 
her home at Beaver Crossing, Seward county, 
this state; Henry, of this review, was the next 
in order of birth ; and Anna is the wife of C. 
C. Collins, who is engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness at Oak Park, Illinois. The honored 
father espoused the cause of the Republican 
party at the time of its organization and as a 
man and citizen he commanded the high re- 
gard of all who knew him. His father, 
George Williamson, likewise came from Ire- 
land and became an early settler and prosper- 
ous farmer of Illinois, where he passed the 
remainder of his life. Peter Uhl, maternal 
grandfather of the stibject of this review, 
likewise became one of the pioneer farmers 
of Illinois, where he remained until the close 
of his life. Mrs. Margaret (Uhl) William- 
son bravely and unselfishly devoted herself 
to the care and rearing of her children after 
the untimely death of her husband, and she 
exemplified the truest and noblest traits of 
gracious womanhood, her religious faith hav- 
ing been that of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Henry Williamson was a lad of about eight 
years at the time of his father's death and 
soon afterward he became a member of the 
family circle of his uncle, Henry Uhl, a far- 
mer near Dixon, Illinois. He remained with 
his uncle until he had attained to his legal 
majority and in the meanwhile profited by 
the advantages afforded in the schools of the 
locality. Soon after attaining to his legal ma- 
jority Mr. Williamson went to the city of 



Keokuk, Iowa, where he completed a course 
in the Baylies Business College. For two 
years thereafter he was engaged in the grain 
and coal business at Carroll, Iowa, and in the 
spring of 1880, shortly before his marriage, 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska. He had 
first come to this county in 1872 and had pur- 
chased a tract of land in the southern part 
of the county — -at the rate of three dollars 
an acre. At that time the railroad came only 
to Beatrice and from this point he had to go 
twenty-five miles on horseback to look over 
the land which he purchased. 

On this embryonic fann of one hundred 
and sixty acres, in Section 30, Glenwood town- 
ship, Mr. Williamson instituted improvements 
and he had provided a comfortable house be- 
fore bringing his bride to the new home. Mr. 
Williamson developed his original farm into 
one of the valuable properties of the county 
and became specially successful in his well 
ordered activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower. While on the farm he was 
prominent in community affairs, served as 
justice of the peace and also as school direc- 
tor, and he continued his active association 
with farm industry until 1910. when he re- 
moved to the city of Beatrice. Here he lived 
retired for one year and he then engaged in 
the coal business, with which he has since 
continued his active and successful associa- 
tion. He handles also wood, tankage, and oil 
meal, and his business is of substantial order 
in all departments. Mr, Williamson is still 
the owner of a well improved landed estate in 
Gage county, his farm being in Midland town- 
ship, near Beatrice, and comprising eighty 
acres. He is the owner also of a fann of one 
hundred and sixty acres in southeastern Kan- 
sas, and of another tract, of four hundred and 
eighty acres, in Washington county, that state. 
He has been in the most significant sense the 
founder and builder of his prosperity, as he 
had neither financial reinforcement or influen- 
tial friends to aid him when he set forth as 
a youth to gain for himself independence and 
advancement. As a representative of live- 
stock industry in this section of Nebraska Mr. 
Williamson did much to improve the type of 



536 



HISTORY OF GACE COUNTY. XKURASKA 



cattle raised, and he exhibited on more than 
one. occasion fine cattle at the international 
stock shows in the city of Chicago. In this 
connection it should be noted that the hand- 
some silver cups which he was awarded on his 
exhibits of fine cattle are the only trophies of 
the sort held by a citizen of Nebraska. He 
specialized in the breeding and growing of 
fine Hereford cattle and of this stock he 
shipped a load to Chicago in December, 1907, 
where his exhibit gained not only a large sil- 
ver cup but also a prize of three hundred dol- 
lars in cash. Later he received a silver cup 
on the exhibit which he made in the city of 
Denver, where further recognition was given 
in his being awarded a cash prize of seven 
hundred dollars. On his farms Mr. William- 
son is now giving special attention to the 
raising of Hampshire swine, and he has more 
than four hundred head of these hogs yearly 
on his Gage county farm. Mr. Williamson is 
found staunchly aligned as a supporter of the 
cause of the Republican party, he is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity, and both he and 
his wife are active members of the Christian 
church in their home city. 

On the 1st of April, 1880, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Williamson to Miss Nellie 
A. Faxon, who was born in Whiteside 
county, Illinois, on the 21st of February. 
1X59. a dauijhter of John W. and Asenath 
(Olds) Faxon, who established their home 
in Gage county in 1880, and who here passed 
the residue of their lives, the father having 
become one of the substantial farmers of the 
county. Mr. and Airs. Williamson have four 
children : George F. is now employed by a 
concern engaged in the handling of school 
supplies in the city of Lincoln, he having 
been graduated not only in the University of 
Nebraska, but also in historic old Columbia 
University, in New ^'ork city : John H. has 
the active management of his father's fine 
farm near Beatrice; Khctta is the wife of R. 
O. Parks, of Beatrice: and Nellie remains at 
the parental home. 



THOMAS E. HIBBERT. — As a sterling 
pioneer citizen, a veteran of the Civil war, and 
as a member of the Nebraska legislature, the 
late Hon. Thomas E. Hibbert left a deep and 
benignant impress upon the history of the 
state in which he established his residence 
prior to its admission as one of the sovereign 
commonwealths of the Union, and this his- 
tory of Gage county exercises a consistent 
function when it accords a tribute to his 
memory. 

Mr. Hibbert was born in the city of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, in the year 1846, and 
he was one of the honored pioneer citizens of 
Gage county, Nebraska, at the time of his 
death, which here occurred on the 3d of 
March, 1905. The paternal grandparents of 
Air. Hibbert were born and reared in Eng- 
land and upon coming to America they settled 
in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, the father of 
the subject of this memoir having been a lad 
of nine years at the time. 

Thomas E. Hibbert was reared and educated 
in the old Keystone state, and was but fifteen 
years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war. 
His youthful patriotism was roused to re- 
sponsive protest and action, for at the age 
noted he gallantly tendered his services in de- 
fense of the Union. He weighed at the time 
only one hundred and five pounds but his loyal 
enthusiasm was unbounded. He enlisted from 
Wayne county, at Salem, in Company A, One 
Hundred and Thirty-seventh Pennsylvania 
\'olunteer Infantry, under Captain J. M. Buck- 
ingham and Colonel Bassert. His regiment 
was assigned to the Third Brigade of the Sec- 
ond Division of the Sixth Army Corps, Gen- 
eral Hancock having command of the brigade, 
in Franklin's corps of Smith's division. Mr. 
Hibbert took part in the battle of Poolsville, 
Maryland, September 10, 1862, and engage- 
ments in which he thereafter participated mav 
be here noted: South Mountain, September 
14. 1S62: Antietam, September 17, 1862, his 
his regiment having buried almost two thous- 
and Confederate soldiers after the battle and 
on the field of Antietam. From his original 
brigade Mr. Hibbert was transferred to the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



^^^^^^^m^ . ■^. ^^f^M 




^H #1. \ ■ 




^^^FjI^P^ H 







Thomas E. HiiinERT 



538 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



Third Brigade (Paul's), First Division 
(A\'ads\vorth's), First Army Corps (Rey- 
nolds'), and with this command he took part 
in the battles of Fredericksburg, December 
13, 1862, and Chancellorsville. April 28 to 
May 12, 1863, having incidentally participated 
in the historic "mud march" of General Burn- 
side's command. His term of enlistment had 
been for ninety days, and after the expiration 
of the same he was mustered out, on the 6th 
of June, 1863. He at once re-enlisted, and 
was assigned to Battery C. Second Pennsyl- 
vania Veteran Artillery. Thereafter he served 
with the Twenty-second Army Corps in the 
defences around Washington until May, 1864, 
when he again went to the front, in the Eigh- 
teenth Army Corps. He took part in the bat- 
tle of Cold Harbor, in June. 1864. and on the 
12th of that month he embarked on a trans- 
port, at Whitehouse Landing and sailed down 
the York river to Chesapeake Bay, past old 
Fortress Monroe. He thence proceeded up 
the James river to City Point, Virginia, and 
on the 15th of June he was in the movement 
against Petersburg. His regiment made the 
first attack on that city and he took part in 
all of the engagements in which the Eighteenth 
Army Corps was thereafter involved, u]) to 
the time when the Twenty- fourth Army Corps 
was organized, when the Second Pennsylvania 
Veteran Artillery became a part thereof and 
Avas assigned to its Third Division. Under 
these conditions ^^r. Hibbert continued in 
active service until the surrender of General 
Lee, after which he was engaged in provost 
guard duty until he was mustered out, on the 
6th of February, 1866. Further details con- 
cerning the gallant military career of Mr. 
Hibbert have been given and the record is 
worthy of perpetuation in this connection, as 
follows: "Despite his youth, Mr. Hibbert car- 
ried the heavy musket of the Ci\il war days 
and ])erformed in the camp and field the same 
service that was expected of his older com- 
rades. At the battle of Chapin's Farm he was 
reported killed, but he wrote to his father to 
announce the fact that he was alive and well, 
he having been reported among the dead by 
reason of the fact that a shell from a gunboat 



had exploded so close to him that he was 
knocked senseless for a few moments. With- 
in the course of his service Mr. Hibbert was 
tendered a commission in a regiment of col- 
ored troops. He had been color guard in his 
command and upon the return of the regiment 
to Pennsylvania he carried back its state flag, 
which, on July 4, 1866, he in person handed to 
Governor A. G. Curtis, the famous war gov- 
ernor of the Keystone state. This stand of 
colors went out in 1861 and came back in 18(J6. 
Within this long interval Confederate hands ■! 
never touched these colors. In general orders f | 
Mr. Hibbert was mentioned for making the 
three best shots at a target with a twenty- four- 
pound howitzer, while serving in the defences 
of Washington, he having been the gunner 
and having sighted the piece. When the Con- 
federates made an attack on Redoubt Carpen- 
ter, below Dutch Gap, January 25, 1865, his 
services were loaned to a battery of the Thir- 
teenth New York Artillery, and he was com- 
plimented for the assistance rendered by his 
howitzer in repulsing the enemy." 

In 1866, after the close of his war ser\'ice, 
Mr. Hibbert came to the Territors- of Ne- 
braska and entered claim to a homestead in 
Gage county, this place being in Section 13. 
Hooker township, and having been l)y him 
reclaimed and improved into one of the valu- 
able farm properties of the county. On this 
homestead he passed the remainder of his long 
and useful life, and here his death occurred 
March 3, 1905, his widow still remaining on 
the old homestead, which is endeared to her by 
many hallowed memories and associations. 

In politics Mr. Hibbert was a stalwart Re- 
publican and he gave yeoman service in the 
advancement of the party cause. He was in- 
fluential in public affairs in Gage county and 
represented the same several terms in the 
lower house of the Nebraska legislature. He 
retained vital interest in his old comrades and 
manifested the same through his active aftilia- 
tion with the Grand Army of the Republic. 

On the 19th of March, 1874, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Hibbert to Miss Nannie 
E. Fuller, of Adams, this county, her father 
having been an honored pioneer of Gage 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



539 



county, where hotli he and his wife passed the 
closing period of their Hves. Mr. Fuller was 
of English lineage and birth, and was a child 
when he accompanied his parents to the United 
States. The parents were residents of Wayne 
county, Pennsylvania, for many years and 
there their death occurred. In the concluding 
paragraph of this memoir is given brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Hib- 
bert: 

Guy is now a resident of Spearville, Kan- 
sas ; Ila E. likewise lives at Spearville ; Roscce 
C. continues his residence in Gage county 
and lives in the village of Adams ; Thomas E. 
resides at Crab Orchard, Johnson county, and 
Benjamin H. at Alliance, Box Butte county ; 
Martha C. is the wife of Melvin Liggett, of 
.\lliance, this state ; James G. is perpetuating 
the patriotic spirit of his honored father, as 
he has become a member of the great national 
ami}- that is being prepared for participation 
in the European war, he being, in the spring 
of 1918, a member of Company A, Three 
Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiment, stationed 
at Camp Funston, Kansas ; George D. remains 
with his widowed mother on the old home 
farm; Anna Josephine died April 6, 1877; 
Charles Edward passed away January 30, 
1880; and Mary Pearl died February 17, 1880. 

JACOB W. WIEBE. — This substantial 
farmer and honored citizen of Blakely town- 
ship is a representative of the fine element of 
German citizenship that has exercised such 
beneficent influence in connection with the 
civic and industrial development of Gage 
county, and he is the owner of a well im- 
proved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
in Section 15 of the township mentioned. 

Mr. Wiebe was Ijorn in Prussia, Germany, 
on the 29th of August, 1864, and is a son of 
Jacob and Emeline ( Penner) Wiebe, his 
father having been a farmer by vocation and 
having been a comparatively young man at 
the time of his death. The subject of this 
sketch attended school in his native land until 
he was fourteen years of age, when he came 
with his widowed mother, his elder brother 
an<l his only sister to the United States, the 



family home being established in Gage county, 
where the two young sons found employment 
at farm work. The little family thus came to 
the county in 1878 and here the devoted 
mother remained until the summer of 1883, 
when she returned to her native land for a 
visit. Her health was impaired at the time 
and she did not live to rejoin her children, as 
her death occurred in 1884, while she was 
still in Prussia, she having been nearly fifty 
years of age at the time. Mrs. Wiebe was 
one of the pioneer representatives of the 
Mennonite faith in Gage county and was most 
earnest and zealous in church work. 

After having been employed six years at 
farm work in this county Jacob W. Wiebe be- 
came associated with his brother, Henry J., 
of whom mention is made on other pages, in 
the renting of a farm, and his energ\' and 
ability brought to him success in these inde- 
pendent activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower. In 1896 he purchased his pres- 
ent homestead farm, tipon which he has made 
excellent improvements of a permanent order 
and which he has brought up to a high state 
of productiveness. He remodeled the house 
and has also brought other buildings on the 
farm into good order, and he planted a goodly 
number of trees on the place, many of the 
same being now of large size and adding ma- 
terially to the attractions of the homestead. 
Mr. Wiebe has not neglected his civic respon- 
sibilities while furthering his individual pros- 
I^erity, but has given his influence in support 
of legitimate measures and enterprises tend- 
ing to advance the general welfare of the 
community. He is a stockholder in the grain 
elevator at Hoag and is a substantial citizen 
who commands unqualified jrapular esteem. 
He is an independent Republican in politics 
and he and his family are zealous adherents 
of the Mennonite church, in the aflfairs of 
which they are actively interested. 

The marriage of Mr. Wiebe to Miss Agatha 
Penner was solemnized November 16, 1899. 
She was born in Prussia and is a daughter of 
Johannes and Magdalena (Penner) Penner, 
who established their home in Gage county in 
1877. Mrs. Penner passed to the life eternal 



540 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



in 1911, at the age of sixty-three years, and 
her venerable husband, who celebrated in 
1917 his seventy-seventh birthday anniver- 
sary, now resides in the village of Hoag, this 
county. Of their five children who attained 
to maturity Mrs. Wiebe is the eldest. The 
pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Wiebe still 
claims as members of the family circle all of 
their children, namely: Harry, Edwin, John, 
Louis, and Richard, but one child, Anna, died 
when young. 

JOnX RI EC HERS. — Through enterprise 
and excellent management Mr. Riechers has 
gained distinctive success in connection with 
business afTairs and is now established in the 
general merchandise business in the village of 
Clatonia, his ample and well appointed store 
receiving a representative supporting patron- 
age and the stock in each department, includ- 
ing that devoted to furniture, being kept up to 
the standard of the trade requirements. Mr. 
Riechers has been a resident of Nebraska 
since boyhood and prior to entering the mer- 
cantile business he had been actively identified 
with agricultural industry in Gage county. 

Mr. Riechers was born in Lafayette county, 
Wisconsin, on the 30th of May, 1873. and is 
the only child of Herman and Margaret 
(Helms) Riechers, he having been an infant 
at the time of his mother's death. 

Herman Riechers was born in the province 
of Hanover, Germany, September 29, 1844, 
and was one of the honored citizens of Gage 
county, Xebraska. for many years prior to 
his death, which here occurred in 1909. He 
was reared and educated in his native land 
and in 1865 he came to America in company 
with his brother Justus. Both establislicd 
residence in Wisconsin, where their parents 
joined them two years later, to pass the re- 
mainder of their lives as sterling pioneer citi- 
zens of the Badger state. In Wisconsin Her- 
man Riechers continued his productive activi- 
ties as a farmer until 18X3, wlien he came with 
his family to Nebraska and settled on a fami 
three miles west of Clatonia, Gage county. 
He purdiased a half-section of land in Saline 
county and became one of the progressive and 



successful agriculturists and stock -growers of 
the county, besides which he added to his 
landed estate by purchasing three hundred 
and twenty acres just across the line in Gage 
county, in 1892. He was a man of strong 
and upright character and at all times com- 
manded the high regard of his fellow men, 
his religious faith having been that of the 
Lutheran church. About the year 1875 Mr. 
Riechers contracted a second marriage, when 
Miss Sophia Hillman became his wife, she 
likewise being a native of Hanover, Germany, 
and having become a resident of Wisconsin 
about two years prior to her marriage. She 
now resides in the village of Clatonia, where 
she celebrated in 1917 the seventieth anniver- 
sary of her birth. Of this second marriage 
were bom three sons and three daughters, all 
of whom survive the honored father: Died- 
rich owns and resides upon a part of his 
father's old homestead farm, three miles west 
of Clatonia; Herman is engaged in the hard- 
ware business at Clatonia ; Grover is conduct- 
ing a prosperous business as a dealer in agri- 
cultural implements, in the same village ; Mrs. 
Emma Hunecke likewise resides in Clatonia; 
Mrs. Louisa Kock is a resident of Clay Cen- 
ter, Kansas: and Mrs. Nora Kracke and her 
husband maintain their home on an excellent 
farm five miles southwest of Clatonia. 

John Riechers gained his rudimentar)- edu- 
cation in the district schools of his native 
county and was a lad of ten years at the time 
of the family removal to Xebraska. Here he 
found ample demands upon his youthful at- 
tention in connection with the work of the 
home fami, the while he made good use of 
the advantages of the public schools of the lo- 
cality. In 1896 he rented land from his father 
and began independent operations as an agri- 
culturist and stock-grower, but in 1899 he re- 
moved to Clatonia, where for the ensuing ten 
years he was engaged in the farm implement 
business. In 1909 he sold his well established 
business to his brother Grover, after which 
he here conducted a prosperous furniture 
business until 1914, when he amplified the 
scope of the enterprise by installing a stock of 
general merchandise, the efficient service 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



541 



given in his establishment combining with his 
personal popularity to make the business one 
of substantial and representative order. In 
politics he gives loyal support to the cause of 
the Democratic party and he served four or 
five terms as treasurer of Clatonia township. 
Both he and his wife are earnest communi- 
cants of the German Lutheran church in their 
home village. 

December 26, 1895, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Riechers to Miss Margaret Hereth, 
who was born in Bavaria, Germany, daughter 
of John and Anna Hereth, who established 
their home in Gage county in 1883, the father 
being now deceased and the widowed mother 
being a resident of the state of Washington. 
Mr. and Mrs. Riechers have four children — 
Rosa, Amelia, Herbert, and Anita. 

WILLIAM A. MULLIGAN, B. D., the 
honored rector of Christ church, Protestant 
Episcopal, in the city of Beatrice, was born 
in Ontario, Canada, on the 10th of March, 
1863, and is a son of William and Lucy 
(Montgomery) Mulligan, the former a native 
of the Province of Ontario, Canada, and the 
latter of Ireland. The parents of William 
iNIulligan came to America from the north of 
Ireland and settled at Port Hope, Ontario, 
Canada the father becoming a prosperous far- 
mer of that province and he and his wife hav- 
ing there passed the residue of their lives. 
William Mulligan long held precedence as 
one of the substantial exponents of agricul- 
tural industry in Victoria county, Ontario, 
and was a citizen of no little prominence and 
influence in his community. Both he and his 
wife were devout communicants of the Church 
of England. Of the five children the subject 
of this review is the eldest: John H. is a re- 
tired farmer residing in Ontario, Canada ; 
Thomas lives on his father's old homestead 
farm, in Victoria county, Ontario ; Alexander, 
a resident of Superior, W'isconsin, is in the 
government service, having been for fifteen 
years an attache of the customs service ; Mary 
is the wife of William Carty, of Bobcaygeon, 
Canada. 

Rev. \Villiam H. Mulligan acquired his 



early education in the public schools of his 
native province and his higher academic train- 
ing through Trinity College, Toronto, and has 
a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Seabury 
Divinity School, of Minnesota. Father Mul- 
ligan was ordained to the priesthood at De- 
troit, ]\Iichigan, by Rt. Rev. Thos. F. Davies, 
D.D., bishop of the diocese of Michigan, and 
his first pastoral incumbency was that of as- 
sistant rector of St. James church at Sault 
de Ste. Marie, Michigan, where he remained 
six years. He then assumed the charge of 
Ascension church at Ontonagan, Michigan, 
and in the following year the entire town was 
virtually destroyed by fire, the Episcopal 
church edifice having been reduced to ashes in 
this conflagration. In the same year, 1896. 
Father Mulligan came to Beatrice, where he 
has since labored with all of consecrated zeal 
and devotion as rector of Christ church, the 
spiritual and temporal work of the parish hav- 
ing been vitalized and prospered under his 
earnest regime, and his status being that of 
one of the able and representative clergymen 
of the Protestant Episcopal church in the Ne- 
braska diocese. 

Father Mulligan has the vigor and civic 
loyalty that make him a leader in community 
thought and action and he is one of the hon- 
ored and valued citizens of the Gage county 
metropolis. The church of which he is rector 
has a membership of two hundred and fifty 
and all departments of parish work are in ex- 
cellent order. In connection with the aflfairs 
of the parish Father Mulligan issued a month- 
ly church paper, the Message. He is a Repub- 
lican in his political allegiance and is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity. 

In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of 
Father Mulligan to IMiss Hilary Williams, who 
likewise was born and reared in the Province 
of Ontario, Canada, and whose father, 
Thomas Williams, was a prosperous farmer 
in the state of ]\Iichigan at the time of his 
death. In conclusion is given brief record 
concerning the children of Father and Mrs. 
^lulligan : Harold R. is an efficient and popu- 
lar teacher in the high school in the city of 
Omaha, besides being athletic director of the 



342 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



school, and incidentally he is pursuing a course 
of study in the medical department of the Uni- 
versity of Nebraska; Stella is a teacher in the 
public schools of Beatrice; Allan W. is a mem- 
ber of the class of 1920 in the medical depart- 
ment of the University of Nebraska ; Edna 
K. is attending the school for trained nurses 
that is connected with the Clarkson hospital 
in the city of Omaha; Frederick A. is a mem- 
ber of the class of 1918 in the Beatrice high 
school; and Ernest A. and Arthur M. are 
likewise students in the high school. 

FREDERICK O. McGIRR is one of the 
youngest men that has thus far been called 
upon to serve as a commissioner of the su- 
preme court of Nebraska, and his appoint- 
ment to this high office not only gave signifi- 
cant recognition of his fine professional at- 
tainments but also reflected distinction upon 
Gage county, where he was reared to manhood 
and where he had gained secure vantage- 
ground as a representative member of the bar 
of this ])art of tlie state. Prior to his eleva- 
tion to his present office, involving his re- 
moval to Lincoln, the capital city of Nebraska, 
he had been for more than twenty years en- 
gaged in the successful practice of his profes- 
sion in the city of Beatrice, and on this score 
alone he is entitled to special recognition in 
tliis history, as is he likewise by reason of his 
being a scion of one of the sterling ])ioneer 
families of (>age county. Of the McC.irr fam- 
ily a further record is given on other pages 
of this work, in the sketch dedicated to Dr. 
John I. McGirr, brother of him whose name 
initiates this paragraph. 

Judge Frederick O. McGirr was born in 
Kankakee county, Illinois, on the 11th of De- 
cember, 1X70, and there received his earlier 
educational discipline in the public schools and 
was fifteen years of age at the time of the 
family removal to Nebraska. Here he con- 
tinued to attend the public schools until he 
had completed the curriculum of the high 
school, and in preparation for the work of his 
chosen profession he began reading law under 
the alile preceptorship of Robert W. Sabin, a 
leading member of the bar of Gage county 



and its capital city. Through close applica- 
tion he made rapid progress in the absorption 
and assimilation of the science of jurispru- 
dence, and he was admitted to the bar on the 
20th of June, 1893. He served his profession- 
al novitiate in Beatrice and his character and 
ability soon enabled him to build up a sub- 
stantial practice. In 1907 he formed a pro- 
fessional partnership with Menzo W. Terry, 
under the firm name of McGirr & Terry, and 
this alliance continued until December, 1912. 
In 190X Judge AIcGirr was elected prosecut- 
ing attorney of Gage county, and of this office 
he continued the incumbent four years, retir- 
ing therefrom in January, 1913, after a force- 
ful and able administration that inured great- 
ly to the advancing of his professional pres- 
tige. He then resumed the practice of his 
profession, with a substantial and representa- 
tive clientage, and continued as one of the 
leading members of the Gage county bar until 
June, 1915, when he was appointed a member 
of the supreme court commission of the state, 
for a term of two years. He assumed the 
duties of this office September 20, 1915, and 
at the expiration of his first term he was re- 
appointed, for another temi of two years, on 
the 20th of September, 1917. It is needless 
to say more than that on the bench he has 
fully justified the wisdom of his appointment 
and that he has shown the true judicial tem- 
perament, as well as a broad and accurate 
knowledge of law and jjrecedent. 

Judge McGirr is one of the honored mem- 
l)ers of the Nebraska State Bar Association, 
is a vigorous and effective advocate of the 
principles and jrolicies of the Democratic 
party, for which he has done yeoman service 
in various campaigns, and he is affiliated with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, 
in each of which he has held various official 
chairs. 

On the 20th of December, 1899, Judge Mc- 
Girr wedded Miss Mary Moody, daughter of 
Samuel S. .Moody, a pioneer merchant of 
Beatrice, where he was successfully estab- 
lished in business for many years. He had 
also conducud a mercantile business at Peru, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



543 



Nemaha county, and it was while the family 
home was there maintained that Mrs. McGirr 
was born, she being one of the gracious and 
popular native daughters of Nebraska. Judge 
and Mrs. McGirr have no children. 

HOMER B. AUSTIN, who died at his 
home, in the city of Beatrice, on the 12th of 
April, 1906, was an honored pioneer of the 
Territory of Nebraska and of Gage county, 
his character and his work having been such 
that a tribute to his memory properly finds 
place in this publication. In offering such a 
memoir it is but fitting that liberal and slightly 
modified quotation be taken from an appre- 
ciative estimate that appeared in a Beatrice 
newspaper at the time of his demise. 

Mr. Austin was born at Austinburg, Ash- 
tabula county, Ohio, in 1830, and there he was 
reared to manhood on his father's farm, in 
the meanwhile attending the common schools 
when opportunity afforded. In 1853 he 
wedded IVIiss Mary A. Dunbar, of Camden, 
Oneida county. New York, and in 1857 he 
joined the initial tide of immigration moving 
toward Nebraska Territory, his wife and in- 
fant son joining him in the following year. 
From the article that appeared in a local 
paper at the time of his d^th are made the 
following extracts : "He chose Gage county 
as his place of residence and selected a claim 
on Town creek, east of the present village of 
Pickrell and in the neighborhood of the Pe- 
thouds, the Joneses, the Wilsons, Judge Hiram 
W. Parker and other old friends from Ohio 
who were pioneers in the new territory. His 
claim joined the one occupied by Judge Par- 
ker, and a warm intimacy, cemented by trials, 
privations and dangers of pioneer life and 
destined to be broken only by death, sprang 
up between the two families. After spending 
a few years on his claim Mr. Austin returned 
with his family to Ohio, but in 1884 he re- 
turned to the west and established his resi- 
dence in Washington county, Kansas, where 
he remained until 1895, when he returned to 
Gage county and established his home in Be- 
atrice, where he passed the remainder of his 
life, the death of his devoted wife having 



here occurred in 1897, and the remains of both 
rest in the beautiful cemetery at Beatrice. He 
was survived by one son, Charles N., of whom 
mention is made on other pages, and by a 
cousin, L. E. Austin, who was a resident of 
Beatrice at the time of his death, in 1909, and 
who is survived by two sons — Lewis Benja- 
min, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, and 
Edward, who is in the aviation service of the 
United States. Edward S. Austin, another 
cousin of Homer B., likewise became one of 
the very early settlers of Gage county, and 
he erected one of the first grist mills in the 
county. At a point eight miles north of Be- 
atrice he laid out a little village, to which was 
given the name of Austin, and here he had 
charge of the pioneer postoffice which de- 
pended for mail service on the facilities af- 
forded by the overland pony express. Edward 
S. Austin passed the remainder of his life in 
Gage county and here developed a valuable 
farm estate. The subject of this memoir 
assisted in the erection of the first saw mill in 
the little village of Beatrice. 

"Though never taking an active part in 
public affairs Flomer B. Austin was a public- 
spirited citizen, and up to the hour of his 
death was a useful and exemplary member of 
society. He was sober and industrious and in 
all of the relations of life was scrupulously 
honest. He was a man of strong feeling and 
deep emotion and although a good friend, 
when once his anger or resentment was 
aroused he was apt to be as implacable in his 
hatred as he was true and loyal in his friend- 
ships. By nature he was deeply religious. 
He believed, with a constancy and devotion 
that nothing could disturb, in the existence of 
a spiritual world, and that this is a higher and 
holier world than that which our poor senses 
apprehend. For many years this good man 
has been a familiar figure upon the streets of 
Beatrice, and it is no exaggeration to say that 
many in this community will learn of his de- 
mise with genuine sorrow." 

It may well be said that in all of the rela- 
tions of life Mr. Austin exemplified the faith 
that makes faithful, and as he was true to 
himself, so was he true to those who came 



544 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, NEBRASKA 



within the circle of his kindly and generous 
influence. 



WILLIAM F. ALBERT. — He whose 
name initiates this paragraph merits recogni- 
tion as one of the representative agriculturists 
and stock -growers of his native county and 
also as a scion of one of the honored pioneer 
families of this favored section of the state. 
His well improved farm of one hundred and 
fifty-six acres, in Section 22 Clatonia town- 
ship, is that on which he was born and reared, 
and his progressiveness and enterprise are 
further signalized in his ownership of three 
hundred and twenty acres of valual)le land 
in South Dakota. .\ tribute to his honored 
father, Henry .Mbert. appears on other pages 
of tiiis work, so that further review of the 
family histor}- is not demanded in the present 
connection. 

On the fine homestead farm which he now 
occupies \\'illiam Frank Albert was born 
January 25, 1874, and in addition to receiving 
in his youth the advantages of the public 
schools of Clatonia township he also completed 
an effective course in a business college in the 
city of Lincoln. He has never wavered' in his 
allegiance to the great fundamental industries 
of agriculture and stock-raising and he pur- 
chased his father's old homestead farm in 
1906. He has here made excellent improve- 
ments of a permanent order, including the 
erection of his present modern and attractive 
residence. Prior to buying the old home farm 
he had successfully conducted a horse ranch 
for a period of about five years, and at the 
present time he amplifies his farm enterprise 
by doing a prosperous business as a buyer 
and shipper of live stock. He stands ex- 
ponent of loyal and liberal citizenship and 
though he has had no ambition for political 
preferment of any kind he accords staunch 
allegiance to the Republican party. 

On the 26th of February, 1902, Mr. Albert 
wedded Anna Carstens, who likewise was bom 
and reared in this county, where her parents 
established their home more than fortv years 
ago. Mrs. Albert is a daughter of Tebbc G. 
and Scente (Gerdes) Carstens, whose mar- 



riage was solemnized at Rushville, Illinois, 
March 2, 1870, and who became residents of 
Gage county in 1876. Mr. Carstens was born 
in Hanover, Germany, ilarch 4, 1846, a son 
of John and Gesche (Aschen) Carstens, the 
latter of whom died in Germany and the for- 
mer of whom passed the closing years of his 
life in Gage county, where two of his sons 
established homes in the pioneer days. Upon 
immigrating from his native land to America, 
in 1867, Tebbe G. Car.stens settled in Illinois, 
and there he continued his active association 
with agricultural pursuits until 1876, when 
he came with his family to Gage county. Here 
he farmed on rented land for the first four 
years, and he then purchased eighty acres in 
Section 10, Clatonia township. Later he 
added eighty acres to his landed estate and he 
continued as one of the energetic and success- 
ful farmers of Clatonia township until 1904, 
when he and his w-ife established their resi- 
dence in the village of Clatonia, where he has 
since lived virtually retired. Mrs. Carstens 
was bom at Scheindorff, Germany, April 24, 
1847, a daughter of Joachim A. and Steinten 
W. (Rademacher) Gerdes, who passed their 
entire lives in Germany. Mrs. Carstens came 
to America in 1869 and her marriage occurred 
the following year, as previously noted in this 
sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Carstens became the 
parents of five children, concerning w'hom the 
following brief data are available: Gesiene. 
who became the wife of Edward Krauter, is 
deceased ; Joachim and John M. are residents 
of Fairbury, Jeft'erson county, Nebraska : 
Mrs. Anna Albert was the next in order of 
birth ; and William G. has the active manage- 
ment of his father's old homestead farm. Mr. 
and Mrs. Albert have three children — Mel- 
vin, Verneita, and Kemiit. 

DANIEL E. TRACEY. — For nearly six- 
teen years Daniel E. Tracey has been success- 
fully engaged in agricultural pursuits in 
Adams township. One of the prime elements 
of success in any position, calling or profes- 
sion in life is adaptability, and strength in this 
essential has been the secret of the success 
achieved by Daniel E. Tracey and his wife, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



:;45 



.who has been his earnest helpmeet and co- 
adjutor. In their definite adaptabiHty they 
have proved able to cope with the problems of 
life as they presented themselves. Mr. Tracey 
is a man among men — one to whom his fel- 
low citizens look with confidence — and he 
takes his place among the many who are 
earnest in service that makes for the advance- 
ment of the community along civic, educa- 
tional, and spiritual lines. 

Mr. and Mrs. Tracey are zealous members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, he is af- 
filiated with the Masonic fraternity in an 
active way, is a newly elected member of the 
school board of Adams, and for a number of 
years he was president of the Farmers' Ele- 
vator Company at Adams, Nebraska. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Tracey take an active part in 
church life and in the afi^airs of the Order of 
the Eastern Star, Mrs. Tracey being in 1917- 
1918, the worthy matron of Adams Chapter, 
No. 163. 

Daniel E. Tracey was born at Bloomington, 
Illinois, on the 20th of October, 1869, and is 
a son of John and Margaret (O'Brien) 
Tracey, both natives of Ireland. John Tracey 
became a successful contractor at Blooming- 
ton, Illinois, where he continued his residence 
until 1883. In that year he came with his 
family to Nebraska and established the home 
in the city of Lincoln, where he continued his 
activities as a contractor until the time of his 
death, in 1890. He left to mourn his loss his 
wife and their six children — Daniel Edward, 
Mary Alice, Winifred, John and Alargaret 
(twins), and Harry James. 

He whose name initiates this review was 
fourteen years of age at the time of the fam- 
ily removal to Nebraska, and he was an ear- 
nest and ambitious youth of twenty years at 
the time of his father's death. Always ready 
to hear and resjrond to the cry of the widow 
and orphan, he assumed large measure of re- 
sponsibility in connection with home affairs 
after the death of his father, and proved him- 
self a boy of whom any mother might well be 
proud, the while the responsibilities which 
thus devolved upon him tended to mature and 
solidifv his character. 



Mr. Tracey received his youthful education 
in the public schools of Bloomington, Illinois, 
and Lincoln, Nebraska. In the latter city he 
was for several years in the employ of the 
Standard Oil Company, and in 1894 he be- 
came a member of the Lincoln fire department, 
in which he rendered valuable and efficient 
service for a period of eight years. He be- 
came lieutenant at Engine House No. 1 and 
was about to be advanced to the position of 
captain when he resigned to take up his resi- 
dence on the farm on which he now lives. 
This is a valuable tract of one hundred and 
twenty acres, in Section 23, Adams township, 
and one mile northeast of the village of 
Adams. This property came to him and his 
wife as a part of the parental inheritance of 
Mrs. Tracey. On this fine rural estate Mr. 
and Airs. Tracey have worked together ear- 
nestly and effectively and on the same they 
have erected a residence which is as comfort- 
able and commodious as any other of the 
farm homes in Adams townshij) and which is 
a favored resort for the host of friends whom 
they have gathered about them. 

On the 9th of August, 1899, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Tracey to Miss Mary A. 
Zuver, who was born Januarj' 24, 1877, a 
daughter of Byron P. and Nancy (Adams) 
Zuver, concerning whom definite record is 
made on other pages of this volume. Mrs. 
Tracey is a granddaughter of John O. Adams, 
the first settler of Gage county, and she can 
recount many interesting incidents of pioneer 
life, as told to her by her mother. The Adams 
family located at Adams in the spring of 1857, 
a full decade before Nebraska Territory be- 
came a state, and at that time the site of 
Adams, named in honor of this sterling pio- 
neer family, was nothing more than a barren 
prairie. Airs. Tracey was born in a log cabin 
in Hooker township, this county, and most of 
her life thus far has been passed in her native 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Tracey became the par- 
ents of three children : Harold Edward and 
Winifred Lillian remain at the parental home, 
and Marjory Josephine died in infancy. Mrs. 
Tracey was graduated in the high school at 
Adams and later attended a leading conserva- 



346 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



tory of music in the city of Lincoln. Both 
.Mr. and Mrs. Tracey are active in Red Cross 
work since the nation has become involved in 
the great world war and are also jirominent 
in community affairs in general. 

FULTON JACK. — Associated with Judge 
.\lfred Hazlett in the control of a large and 
important law business in the city of Beatrice. 
Mr. Jack is junior member of the firm of 
Hazlett & Jack and, like his honored profes- 
sional coadjutor, of whom specific mention is 
made on other pages of this publication, he 
claims the historic old Keystone state as the 
place of his nativity, his paternal great-great- 
grandfather having been a native of Ireland 
and having settled in Pennsylvania in the 
early colonial history of that commonwealth. 
Patrick Jack, great-grandfather of the subject 
of this review, was a captain in the war of the 
Revolution, in which he was a representative 
of Pennsylvania. 

Fulton Jack was born in Indiana county, 
Penn.sylvania, on the 17th of June, 1(S69, and 
is a son of James V. and Elizabeth (Fulton) 
Jack, both of whom were likewise born and 
reared in Pennsylvania and both of whom 
were residents of Indiana county, that state. 
at the time of their death, their reli<j;ious faith 
having been that of the Presbyterian church 
and the father having given the major part of 
his active career to the basic industry of agri- 
culture. After having duly profited by the 
advantages pf the jiublic schools of his native 
state Fulton Jack there entered historic old 
Washington & Jefferson College at Washing 
ton, Pennsylvania, this having been the first 
collegiate institution founded to the west of 
the .\lleghany mountains. He was graduated 
in this college in 1892. Mr. Jack began the 
reading of law when he was about twenty- 
three years of age, his studies having been 
I)ursued in the Northern Indiana Law School, 
and under the preceinorshi]) of .\lfred Hazlett, 
and with utmost diligence and receptiveness 
he api)lied himself to the mastering of the in- 
volved science of jurisi^rudence. He has been 
a resident of Beatrice, Nebraska, since 1894, 
and was admitted to the bar in that year. In 



the following year he became associated with 
ludge Hazlett in practice, this effective profes- 
sional alliance having since continued without 
interruption. Mr. Jack is recognized as an 
able trial lawyer and well fortified counselor, 
and he has appeared in connection with much 
important litigation in the courts of this and 
other states. 

In politics Mr. Jack is arrayed as a staunch 
supporter of the cause of the Re])ublican 
party, and while he has shown a lively interest 
in the furtherance of the success of his party 
and been an active worker in its local ranks 
he has not been imbued with any ambition for 
public office, as he considers his profession 
worthy of his undivided time and attention. 
He is affiliated with the time-honored Ma- 
sonic fraternity. He and his wife are active 
members of the Presbyterian church. 

August 20. 1896, recorded the marriage of 
•Mr. Jack to Miss Angie Pollock, who was 
born and reared in Nebraska, where her par- 
ents, Robert H. and Maria (Parks) Pollock, 
established their home in the pioneer days, 
Mr. Pollock having been one of the early set- 
tlers of Pawnee county. Mr. and Mrs. Jack 
have three children. Fulton, Jr.. with youth- 
ful loyalty and patriotism that mark him as a 
worthy scion of Revolutionary stock, enlisted 
in Co. C. Fifth Nebraska National Guard, 
at the outbreak of the trouble with Mexico in 
1916, and as a member of that company he 
entered the service of his countrj' in the great 
European war. At the time of this writing, 
February, 1918, he is at Camp Stanley, Texas, 
an officers' training camp, to which he was 
recently ajjpointed. The two daughters, 
Elizabeth and I\Iary Josephine, are students 
in the Beatrice high school. The family is one 
of prominence in the representative social life 
of the community. 

.\. L. B()YI-;R. who has been for thirty 
years actively engaged in the work of his 
trade in the village of \'irginia, is known as a 
skilled blacksmith and has develoiied a sub- 
stantial and prosperous business in the opera- 
tion of his well eciui]>]jed shop, which was the 
first to be opened in the village and which has 



m 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTV. NEBRASKA 



547 




548 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTV. XEI'.RASKA 



continued to be the only establishment of the 
kind at Virginia during the long period of 
years that have here marked his close applica- 
tion to his sturdy trade- ilr. Boyer was a boy 
at the time when the family home was estab- 
lislied in the new state of Nebraska, and he 
gained a plethora of experience in connection 
with the conditions and influences of the pio- 
neer era in the history of Gage county. 

Mr. Boyer was born in Jefferson county, 
Pennsylvania, on the Sth of October. 1855, and 
is a son of John and Elizabeth (Shunk) 
Boyer, both of whom likewise were born in 
the old Keystone state, where the mother 
passed her entire life. John and Elizabeth 
(Shunk) Boyer became the parents of six 
sons and four daughters, and three of the 
number became residents of Nebraska. Of 
the ciiildren the suliject of this re\ icw is now 
the only survivor. For his second wife John 
Boyer wedded ]\lrs. Mary Yohe. widow of 
Henry Yohe, and in 1S63 they came to the 
west and settled in Iowa county. Iowa, John 
Boyer having there followed his trade, that 
of harness-maker. In .May, 1868, Mr. Boyer 
came with his family to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and took up a homestead claim in 
Nemaha township, lie there developed a ])ro- 
ductive farm and on the same both he and his 
wife passed the remainder of their lives, no 
children having been born of the second mar- 
riage. 

A. L. Boyer gained his early education in 
the schools of Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Ne- 
braska, and was a lad of thirteen years at the 
time when the family home was established in 
Gage county. Here he was reared to adult 
age and in the meanwhile he assisted in the 
develoi)ment and other work of the home 
farm. When he was sixteen years of age he 
had a somewhat thrilling experience in the 
saving of the family house and other jiropertv 
from destruction by a prairie fire. This ex- 
perience occurred on Sunday. He had started 
to accompany his ]iarents to church at Adams, 
but a seeming premonition urged him to re- 
turn home, and it was most fortunate that he 
heeded the impulse. He had on his best suit 
of clothes, and he sacrificed the coat in his 



strenuous efforts to check the fire. With 
Inickets of water and his coat he saved the 
house from destruction, as well as a pile of 
grain in a log enclosure and three of the five 
stacks of hay. He was overcome finally by 
the smoke and heat and was found lying on 
the ground when his parents returned. At 
the age of seventeen years he hauled grade 
stakes for John Lyons, who was then laying 
out the township of Adams. .Among his other 
early experiences was that incidental to three 
years of application in breaking wild prairie 
land. 

.\t the age of twenty years Mr. Boyer 
went to Hamburg, Iowa, where he served a 
thorough apprenticeship to the blacksmith 
trade. In October, 1888, he opened the first 
blacksmith shop at Virginia, and, as before 
intimated, he has had no competitor in this 
line during the long intervening years. He is 
widely known as an expert artisan and turns 
out in his sjioj) the best grade of work, with 
facilities including modern machinery and ac- 
cessories for the handling of all kinds of 
blacksmith work, as well as wood work for 
wagons, plows, etc. 

.\t Tecumseh, this state, was solemnized 
the m.irriage of Mr. Boyer to Miss Marj' Jane 
A])])lel)ee. a sister of John .Applebee, in whose 
sketch, on other pages of this work, is given 
due record concerning the Applebee family. 
The eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. 
l^.oyer is Arthur, who resides in the village 
of \'irginia. the maiden name of his wife 
having been Catherine McGaffey ; James Mel- 
vin married Miss McGaffey and he is an 
evangelist of the Christian church, his field of 
work being in Nebraska: James Milo married 
Miss Lantz and they reside at Newcastle, Wy- 
oming; Gertrude is the wife of Clarence TIaus, 
of Sherman township, Gage county : Iva is the 
wife of David Hoover, of Lewiston, Pawnee 
county ; and Maggie, Ellen, and Lewis remain 
at the parental home. 

Mr. Boyer is a Republican in his political 
adherency, and he and his wife are active 
members of the Christian church. 

The village of X'irginia was but one year old 
when Mr. Boyer here established his home, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



549 



and he has since continued as one of its rep- 
resentative business men and valued citizens. 
The first children born in the village were his 
twin daughters, Gertrude and Myrtle, the lat- 
ter of whom is deceased. 

J. HENRY STEINMEYER. — He whose 
naine initiates this paragraph is a representa- 
tive of one of the most honored and influen- 
tial pioneer families of Gage county and in 
addition to having shared in the generous re- 
wards that eventually crowned the productive 
industrial activities of his pioneer father he 
has marked his individual course with large 
and worthy achievement, with the result that 
he is now one of the substantial landholders 
of Gage county and an influential factor in 
banking enterprise and other lines of business. 
In his home county he is the owner of four 
hundred acres of well improved and valuable 
farm land, besides which he owns six hundred 
and forty acres of excellent agricultttral land 
in Allen and Cofifey counties, Kansas, so that 
the total area of his landed estate is over one 
thousand acres. His capitalistic interests in 
Gage county are varied and important and 
since 1910 he has maintained his residence in 
Beatrice, the attractive metropolis and judicial 
center of the county, .his residence, at 821 
North Eleventh street, being one of the fine 
and modern homes of the city and Ijeing a 
center of gracious hospitality. 

J. Henry Steinmeyer was born in the prov- 
ince of Hanover, Germany, on the 17th of 
May, 1853, and is a son of Henry and Eliza- 
beth ( Fredker) Steinmeyer, both of whom 
were likewise natives of that attractive section 
of the great German empire, the father hav- 
ing been born in July. 1814. and the mother in 
August, 1810. In the fatherland Henry Stein- 
meyer was reared to the discipline of the farm 
and there he continued his alliance with agri- 
cultural enterprise until 1856. when he immi- 
grated with his family to America and settled 
in Scioto county, Ohio. There he worked in 
the iron furnaces for the ensuing ten years, 
and in addition to jjroviding well for his fam- 
ily he was able to accumulate a modest reserve 
lund (if nioncN'. The voyage across the At- 



lantic was made in a sailing vessel of the type 
common to that day, and seven weeks elapsed 
ere the family disembarked in the port of Bal- 
timore, Maryland, whence shortly afterward 
they proceeded to southern Ohio and located 
in Scioto cotinty, as before noted. 

Though he had prospered during his asso- 
ciation with the iron-furnace industry in the 
Buckeye state, Henry Steinmeyer had not 
abated his loyalty to and appreciation of the 
great fundamental industry of agriculture, and 
as soon as conditions made it expedient he re- 
sumed his alliance with the same. In 1866 he 
came with his family to the territory of Ne- 
braska, which was admitted to statehood the 
following year and to which his sons William 
and Fred had preceded him by about one year. 
With ox teams Mr. Steinmeyer brought his 
family overland from Nebraska City to Gage 
county, and here he entered claim to a home- 
stead of one hundred and sixty acres — the 
southwest quarter of Section 22, Clatonia 
township. The original family domicile was 
a rude dugout of the type common to the pio- 
neer era, and the stable which he provided for 
his oxen and horses was constructed princi- 
pally of straw. Grappling vigorously with the 
task that confronted him, Mr. Steinmeyer 
gradually broke his land and made it available 
for cultivation, besides which he improved 
the place by setting out trees and, eventually, 
by the erection of a good house and other 
farm buildings. After giving his personal at- 
tention to the homestead for ten vears he gave 
the property to his son J. Henry, of this re- 
view, with whom he lived in retirement after 
the death of his devoted wife, their marriage 
having been solemnized in 1835. Mrs. Stein- 
meyer passed to the life eternal in 1874, and 
her husband long survived her, he having been 
somewhat more than eighty years of age at the 
time of his death, in 1895, and his name mer- 
iting a place of enduring honor on the roster 
of the honored pioneers of Gage county. 
Both he and his wife were earnest members 
of the German Methodist church and as a 
naturalized citizen ever loyal to the country of 
his adoption, he gave his jjolitical support to 
the cause of the Republican party. Of the 



550 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. XICURASKA 



six chililren one died in infancy : Mary, who 
became the wife of William Marsh, died in 
the year 1868; William, who became one of 
the representative farmers and influential citi- 
zens of Clatonia township, continued his resi- 
dence in Gage county until his death, which 
occurred in 1911; P'rederick, who is now liv- 
ing retired in the village of Clatonia, was a 
valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. 
in which he served three years, as a member 
of the Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry: 
J. 1 Icnry. of this sketch, was the next in order 
of birth a!id is the youngest of the children. 
J. Henry Steinmeyer was about three years 
of age at the time of the family immigration 
to America and was a lad of thirteen years 
when removal was made to Nebraska Terri- 
tory. He acquired his early education in the 
schools of Scioto coimty, Ohio, and supple- 
mented this by attending at intervals the pio- 
neer district schools of Clatonia township, 
Gage county, Nebraska, where he was reared 
under the invigorating influences of the home 
farm, which was finally given to him by his 
honored father,, as noted in a preceding para- 
grajih. In LS85 he engaged in the general 
merchandise business at Dewitt, Saline countv. 
where he continued operations along this line, 
in connection with the l)uying and shipping of 
grain, until 1S94. When, in the year last men- 
tioned, tlic village of Clatonia was established 
on a portion of his father's old homestead 
farm, Mr. Steinmeyer manifested his lovalty 
to the old home county and the new town bv 
becoming one of the first and most active busi- 
ness men of the ambitious village, where he 
established a well equipped grain elevator and 
developed a substantial and jirofitable business 
in the buying and shijjping of grain and live 
stock. He was one of the first two stock- 
holders of the Farmers' Bank of Clatonia, in 
the organization of which he was associated 
with his brother \\'illiam. and in 1905 he estab- 
lished the Holmesville Bank, in the village of 
Ilolmesville, of which institution he is now the 
sole stockholder. He was also one of the or- 
ganizers and is the chief stockholder of the 
company which installed and still operates the 
electric power and lighting plant at Holmes- 



ville, of which company he is the president. 
In the domain of business and industrial en- 
terprise he has found ample demands upon 
his time and energy and thus he has not been 
imbued with any desire for special political 
activity or for public office, though he is found 
aligned as a loyal su]iporter of the jirinciples 
for which the Republican party stands spon- 
sor. In 1901 Mr. Steinmeyer was elected to 
the Nebraska state legislature, serving one 
term. He is affiliated with the Modern Wood- 
men of America and both he and his wife hold 
membership in the Methodist church in their 
home city. 

On the ISth of .March. 1875, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Steinmeyer to Miss Kllen 
Unland, who was born in Cass county, Illi- 
nois, a daughter of Rev. t. and Nancy 
( Wagle) Unland, the former of whom was 
born in Germany and the latter in the state 
of Kentucky, where their marriage was sol- 
emnized. In 1873 Rev. F. Unland came v.ith 
his family to Nebraska, as a pioneer clergyman 
of the German Methodist church, and he had 
in the early days pastoral charge of the church 
of his denomination at Kramer. Lancaster 
county, and that in Clatonia township. Gage 
count}'. He and his wife are both deceased. 
( 'f the children of Mr. and Mrs. Steinmeyer 
the eldest is F.nima, who is the wife of Dr. B. 
M. Ueardorff. who is successfully e.stablished 
in the practice of his profession at Clatonia 
and who is one of the representative physi- 
cians and surgeons of Gage county; George 
\\'.. now of Beatrice, was superintendent of 
the Holmesville Mill and Power Comjjany, 
and is one of the young men who are repre- 
senting our nation as a soldier in the great 
Kurojiean war, his training for service as an 
ofticcr being received in the government can- 
tonment and training camp at Fort Snelling, 
Minnesota; Nettie E. is the wife of Charles 
S. Brown, of Aurora. Nebraska, who is cash- 
ier of the Fidelity National Bank ; Myrtle B. 
is the wife of W. G. Chittenden, and they re- 
side on her i)aternal grandfather's old home- 
stead farm, in Clatonia township; Robert H. 
is cashier of his father's bank at Holmesville; 
Gladys is the wife of H. W. Alquist, of Be- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-\TY, NEBRASKA 



551 



atrice, assistant cashier of the Nebraska State 
Bank ; and William F. is assistant cashier of 
the Farmers' Bank of Clatonia. 

EDWARD W. A. ULRICH. — In Section 
5, Grant township, a well improved farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres is owned by Mr. 
Ulrich, and he is so ordering his productive 
activities as to have secure status as one of 
the representative agriculturists and stock- 
growers of the younger generation in this 
part of Gage county. 

Mr. Ulrich was born in Marshall county. 
lUinois, on the 13th of April, 1880, and is the 
youngest of the six children of Charles G. 
and Johannah (GrafT) Ulrich. Concerning 
the other children the following brief data are 
consistently given: Mena is the wife of F. 
Burger, a prosperous farmer near Wilber, 
vSaline county; Anna is the wife of George 
Burger, a farmer of Grant township ; Mary 
is the wife of J. Menter, another of the sub- 
stantial farmers of Grant township, within 
whose borders Albert Ulrich, next in order of 
birth, likewise is a progressive exponent of 
farm industry: the fifth child, Charles, died 
when about twenty-one years of age. 

Charles G. Ulrich was born in Germany, on 
the 28th of November, 1840, and there he con- 
tinued his residence until about 1865, when he 
came to America and settled in Illinois. He 
became one of the substantial farmers of Mar- 
shall county, that state, where he continued 
his residence until 1883, when he came to Ne- 
braska and purchased the farm now operated 
by his son Edward, of this review. He made 
good improvements on the place and devel- 
oped the same into one of the valuable farm 
properties of Grant township. Here he re- 
mained, an honored citizen and enterprizing 
farmer, until his death, which occurred in Oc- 
tober, 1913. After the death of his first wife 
he eventually married Miss Amelia Boise, who 
likewise was born in Germany, and who now 
resides in the village of Dewitt, Saline county. 
Of the second marriage there are two daugh- 
ters — -Augusta, who is the wife of H. Feld- 
hus, of Dewitt, and Dora, who remains with 
her widowed mother. 



Edward W. A. Ulrich was a child of three 
years at the time of the family removal to 
Gage county, where he was reared to manhood 
on his present farm and where he made good 
use of the advantages of the district school lo- 
cated on a part of the home farm, his father 
having aided in the organization of this school 
district (No. 149) and having served a num- 
ber of years as a director of the same. Upon 
the death of his father Mr. Ulrich inherited 
eighty acres of his present farm, and later he 
accumulated through purchase the remaining 
eighty acres. As a vigorous and successful 
farmer and liberal citizen he is well upholding 
the prestige of the family name, he is a Demo- 
crat in his political atlherency and he and his 
wife hold membership in the German Luther- 
an church. 

On the 24th of February, 1909, Mr. Ulrich 
wedded Miss Katherine Spilker. She was 
born and reared in Grant township, a daughter 
of William and Louisa (Pieper) Sjnlker, who 
still remain on their home farm in this town- 
shi]i and both of whom were born in Ger- 
many. Mr. and Mrs. L'lrich have six chil- 
dren — Edna, Emil, Helen, Arnold, Walter, 
and Norma. 

EDGAR ROSSITER. — A native son of 
Gage county and a representative of an hon- 
ored pioneer family, ^Ir. Rossiter is now suc- 
cessfully established in the meat-market and 
ice business in the village of Dewitt, Saline 
county, where he has maintained his home for 
more than a quarter of a century and been a 
specially progressive and influential citizen. 

^[r. Rossiter was born in Midland township. 
Gage county, October 11, 1862, about five years 
prior to the admission of Nebraska to the 
L'nion of states. He is a son of Richard and 
Mary (Green) Rossiter, and is the fifth of a 
family of seven children. A memoir of Rich- 
ard Rossiter will be found elsewhere in this 
publication. 

E'dward Rossiter was reared to the invigor- 
ating discipline of the pioneer farm on which 
he was born, received such educational ad- 
vantages as were afforded in the common 
schools of the locality and period, and con- 



.10^ 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL".\TV. XEliRASKA 



tinned to assist his father in practical farm 
oi)erations until he attained to his legal ma- 
jority. He passed the ensuing three years in 
Colorado and upon his return to Nebraska 
settled in Dewitt, Saline county, where he en- 
gaged in business, with which he was success- 
fully identified for a term of years. Since 
1904 he has conducted a well equipped meat- 
market in tlie village and also has a prosper- 
ous business in the handling of ice. He has 
here maintained his home for twenty-eight 
years and has been influential in civic aflfairs, 
having served fifteen years as a member of the 
village council, and on three occasions he was 
mayor, or ])resident of the village board. 
Liberal and progressive, he has done much to 
further the social and material development 
and advancement of Dewitt and he commands 
the high esteem of all who know him. He is 
a stalwart in the local camp of the Republican 
party, is actively affiliated with the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen, and the Brother- 
hood of American Yeomen, and he and his 
wife are communicants of the Protestant 
F.])iscopal church. He is the owner of the un- 
divided interest of the old homestead in Grant 
and Rlakely townships, the same being part of 
the estate accumulated by his father. 

On January 28. liS82. Mr. Rossiter wedded 
Miss Plunia A. Thompson, who was born at 
Leavenworth, Kansas, and who is a daughter 
of Martin W. and Evelyn (Jones) Thomp- 
son, the former a native of Kentucy and the 
latter of Virginia. Mr. Thompson came with 
his family to Gage county, Nebraska, about 
the year 1864, and settled eight miles north of 
Beatrice, where he reclaimed and improved a 
good farm and where he continued to reside 
for many years. He was at Leadville, Colo- 
rado, at the time of his death, his wife having 
sunived him only a short time, and the re- 
mains of both are interred in Dolan cemeten,- 
in Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Rossiter have 
four children : Charles E. is a railroad em- 
ploye at Wymore. Gage county ; Burton \\'. 
is associated with his father in the meat- 
market business : Edna .\. is the wife of Ralph 
W. W-nrick, of Norfolk, Madison county. Ne- 
braska ; and Vera is the wife of Willis H. 
Leacock, of St. Joseph, Missouri. 



ADAM CRIPE. who is now living virtually 
retired on his excellent farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres, in Section 23, Rock ford town- 
ship, is one of the venerable and highly es- 
teemed pioneer citizens of (iage county, where 
he has maintained his home since 1877. 

Mr. Cripe was bom on a farm near the city 
of Goshen, Indiana, May 11, 1S44, and is a 
scion of a sterling pioneer family of the 
Hoosier state, his parents. Henry and Magda- 
lena ( Miller) Cripe, having been natives of 
Ohio, where the former was bom in 1818 and 
the latter in 1817. Both families have been 
notable for longevity and Henry Cripe at- 
tained to the age of ninety years, his death 
having occurred in 1908, while his widow 
passed away in 1911, at the age of ninety-four 
years, their marriage having been solemnized 
in Indiana, where Mr. Cripe became a pioneer 
settler in Elkhart county. He obtained a tract 
of heavily timbered land, made a clearing and 
erected thereon a log house, with dirt floor, 
and this constituted the original home of the 
family. Of the twelve children the subject of 
this review was the fourth, and of the number 
six are now living. The parents continued 
their residence in Indiana until their death and 
prior to his demise the father had divided his 
land among his children : his father, Jacob 
Cripe, was a pioneer of Indiana and there died 
at the patriarchal age of one hundred and 
three years. The wife of Henry Cripe was 
a daughter of John Miller, who was a native 
of Pennsylvania and a pioneer settler in Ohio. 

.\dam Cri])e was reared on the pioneer farm 
in Indiana and accjuired his early education in 
the common schools. He received from his 
wife's parents eighty acres of land in Kos- 
ciusko county and there continued his activi- 
ties as a farmer until his removal to Mont- 
gomery county. Illinois, where he was engaged 
in farming ten years. He then, in 1877, came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, where for the en- 
suing three years he farmed on rented land. 
He then jjurchased the quarter-section which 
constitutes his present well improved home- 
stead, and his farm is now under the active 
management of one of his sons. 

November 5, 1865, Mr. Cripe married Miss 
Susanna Jacobs, who likewise was born and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



553 



reared in Indiana, and of the eight children 
of this union five are Hving: Harley is a far- 
mer near AJankato, Kansas ; Eva Jenetta is 
the wife of Rav Lancaster, a farmer in Rock- 
ford township ; W'ilham E. has charge of his 
father's farm; Jesse left the parental home 
fifteen years ago and his family have lost all 
trace of him; .Mary is the wife of Frank 
Heiston, who is engaged in the automobile 
business at Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Mr. Cripe is well fortified in his political 
views and gives his sup])ort to the cause of 
the Democratic party. Both he and his wife, 
who has been his companion and helpmeet for 
more than half a century, are earnest adher- 
ents of the Brethren church. 

ROBERT PEASE. — In his specific field 
of business enterprise Mr. Pease is contrib- 
uting much to the facilitating of the basic in- 
dustries of Gage county and he holds secure 
vantage-ground as one of the alert and pro- 
gressive business men and representative citi- 
zens of Beatrice, where he is the owner of 
the large and prosperous business conducted 
under the title of the Pease Grain & Seed 
Company. He combines the energy and thrift 
of his New England forebears with the vita' 
and progressive spirit of the west, and thus he 
is well equipped for playing a useful part in 
the communal and business life of his adopted 
city and county. 

Mr. Pease was born in Somers, Connecti- 
cut, on the 19th of December, 1869, and in 
that state his parents, Robert and Eliza Bill- 
ings (Hall) Pease, passed their entire lives, 
his father having been a farmer by vocation. 
He whose name introduces this review is in- 
debted to the public schools of his native state 
for his early educational discipline and there 
also he gained his initial experience in con- 
nection with the practical affairs of a worka- 
day world. In 1892, at the age of twenty-two 
years, Mr. Pease came to Nebraska and estab- 
lished his residence in the city of Omaha, 
where he entered the employ of the Union 
Pacific Railroad Company, in a clerical ca- 
pacitv. Later he was employed in the United 
States railwav mail service for a period of 



about seven years, and after his retirement 
from this position he passed three years in the 
state of Colorado, where he gave his attention 
principally to general mercantile business. 
Thereafter he was located at Salina, Kansas, 
until 1906, when he came to Beatrice. Ne- 
braska, and purchased a half interest in the 
grain and seed business then conducted under 
the title of Cummings & Laughlin. In 1910 
he assumed sole control of this well estab- 
lished enterprise, which lie has since conduct- 
ed under the title of the Pease Grain & Seed 
Company, his operative facilities being of the 
liest and including a grain elevator with a 
capacity for the accommodation of sixty-five 
thousand bushels. Mr. Pease has one of the 
most thoroughly modern elevators in the west. 
It is equipped with machinery for the handling 
and cleaning of grain and with other facili- 
ties seldom found outside the principal termi- 
nal markets. The seed department of his 
business has been built up by himself and has 
become one of major importance. In this 
department are the best of provisions for the 
handling of both field and garden seeds of all 
kinds and a large and constantly expanding 
trade is controlled by this department, both 
wholesale and retail. 

Known as a liberal and progressive business 
man and public-spirited citizen, Mr. Pease has 
had no desire to enter the arena of practical 
politics but is found aligned as a loyal sup- 
porter of the cause of the Republican party. 
Both he and his wife are members of the 
Congregational church. 

In the year 1901 Mr. Pease wedded Miss 
Bertha E. Clark, who was born in the state 
of Michigan, and the three children of this 
union are Robert, Jr., Florence C, and Ger- 
aldine. 



OLIVER TOWNSEND. — A publication 
of this nature exercises a most important 
function when it accords recognition, through 
fitting memorial tribute, to the life and labors 
of so influential and honored a pioneer as the 
late Hon. Oliver Townsend, whose record of 
service and achievement is a very part of the 
history of Gage county and especially its ju- 



534 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



dicial center, the fair city of Beatrice. His 
character was the positive expression of a 
strong and loyal nature, his mentality was of 
high order and he was well equipped for 
leadershij) in popular sentiment and action 
when he numbered himself among the earliest 
settlers of Gage county. He was the true 
apostle of civic and material progress and 
made his life count for good in its ever}' re- 
lation. 

Oliver Townsend was bom in Ulster 
county. New York, October 4, 1834. the 
voungest son in the family of nine children 
and a member of one of the sterling pioneer 
families of that section of the old Empire 
state, and likewise of one that was founded 
in America in the early colonial era of our 
national history, the lineage of the Townsend 
family tracing back to staunch English origin. 
The subject of this memoir was a son of Jos- 
eph and Nancy (Tompkins) Townsend, the 
former a native of Connecticut and the latter 
of the state of New York. Joseph Townsend 
was a very early settler in Ulster county. New 
York, where he reclaimed from the wilds a 
productive farm and held secure status as an 
honored and influential citizen. His wife 
there j)assed away in 1S47, and he survived 
her by twenty years. ( )liver Townsend was 
reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm 
and in his native county acquired his prelim- 
inary education in the common schools. .\s 
a youth he became clerk in a hotel in Knights- 
town, New York, and later he was similarly 
engaged at Hudson, that state. Later he am- 
plified his educational training by attending 
school both at Claverack and Ellenville, New 
York. 

In 1856. as a young man of twenty-two 
years, Mr. Townsend went to Huron countv, 
Ohio, and in Januarj' of the following year 
he made his way to the little frontier town of 
Siou.x City, Iowa, where he remained until the 
following autumn, when he came to southern 
Nebraska and here determined to establish his 
])ermanent residence — a full decade prior to 
the admission of the territon,- to statehood. 
He entered claim to a homestead of one hun- 
dred and si.xty acres, a portion of which is 



now included within the city of Beatrice, and 
for the ensuing four years he devoted him- 
self strenuously to the reclaiming and im- 
proving of his land, which is now a very 
valuable property and which he held in his 
possession many years. 

In 1865 Mr. Townsend became associated 
with the late H. M. Reynolds in establishing 
a general merchandise store at the corner of 
Court and Third streets in the little town of 
Beatrice, and in 1867 Hon. Nathan Blakely 
was admitted to the firm, the title of which 
then became Blakely, Reynolds & Company. 
Four years later Mr. Blakely sold his interest 
in the business, which was thereafter contin- 
ued under the firm name of Reynolds & Town- 
send until 1872, when Mr. Townsend retired, 
selling his interest to Mr. Reynolds. In 1874 
Mr. Townsend engaged in the clothing busi- 
ness, and to the same he gave the major part 
of his time and attention from 1877 until 
1893, when he retired from active business, 
after a long and honorable record as one of 
the most successful and popular merchants of 
(>age county. 

Unswerving in his allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party and well fortified in his convic- 
tions concerning matters of economic and gov- 
ernmental import, Mr. Townsend was influ- 
ential in (political affairs in this section of the 
state. In 1858 he was elected county clerk, 
and of this office he continued the efficient 
and valued incumbent for ten years, or until 
the admission of Nebraska to statehood, be- 
sides which he was ex officio register of deeds 
for the county (luring the same ])eriod. In 
1867 he had the distinction of being elected 
a representative of Gage county in the first 
legislature of the new state, and in this office 
he made a characteristically admirable record 
of faithful and effective service during his 
term of two years, his influence being given 
earnestly to the furtherance of the movement 
that resulted in the establishing of the state 
capital at Lincoln. He was at all times liberal 
and progressive in his civic attitude, loyally 
sup])orted measures and enterprises tending 
to advance the social and material advance- 
ment of his home citv and countv, and none 



HISTORY OF (',AGE COL-.\TV. NEBRASKA 



had more secure place in i)()])ular confidence 
and esteem. His religious faith was that of 
the Unitarian church, of which his widow 
likewise is a devoted adherent, and he passed 
the closing period of his life on his beautiful 
farm, just to the east of the city of Beatrice, 
where his death occurred April 31, 1914, and 
where his widow still resides — one of the 
loved pioneer women of Ciage county. 

On April 21, 1880, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Townsend to Miss Kate 
Monce, who was born in the state of Ohio. 
July 6, 1859, and whose father, the late Sam- 
uel Monce, was one of the early settlers of 
Neliraska City. Mr. Townsend is survived 
by three children: Jeane Beatrice is the wife 
of Dr. Irwin A. Port, a successful ph^'siciaii 
and surgeon engaged in practice in the city 
of Chicago; Ruth, w-ho is a graduate of the 
Beatrice high school and a popular factor in 
the social life of the community, remains with 
her widowed mother ; and Catherine Ann is 
a nKm1)er of the class of 1918 in the great 
University of Chicago. 

FORD LEWIS. — There is a full measure 
of consistency in according in this history a 
tribute of honor to the late Ford Lewis, 
though he never established his home in Gage 
county. He was a man of distinctive ability 
and his mature judgment was significantly 
shown when he made large investments in Ne- 
braska lands in the year which marked the 
admission of the state to the Union. His op- 
erations in the handling of real estate in other 
sections of the Union had already been large 
and important, and thus his knowledge of 
land values was essentially authoritative. Not 
mere speculative venturing attended his in- 
vestment in land in the new commonwealth of 
Nebraska, for he had the prescience to dis- 
cern the wonderful future possible for the 
state and was prepared to do an active part in 
furthering its civic and material development 
and upliuilding. He thus early became the 
owner of Gage county land and he not only 
developed and improved his various holdings 
here and elsewhere in the state but he also 
gave vital and liberal sujiport to important 



undertakings and enteqjrises that proved of 
inestimable value in fostering the march of 
progress in the new state. Mr. Lewis became 
well and favorably known in southeastern Ne- 
braska, where he passed much time at inter- 
vals, in the supervision of his landed interests, 
and such was the benignant influence which 
attached to his activities as touching Gage 
county that, as before stated, it is most con- 
sistent that representation be accorded him in 
this publication. .Mr. Lewis was a man of 
fine constructive powers, much initiative and 
administrative ability, and nolile character^ 
a man who did much for Nebraska and es- 
pecially for Gage county, where his only 
daughter, ^vlrs. Dwight S. Dalbey now main- 
tains her home. 

Ford Lewis was born at Deckertown, New 
Jersey, on the 25th of July, 1829, and for 
many years he maintained his home at Jersey- 
ville, Illinois, where his death occurred on the 
30th of November, 1901, after he had passed. 
by about two years, the psalmist's span ot 
three score years and ten. Mr. Lewis was a 
scion of a family that was founded in America 
in the colonial period of our national history 
and his father became a prosperous merchant 
at Deckertown, New Jersey. In his youth 
Mr. Lewis was afforded good educational ad- 
vantages, as gauged by the standards of the 
locality and period. Thus it may be noted that 
he was a student at Mount Retermet Sem- 
inary, that he later attended William Rankin's 
classical school, and that finally he took a 
practical business course under the tutorship 
of Christopher Marsh, widely known as the 
man who devised and perfected the double- 
entry system of bookkeeping, his school having 
been at the corner of Reade street and Broad- 
way, New York city. After finishing school 
work Mr. Lewis found employment as a book- 
keeper in business establishments, and he was 
thus engaged first at Hamburg and later at 
Hackettstown, New Jersey. His vigorous am- 
bition was not, however, to be satisfied with 
such occupation, for in his youth, as through- 
out his entire life, he was essentially a forward- 
looking man. After he had gained due prelim- 
inar}' experience in connection with the real- 



556 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



estate business Mr. Lewis determined to 
identify himself with the progressive west, but 
after proceeding as far as Syracuse, New 
York, he was induced to become a member 
of the firm of Chapman & Lewis, which there 
engaged in the manufacturing of watch cases 
and in the importing of high-grade watch 
movements. The firm su])phed watches of 
standard type to raihvay officials, including 
conductors and engineers on the New York 
Central and other railways, and with this pros- 
perous enter]>rise Mr. Lewis continued his al- 
liance until 1856, when he sold his interest in 
the business and accejitcd the general agency 
of the large Morse publishing house of New 
York City, with headquarters at Charleston. 
South Carolina, during the winter season and 
at Cleveland. Ohio, during the intervening 
summer months. This connection he main- 
tained until 1S59. when he accompanied his 
parents and his sister on their removal to 
Jerseyville, Illinois, — a place that was to rep- 
resent his home during the remainder of his 
long and useful life. There he engaged in the 
real-estate business, handling both town and 
farm property, and his success in this impor- 
tant line of productive enterprise led him to 
extend his operations into Nebraska when the 
territorv assumed the dignity of statehood, in 
1867. In company with Hon. Robert M. 
Knapi). Mr. Lewis made in that year his in- 
itial visit to Nebraska, where he also made his 
first investment in government land in the new 
commonwealth. In Gage, Johnson, Pawnee. 
Otoe, and Lancaster counties, as now consti- 
tuted, he became the owner of about eighteen 
thousand acres of land, and much of this he 
retained in his possession until the close of his 
life, the apj)reciation in its value under his 
well ordered policies of improvement and in- 
cidental to the rapid settlement and develop- 
ment of the state in general, having added 
largely to the value of his estate, which was 
a large and substantial one at the time of his 
death. The various deeds to the land which 
he thus obtained in Nebraska bore the signa- 
tures of Presidents Johnson, Lincoln, and 
Grant, and the documents are now in the pos- 
session of Mr. Lewis's only surviving child. 



Mrs. Dwight S. Dalbey, of Beatrice. Mr. 
Lewis had unfaltering faith and confidence in 
Nebraska, and during the successive summers 
he here passed considerable time in supervis- 
ing the development and other improvement 
work in connection with his landed interests. 
He was essentially the apostle of progress and 
gave freely of his influence and cooperation in 
the support of measures and enteq)rises that 
tended to advance the social and material de- 
velopment and prosperity of Nebraska. He 
was specially influential in promoting the en- 
terprise which eventuated in the construction 
of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- 
road line through southeastern Nebraska, also 
the Kansas City &- Northwestern, which ter- 
minated at X'irginia. and these lines traversed 
lands owned by him. The now fine little town 
of Virginia, Gage county, was founded by 
Mr. Lewis and was named in honor of his 
only daughter. \'irginia. He contributed most 
liberally to the development and upbuilding of 
this town, as did he also to that of Lewiston, 
Pawnee county, which likewise was founded 
by him and which ])er[)etuates his name. Fur- 
ther incidental data relative to the life and 
achievement of Mr. Lewis appear on other 
pages, in the sketch dedicated to Dwight S. 
Dalbey, of Pieatrice, husband of Mr. Lewis's 
only surviving child. Mr. Lewis was the 
owner of valuable properties in his home city 
of Jerseyville, Illinois, as well as in other parts 
of the country, and his success was large in 
connection with the various enterprises with 
which he identified himself. He was not. how- 
ever, self-centered, but was ai)preciative of 
the responsibilities which success involves and 
had a high sense of personal stewardship. He 
lived an earnest, honorable and useful life 
and upon its record there rests no shadow now 
that he has jjassed from the stage of his mor- 
tal endeavors. 

.Mr. Lewis was essentially a man of though 
and action and though he was well fortified in 
his convictions concerning economic and gov- 
ernmental policies and was a staunch sup- 
porter of the principles of the Democratic 
party, he had no desire for public oiifice of 



J 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



559 



any kind. Both he and his wife were active 
members of the Presbyterian church. 

On the 24th of July, 1864, was solemnized 
the marriage of Air. Lewis to Miss Elizabeth 
Davis, of Jerseyville, Illinois, and this gra- 
cious companion survived him by about fifteen 
years. From the year 1097 until her death she 
passed a portion of each year with her only 
remainder at her old home in Jerseyville, Illi- 
daughter, in Beatrice, Gage county, and the 
nois. She was summoned to the life eternal 
on the 9th of August, 1916, her memory being 
revered by all who came within the compass 
of her gracious influence. Of the only daugh- 
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis more specific men- 
tion is made on other pages of this volume, 
as already intimated. 

HARM D. HARMS gives his efl:'ective ser- 
vice in the management and operations of a 
well improved farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres which he and his wife own in Section 23, 
Hanover township, and he is known as one 
of the representative agriculturists and stock- 
growers of this township. He was born in 
Atchison county, Missouri, December 4, 1878 
and has been a resident of Nebraska since he 
was a child of three years. He is a son of 
Dirk and Ellen Harms, the former a native 
of Germany and the latter of the state of Mis- 
souri, where their marriage occurred. Dirk 
Harms was a young man when he came to the 
United States and prior to coming to Ne- 
braska he had been actively engaged in farm 
enterprise in Illinois and Missouri. In 1881 
he came with his family to Gage county, where 
he engaged in farm operations for the ensuing 
thirteen years. He then removed to Franklin 
county, where he became a prosperous farmer 
and where he passed the remainder of his life, 
his death having occurred about the year 1912 
and his widow being still a resident of that 
county. 

Harm D. Harms acquired his early educa- 
tion in the district schools of Gage county and 
later attended school for a time after the 
family removal to Franklin county. He there- 
after found employment at farm work and was 
thus engaged after he returned to Gage 



county. Here, in the year 1905, he married 
Miss Mary Remmers, who was born and 
reared on their present farm, which she in- 
herited from the estate of her father, Thomas 
Remmers, of whom mention is made on other 
pages of this publication. The old homestead 
farm occupied and owned by Mr. and Mrs. 
Harms is one of the well improved and at- 
tractive places of Hanover township, and here 
he is successfully carrying on his operations as 
a general farmer. He and his wife have four 
children, — Sophia, Emma, Dirk, and Carrie. 

VICTOR E. RYHD. — In another article 
appearing within the pages of this publication 
is given special mention of the Dole Floral 
Company, which is one of the leading concerns 
of its kind in this part of Nebraska and the 
operations of which contribute materially to 
the industrial prestige of the city of Beatrice. 
Of this important corporation Mr. Ryhd is the 
secretary, and his standing as a progressive 
business man and loyal and public-spirited citi- 
zen of Betarice clearly entitles him to recog- 
nition within these pages. He maintains his 
residence on the fine grounds of the large 
greenhouses of the company and has become 
a recognized authority in the practical details 
of floriculture and landscape gardening. 

Mr. Ryhd was born in Bernshammar. Swe- 
den, on the 28th of May, 1872, and to the 
schools of his native land he is indebted for 
his early educational discipline, which was 
coupled with practical experience, as he was 
but ten years of age when he began working 
at otherwise leisure hours in greenhouses in 
his home city of Bernshammar. His youthful 
ambition to acquire a thorough technical 
knowledge of floriculture finally led him to 
enter a college in which special attention was 
given to teaching and practical work pertain- 
ing to floriculture and landscape gardening, 
and he continued his studies in this institution 
until his graduation. Mr. Ryhd continued his 
association with his chosen vocation in his na- 
tive land until 1905, when he came to the 
United States, as he felt assured of better op- 
portunities for here achieving independence 
and success along the line of his profession. 



560 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. XEHRASKA 



Proceeding to the city of Chicago, he there 
found employment in the most extensive green- 
houses in the entire west, — those conducted by 
Pullman Brothers, the conservatories of this 
concern having fully two million square feet 
of glass. From Chicago Mr. Ryhd finally 
went to St. Joseph, Missouri, where for five 
years he held a responsible position with the 
large Stuppy greenhouses. He then came to 
Beatrice, where he has since continued in act- 
ive charge of the large and modern green 
houses of the Dole Floral Company and where 
his ability and progressive methods have aided 
much in conserving the splendid advancement 
and success of the company, he having been 
elected its secretary in the year 1917. He be- 
came one of the stockholders of the company 
at the time its reorganization was effected, in 
1913, for commercial expediency, and as secre- 
tary he has shown marked circumspection in 
the directing of the business policies of this 
important concern. He takes loyal interest in 
all tliat touches the welfare of his adopted 
city and gives his political allegiance to the 
Democratic party, both he and his wife being 
communicants of the Lutheran church. 

In his native land, in the year 1902, was re- 
corded the marriage of Mr. Ryhd to Miss 
Emma Hetland, and the two children of this 
gracious union are Louis and Tellcf. 

CHARLES C. LePOIDEVLX was born 
on the farm which is now his place of resi- 
dence, in Section 13. Midland township, and is 
a son of that sterling territorial pioneer of 
Gage county, Thomas LePoidevin. of whom 
specific mention is made on other pages of 
this work. Charles C. who holds secure pres- 
tige as one of the representative farmers of 
the younger generation in his native coimtv, 
was born July 27. 1S,S2. and was reared to 
manhood under the influences of the home 
farm, the while he made good use of the edu- 
cational advantages afforded in the public 
schools of the locality. At the age of eighteen 
years he began working by the month as a 
farm hand, and two years later he rented land 
and engaged in farming in an independent 
wav. Since 1911 he has had the active con- 



trol and management of his father's fine farm 
estate of two hundred and forty acres, where 
he is bringing to bear the energy and good 
judgment that insure the maximum of success 
in well diversified agriculture and stock-rais- 
ing. In addition to the old homestead he 
gives supervision also to a well improved farm 
of one hundred and twenty acres which he in- 
dividually owns and which also is in Midland 
township. His political allegiance is given to 
the I^emocrat ])arty and he and his wife hold 
membership in the Christian church at Bea- 
trice, from which city their home receives ser- 
vice on rural mail route No. 3. 

On March 6, 1907, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. LePoidevin to Miss Mary Barn- 
ard, who was born in Clay county, Ken- 
tucky, and who is a daughter of George 
Barnard, her father being given individual 
recognition elsewhere in this publication. Mr. 
and Mrs. LePoidevin have three children — 
Velma, born January 16, 1908; Lucile, born 
December 14, 1914; and the third child, horn 
February 4, 1918. 

BARTLET ADEN was another of the 
sterling pioneers who gained through associ- 
ation with agricultural and live-stock industrj' 
in Gage county a generous measure of success, 
and though his financial resources when he 
came to Nebraska were of most limited order 
he so directed his activities that at the time 
of his death, Januar\' 16, 1910, he was the 
owner of a valuabled landed estate of three 
hundred and sixty acres, in Hanover tow'n- 
ship. 

Mr. .Aden was born in Hanover, Germany, 
August 18, 1853. and was there reared and 
educated. As an ambitious youth of eighteen 
years he immigrated to America and made his 
way to the state of Illinois, where he was em- 
ployed \i\ the month at farm work for some 
time and where he continued his residence 
until 1872. when he came to Gage county. Ne- 
braska, where, after having been for three 
years identified with farm enter])rise as an em- 
])loye. he purchased eighty acres of unimproved 
land in Hanover township. His first house 
was a rude dug-out of the true pioneer type 






HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



561 



and with increasing prosperity he later con- 
structed a substantial frame house, which since 
his death has been notably remodeled and en- 
larged by his widow and his only son, who re- 
main on the old homestead. Indefatigable in 
energy and careful and methodical in his busi- 
ness policies, Mr. Aden achieved unequivocal 
success through his farm enterprise, and he 
was one of the representative citizens of Han- 
over township at the time of his death. 

After coming to Gage county Mr. Aden 
wedded Miss Annie Carstens, a member of an 
influential pioneer family of this county, and 
she passed to eternal rest in 1890, a zealous 
communicant of the Lutheran church. Of the 
three children of this union two died in in- 
fancy and the one surviving is Heye B., a pro- 
gressive and resourceful young man who is 
most efliciently managing the family farm es- 
tate, in Section 35, Hanover township, save 
for a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in 
Section 32, which latter property is rented to a 
good tenant. As his second wife Mr. Aden 
married Miss Rachel Schone, who was born 
in Adams county, Illinois and who remains on 
the o4d homestead, as do also her two children, 
Elsabe and Annie, who are popular factors in 
the social life of the community. The family 
hold to the faith of the Lutheran church and 
the attractive home is known for its gracious 
hos])itality and good cheer. 

Heye B. Aden, only son of the honored sub- 
ject of this memoir, was born on the old home 
farm of which he now has the active super- 
vision and the date of his nativity was Decem- 
ber 26, 1883. Here he has constantly main- 
tained his residence and here he early learned 
the vital lessons of productive industry, the 
while he made good use of the advantages af- 
forded in the public schools. He shows great 
energy and discrimination in his activities as 
an agriculturist and stock-grower and is a rep- 
resentative exponent of farm enterprise in his 
native county. He brings to bear modern 
[(olicies in all departments of his farm indus- 
try and is committed firmly to the use of the 
automobile. He holds membership in the 
Lutheran church. He has under his supervis- 
ion a fine farm estate of two hundred acres. 



On June 23, 1917, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Heye B. Aden to Miss Margaret 
Rohlfs, a daughter of Herman and Mary 
( Schone) Rohlfs, natives respectively of Ger- 
many and Adams county, Illinois. They are 
now living on their fine farm of eighty acres, 
in Filley township, Gage county. 

JOHN NELSON FULLER was born 
February 22, 183L at Paris, Maine, but soon 
afterward his parents removed to Livermore, 
Maine, where he grew to manhood. He was 
a scion of a sterling family that was founded 
in New England in the colonial period. The 
original Fuller came to this country in 1644, 
and settled on the winding banks of the 
Charles river, at Newton, now a part of the 
city of Boston. 

As Newton is on the direct road to Con- 
cord and Lexington, it is not surprising that 
Mr. Fuller's grandfather Aaron Fuller, and 
his two great-grandfathers, Elisha Fuller and 
Simeon Pond, are known to have been in the 
Revolutionary war, the first mentioned having 
fought in the battle of Bunker Hill. John N. 
Fuller was graduated in Hebron Academy and 
in 1857 in the historic Bowdoin College, which 
has given to the country so many illustrious 
sons. His schooling was.gained by dint of hard 
work and perseverance, which is the common 
story of the country boy without influential 
friends but ambitious for an education. Prior 
to and during his college course he taught 
school with such success that immediately on. 
graduation he received appointment to conduct 
teachers' institutes under the direction of the 
state superintendent of Maine. The following 
year he became principal of Lewiston Falls 
Academy, which position he later resigned to 
study law. In due time he was admitted to 
the bar, but only for a short period was he 
actively engaged in the practice of law. Upon 
coming west to Illinois, in the early '60s, he 
.again engaged in educational work, as princi- 
pal of schools, and county superintendent, and 
in 1867, he was professor of chemistry and 
natural sciences in Marshall College, at 
Henry. Illinois. 

At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Fuller 



562 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEHRASKA 



responded to President Lincoln's first call for 
volunteers, and he served in Company B 
Eleventh Illinois X'olunteer Infantni-, until his 
discharge. 

On December 25. 1867, John X. Fuller 
married Elizabeth Van Arsdale, who was born 
April 14. 1848, at Fairv-iew, Illinois, but who 
was reared in Henry. Illinois. She is the 
daughter of Peter Beekman \'an Arsdale. and 
his wife, Christianna \"an Der \'eer, of Fair- 
view, Fulton county, Illinois, who came west 
in 1838, to make a home on the unbroken 
prairies of Illinois, — a two months' journey 
via flat boat down the (Miio river. They were 
of New Jersey Dutch ancestry that can be 
traced back to the very earliest settlers of New 
York and New Jersey. On account of poor 
health Mr. Fuller was compelled to give up 
his profession of teaching, and in 1870 he 
came to Nebraska and settled in the new town 
of Beatrice. He was the second superintend- 
ent of the Beatrice schools and during his brief 
administration made a distinct and lasting ifn- 
pression on those who came under his instruc- 
tion, or who were associated with him as teach- 
ers. A series of literary entertainments was 
inaugurated in which both schools and citizens 
took ])art and for which an admission fee of 
ten cents was charged. These entertainments 
formed a prominent part in the social life of 
the town, and the proceeds were sufficient for 
the purchase of a school bell, the first bell in 
Beatrice, and the first that many of the 
younger citizens had ever heard. For years 
it called the cliildren, and children's children 
to school, — until it was cracked in celebrating 
some high-school victory. 

The following year the family moved on a 
tract of land purchased, near the headwaters 
of Bear creek, thirteen miles from Beatrice, 
where they had their quota of pioneer expe- 
rience and hardships. Mrs. Fuller, a small, 
gentle, little woman, shared in the pioneer ex- 
periences in Gage county, and she has many 
interesting reminiscenses concerning the earlier 
period of the county's history. 

Developing a new farm is never easy. The 
first year grasshoppers "came in a cloud tliat 
darkened the sun" and. descending, took every 



growing thing, breaking down the corn stalks 
with their weight, and leaving only round holes 
in the ground where there had been onions. 
They had laid eggs in the plowed ground and 
these eventually hatched in time to take the 
young crop of the second season. 

On June 26, 1875. the third year, a dis- 
astrous cyclone swept away all the buildings 
and left hardly one foundation stone upon 
another, the members of the family barely es- 
caping with their lives. Fleeing to the re- 
fuge of the cellar when the storm struck, Mrs. 
Fuller, with the youngest child in her arms, 
was instantly precipitated to the bottom of the 
cellar, clad only in night clothes, unprotected 
in a cold, pouring rain, and with home and 
possessions scattered like chaff by the winds. 
Mr. Fuller's older child fared not so well, be- 
ing caught up with the house and nearly killed 
amidst the falling timbers. Lilia, with one 
fair braid of hair torn out, bleeding from an 
ugly three-cornered ga.sh in her leg and stun- 
ned by a blow on the temple, was dropped un- 
conscious on the brink of a deep-dug well from 
which the covering had been blown away. The 
father, bruised, skinned, with back injured and 
two ribs broken, managed to crawl through the 
storm and darkness a half mile to neighbors 
for assistance. 

But from these same acres a tine farm was 
developefl. and in time more acres were added 
to this farm property, which valuable estate is 
still in possession of the family. Mr. Fuller 
succeeded in having a "Star RmUe" ])ostoffice 
established, and gave the name Hanover to the 
postoffice and township in honor of the manv 
German neighbors who had left that part of 
Germany to become citizens of America. The 
postoflice was for some years at the Fuller 
residence. One of the first orchards in this 
section was planted at a time when many fami- 
lies believed "fruit would not grow in Ne- 
braska" and in due time abundant crops as 
high as fourteen hundred bushels, afforded 
convincing proof that fruit could be raised. 

After the storm that had wrought havoc, 
as noted in a preceding paragraph, Mr. Fuller 
built another house on the same spot, mostly 
willi his own hands, using many bits of broken 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



563 



lunilier from the demolished house and recon- 
structing the furniture from sphntered frag- 
ments and native black walnut trees u])rooted 
by the tornado. Naturally he antl his wife 
were discouraged, and Mr. Fuller otiered his 
two cows (all they had) to anyone who would 
bring a purchaser for his farm at the very mod- 
est price that he would be glad to get, but no 
purchaser could be found. On this home- 
stead he and his family resided until, in 1888, 
they moved to Beatrice to educate the children. 
At this time the present home on Lincoln 
street was built and here Mr. Fuller lived 
continuously, giving a general supervision to 
his farm property and business affairs, until 
his death, November 12, 1905, of valvular 
heart trouble. He was seventy-four years of 
age at the time of his death and is survived 
by his widow and two daughters, Julia and 
Mary. The oldest daughter, Lilia, having died 
at the age of ten years. The family are found 
active in promoting the intellectual, civic and 
religious interests of the community, have 
taken part in encouraging the Young Woman's 
Christian Association and welfare work and 
are identified with all patriotic and philan- 
thropic movements. Julia has been an officer 
in local and state woman's clubs and is chair- 
man of Woman's Council of Defense in Gage 
county under the war conditions existing in 
1918. Marv has been deeply interested in wel- 
fare and reform work and has the distinction 
of introducing probation work and being the 
first probation officer sewing for the volun- 
teers. From 1915 to 1917 she served as chief 
probation officer of the county. 

Of all that implies strong and noljle man- 
hood Mr. Fuller stood exemplar, and he was 
well qualified for leadership in public sentiment 
and action. He bore his share of the tension 
incidental to pioneer life in Gage county, was 
vitally loyal to the best interests of the com- 
munity. He was an able advocate of the 
principles of the Republican party, was active 
in ])ul)lic affairs in Gage county, and he repre- 
sented, with characteristic ability, this county 
in the twentieth general assembly of the Ne- 
braska legislature, in 1887. His well worn 
volumes of classics and both modern and an- 



cient Latin and Greek testify to his literary 
tastes, and he was keenly interested in the 
latest scientific and political news of the day, 
watching the trend of modern thought always, 
with keen eye to future developments. He 
was a man who thought and studied, who read 
widely and discriminatingly, and who fortified 
himself thoroughly in his convictions. He had 
deep reverence for the spiritual verities of the 
Christian religion, but was not formally iden- 
tified with any church organization. He was 
always keenly alive to all questions of civic 
interest, fearless in espousing what he believed 
right, and convincing in saying what he 
thought. Of him a fellow townsman wrote : 
"He was rugged in his honesty and as unbend- 
ing in his integrity as the rocks that guard the 
coast of his native state. He early learned 
those rules of honesty, thrift and frugality 
that led him to deal as squarely with others 
as he desired them to deal with him. He more 
nearly represented the genuine typical New 
Englander that laid the foundations of state 
and nation than any other man who ever lived 
in our midst.'' 

CLARENCE S. WARREN. — A well 
known, influential, and popular citizen of Be- 
atrice, Mr. Warren has been a resident of Ne- 
braska since he was a lad of fourteen years 
and in his initiative energy and business activ- 
ities he has kept pace with the vital march of 
progress in this favored commonwealth, where 
his capitalistic and real-estate interests are now 
large and important. He gives the major part 
of his time and attention to the management 
of the large estate left by his honored father 
and to that which he has accumulated through 
his own effective operations. Mr. Warren be- 
came a prominent exponent of live-stock indus- 
try and did much to raise the grade of 
stock raised in this state, his attitude being 
essentially that of a broad-gauged, lilieral and 
progressive citizen and in the management of 
his valuable real-estate holdings in Gage 
county he is contributing much to the civic 
and industrial prosperity of the county, his 
status as a citizen and man of affairs being 
such as to make specially consistent the recog- 



564 



HISTORY UF GAGE COL'XTV. NEBRASKA 



nition accorded to him in this history of Gage 
county and the state of Nebraska. 

Mr. Warren was born on his father's old 
homestead farm near Minonk, Woodford 
county, lUinois. and the date of his nativity 
was August 21, 1872. He is a son of John 
and Mary ( Arrowsmith ) Warren, both rep- 
resentatives of sterling pioneer families of 
Illinois, in which state their marriage was sol- 
emnized, both having been natives of England. 
John Warren was bom at Barnstable, luig- 
land, in 1840, and he bore the full patronymic 
of his father, John Warren, who came with 
his family from England and settled in Illi- 
nois prior to the Civil war, both he and his 
wife having passed the remainder of their 
lives in that state, where he gave his attention 
to farming until his death, as did also George 
Arrowsmith, who likewise came from Eng- 
land and became a farmer in Illinois a num- 
ber of years before the Civil war, the latter 
having been the maternal grandfather of the 
subject of this review and having reared a 
family of ten children; both he and his wife 
remained in Illinois until their death. Mrs. 
Mary (Arrowsmith) Warren was still com- 
I)aratively a young woman at the time of her 
death, which occurred in Woodford county. 
Illinois, on the 11th of November. 1S79. her 
birth having occurred in Devonshire. England, 
in 1843. Of the three children of John and 
Mary (Arrowsmith) Warren one died in in- 
fancy and Florence A. died at the age of 
twenty-three years, in 1891, at Beatrice, Ne- 
braska, so that the only survivor is the sub- 
ject of this review. The father eventually 
contracted a second marriage, by his union 
with Miss Lena F. Huntling, who survives 
him and resides in Omaha. Nebraska, the two 
children of this marriage being Myrtle and 
Frank, both residents of the city of Omaha, 
lohn Warren, father of him whose name 
initiates this sketch, was reared and educated 
in England and was about twenty years of age 
when he accompanied his father to America 
and became a resident of Illinois, in 1860. 
Through his active association with agricul- 
tural industry in that state he laid the founda- 
tion of his worthy success as a man of af- 



fairs, and entirely through his own ability and 
elTorts he accumulated a large and valuable 
estate. His self-reliance was on a parity with 
his ambition, and this was clearly demon- 
strated when he purchased an entire section 
of land in Woodford county, Illinois, at a 
time when his capitalistic resources were rep- 
sented almost entirely in determination, am- 
bition, and sturdy integrity of purpose. He 
l)orrowed the money with which to make pay- 
ment on the land and paid ten per cent, in- 
terest on the same. Such an indomitable per- 
sonality could not remain inert or obscure, 
and the genius of success was an intrinsic ele- 
ment of his makeup, as fully attested by the 
large and worthy achievement that was his 
during the years of a significantly active and 
productive career. Mr. Warren coupled his 
agricultural activities with the buying and 
shipping of grain and as early as 1878 he came 
to Nebraska and purchased a tract of land in 
Gage couiity. However, he thereafter con- 
tinued his residence in Woodford county, Illi- 
nois, until 1886, when he came with his family 
to Ciage county and established a home in 
Beatrice, where he passed the residue of his 
life and where his death occurred on the 15th 
of February, 1908. Mr. Warren played a 
sturdy part in connection with the develop- 
ment and progress of this section of the state, 
along both civic and industrial lines, and at 
the time of his demise he was the owner of six 
sections of land — nearly all in Gage county. 
He was indefatigable in making improvements 
upon his various farm properties and in bring- 
ing them up to the best modern standard of 
productivity, the while he made his influence 
definitely helpful in the furtherance of mea- 
sures and enterprises advanced for the gen- 
eral good of the community, his political al- 
legiance having been given to the Democratic 
party, though he had no desire for public 
office, and his religious faith having been that 
of the Christian church: his first wife was 
an earnest member of the Baptist church. 
John Warren gave to the world assurance of 
strong and worthy manhood and showed his 
stewardship in fruitful achievement along the 
normal lines of enterprise in which he directed 



HISTORY OF (^,AGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



565 



his splendid energies. He commanded at all 
times the confidence and esteem of his fellow 
men and was one of the honored and influen- 
tial citizens of Gage count)' at the time of his 
demise. 

Clarence S. ^^'arren acquired his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of Illinois and 
continued his studies in the city schools of 
Beatrice, Nebraska, where the family home 
was established when he was about fourteen 
years of age. For a number of years there- 
after he assisted in the work of his father's 
farm properties, and in the meanwhile he de- 
veloped the admirable initiative and executive 
ability that has been exemplified so potently 
in the later stages of his career. As a youth 
Mr. A\'arren had a measure of experience as a 
bookkeeper and clerk at Beatrice, but in 1892 
he went to southwestern Nebraska and started 
an extensive stock ranch. There he adopted 
the most progressive policies in the raising of 
thoroughbred cattle and Poland-China hogs, 
and he developed a prosperous enterprise in 
this important field. Incidental to his opera- 
tions he purchased an entire section of land, 
in Jefferson county, and of this property he is 
still the owner. From his well improved 
ranch he made regular shipments of live stock 
to Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri, and 
he continued his active regulation of the busi- 
ness for nine years. He then returned to 
Beatrice, to assist in the management of his 
father's business, and since the death of his 
father he has had virtually the sole manage- 
ment of the large family estate. 

Though distinctively loyal and public-spirit- 
ed in his civic attitude and taking a lively in- 
terest in jjublic attairs, Mr. Warren has had 
no desire to enter the arena of jjractical poli- 
tics and is not constrained by partisan lines, 
as he prefers to give his support to men and 
measures meeting the approval of his judg- 
ment, irrespective of political affiliations in- 
volved. In 1907 Mr. Warren erected his at- 
tractive residence, at 806 North Ninth street, 
and this is not only one of the finest homes in 
Beatrice but is also known as a center of 
gracious hospitality. Mr. Warren is affiliated 
with both York and Scottish Rite bodies of 



the Masonic fraternity, in the former of which 
his maximum alliance is with Mount Herman 
Commander)- of Knights Templars, and he is 
affiliated also with the adjunct Masonic or- 
ganization, the Mystic Shrine, as well as with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. 
Both he and his wife are members of the Bap- 
tist church. 

In the year 1895 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Warren to Miss Gertrude C. 
Tipton, who was born at Glenwood, Iowa, and 
the three children of this union are John C, 
Maxwell S., and Clift'ord E., the two younger 
sons being students in the public schools of 
Beatrice at the time of this writing, in the 
spring of 1918, and the eldest son, John C, 
being mmibered among the patriotic young 
men preparing for active service with the 
American forces in the great European war: 
at the time of the preparation of this article 
he is stationed at Deming, New Mexico, as a 
member of the medical corps of the One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-fourth United States In- 
fantry. 

• 

SAMUEL LEONARD PYLE is one of 
the honored pioneers and successful farmers 
of Paddock township. He is a native of New 
Jersey and was born January 9, 1839. His 
father, Samuel Leonard Pyle, likewise was 
born in New Jersey, and in 1845 he sought a 
home in what was then considered the far 
west. In Lee county, Illinois, he secured a 
homestead. He became one of the substantial 
farmers of that county and there he passed 
away at the age of eighty-two years. He mar- 
ried Emeline Moffit, a native of New Jersey, 
and she was seventy-six years of age at the 
time of her death, which occurred in Illinois. 

Samuel Leonard Pyle, the subject of this 
record, was a lad of seven summers when the 
family home was established in Illinois, and 
he was there reared to the sturdy discipline 
of a pioneer farm, his time being divided be- 
tween study in the district .school and the 
tasks on the farm. 

In 1S(;)0, when twenty-one years of age, he 
drove a herd of cows across the plains in 



566 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. NEBRASKA 




3 
< 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



567 



company with some other young men, an<l 
finally went to Denver, Colorado. Young 
Pyle spent two years in the mountains and 
then returned to Illinois. In 1865 he went to 
Rock Island county, that state, and engaged in 
farming, remaining there until the fall of 
1879, when he came to Nebraska and filed on 
eighty acres of land in Paddock township. 
Gage county. This land had only recently 
been opened for settlement, having previously 
been in possession of the Otoe Indians. In 
the spring of 1880 Mr. Pyle brought his wife 
to the new country. Their first home was an 
upright board shanty, fourteen by sixteen feet 
in dimensions, and in this they lived for sev- 
eral years. They were in very moderate 
financial circumstances. • Their first cow, 
bought after they arrived in Gage county, was 
staked out with a lariat, before any fences 
had been built. 

Mr. Pyle devoted his energies to improving 
and cultivating the land, and in due time was 
reaping golden harvests for the intelligent 
labor bestowed upon the fields. Later he was 
able to add to his possessions another eighty 
acres, and to-day the farm consists of one 
hundred and sixty acres, in Section I. The 
improvements on this farm are first-class, con- 
sisting of two residence and good outbuild- 
ings. Mr. Pyle has now laid aside the more 
active work, placing the mantle upon the 
shoulders of his son, who operates the place 
in his own interests. 

On December 25, 1864, Mr. Pyle was 
united in marriage to Miss Cornelia William- 
son, who was born in the state of New York, 
her natal day having been January 10, 1846. 
Her parents, Jacob and Sophia (Ray) Wil- 
liamson, were likewise natives of the Empire 
state, and were among the early settlers in 
Eee county, Illinois, where they passed the 
remainder of their lives. The marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Pyle was blessed with three 
children : Franklin died at the age of four 
years; Cora is the wife of Charles Miller, a 
farmer in Sicily township ; and Edwin, who 
married Cora Fye, ojjerates the old home 
farm: he and his wife have a W'insome little 
daughter, Mildred. 



Mr. and Mrs. Pyle have seen this region 
transformed from wild, unbroken prairie into 
beautiful farms, dotted with innumerable 
homes, with here and there thriving villages. 
Wymore was not in existence when they came, 
and they saw that hustling town when the 
streets were in the cornfields. By careful 
management and unceasing energy in these 
thirty-eight years this worthy pioneer couple 
justly deserve the reward that permits them 
to spend their declining years in ease and com- 
fort. They have both passed the psalmist's 
allotted three score and ten years, and both 
are still hale and hearty, provided with all the 
necessities and many of the luxuries of life, 
and enjoying the just returns from intelli- 
gently directed effort in the years that have 
jiassed. 

HARVEY W. GIDDINGS, whose death 
occurred at his attractive farm home in Mid- 
land township, was a pioneer citizen of Ne- 
braska and was a man whose fine qualities of 
mind and heart caused him to view with ex- 
ceptional equanimity financial reverses and 
other adverse conditions and to find in the 
same but a spur to renewed and more vigor- 
ous effort. He left a deep impress upon the 
history of farm enterprise in Gage county, 
here achieved large and worthy success and 
here held his direct and ujjright course in such 
a way as to merit and received the unqualified 
esteem of his fellow men. 

The eldest in a family of eleven children, 
nine of whom attained to adult age, Harvey 
W. Giddings was born in McKean township, 
Erie county, Penn.sylvania, January 11, 1830. 
and was a son of John W. and Hannah (Staf- 
ford) Giddings, the former a native of Massa- 
chusetts and the latter of the state of New 
York. The lineage of the Giddings family 
traces back to the staunchest of Scottish 
origin and the founder of the American line 
was the great-grandfather of the subject of 
this memoir, he having come to America when 
a young man. The Stafford family is of Eng- 
lish origin. In 1840 John W. Giddings re- 
moved with his family to Illinois and became 
a pioneer settler in Warren county, where he 



568 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. XEI'.RASKA 



became a prosperous farmer, his death occur- 
ring in 1881, when he was seventy-seven years 
of age, and his widow having passed away in 
1885, at the age of seventy-six years. Harvey 
W. Giddings, with an exceptionally receptive 
mind, made the best possible use of the ad- 
vantages of the common schools of Illinois, 
and it is a matter of record that he was but 
four years old when he Ijcgan to attend school 
in Pennsylvania, he having been al)out ten 
years of age at the lime of the family removal 
to Illinois. He remained at the parental home 
and assisted in the work of the farm until he 
had attained to the age of twenty-tive years. 
He then returned to Pennsylvania and wedded 
Miss Rebecca K. McCkirc, who had been one 
of his childhood schoolmates. She was born 
in Pennsylvania, ( )ctober 16, 1836, a daugh- 
ter of George W. and Elizabeth (Shirer) Mc- 
Clue, the former a native of Ireland and the 
latter of Holland, the closing years of their 
lives having been passed in Illinois, where 
they established their home in 1865. .\fter 
their marriage Mr. and .Mrs. Giddings estab- 
lished themselves in the pleasant home which 
he had provided for their use. and with the 
passing years he accumulated in Illinois a 
valuable landed estate of nine thousand acres. 
His faith in others led to his assuming for 
them heavy financial responsibility, and on ac- 
count of being compelled to pay these large 
obligations for others he became virtually 
bankrupt. Under these depressing conditions 
Mr. Giddings girded himself anew and with 
characteristic courage prepared to retrieve his 
fortunes. In the spring of 1874 he came with 
his family to Nebraska and rented land in 
BufTalo county. His first crop was destroyed 
by grasshoppers and the outlook would have 
brought utmost discouragement to the average 
man. This sturdy pioneer, howevef, was not , 
to be baffied, and finally, in 1876, he came to 
Gage county, where he operated for a time 
on leased land. He then established himself 
on a ranch of twelve hundred acres owned by 
the Kansas & Missouri Stage Company, and 
here he broke and placed under cultivation 
more than four hundred acres, all of which 
he fenced with wire. Unequivocal ])rosperity 



attended his energetic activities and he re 
mained on this ranch six years. In the mean- 
while, in 1879, he purchased two hundred and 
forty acres, in Midland township, and to the 
same he removed with his family in 1882. He 
developed this into one of the model farms of 
the county, and extended his operations by 
the leasing of additional land. He thus uti- 
lized si.x hundred acres, and his activities were 
carried on with discrimination and good judg- 
ment, he having been a large grower of the 
various cereals, as well as flax, having con- 
ducted a substantial dain,'ing business and 
having raised cattle on a large scale. He was M 
a leader in the promotion of effective farm en- 
terprise in this section of the state, and was 
the staunch and loyal supporter of education, 
of churches and of all other things making 
for civic wellbeing. his political allegiance 
having been given to the Republican partv 
and his wife haxing held to the faith of 
the Presbyterian church. They became the 
l)arents of ten children : Flora E. died 
March 3. 1883; Carrie, on the 22d of April, 
1882; Edwin oh the 16th of November, 1884; 
and Carl and Rebecca E. likewise are de- 
ceased; Jennie is the wife of James Kerr, a 
retired farmer residing in the city of Denver, 
Colorado ; S. E. is individually mentioned on 
other pages of this history ; Harry is a far- 
mer one mile east of Beatrice; Susie is the 
wife of A. C. Calhoun, of McCook, this state: 
and Ralph is associated with banking business 
at Missoula, Montana. 

JACOB A. KLEIN. — Both as a represen- 
tative business man and loyal and progressive 
citizen is Mr. Klein well upholding the pres- 
tige of a name that has been long and signifi- 
cantly honored in Gage county, and he is 
vice-president of Klein's Mercantile Com- 
pany, which conducts, in his native city of 
Beatrice, one of the leading department stores 
in this section of Nebraska. Of his father 
si)ecific mention is made on other pages of this 
]niblication, and in that connection is given 
adequate review also of the business conducted 
under the corporate title noted. 

Mr. Klein was born at Beatrice, this countv. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



569 



on the 13th of August, 1(S73, and is the eldest 
of the three sons of Jacob Klein, who is still 
the executive head of the Klein's Mercantile 
Company. Mr. Klein profited fully by the ad- 
vantages afforded in the excellent public 
schools of Beatrice and as a youth began to 
assist in his father's store. He has literally 
grown up in the business and has matured his 
discrimination and administrative ability as a 
merchant, with the result that he exercises 
large influence in the conducting and directing 
of the large and thriving mercantile business 
with which he has been identified during the 
entire course of his active career. He has been 
vice-president of Klein's Mercantile Company 
from the time of its incorporation, in 1901. 

The local ranks of the Democratic party find 
Mr. Klein aligned as a staunch supporter of 
the cause for which the now dominant jKirty 
stands sponsor, and he has been active and in- 
fluential in the furtherance of the party cause. 
Recognition of this fact has been officially 
shown by his being retained as a colonel on the 
military stafif of Governor Moorhead and later 
on that of Governor Neville. He is an appre- 
ciative and popular member of the Beatrice 
Lodge of the Benevolent & Protective Order 
of Elks, his religious faith is that of the Lu- 
theran church, under the influences of which 
he was reared, and his wife is an active mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church : they are 
leaders in the social activities of the city of 
Beatrice and delight in extending to their 
many friends the hospitality of their pleasant 
home. The year 1905 recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Klein to Miss Myrtle Grimes, who was 
born at Holton, Kansas, and who is a daugh- 
ter of J. A. Grimes, she having been about 
twenty-two years of age at the time of the 
family removal to Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs 
Klein have two children — Alan, who was 
born in the year 1906, and jean, who was born 
in 1915. 

LUDWIG MOSCHEL. who came to Gage 
county in 1875 and who here won substantial 
success through his vigorous association with 
farm enterprise, passed the closing years of 
his life in the citv of Beatrice, where he died 



in 1915 and where his widow still maintains 
her home. He was a man of strong mind, of 
determined purpose and of untiring industry, 
a citizen of sterling worth and one who com- 
manded unqualified popular esteem. 

Mr. Moschel was born at Webensheim, 
Bavaria, Germany, on the 12th of November, 
1843, a son of Christian and Margaret 
(Schantz) Moschel. He received in his na- 
tive land excellent educational advantages and 
was an ambitious youth of seventeen years 
when he came to America and established his 
residence in Illinois. There, in the year 1869, 
was solemnized his marriage to Miss Catherine 
Klein, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, 
June 24, 1849, and who was a girl at the time 
when she came with her parents to the United 
States, the family home being established in 
Illinois : she is a sister of Jacob Klein, of whom' 
definite mention is made on other pages, with 
adequate incidental record concerning the fam- 
ily. The father of Mr. Moschel was a cabinet- 
maker by trade and passed his entire life in 
Gemiany. In 1860 the widowed mother came 
with her seven children to the United States 
and settlement was made on a farm a few 
miles distant from Peoria, Illinois, in which 
state she passed the remainder of her life. 

After his marriage Mr. Moschel continued 
his association with farm activities in Illinois 
until 1875, when he came with his family to 
Gage county. He had sufficient money to 
make partial payment on a farm of eighty 
acres, three miles north of Beatrice, and his 
industry and good management brought to 
him gratifying success in the years that fol- 
lowed. He accumulated and improved a fine 
farm estate of three hundred and twenty acres 
and continued as one of the representative 
agriculturists and stock-growers of Midland 
township until 1907, when he retired and es- 
tal)lished his home in Beatrice, where his 
death occurred eight years later. He took 
loyal interest in community affairs, was a 
Democrat in politics and while residing on his 
farm he served as a member of the school 
board. His religious faith was that of the 
Lutheran church, of which his widow likewise 
is a devoted communicant. 



570 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. XERRASKA 



In conclusion of this memoir is given brief 
record concerning the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Moschel: Lena is the wife of Emory 
Ellis and they reside on the old homestead 
fami of her father; August L. is a carpenter 
hy trade and is engaged in contracting and 
building operations in the city of Beatrice; 
Catherine remains with her widowed mother; 
Albert C. resides in the city of Lincoln and is 
a traveling commercial salesman ; Emma re- 
mains with her mother; Bertha L. is the wife 
of Albert Pretzer, residing three miles north 
of Beatrice; Ida is the wife of .August Pret- 
zer. a prosperous farmer in Midland town- 
ship; and Lizzie L. died in IS.Sl. at the age of 
eight years. 

DA\ID G. GRIFFITHS, M. D., the efifi- 
cient and honored sujKTintendent of the Ne- 
braska Institution for Feeble Minded Youth, 
at Beatrice, is a representative of one of the 
well known iiioneer families of Richardson 
county, this state, where he was born Novem- 
ber 27, 1875, a son of David and Mary Ellen 
(Young) Griffiths, the fomier of whom was 
born in Pennsylvania, in 1845, and the latter 
in Wisconsin, in 1851. The marriage of the 
parents wa.s solemnized in \N'isconsin, and in 
1869 they established their home in the new 
state of Nebraska, Mr. Griffiths having pre- 
viously visited the state and having obtained a 
tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land 
in Richardson county. To this he gradually 
added until he had accumulated and improved 
a valuable landed estate of four hundred acres, 
which he still owns. About a decade ago he 
retired from his farm and he and his wife 
have since maintained their home in the vil- 
lage of Verdon, Richardson county. They 
made the journey from Wisconsin to Nebras- 
ka with team and covered wagon and by his 
energy and good management he here achieved 
large and worthy success. David Griffiths was 
a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, 
and was wounded severely in the right shoul- 
der, the injury having been such as permanent- 
ly to cripple his right arm. Of the six children 
four are living: Daniel is a farmer near \'er- 
don, Richardson county; David G., of this 



review, is the next younger son ; Edward is a 
successful exponent of farm industry near 
X'erdon ; and Florence is the wife of William 
H. Henderson, a farmer in the same locality. 
The parents are active members of the Con- 
gregational church. David Griffiths holds af- 
filiation with the Grand Army of the Republic, 
and in politics he is a staunch Republican. 
While on his farm he served in various town- 
ship offices. His father. Daniel Griffiths, was 
born in Wales and came to the United States 
in the early '40s, first settling in Pennsylvania 
and finally removing with his family to Wis- 
consin, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. 

Dr. David C Griffiths was afforded in bis 
youth excellent educational advantages, and 
after having been a student in the Nebraska 
State Normal School at Peru he entered the 
medical department of the University of Ne- 
braska, in which he was graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1902. After thus receiving 
his degree of Doctor of Medicine he engaged 
in the practice of his profession at Verdon, in 
his native county. Three years later he removed 
to Falls City, and after having there been en- 
gaged in practice about eighteen months he 
went to the city of Lincoln, which constituted 
the stage of his successful professional activ- 
ities until 1913. In the year last mentioned be 
became pathologist at the Nebraska State Hos- 
pital for the Insane, and this position he re- 
tained until February 1, 1916, when he as- 
sumed his present responsible and exacting 
office, that of superintendent of the Nebraska 
Institution for Feeble Minded Youth. The 
Doctor has given close study to the care and 
uj)lifting of the unfortunate wards of this 
admirable institution, the number of inmates 
l)eing about six hundred, and his effective ad- 
ministration is fully justifying his appoint- 
ment to the position. 

In 1902 was solemnized the marriage of 
Dr. Griffiths to Miss Nora Moore, who was 
born in Kansas, a daughter of John and Katie 
(Eby) Moore, who now reside at \\'vmore. 
Gage county. Nebraska. Mr. Moore being a 
locomotive engineer on the Chicago, Burling- 
ton & Quincv Railroad. Dr. and Mrs. Grif- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



571 



fiths have but one child, Heath, who was born 
in 1903, and who is attending the Beatrice 
schools. 

Dr. Griffiths is a valued member of the Gage 
County Medical Societ)' and the Nebraska 
State Medical Society, besides being actively 
identified with the American Medical Asso- 
ciation. His political allegiance is given to 
the Republican party, he is affiliated with the 
Masonic fraternity and he and his wife are 
communicants of the Protestant Episcopal 
church. 



JOHN E. KING. — A worthy native son 
of Gage county is John Edward King, who is 
operating one hundred and sixty acres of land 
in Sherman township. 

Mr. King was born on his father's farm in 
Filley township, December 29, 1884, a son of 
Charles W. King, deceased, whose record ap- 
pears elsewhere in this volume. John E. King 
was reared on a farm and learned the best 
methods of tilling the soil, planting and har- 
vesting crops, which enables him to-day lo 
make a success of his chosen calling. 

Mr. King was united in marriage, July 4-, 
1914, to Miss Georgia Starns, a native of In- 
diana, a daughter of Elijah Starns, of Ham- 
burg, Iowa. They are a worthy young couple, 
who ha\e a host of friends in Gage county. 

GEORGE E. ZIMMERMAN. — Hanover 
township well merits its name, for within its 
borders are to be found many influential citi- 
zens who were born in the beautiful province 
of Hanover, Germany, and who have done 
much in furthering the civic and industrial 
development and progress of Gage county. 
Among the representative farmers of the 
township who can claim this ancestral and 
personal distinction is Mr. Zimmerman, who 
was born in Hanover, Germany, March 17, 
1856, a son of Riender R. and Johanna 
(Bless) Zimmerman, who came with their 
family to America in 1876 and settled in 
Champaign county, Illinois. There the father 
farmed on rented land until 1879, when he 
came to Nebraska and numbered himself 



among the pioneers of Gage county. He 
bought one hundred and sixty acres of wild 
prairie land, in Hanover township, and after 
erecting a substantial barn on the place he 
equipped the building as a temporary- resi- 
dence for his family. About three years later 
he built a good house on his farm. There 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives, as honored pioneer citizens, and both 
were earnest communicants of the German 
Lutheran church. Of their five children the 
subject of this review is the eldest of the 
four surviving; I{tta is the wife of John Job- 
man, a retired farmer residing in the city of 
Beatrice ; Lizzie, who resides in the village of 
Pickrell, this county, is the widow of John 
Meints ; and Riender is a prosperous farmer 
five miles east of Beatrice. 

George E. Zimmerman acquired his youth- 
ful education in the excellent schools of his 
native land and was seventeen years of age 
when he came to the United States. For a 
period of about eighteen months he was em- 
ployed in the railroad shops at Galesburg, 
Illinois, and he then became associated with 
the tending of horses at Terre Haute, In- 
diana. In 1879 he came with his parents to 
Gage county, where he assisted in reclaiming 
and improving his father's farm and where he 
finally purchased eighty acres of land from 
his father, in Hanover township. Of the suc- 
cess that has attended his well ordered activ- 
ities as an agriculturist and stock-grower no 
further evidence is needed than the fact that 
he is now the owner of a well improved and 
valuable farm estate of four hundred acres — 
all in this county. On his homestead farm he 
erected his present commodious and modern 
house and other buildings of the best type, 
and he is one of the substantial citizens of 
Hanover township. 

The year 1880 recorded the marriage of 
^Ir. Zimmerman to Miss Rixte DeBuhr, who 
likewise is a native of Hanover, Germany, and 
of their six children five are living: Johanna 
is the wife of George Idines, a prosperous 
farmer of Logan township; Jennie is the wife 
of William Remmers, who is a farmer in Han- 
over township; F<tta is the wife of Harm 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



Idines, a farmer in Hanover township : 
Menne is engaged in farm enterprise five 
miles east of the village of Pickrell ; and Liz- 
zie is the wife of Arnold Behr, a farmer seven 
miles east of Beatrice. 

Mr. Zimmerman is a man whose mental and 
moral qualities well fortify him for leader- 
ship in community affairs, and he is one of 
the honored and influential citizens of Han- 
over townshi]). 1 lis political allegiance is 
given to the Democratic party and he is serv- 
ing as justice of the peace, as well as chairman 
of the official hoard of Hanover townshij). 
He and his wife are zealous communicants of 
the Zion's German Lutheran church of Han- 
over, the strongest and wealthiest church or- 
ganization in Gage county. 

FRED F. VAN BOSKIRK, a progressive 
farmer and stock-grower of Midland town- 
ship, has an attractive homestead of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres — the northeast quarter 
of Section 8. He was horn at Cedar Rapids, 
Iowa, March 15, lcS81, a son of Lincoln and 
Celia (Freer) Van Boskirk, of wiiose four 
children he is the youngest; Mae is the wife 
of C. R. Munford, who is individually men- 
tioned in this history; Daisie is the wife of 
Curtis C. LaForge. of Midland township; and 
Frank O. is another of the prosperous far- 
mers of this township. 

Lincoln \'an Boskirk was bom in Pennsyl- 
vania. January 15, 1826, and his death oc- 
curred July 15, 1905. He was a pioneer of 
the state of iowa and there operated sales 
stables first in Cedar Rapids and later at Iowa 
City, giving much attention to buying horses 
for the go\ernment and also dealing somewhat 
extensively in mules. In 1885 he came with 
his family to Gage county and here he traded 
horses for a section of land in Midland town- 
ship, the property having been unimproved. 
He developed a fine farm property and the 
present homestead of his son Fred, of this 
review, is a part of the same. Mrs. Celia 
(Freer) Van Bo.skirk was born in Ashland. 
Ohio, April 18, 1849, and passed to the life 
eternal on the 2d of August, 1910. 

Fred F. \'an Boskirk was about four vears 



old at the time of the family removal to Gage 
county, where he was reared on the pioneer 
farm of his father and duly availed himself 
of the advantages of the public schools. He 
was, however, only thirteen years old when he 
began to assert his youthful independence and 
provide for himself. He traveled about and 
for four years he was employed in a meat- 
packing plant in Kansas City, Missouri, liis 
father then gave to him his present farm, 
upon which he has erected a modem house 
and made other good improvements, and he is 
alert and ])rogressive in his activities as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower, in which lat- 
ter dejjartment he gives special attention to 
the raising of Hereford cattle. He is inde- 
pendent in politics and his wife is a member 
of the Presbyterian church. 

Aug;ust 25. 1905. recorded the marriage of 
Mr. \"an Boskirk to Miss Ella Dole, who was 
born at Mil ford, Seward county, Nebraska, a 
daughter of Josiah and Sophia ( Hooker) 
Dole, the family being definitely represented 
on other pages of this publication. Mr. and 
Mrs. X'lu Boskirk became the parents of five 
children, all of whom are living except Ruth, 
the firstborn ; Lauretta. Katharine. Venita, and 
Harold lend joy to the pleasant home. 

Mr. \'an Boskirk is a successful breeder of 
fine Belgian draft horses, as well as trotting 
and saddle horses and mules, his boyhood ex- 
perience having been such as to give him 
special predilection for enterprise along this 
line. In the early frontier days his father was 
a freighter from Iowa to Colorado. This 
sterling pioneer received deed to his land in 
Midland township from President .Andrew 
Jackson, and he was one of the venerable 
pioneer citizens of Gage county at the time 
of his death. 

EILERT D. CRAMER. — When, in 1888, 
Mr. Cramer arrived in Gage county, as an 
ambitious and determined youth of eighteen 
years, his financial resources were represented 
in the sum of one dollar. He came to this 
county soon after his immigration from Ger- 
many and that he has wrought wisely and well 
in the intervening years needs no further 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



573 



voucher than the statement that he is now the 
owner of a well improved farm estate of two 
hundred and forty acres, in Section 16, Han- 
over township. Like so large a percentage of 
the representative citizens of this township, 
Mr. Cramer was born in the province of Han- 
o\er, Germany, the date of his nativity having 
been August 1, 1870. His parents, Dick E. 
and Ah1ke (Gerdes) Cramer, are now ven- 
erable in years and still reside in their native 
land, representatives of old and honored fam- 
ilies of the province of Hanover and both 
earnest members of the German Lutheran 
church. Of their eight children five are liv- 
ing and the eldest is Henry, who remains in 
Germany; Etta is the wife of John Brims, a 
successful farmer of Hanover township, Gage 
county; the subject of this sketch was the next 
in order of birth: Helena and Anna remain 
with their parents, in Germany. 

Eilert D. Cramer acquired his education in 
the excellent schools of his native land and in 
1888 he came to America and established his 
residence in Gage county, as previously noted. 
For the ensuing four years he was employed 
at farm work. He carefully saved his earn- 
ings and in 1899 he made his first purchase of 
land — eighty acres, in Hanover township. 
In the following year he established his home 
on this farm, which he brought under effective 
cultivation, and later he sold the property and 
bought his present fine homestead farm, to 
which he has gradually added until he is now 
the owner of two hundred and forty acres, 
the same being well improved and the at- 
tractive modern residence on the place having 
l>een completed in 1917. Mr. Cramer gives 
special attention to the raising of live stock, 
but gains the best of returns also in the agri- 
cultural department of his farm enterprise. 

April 5, 1894, recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Cramer to Aliss Hannah Alberts, who was 
Ijorn in Brown county, Illinois, and is a daugh- 
ter of Benjamin and Trintje (Gronewold) 
Alberts, who came to America about 1873, 
shortly after the close of the Franco-Prussian 
war. Benjamin Alberts was a sailor by voca- 
tion and followed a seafaring career during 
the major part of his active career. L'pon 



coming to the United States he first settled in 
Brown county, Illinois, where the family 
home was continued eight years. With team 
and wagon the overland journey to Nebraska 
was then made and the family located on a 
rented form in Gage county, the sons assum- 
ing active charge of the work, as the father 
had little experience in farm enterprise. 
Benjamin Alberts died in 1888 and his widow 
survived him by a quarter of a century, her 
death occurring in June, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cramer became the parents of six children, 
of whom five are living and all of whom re- 
main at the parental home — Helen, Richard, 
John, Christina, and Edwin. 

Mr. Cramer has been fully appreciative of 
the opportunities and advantages that have 
been afforded him in Gage county and thus his 
civic loyalty is of the insistent order. His 
political support is given to the Republican 
party and his ability and personal popularity 
have led to his being called upon to serve in 
various local offices of public trust, including 
those of assessor, clerk, and treasurer of Han- 
o\er township, as well as census enumerator 
and as a member of the school board of his 
district, of which last named office he has 
been the incumlient for many years. 

HERMAN WOLKEN is another of the 
sterling pioneers who has won large and 
worthy success in connection with the devel- 
opment of the fine natural resources of Gage 
county, where he has through his own ability 
and industry accumulated a valuable farm es- 
tate of eight hundred and eighty acres, his 
attractive homestead place being situated in 
Section 31, Hooker township and the village 
of Filley being his postoffice address. 

Mr. Wolken was born in the Province of 
Hanover, Germany, on the 10th of October, 
1851, and there his parents, Henry and Chris- 
tina (Bowman) Wolken, passed their entire 
lives, both having been earnest communicants 
of the Lutheran church and the father having 
been a prosperous farmer. Of the six chil- 
dren the eldest is John, who is now a success- 
ful farmer in Hanover township. Gage county, 
as is also Henry; .Annie is the wife of John 



574 



HISTORY (JF gage C()L"XTV. XHIJRASKA 



Freline, of Franklin comity, this state; and 
George and Henry still reside in Germany. 

Herman Wolken was reared and educated 
in his native land and was nineteen years of 
age when he severed the home ties and came 
to the United States, in 1871. He passed the 
ensuing four years in Illinois, and he then, in 
1875, came to Gage county, where for two 
years he farmed on rented land. He then 
purchased eighty acres of unimi)roved land, 
in Hooker township, and this constituted the 
nucleus around which he has by industry and 
good management develoi)ed his present large 
and well inij)roved fanii estate. His course 
has been guided and governed by the highest 
l)rinciples and thus his success has been well 
merited, the while he has equally deserved the 
unqualified popular esteem reposed in him. 
He is a staunch Republican in politics and he 
and his family are earnest commum'cants of 
the Lutheran church. 

In Illinois, the year 1873 recorded the mar- 
riage of Mr. Wolken to Miss Christina Bow- 
man, who was born in Germany and whose 
parents .came to America and settled in Illi- 
nois when she was a girl, her father, Reinhard 
Bowman, having there become a farmer and 
having there passed the remainder of his life. 
Mr. and Mrs. Wolken have these children: 
Henry is a farmer in Hanover township; 
Annie is the wife of Heye Parde, of that 
township; Kate is the wife of Mene Ruhr, a 
farmer in the same township. 

C. A. H.ALL has served efficiently as cash- 
ier of the Citizens' State Bank in the village 
of Virginia since 1909 and is a poi)ular scion 
of one of the sterling pioneer families of 
southeastern Nebraska. He was born on his 
father's farm in Pawnee county, this state, 
and the date of his nativity was December 9, 
1878. He is a son of William and Haimah 
(Manock) Hall, the former of whom was 
born in Scotland and llic latter in England. 
The father was sixty-four years of age at the 
time of his death and the mother, who now 
resides at Roosevelt, Oklahoma, celebrated in 
1917 the seventy-second anniversary of her 
birth. 



William Hall was reared and educated in 
his native land and was a youth when he came 
to the United States, prior to the outbreak of 
the Civil war. His juvenile loyalty was such m^ 
that, at the age of si.xteen years, he tendered 
his services in defense of the nation's in- 
tegrity, by enlisting as a private in the One 
Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois \'olun- 
teer Infantry, with which command he pro- 
ceeded to the front and with which he serv'ed 
about two years, in the meanwhile taking part 
in numerous engagements of important order. 
The concussion of a cannon broke the drum 
of his left ear, and the injury continued to 
cause him no inconsiderable trouble during 
the remainder of his life. After the close ot 
the war he returned to Illinois and after his 
marriage he there continued his residence 
until he numbered himself among the pioneer 
settlers of Pawnee county, Nebraska, where 
he j)urchased a homestead claim and instituted 
the developinent of a farm. .X few years later 
he sold the property and turned his attention 
to buying and shipping live-stock, at Pawnee 
City. There he continued his successful op- 
erations along this important line of industrial 
and commercial enterprise for fully a quarter 
of a century, and he was one of the honored 
])ioneers and valued citizens of Pawnee coun- 
ty. William Hall was a Republican in politics 
and he and his wife were long numbered 
among the acti\e memliers of the Presby- 
terian church at Pawnee City, he having been 
aft'iliated with the Masonic fraternity. His 
brother .Vndrew was one of the early em- 
ployes of the Wells-Fargo Express Company 
and was killed by robbers who made an at- 
tem()t to take from him a valuable express 
consignment. William and Hannah (Man- 
ock) Hall became the parents of five children : 
Sadie remains with her widowed mother ; W. 
T. is railroad station agent at Nemaha City, 
Nebraska; Mamie is the wife of \\'. L. Laugh- 
lin, a farmer in ( )klahoma ; C. A., of this 
review, was the ne.xt in order of birth ; and 
Zula is the wife of W. L. Griffith, a farmer 
in Oklahoma. 

C. .-X. Hall continued to attend the jnibli ■ 
schools until he had completed a course in 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



D/D 



the high school at Pawnee and thereafter he 
learned the trade of telegraphy and became 
an operator on the line of the Rock Island 
Railroad. As operator and station agent he 
continued in the service of the Rock Island 
Lines about fifteen years, during five and one. 
half years of which period he was station 
agent at Virginia. Upon retiring from this 
position, in 1909, he became associated with 
the Citizens' State Bank in this village, and 
he was made cashier of the institution, a po- 
sition of which he has since continued the 
incumbent and in which he has done much to 
further the advancement of the business of 
the substantial bank, which bases its opera- 
tions on a capital stock of seventy-five hun- 
dred dollars and the deposits of which average 
about one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
dollars. Mr. Hall is one of the vital and pro- 
gressive citizens and business men of Vir- 
ginia, is a Republican in politics and has 
served as a member of the village board of 
trustees, as well as township treasurer. lie 
is affiliated with the local organization of the 
Royal Highlanders. 

In 1909 was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Hall to Miss Lucille Cripe, who was bom and 
reared in Gage county and who was a daugh- 
ter of Adam Cripe, one of the substantial 
farmers of Rockford township. Mrs. Hall 
passed to eternal rest on the 15th of Febru- 
ary, 1916, and is survived by no children. 

.A.LLEN M. DARWIN is one of the most 
alert and progressive young business men of 
the village of Virginia, where he leases and 
conducts the grain elevator and also is the 
owner of a well ordered automobile garage, 
in connection with which latter enterprise he 
is agent for the popular Buick automobile. 

Mr. Darwin was born in Wright county, 
Iowa, April 29, 1883, and is a son of George 
and Emma (Taylor) Darwin, the former of 
whom was born in England, about 1856, and 
the latter of whom was born in Will county, 
Illinois, in 1860. The death of the father oc- 
curred in 1910 and that of the mother in 
1912, their marriage having been solemnized 
at Joliet, Illinois. George Darwin was four 



years of age when his parents came to the 
United States and established their home in 
Illinois, where he was reared and educated, 
and in Iowa he continued his alliance with 
farm industry until about 1894, when he 
came with his family to Gage county and set- 
tled on a farm in Filley township. In the 
following year he engaged in the meat market 
business in the village of Virginia, where he 
continued operations along this line for eleven 
years and where both he and his wife passed 
the remainder of their lives. Of their six 
children the subject of this review is the eld- 
est ; Harry E. is a farmer in Sherman town- 
ship ; May is the wife of Roy Ramsey, who 
is engaged in business in the city of Beatrice; 
V'ern is a commercial traveler and maintains 
his home in Siou.x City, Iowa ; Beatrice is the 
Vi'ife of Glenn C. McKinney, a farmer in 
Colorado; and Clifford is, in 1918, a student 
in the high school at Beatrice. The parents 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and the father was a Republican in 
Ijolitics and affiliated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity and the Modern Woodmen of 
.Vmerica. 

After the family removal to Gage county 
Allen M. Darwin, then a lad of about eleven 
years, attended the public schools in the vil- 
lage of Virginia, and thereafter he continued 
his active association with farming until he 
was twenty-four years of age. In 1911 he 
leased the grain elevator at \'irginia, and in 
this connection he has since controlled a sub- 
stantial business in the handling of grain, be- 
sides having developed a prosperous garage 
and automobile business. 

October 5, 1916, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Darwin to Miss Lola White, who was 
born and reared in the city of Beatrice, this 
county, and who has made their pleasant home 
a center of gracious hospitality. She is an 
active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Mr. Darwin is one of the liberal and pro- 
gressive citizens of Virginia, is, in 1918, seiT'- 
ing his second term as a member of the vil- 
lage board of trustees, and is a Republican in 
his political allegiance. He is affiliated with 



576 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV. XEHRASKA 



the IMasonic fraternity, including the com- 
mandery of Knights Templars at Beatrice and 
the temple of the Mystic Shrine in the city 
of Lincoln, Nebraska. 



JOHN W. I'ARDE, whose death occurred 
July IcS. 1911, after an illness of about one 
year's duration, was one of the honored citi- 
zens and successful farmers of Gage county 
and was a member of one of the representa- 
tive pioneer families of Hanover township, 
his parents, William and Tete Parde, being 
still residents of this township and being in- 
dividually mentioned on other pages of this 
history. 

John W. Parde was born in Adams county, 
Illinois, on the 26th of October, 1868, and 
was about seventeen years of age when the 
family came to Gage county, where he was 
reared to manhood and assisted his father in 
the reclaiming and improving of the pioneer 
farm, his early education being acquired in 
the district schools and the Lutheran parochial 
schools, he having been confirmed in the 
Lutheran church when he was a lad of four- 
teen years and ever afterward having con- 
tinued an earnest communicant of the same, 
as is also his wirlow. When twenty-two years 
of age Mr. Parde took unto himself a wife 
and in establishing a home he purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, in Section 
22, Hanover townshi]). The place was vir- 
tually unimproved and with the passing years 
he (levcloi)C(l the same into one of the fine 
farm properties of the township, its build- 
ings being of modern order and giving lasting 
evidence of his thrift and the prosperity he 
won through vigorous activities as a progres- 
sive agriculturist and stock -grower. His wife 
inherited si.xty acres of land in the same town- 
ship, and he thus developed a fann of twc 
hundred and twenty acres, his widow still 
remaining on the homestead and giving her 
personal supervision to its management. Mr. 
Parde was liberal and pul>lic-spirited as a 
citizen, commanded the high regard of all who 
knew him, and his ]wlitical allegiance was 
given to the Democratic partv. 

In the year 1894 Mr. Parde married Miss 



Jennie Ehmen, who was born and reared in 
this county, and sufficient record concerning 
her parents is given on other pages, in the 
sketch dedicated to her brother Henr\- W. 
Six children survive Mr. Parde: Teedy is 
the wife of George \\'ollman, of Filley town- 
ship, this county ; \\'illiam married Miss 
Grace Meints, of Pickrell ; Henry, Heye, and 
John remain with their widowed mother ; and 
luiinia is the wife of Ehma Jobman. of Fillev 
township. 

ULYSSES G. McPHEROX.— Men who 
adhere to high principles, even to the point 
of personal sacrifice and loss, have ever made 
this world progress along the lines that men 
with less principle and less fortitude would 
not have dared to follow. Ulysses Grant Mc- 
Pheron is a man of sound religious and eco- 
nomic principles, which he is not afraid to 
defend pulilicly or to cast his vote in their 
favor. In this, special reference is made to 
Mr. McPheron's convictions relative to the 
regulation of the liquor traffic, and it is due 
to men like him, men who have had the cour- 
age of their convictions and principles, thai 
the Prohibition party has been born and radi- 
cal refonus efl'ected in our communal life. 

Ulysses G. McPheron was bom in Hawkins 
county, Tennessee. January 16, 1875, and is 
the son of James M. McPheron, whose record 
will be found elsewhere in this volume. He 
was only ten years old when his ]jareiits came, 
in 1885, to Gage county, and his father here 
engaged in farming operations. 

The marriage of Mr. McPheron and Miss 
.Minnie Fry was solemnized Februar)^ 19, 
18'i<*. Mrs. McPheron is a daughter of 
Christian F. Fr}-. whose sketch is in this vol- 
ume. To this marriage were born two sons, 
Galen Ralph and Earl Gilmore, who are now 
heli)ing their father on the farm. The mother 
passed away September 1 1 . 1903. The second 
marriage of Mr. McPheron was solemnized 
February 12. 1905, when Miss Augusta Cul- 
Icn became his wife. She was born August 
18. 1871, a daughter of James and Christena 
Cullen, of whom mention is made on other 
pages of this work.. Two little daughters 



« 



' 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEI'.RASKA 




JoH N \\ . Parue 



578 



IISTORV OF GA(;E COL'XTV. XMI'.RASKA 



have come to bless this home, Lois Christena, 
and Nola Rachel. 

The political views of Ulysses G. McPheron 
at one time were in favor of the Republican 
party, but he is now a Prohibitionist and is 
always ready to cast his vote for the reforms 
to rid our nation of the liquor traffic. He is a 
member of the Dunkard church. 

BERNHARD H. SIEFKES represents the 
staunchest of American loyalty and efficiency, 
though he is the only member of his imme- 
diate family to have come to the United States 
from (^icrmany, in which connection it may 
consistently be noted that one of his brothers 
met death, in 1917, on the great battlefields of 
I\urope, while serving as a soldier in the Ger- 
man army, and another brother is held as a 
prisoner of war in England. 

Mr. Siefkcs has been a resident of Gage 
county since 1893, and he is now one of the 
substantial farmers and popular and influen- 
tial citizens of Hanover township, his finely 
improved homestead, of one hundred and 
sixty acres, being situated in Section 26. Mr. 
Siefkes was born in Hanover, Germany, De- 
cember 27, 1875, and is a son of Diedrich and 
Anna (Deriese) Siefkes, the former of whom 
died about 1907 and the latter of whom still 
remains in Germany, the father having been 
a farmer by vocation. The subject of this 
sketch acquired his early education in the 
schools of his native land and was but si.xteen 
years of age when, in 1892, he severed the 
home ties and bravely set forth to seek his 
fortunes in the United States. In that year 
he arrived at the home of his uncle, in Frank- 
lin county. Nebraska, with his available capi- 
tal represented in the sum of a single dollar. 
He worked on his uncle's farm until the fol- 
lowing year, when he came to Gage county, 
took a Scully lease, in Hanover township, and 
began farm operations in an independent way. 
Under these conditions he continued his 
energetic and ambitious activities four years, 
and he then purchased his present farm, which 
was at that time improved with a primitive 
house of two rooms, a barn twelve by six- 
teen feet in dimensions, and a corncrib. The 



measure of his vigorous achievement in the 
intervening years is shown in the thrift that 
is manifest in all departments of his farm 
enterprise and also in the excellent buildings 
which he has erected and which mark his 
farm as one of model order, his attention 
being given to diversified agriculture and 
stock-growing. 

In 1898 Mr. Siefkes wedded Miss Ida 
Ehmen. who was born and reared in this 
country and is a daughter of \\'illiam Ehmen, 
adequate record concerning her parents being 
given on other pages of this volume. Mr. and 
Mrs. Siefkes have eight children — Diedrich, 
William, .\nnie. Henry, Emiina, Minnie, Her- 
man, and John, and the religious faith of the 
family is that of the Lutheran church. 

Entering fully into the spirit of American 
customs and institutions and speaking the 
English language like a native of the United 
States, Mr. Siefkes is a staunch supporter of 
the cause of the Republican party and is in- 
fluential in public alTairs in Hanover town- 
ship. In 1914 he was elected representative 
of the First district on the county board ot 
supervisors, an ofifice of which he was the in- 
cumbent three years, and he has served also 
as a member of the board of township trustees 
and ten years as assessor for his precinct. 
Through his own well ordered efforts he has 
won worthy success and in addition to being 
the owner of a valuable fann property he is 
shareholder of the Farmers* Elevator Com- 
pany at Pickrell. 

RICHARD W. GRANT is a leading rep- 
resentative of the architect's profession in 
southeastern Nebraska and is established in 
business in the city of Beatrice. He was born 
in Sangamon county. Illinois, on the 5th of 
Januarj', 1862, and is a son of John N. and 
Emma (Batty) Grant. The father was born 
at Chillicothe. Ohio, in 1822. and his death 
occurred in 1894. The nioilicr was born in 
England, in 1827. and was summoned to the 
life eternal on Christmas day of the year 
1911. Of the six children the subject of this 
review was the second in order of birth and 
all save one of the number are living — Sarah 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



579 



is a resident of Seattle, Washington; James 
E. lives at Wenatchee, that state, where he is 
engaged in the hotel business ; Edwin W., a 
mining engineer, resides in the city of Port- 
land, Oregon ; and Charles E. is engaged in 
the banking business in the city of Seattle. 
John N. Grant was a child at the time of his 
parents' removal from Ohio to Illinois. In 
the latter state he eventually became a suc- 
cessful contractor and builder, and there he 
remained until 1869, when he came with his 
family to the new state of Nebraska and be- 
came a pioneer of Gage county. In Hanover 
township he made entry upon the last remain- 
ing homestead in the county, and here he con- 
tinued his residence until 1875, when he re- 
moved from his farm to Beatrice. In the 
meanwhile, in addition to vigorously further- 
ing the development and improving of his 
farm, he had continued his activities as a con- 
tractor and builder, and along this line he 
continued operations until 1888, when he re- 
tired and removed to Seattle, Washington, 
where he remained until his death. His po- 
litical allegiance was given to the Republican 
party, but he had no ambition for public 
ofifice. 

Richard W. Grant was eight years old when 
the family home was established on the pio- 
neer farm in Gage county, and in addition to 
receiving in his youth the advantages of the 
public schools of Beatrice he pursued higher 
studies in the University of Illinois. He 
trained himself most thoroughly in the tech- 
nical and applicatory work of the architec- 
tural profession, of which he has been an ex- 
ponent during his entire independent career 
and in which his success has been of unequivo- 
cal order. He has been continuously engaged in 
the practice of his profession in Beatrice since 
1889, and he has given special attention to the 
designing of public buildings, including public 
schools. Many fine structures of modern 
architectural design and facilities attest his 
technical skill and his fidelity as a supervising 
architect. He has designed and supervised 
the erection of fully seventy high and grade 
school buildings — in Nebraska, Kansas, 
olorado, and South Dakota — and his repu- 



tation in his profession has far transcended 
mere local limitations. Numerous churches, 
business buildings, and residences in Gage 
county stand as monuments to the ability of 
Mr. Grant, and not the least of these is the 
beautiful edifice of the Hanover Lutheran 
church, which stands near the site of the 
little log school house in which he received 
his early educational discipline, he and his 
sister having walked a distance of three and 
one-half miles from their home to attend this 
primitive institution of learning. 

In 1887 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Grant to Miss Ida M. Schell, who was born 
at Peoria, Illinois, a daughter of Charles L. 
Schell, her father having been a large prop- 
erty holder and prominent real-estate dealer 
after coming to Nebraska, in 1876, and hav- 
ing died at Walla Walla, Washington, while 
on a trip through the west. Mr. and Mrs. 
Grant have seven children — Mrs. Robert E. 
Kyle, of Fort Worth, Texas; Mrs. Henry 
Randall, whose husband is a stock ranchman 
in Nebraska ; Mrs. Rudolph O. Sheldon, of 
Kansas City, Missouri; Richard S., a pharma- 
cist by profession, resides at Beatrice and now 
in government military service at Base Hos- 
pital No. 49; Rachel remains at the parental 
home ; Joseph N. is a farmer and stock- 
grower in Gage county ; John Harmon is at 
the parental home and is attending the public 
schools. 

Mr. Grant is found aligned staunchly in 
the ranks of the Republican party, and he 
and his wife are active members of the 
Christian church in their home city. Mr. 
Grant is the owner of a model farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres, in Riverside town- 
ship, about two miles southeast of Beatrice, 
and on this fine rural estate he and his fam- 
ily maintain their home. He here raises full- 
blood Holstein cattle and Hampshire swine. 

LUCIEN L. NOBLE, M. D., a representa- 
tive physician and surgeon of Gage county, 
is established in the successful practice of his 
profession at Holmesville. and his important 
clientage, disseminated widely through the 
district about his home city, indicates alike 



580 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTY. XEBRASfZA 



his technical skill and his personal popularity. 
The Doctor was born at Lincoln, Logan 
county, Illinois, August 14, 1871, and is a son 
of George P. and Sallie A. (Webb) Noble, 
both natives of Kentucky, where each was 
born in the year 1828, their marriage having 
been solemnized at Richmond, Kentucky. In 
1861 George P. Noble removed to Illinois, 
where he became a prosperous farmer and a 
prominent buyer and shipper of live-stock. 
There he passed the residue of his life and 
he was forty-four years of age at the time of 
his death, in 1872. His widow long survived 
him and in 1881 she came with her children 
to Nebraska and established her home at 
Aurora, Hamilton county, where she was 
summoned to eternal rest in 1896, at the age 
of sixty-eight years. Of the seven children 
four are living — -Louisa, who is the wife of 
Charles Dixon, of Ottawa, Kansas ; George, 
who is a farmer near Aurora, Hamilton 
county, Nebraska ; Isaiah, who is engaged in 
the meat-market business in Kansas City, 
Missouri ; and Dr. Lucien L., who is the im- 
mediate subject of this review. The father 
was a Democrat in politics before the Civil 
war, but at that time changed his allegiance 
to the Republican party. He was affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity and served as 
master of his lodge, both he and his wife hav- 
ing been members of the Christian church. 

Dr. Xoble was about nine years old at the 
time of the family removal to Nebraska and 
in the public schools of Hamilton county he 
continued his studies until his graduation in 
the Aurora high school, as a member of the 
class of 1S91. In preparation for his exacting 
profession he entered Northwestern Medical 
College, at St. Joseph, Missouri, and from the 
same he received in 1894 the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine. His professional novitiate was 
served at Roseland, Adams county, Ne- 
braska, where he remained four months, and 
since that time he has been engaged in active 
general practice at Holmesville, where he has 
achieved success of unequivocal order. He 
is an active member of the Gage County 
Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical 
Society, and the American Medical Associa- 



tion. His political support is given to the 
Republican party and he takes loyal interest 
in all things touching the welfare of his home 
village and county. He is affiliated with the 
Masonic fraternity and is also a member of 
the lodge of the Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks in the city of Beatrice. 

In 1895 Dr. Noble wedded Miss Minnie 
Will, a daughter of the late Frank M. and 
EHza A. (Houtz) Will, the former of whom 
died in 1909 and the latter on the 11th of No- 
vember, 1917, Mr. Will having been a repre- 
sentative farmer of Gage county. Dr. and 
Mrs. Noble have three children — Roy, Les- 
lie, and Marie. Roy is, in 1918, a member of 
the sophomore class in the University of Ne- 
braska, and Leslie is a student in the Beatrice 
high school. 

HENRY JANZEN. — Known and valued 
as one of the enterprising and representative 
agriculturists and stock-growers of Gage 
county, Mr. Janzen is the owner of a well 
improved farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Section 33, Blakely township. He 
was born in western Prussia, on the 1st of 
February. 1858, and is a son of David and 
Helena (Thun) Janzen. He was the second 
in a family of five children, the fifth having 
died in infancy and the others, David, Jacob, 
and Herman, being still residents of Prussia, 
where the parents passed their entire lives. 

To the excellent schools of his native land 
Henry Janzen is indebted for his youthful 
education and there he continued his alliance 
with farm enterprise from his boyhood until 
September 7, 1877, when, owing primarily to 
the governmental denial of the religious rights 
of the Mennonites, of which he is a zealous 
representative, he left the fatherland and set 
forth on the voyage to the United States, as- 
sured of freedom to live in accord with the 
dictates of his conscience and faith after he 
had established his home in the democratic 
nation to which he has since paid the fullest 
measure of loyalty and appreciation. Mr. 
Janzen landed in New York City and shortly 
afterward came to Gage county, where he 
arrived in 1877. For the first few years he 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



581 



was here employed at farm work, in the ser- 
vice of Bernard Reimer and Elijah Filley, and 
his wages averaged from ten to fifteen dollars 
a month. In 1881 he returned to his native 
land, where he remained from March unth 
September, and upon coming again to Gage 
county he here continued to work as a farm 
employe until 1883, when he not only pur- 
chased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
four miles northwest of Beatrice, but also 
fortified himself further by taking unto him- 
self the gracious young wife who has proved 
his faithful helpmeet and companion. He 
made good improvements on his farm and 
there continued his activities until 1901, when 
he sold the property to advantage. For the 
ensuing two years he farmed on rented land 
southeast of Beatrice, and he then rented the 
Hollingwood fann, east of that city, where 
he continued his productive operations for 
seven years. He then, in 1910, purchased his 
present farm, which, under his progressive 
and able management, he has made one of the 
model places of Blakely township. He is in- 
dependent in politics, giving his support to 
men and measures meeting the approval of his 
judgment, and he and his family are earnest 
members of the Alennonite church. 

On the 29th of March, 1883, :\Ir. Janzen 
wedded Miss Magdalene Penner, who was 
born and reared in Prussia, where her parents 
passed their entire lives. She came to the 
United States and established her residence 
in Gage county in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Janzen 
became the parents of eight children, of whom 
two died young; Mary is the wife of Kurt 
Wiebe, of Saline county ; Helena, Henry, 
Anna, and Gustav remain at the parental 
home; Agatha is the wife of Henry Franz, 
their marriage having occurred August 24, 
1917; Miss Anna is numbered among the 
successful and popular teachers in the schools 
of this county, she being at the time of this 
writing, in the winter of 1917-1918, in charge 
of the well ordered school of District 21, in 
Blakelv township. Miss Anna Janzen, an 
efficient young representative of the pedagogic 
profession, was born and reared in Gage 
county and after having profited by the ad- 



vantages of the district schools she entered 
the Beatrice high school, in which she was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1915. 
Thereafter she effectively fortified herself 
for her chosen profession by taking a course 
in the Nebraska State Normal School at Peru. 
Her initial service as a teacher was given in 
the autumn of 1913, and her work has been of 
most excellent order in the various schools 
that have received her attention, she being at 
the present time the teacher in her home 
district. 



JOHN B. PARKER. — Though he has 
passed the allotted span of three-score years 
and ten, this sterling pioneer of Gage county 
is vigorously and successfully conducting in 
the city of Beatrice the leading harness and 
saddlery establishment of Gage county, and 
it was his also to have developed in the pio- 
neer era one of the valuable farm properties 
of the county. 

Mr. Parker was born at South Petherton, 
Somersetshire, England, on the 21st of July, 
1843, and is a son of William and Mary Par- 
ker, who became the parents of three sons and 
two daughters, all of whom are now deceased 
except the subject of this review, who was the 
youngest son. William Parker was bom in 
the year 1800 and was for many years en- 
gaged in the work of his trade, that of shoe- 
maker, at South Petherton, where his death 
occurred in 1884, His wife, who likewise 
was born in 1800, was ninety-three years of 
age at the time of her death, in 1893. 

John B. Parker acquired his youthful edu- 
cation in the schools of his native town and 
he was a lad of fourteen years when he came 
to America and made his way to Bremer 
county, Iowa, where he found employment 
on the pioneer farm of one of his older 
brothers. There he continued to attend school 
during the winter terms until he was about 
twenty years old. In 1861 he went to Wis- 
consin, where he continued his connection with 
agricultural industry until 1863, when he 
joined another of his brothers, Samuel J., at 
Rochelle, Illinois. There he sensed under the 
direction of his brother a thorough apprentice- 



582 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



ship to the trade of harnessmaker, and event- 
ually he became a partner in the business, this 
effective fraternal alliance continuing twelve 
vears. Impaired health finally required that 
Mr. Parker should find less sedentarj' occu- 
pation and in 1878 he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased a tract of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in Elm township. 
He returned to Illinois, but in 1879 he re- 
moved with his family to the new home in 
Nebraska. He reclaimed this farm and de- 
veloped the same into one of the valuable 
properties of Gage county, his activities as a 
farmer having there continued until 1885, 
when he removed to Beatrice and resumed 
the work of his trade. Here he became as- 
sociated with his brother Samuel J. in estab- 
lishing the harness and saddlery business 
which they conducted until 1888, when he as- 
sumed full ownership of the substantial busi- 
ness, which he has since carried on most suc- 
cessfully in an individual way. A skilled 
artisan at his trade, Mr. Parker gives approval 
only to high-grade work, and thus the major 
part of the harness sold in his establishment 
is there manufactured according to the old- 
time methods, but with the aid of modern ma- 
chinery and accessories. The establishment 
has the largest and most complete stock of 
harness and saddlery goods in Gage county, 
and its reputation constitutes a most valuable 
asset, for here is given fair and square dealing 
and most efficient sen-ice. 

A citizen of worth and of distinct public 
spirit, Mr. Parker has always taken lively in- 
terest in local affairs and he is found aligned 
in the ranks of the Republican party. He 
served six years as a member of the Beatrice 
board of education and five years as a mem- 
ber of the city council. He has been an active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
since 1862 and has been at various times an 
official of the .same. He is now the earnest 
and valued teacher of the senior men's class 
in the Sunday school of the First Methodist 
Episcopal church of Beatrice, his wife having 
given equally efi'ective service as a teacher of a 
class of senior ladies and being also active in 
the missionarv work of the church. 



October 14. 1873, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Parker to Miss Mary E. Clute, of Elgin, 
Illinois. She was born in the central part of 
the state of New York and is a daughter of 
Rev. Martin V. and Nancy (Fairbanks) Clute, 
her father having given many years of con- 
secrated service as a clergyman of the Free 
Methodist church. Mr. and Mrs. Parker 
have three children : Nellie May remains at 
the parental home; Alice Irene is the wife of 
Ray W. Weaverling, of Beatrice; and William 
M. is now a resident of Pryor, Oklahoma. 

JOHN G. HERETH. — Thrift and pros- 
perity are clearly shown in the general ap- 
pearance of the fine farm estate owned and 
operated by Mr. Hereth, who is the owner of 
two hundred acres of the admirable land of 
Gage county, his homestead place, of one hun- 
dred and twenty acres, being situated in Sec- 
tion 8. Clatonia township, and the remaining 
eighty acres in Section 5, that township. He 
is known as one of the vigorous and substantial 
agriculturists and stock-growers of the 
county and is a representative of that fine 
Gemian element of citizenship that has played 
important part in the social and industrial de- 
velopment and progress of this section of the 
state. 

Mr. Hereth was born in Bavaria. Germany, 
January 17. 1867, and is a son of John and 
Margaret (Lauterbach) Hereth, of whose 
four children he is the youngest ; Margaret 
is the wife of George Mitzell, of Campbell, 
Franklin county, this state : Henrietta, who 
became the wife of Simon Hartmann, is de- 
ceased ; and .Anna is the wife of J. M. Betz, 
of Lincoln, the fair capital city of Nebraska. 

John Hereth, father of the subject of this 
review, was born in Bavaria, in .\pril. 1840. 
and there he continued to reside until 1883, 
when he came with his family to the United 
States and settled in Clatonia township. Gage 
county, Nebraska. He became the owner of 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 
12. and after having here been actively en- 
gaged in general farm industry for thirteen 
years he removed to the western part of the 
state and settled in Red Willow countv. After 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



583 



having there continued his activities as a far- 
mer for a period of seven years he removed 
to the state of Washington, where he passed 
the remainder of his Hfe, his death having oc- 
curred at Snohomish, that state, in September, 
1900, and his earnest rehgious faith having 
been that of the German Lutheran church. 
After the death of his first wife he wedded 
Anna Rocholz, prior to coming to America, 
and she still maintains her home in the state 
of Washington. Of their union were bom 
nine children, Michael and Martin being resi- 
dents of Washington ; Katherine being the 
wife of John Hunke, of Lyndon, Osage 
county, Kansas ; Margaret being the wife of 
John Riechers, who is individually men- 
tioned on other pages of this volume ; Rena 
being the wife of George Stocker, a resident 
of the state of \\'ashington, where Frederick, 
next in order of birth, also maintains his home ; 
Conrad being a resident of Oregon and George 
of Washington ; and the youngest of the num- 
ber being Lisette, who is the wife of J. Con- 
rad, of Washington. 

John G. Hereth acquired his early education 
in the excellent schools of his native land and 
was a youth of seventeen years at the time of 
the family immigration to the United States. 
After his arrival in Gage county he worked 
three years as a fami hand, at a compensation 
averaging eighteen dollars a month. There- 
after he farmed rented land about five years, 
and in 1895 he [purchased a tract of one hun- 
dred and twenty-seven acres near Waverly. 
Lancaster county. He brought forty acres of 
this raw prairie land under effective cultiva- 
tion and erected a house and other buildings 
on the place, besides setting out trees and mak- 
ing other excellent improvements of a per- 
manent order. In 1902 Mr. Hereth sold this 
farm and returned to Gage county, where he 
purchased his present homestead, about the 
only notworthy improvement on which was a 
well. He first erected a small house, and this 
sufficed as the family home until 1904, when 
he built his present modern and attractive 
house of eight rooms, besides which he has 
improved tlie farm with a barn that is fifty- 
two by fifty-four feet in dimensions. His pro- 



gressiveness and good judgment have so come 
into play as to make his one of the model 
farms of Clatonia township. In politics he is 
a staunch Democrat and he served con- 
tinuously from 1911 to 1917 as assessor of 
Clatonia township. For the past fourteen 
years he has been a director of school district 
No. 47. Both he and his wife are zealous 
communicants of the German Lutheran church 
and he is secretary of the church organization 
of this denomination in his home community. 
Mr. Hereth is a stockholder of the farmers' 
co-operative elevator at Clatonia and also that 
at Wilber, Saline county, from which latter 
place his home receives service on rural mail 
route No. 2. He is likewise a stockholder of 
the German Supply Company, of Lincoln. 

On the 17th of April, 1893, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Hereth to Miss Minnie 
Heller, who was born in Germany and who 
came with her parents to the United States in 
1888. Mrs. Hereth is a daughter of William 
and Anna ( Britt ) Heller, who are now resi- 
dents of Otterndorf, province of Hanover, 
Germany, they having returned to their na- 
tive land in 1901 and Mrs. Hereth being their 
only child. Mr. Heller became one of the sub- 
stantial farmers of Clatonia township. Gage 
county, where he and his wife continued to re- 
side until their return to their fatherland. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hereth have nine children, all of 
whom remain at the parential home except the 
eldest two, — Edwin, who is a successful far- 
mer of Clatonia township and Anna, who is 
the wife of William Lueders, of Highland 
township. Those who are members of the 
ideal home circle are William, Frederick, Ben- 
jamin O., Lisette, Amelia, Alice and Loretta, 
and the parents have taken pride in giving to 
all of the children excellent educational ad- 
vantages. 

GEORGE M. JOHNSTON. — As man- 
ager of the office and sales departments of the 
well established business of the Dole Floral 
Company, Mr. Johnston has been a valued 
factor in the development of this substantial 
enterprise in the city of Beatrice and takes 
satisfaction in his association with a concern 



584 



HISTORY OF GAGE COIWTV. XEBRASKA 



that bases its operations upon the best of mod- 
ern facilities, the company's conservatories 
and propagating grounds being such as to 
make possible the rendering of a metropolitan 
service to patrons. 

Mr. Johnston was bom in the city of Peoria, 
Illinois, on the 1.3th of February, 1876, and 
was thirteen years of age at the time of the 
family removal to Gage county, Nebraska, 
where he was reared to adult age and profited 
fully by the advantages of the public schools. 
He has been manager of the Dole Floral Com- 
pany since 1912, and under his supervision the 
business has been doubled in volume within the 
intervening period. He is one of the vital 
and progressive factors in the business circles 
of Beatrice and here his circle of friends is 
coincident with that of his acquaintances. 
Twice each year Mr. Johnston makes extended 
trips throughout the company's extended trade 
territory, these trips being mainly for the pur- 
pose of personal conference with the various 
agents of the company and other persons 
handling products from the extensive Bea- 
trice greenhouses of this progressive business 
corporation. 

In the year 1900 Mr. Johnston wedded Miss 
Anna Dole, of Beatrice, daughter of J. G. and 
Sophia H. ( Hooker) Dole, and they have one 
child. Marjorie. 

Concerning the Dole family full record is 
made on other pages, in the sketches of Mrs. 
Sophia H. Dole and Edward \\'. Dole, with 
additional data in the review of the Dole 
Floral Company. 

PHILIP BINDERN.\GEL. — The activi- 
ties of this sterling pioneer citizen of Gage 
county have been the positive expression of a 
strong, vigorous and self-reliant personality, 
and he is one of the resourceful men who came 
to Nebraska in the territorial epoch of the 
history of this now favored commonwealth 
and who numbered himself among the pio- 
neer settlers of Gage county, which was vir- 
tuallv on the frontier at the time when he here 
established his home. He proved himself well 
equipped for coping with the adverse forces 
that ever come into evidence in the opening of 



a new country to civilization and progress 
Now venerable in years, Mr. Bindernagel is 
living retired in the city of Beatrice, but as 
tangible evidence of the prosperity that has 
attended his former years of earnest endeavor 
is his ownership of a valuable landed estate of 
four hundred and eighty acres in Gage county, 
the same being situated in Blakely and Lin- 
coln townships, besides which he owns an 
estate of equal area in Sherman county. Kan- 
sas. 

Mr. Bindernagel is a representative of that 
fine element of German citizenship that has 
played so large and worthy a part in connec- 
tion with the development and ujibuilding of 
Gage county, and his civic loyalty has ever 
been on a parity with his deep appreciation of 
the advantages and o])portunities afforded him 
in the land of his adoption. He was born in 
Prussia, on the 28th of January, 1838, and 
thus will have celebrated his eightieth birth- 
day aimiversary ere this history is issued from 
the press. He is a son of Philip and Marie 
( Friend) Bindernagel, both of whom passed 
their entire lives in Germany, Vv'here the father 
devoted the major part of his active career to 
the vocation of butcher. Philip Bindernagel. 
Sr., was born December 6, 1806, and his death 
occurred in June, 1844. His wife was bom 
January' 6, 1810, and was summoned to the 
life eternal in September, 1867, both having 
been devoted members of the Lutheran church. 
They became the parents of five children and 
the first two Mrs. Elizabeth Haen and Andrew 
are deceased ; Philip, Jr., of this review, was 
the third child ; and as the younger two, Fred- 
erick and Katherline, likewise are deceased, 
he is now the only one of the children living. 

In his native land Mr. Bindernagel duly 
profited by the advantages of the national 
schools and there also he served a thorough 
apprenticeship to the trade of baker, in which 
he became a skilled workman. In 1857. as an 
ambitious young man of nineteen years, he 
removed from his native land to England, 
where he continued his residence until 1863, 
and where he gained an excellent command 
of the English language, so that he had this 
knowledge as a valuable reinforcement when 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



585 



he came to the United States. He landed in 
the port of New York city on the 4th of Aug- 
ust, 1863, and for the ensuing three years he 
was employed at his trade, in the national 
metropolis. His vital energy then led him to 
come to the west, the progressive spirit of 
which section of the Union made special ap- 
peal to him. In the year 1866, about one year 
prior to the admission of Nebraska to state- 
hood, Mr. Bindernagel established his resi- 
dence near Cottonwood Springs, to which lo- 
cality he proceeded from Nebraska City by 
means of the plodding ox team and a wagon. 
He located at Cottonwood Springs where he 
brought his trade into effective play by asso- 
ciating himself with his cousin, Frederick 
Kees, in the conducting of a little restaurant 
and bakery of primitive facilities. Twelve 
months later — very soon after the admission 
of Nebraska to the Union — Mr. Bindernagel 
obtained from the government a homestead of 
hundred and sixty acres of land near the site 
of the present village of Filley, Gage county, 
this original homestead having been in the 
township that now bears the name of Filley. 
He utilized an ox team in breaking the virgin 
prairie, showed his enterprise and good judg- 
ment by setting out a goodly number of trees 
on his claim, and otherwise made good im- 
provements of a permanent order. He con- 
tinued activities as a farmer and stock -grower 
on his original homestead until 1873, when he 
exchanged the property for a farm of 160 
acres in Blakely township, four miles west of 
Beatrice. He judiciously made further in- 
vestment in Gage county farm property, and. 
as previously noted in this context he is now 
the owner of a specially well improved and 
valuable landed estate of four hundred and 
eighty acres in this county, besides which ht 
has shown equal progressiveness in improving 
his large landed property in Sherman county, 
Kansas. He continued to reside upon his 
home farm until December 13, 1915, when, 
about three years after the death of his de- 
voted wife, he removed to the city of Bea- 
trice. Here he has since lived retired from 
active business, save that he continues to give 
a general supervision to his extensive real- 
estate interests and incidental farm enter- 



]jrise, his eldest daughter presiding over the 
pleasant home which he has provided at 815 
Lincoln street in the capital city of Gage 
county. 

Mr. Bindernagel entered with utmost loyalty 
into the communal activities making for de- 
velopment and progress after he had estab- 
lished his residence on his original homestead, 
and in this connection it may be noted that he 
gave effective assistance in establishing the 
first school in what is now Filley township 
and that his lively interest in educational af- 
fairs met with such popular appreciation that 
he was retained for fully thirty-five years as 
a member of the school board of his district. 
He assisted also in the organizing of the 
Lutheran church in Blakely township, of 
which he and his wife became influential mem- 
bers. While he has had no ambition for po- 
litical office he has accorded a loyal support to 
the cause of the Republican party and has 
taken deep interest in public affairs, especially 
those of local order. 

On the 25th of August, 1872, was solemn- 
ized the marriage of Mr. Bindernagel to Miss 
Margaret Marschall, who was boni in Ger- 
many, October 22, 1850, and who was there 
reared and educated. She came to America 
in the autumn of 1870, and within less than 
two years thereafter became the wife of Mr. 
Bindernagel, to whom she proved a devoted 
companion and helpmeet during the remain- 
der of her earnest and kindly life. She was 
called to the life eternal, on the 23d of Feb- 
ruary, 1913. Of their union were born six 
children, concerning whom brief record is 
made in conclusion of this review : Miss 
Rosa remains with her venerable father and is 
the popular chatelaine of their pleasant home 
in the city of Beatrice; Philip A. is one of the 
representative exponents of fami industry in 
Blakely township, where he operates one of 
his father's farms : David is similarly engaged 
in Lincoln township ; Elizabeth is the wife of 
George Stevens, of Lincoln township; Caro- 
line died August 24, 1909, at the age of twenty- 
eight years; and Emma is the wife of L. K. 
Stevens, who has the active charge of the old 
homestead farm of her father, in Blakely 
township. 



586 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



IIL'GH J. DOBBS. the author of the his- 
torical part of this volume, was born in Taney 
comity, state of Missouri, on the 28th day of 
September, 1849. He is the second son and 
the second of eleven children born to Fidillo 
Hunter and Mary Jane Dobbs. His ancestry 
and family history are set forth with some de- 
tail in the biography of his parents which ap- 
pears elsewhere in this work. 

Hugh J. Dobbs attained the rudiments of 
an education in the first crude schools taught 
ir. Beatrice. Blue Si)rings. and in his home dis- 
trict, in Rockford township. In 1871. after 
leaving the first Beatrice high school, he ob- 
tained a third-grade certificate as a teacher and 
taught his first .school, beginning May 10th of 
that year, in the Hiilman school district. Hook- 
ei townshi]), for whicii lie received one hun- 
dred dollars and board. In September, 1871, 
witii tiiirty-five dollars borrowed money, he 
entered the state normal schiwl at Peru. Ne- 
braska. At the close of the fall term he took 
charge of the Holmesville district school, and 
by teaching on Saturday and in vacations he 
was able to put four months' teaching into 
three, and return to the normal school at the 
opening of the spring term. In April. 1873. 
he took charge of the public schools of Bellevue 
and taught one term. Thereafter he was able 
to com])lete his course of study in the state 
normal school, from which institution he gra- 
duated in June, 1875. In September of 
that year he took charge of the public .schools 
at Ashland, Nebraska, and he remained at the 
head of these schools till January 1, 1878. when 
he accepted a similar position in the public 
schools of Beatrice. He remained in charge of 
the Beatrice schools till the close of the school 
year of 1880. In both the .Ashland and the 
Beatrice schools he was the first to introduce 
systematic graduation, install a course of studv 
and graduate a class. 

In September, 1880. Mr. Dobbs entered the 
law dei^artment of Union College (now Uni- 
versity), of Schenectady, New York, this de- 
partment being located at Albany. He receiv- 
ed his degree of Bachelor of Laws from Union 
College May 27, 1881, and on the 28th day of 
Mav was admitted to the bar of the state of 



New York. On the 11th day of July. 1881. 
he began the practice of his profession at Beat- 
rice, and he has been continuously and active- 
ly engaged in the practice of the law in this 
city since that date. His practice extends to 
all the courts of Nebraska and the federal 
courts. In the thirty-seven years of his 
practice he has transacted a large volume of 
legal business, both civil and criminal, and is 
an able and successful lawyer. 

Hugh J. Dobbs always takes an active inter- 
est in public affairs. In politics he has always 
been affiliated with the great national Republi- 
can party, to which party he has never wavered 
in loyalty. In 1884 he was appointed register 
of the L'nited States government land office at 
Beatrice, by President Arthur. 1 ie took office 
.\pril 1st of that year and held the same until 
September 15, 1887, when the Beatrice land 
district was consolidated with the Lincoln land 
district, and the records of the old Beatrice- 
Brownville office removed to Lincoln. In 
1888 he was nominated by his party as a 
candidate for the office of county attorney and 
was elected by the highest vote of any candi- 
date on the ticket, his majority in the county 
exceeding that of Benjamin Harrison, candi- 
date for president of the United States. When, 
in 1893, the Beatrice Free Public Library was 
established, he was selected as one of the first 
board of trustees of that important and useful 
institution and he served in that capacity eight- 
een years. He was two years president of the 
board and sixteen years at the head of the book 
committee, one of the most imjxirtant com- 
mittees connected with the library. 

Mr. Dobbs has been engaged over a year in 
the ]3reparation of the History of Gage County. 
His work has been almost wholly confined to 
the historical part of this volume. His com- 
I>ensation consists not in the few dollars he re- 
ceives for his labor, hut in the satisfaction of 
having performed a service of lasting benefit 
to his day and generation. In common with 
many, he felt that before the la.st of the 
pioneers had passed away the history of Gage 
county should be written by one who was 
familiar witli it from the beginning to the pres- 
eiU time and whose acquaintance was exten- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



587 



sive amongst the early settlers. He has ful- 
filled this duty as forcefully as circumstances 
would permit. A portrait of Mr. Dobbs ap- 
pears as frontispiece of this volume. 

While attending the state normal school at 
Peru, the subject of this sketch made the ac- 
i|uaintance of Louisa A. Piper, who also was 
attending school there. In 1876 and 1877, 
they taught school together in Ashland, and or. 
Christmas eve, 1877, they became engaged to 
be married. On the first day of January, 1884, 
their marriage was solemnized, at Alma, 
Harlan county, Nebraska, and they have ever 
since resided in Beatrice. Five children are 
the fruit of this marriage. They are: Flor- 
ence M., who lives at home with her par- 
ents; Stuart Piper, a graduate of the Beatrice 
high school and of the literary and law cours- 
es of the University of Nebraska, now prac- 
ticing his profession at Ogden, Utah, where 
he is district attorney of the judicial district 
which includes Weber county, where Ogden 
is located, and three other counties ; Edith 
Evelyn, who is a teacher of history in the 
public schools of Ogden ; Louise Josephine, 
a student in the state University of Colorado, 
at Boulder ; and Hugh J. Dobbs, Jr., of Colo- 
rado University, now serving in an officers' 
reserve training camp at Presidio, and sub- 
ject to the call of his country. 

THOMAS FRANCIS DOBBS is the sixth 
son and the ninth child of Fidillo Hunter and 
Mary Jane Dobbs, wdiose biographical sketch 
with family genealogy is found elsewhere in 
this volume. He was born on the old home- 
stead, in Rockford township, on August 6, 
1866. He received the rudiments of an edu- 
cation in the old school house across the road 
from his father's homestead, and for a while 
taught district school in the county. Finally 
he entered the state normal school at Peru, 
and in this institution he was duly graduated. 
For three years he was principal of the 
public schools at Wahoo, and for about the 
same length of time principal of the public 
schools at Auburn. lie then entered! the 
hardware business at Peru, where he built up 
a fine trade, but on account of his wife's 



health he was forced to move to Colorado, 
where, with the exception of a single year 
spent in Oregon, he has since made his home. 
For several years he was engaged in business 
at Rocky Ford, and was very prosperous. 
He sold out there and went to Oregon with 
a view to entering the banking business, but 
after a year he returned to Colorado and 
settled at LaSalle, six miles west of Greeley, 
where he bought the controlling interest in 
the LaSalle State Bank. He is now president 
of this bank and is doing a satisfactory bank- 
ing liusiness. 

While attending the state normal school 
at Peru, he made the acquaintance of Miss 
\'ina Cannon, a classmate, and shortly after 
their graduation they were married. Two 
children have been born to them — Herbert, 
twenty-two years of age, cashier of the State 
bank of LaSalle, Colorado ; and Mary, a 
student in the conservatory of music at Den- 
ver. 

Thomas F. Dobbs is the object of the 
deep fraternal afifection of his brothers and 
sisters. He is without enemies and his 
friends are legion. 

LEANDER M. PEMBERTON. — No man 
in Gage county is better known or more highly 
esteemed than Leander M. Pemberton. For 
nearly two score years he has made his home 
in the city of Beatrice and he has gained dis- 
tinction not only in his profession as an able, 
scholarly lawyer, a legislator and a learned, 
wise and just judge, but also as a gentleman, 
a friend and a true and loyal citizen in all the 
walks of life. Pie came to Beatrice from Iowa 
in the fall of 1879 and gained immediate recog- 
nition as a careful, discriminating, conscien- 
tious lawyer, and until his merits marked him 
for an exalted judicial position he had been 
professionally connected with a large volume 
of important legal business in the courts of the 
country, federal as well as state. Perhaps no 
man of his profession while practicing at the 
bar in Gage county was so often called into 
cases by other counsel as Judge Pemberton, 
and no lawyer ever more deserved the confi- 
dence of his professional associates. His sue- 



588 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



cess ill lite has been gained by sheer force of 
character, learning and ability of a very high 
order. It is characteristic of him that he has 
the power, without conscious effort on his 
part, of inspiring confidence in the breasts of 
others, a confidence founded on a belief in his 
honesty and integrity of character. 

To have been well born is always a desir- 
able factor in a human life. While pride of 
ancestry is not as a rule characteristic of the 
American citizen, it is but natural, and highly 
commendable, that one should feel a ju.*t pride 
in the fact that his ancestors were in their day 
and generation people of consequence, of 
character and influence. As respects his par- 
ents, as well as his more remote ancestry. 
Judge Pemberton was well born. The family 
of which he is a scion is of English origin and 
was founded in America at an early day. John 
Pemberton, his great-grandfather was a Vir- 
ginian. In the decisive battle of King's 
Mountain, October 7, 1780, where a body of 
state militia almost annihilated Lieutenant 
Colonel Ferguson's army of British regulars, 
and thereby practically destroyed England's 
power in the southern colonies, he com- 
manded a regiment in Colonel Shelby's regi- 
ment of volunteers. At the same time and 
in his company, under his command, were 
William King and John Sharp, the former a 
paternal great-grandfather and the latter a 
maternal great-grandfather of Judge Pember- 
ton. Thus in one of the most important and 
decisive battles of the Revolutionary war, we 
find serving together in one company of vol- 
unteers three men who were destined to oc- 
cupy the same relation as forbears to Judge 
Leander Munsell Pemberton. Judge Pem- 
berton's paternal grandfather, Stanton Pem- 
berton, also a \'irginian, about the year 1804. 
married Sarah King, a descendant of William 
King, and in 1831 emigrated from Virginia to 
Coles county, Illinois. To this marriage there 
were born eleven children, the third of whom, 
Harvey Guilford Pe:nberton, became Judge 
Pcmberton's father. In September, 1S32, 
Harve)' Guilford Pemberton returned to Vir- 
ginia and married Caroline Clarissa King, who 
was born in Sullivan countv, Tennessee, in 



March, 1811, the tenth child in a family of 
fourteen children. Her people, who were 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, removed from 
Pennsylvania to Tennessee about the year 
1760. Caroline Clarissa Pemberton, the 
mother of Judge Pemberton, was a woman of 
character and refinement ; though deprived in 
her youth of all but the most meager educa- 
tional advantages, she was a lover of good 
literature and possessed all the graces and vir- 
tues of a noble wife and mother. Several of 
her brothers were college graduates, but the 
education of a woman was deemed a needless 
extravagance in those days. She became the 
mother of nine children, of whom three sons 
and two daughters reached maturity. 

One of these sons, Johnathan Columbus 
Pemberton was in the militia company that 
went to the rescue of the settlers in the Spirit 
Lake massacre, in March, 1857, and his name 
appears on the fine monument at Lake Oko- 
boji, Iowa, erected by the state of Iowa to the 
memory of the suffering and heroism of those 
militiamen. He died in March, 1860, aged 
twenty-seven years, from a disease caused 
largely by the hunger and exposure encoun- 
tered on that expedition. Another son, Wil- 
liam J. Pemberton, was an early settler of 
Beatrice, but he afterward removed to Jef- 
ferson county and became a member of the leg- 
islature from that county, in the session of 
1887. He died suddenly, at Hebron, Ne- 
braska, in November, 1898, aged fifty years. 
The other son, Leander M. Pemberton, is the 
subject of this sketch. One daughter, Mrs. 
Emily C. Ross, died in December, 1881, at 
Stratford, Iowa, aged forty years; the other 
daughter, Mrs. Sarah A. Bascom, aged eighty- 
one years, is still (July, 1918), living, and re- 
sides at Spencer, Iowa. 

Leander M. Pemberton was bom on the 12th 
day of November, 1845, in a humble log cabin 
on a farm, near the town of Paris, in Edgar 
county, Illinois. His early childhood was 
spent in the place of his birth, but when he was 
nine years of age his parents, in the fall of 
1854, moved to Iowa, and in the spring of 
1855 settled in the village of Homer, in what 
afterward became the countv of Hamilton. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



589 




Leander M. Pembertox 



590 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Here, on the 4tli day of November, 1864, the 
wife and mother died, at the age of fifty-three 
years, and within a year her husband also 
passed away, his death occurring October 31. 
1865. ill t!ic fifty-seventh year of his age. All 
that was mortal of this husband and wife lie 
side by side in the cemetery near Webster 
City, Iowa. 

Judge Pemberton's education began in the 
primary department of a seminary at Paris, 
Illinois, when he was seven years of age. On 
the removal of his parents to Iowa it was con- 
tinued in the log school house, and later in the 
one-room, frame school house at the village of 
Homer, until he attained the age of sixteen, 
when he left the paternal roof and engaged 
in the battle of life single-handed and unaided. 
He journeyed on foot from Homer, in Hamil- 
ton county, to Mahaska county, Iowa, where 
he found employment on a farm near Leredo, 
doing with liis might whatever he found to do, 
at the munificent wage of forty cents a day. 
He earned money enough in the fanning sea- 
son to pay his way at Oskaloosa College dur- 
ing the winter of 1862-1863 and the fall of 
1863. He then successfully passed an examin- 
ation for a teacher's certificate and began 
teaching scliool. His rise in the world might be 
described as rapid, since from a wage of twelve 
and fifteen dollars a month as a fami hand, 
he was now able to command a salary- of 
twenty-five dollars a month as a countrj' 
schoolmaster. By working on a farm in the 
growing seasons of the year and teaching fall 
and winter schools he managed to obtain 
enough money to cover his expenses through 
the sophomore year of the State University of 
Iowa. Reluctantly abandoning a collegiate 
course of study. Mr. Peml)erton returned to 
Hamilton county, Iowa and resumed his oc- 
cupation as a school teacher, studying law dili- 
gently, as opportunity aflForded. under the di- 
rection of Judge D. D. Chase, of \\'ebstcr City. 
April 6. 1870, he was admitted to the bar at 
Boonesboro, Boone county, Iowa, and in June 
of the same year he began the practice of his 
profession at the town of Peterson, Clay 
county, Iowa. At the general election in 1871 
he was elected to the office of auditor of Clay 



county and took up his residence in Spencer, 
which then became the county seat. By suc- 
cessive elections he held this position six years, 
practising his profession in the meantime. 

During the presidential campaign of 1872 
Judge Pemberton directed the editorial policy 
of the Clay County Nezcs, advocating the elec- 
tion of Grant and Wilson. In the autumn of 
1879 he left Iowa and located in Beatrice. 

At the time of his arrival here both the city 
of Beatrice and the county of Gage were 
growing by leaps and botmds. The federal 
census of 1880 credited Beatrice with a popu- 
lation of 2,447 and the county with 13. 1(4 in- 
habitants. Mr. Pemberton found a hospitable 
welcome in the community and his success was 
immediate, both as a lawyer and a citizen. 
From the first he took an active part in the 
affairs of the city, and he ser\-ed six years as 
city attorney of Beatrice. For twelve years 
he was a member of the school board and for 
six years president of that body. He was at 
one time a member of the educational council 
of the state. When the free public library was 
established by the city council, in 1893, Judge 
Pemberton was selected as a member of the 
first board of directors and, by continuous re- 
appointment, he has held that position to the 
present time. 

In 1902 Judge Pemberton was elected state 
senator from Gage county and from the mo- 
ment of its organization he became a useful, 
diligent and influential member of that body. 
Much of the important legislation of that ses- 
sion was due to his wisely directed energies. 
The legislature undertook to revise the revenue 
laws of the state and a joint committee of both 
hou.ses was appointed to draft and report a 
revenue bill. Judge Pemberton was one of 
the senate members appointed to serve on this 
important committee and soon became one of 
its most influential members. It is largely to 
his training as a lawyer and his conscientious 
serv'ice as a legislator that the people of this 
state are indebted for their present complete 
and efficient revenue law, which is probably 
the best that can be made under our present 
constitution. 

.\t the general election of 1907 Judge Pem- 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



591 



berton was elected one of the judges of the old 
First judicial district of Nebraska, comprising 
the counties of Richardson, Nemaha, Pawnee, 
Johnson, Gage and Jefierson. The judicial 
business of this large district was then trans- 
acted by two judges, Hon. John B. Raper, of 
Pawnee City, who had served two years by 
appointment, and is still in the service as a 
judge of the First judicial district, having been 
elected at the time Judge Pemberton's election 
occurred. But before the next election of 
judges was had for the district, it was divided 
by the legislature and District Eighteen 
created, consisting of Gage and Jefferson coun- 
ties. At the general election of 1911 Judge 
Pemberton was elected judge of the Eighteenth 
judicial district, and he was re-elected in 1916. 
His present term will expire January 6, 1921. 
He has served more than ten years as a judge 
of this district court, a court which has both 
appellate and general original jurisdiction. 
Judge Pemberton is known far and wide as a 
careful and able trial judge. He commands 
not only the respect of the lawyers of his dis- 
trict, but is also universally esteemed by all 
who know him. The judicial ermine was never 
worn more worthily or its sanctity more care- 
fully guarded. 

On the 30th day of April, 1879, at Spencer, 
Jovva, Judge Pemberton married Miss Ida M. 
Harris, a lady of amiable disposition and many 
accomplishments. Her mental faculties were 
of a high order and she was not afraid to exer- 
cise her judgment and follow its conclusions. 
In all the relations of life, and particularly as 
wife and mother, she was unusually capable. 
She was much esteemed in the community and 
was endowed with the graces that only a 
genuine, wholesome and lovely character can 
confer. On the 6th day of September, 1903, 
after an illness of some duration, she passed 
away, leaving her husband and children to 
moum their irreparable loss. 

To this marriage there were born five chil- 
dren, three daughters and two sons. The 
daughters are Zula L. Pemberton, for several 
years a successful teacher in the Beatrice 
schools and now a highly respected teacher in 
the public schools of Seattle, Washington; 



Pauline, wife of Wylie B. Alayer; and Louise, 
wife of Lee W. Johnson, both of Beatrice. Mr. 
Mayer is a successful business man and Mr. 
Johnson for several years has been the official 
reporter for the Eighteenth judicial district of 
Nebraska ; since the entry of the United States 
into the great world war he has acted also as 
head clerk of the local draft board. The sons 
of Judge Pemberton are Frederick K. Pember- 
ton, a young business man of Beatrice, and 
Guilford Pemberton, a cadet in the signal corps 
of the aviation ser\'ice now preparing for ser- 
vice in France, at Ellington Field, Texas. 

Politically Judge Pemberton has always af- 
filiated with the Republican party, and to the 
honors bestowed upon him by this great na- 
tional organization he has faithfully endeav- 
ored to respond by honoring it in the character 
of his public services as a representative of his 
party. 

While not directly connected with any re- 
ligious organization. Judge Pemberton is by 
nature a religious man. He accepts without 
reservation the general teachings of Christian- 
ity as lived and taught by its great founder, 
Jesus of Nazareth. 

Having gained and, through long years of 
association, held the esteem of an entire com- 
munity ; having so discharged the duties of an 
advocate and a lawyer as to dignify and en- 
noble the great and learned profession ; having 
through long years so administered justice as 
judge of an important court as to command the 
respect of both the bench and bar of a great 
state. Judge Leander M. Pemberton can await 
without trepidation or fear the hour when it 
shall be said of him "the silver cord has been 
loosed, the golden bowl broken, the pitcher 
broken at the fountain." 

EDGAR ROTHROCK— The story is told 
that on a Dutch sailing vessel in the year 
1716 there was a man who wore a reddish- 
brown coat and whom the passengers named 
"Rot-Rock."' Anyhow it is an established 
fact that Gottlieb Rothrock, the first and pos- 
sibly the only Rothrock to come to America, 
arrived in the year 1716 and settled in York 
county, Pennsylvania. 



592 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



In 1746 twin sons were born to one Philip 
Rothrock (probably a son of Gottlieb Roth- 
rock), who lived in Manchester township, 
York county. Pennsylvania. These sons, 
Philip named \'alentine and Peter. The 
former remained in Pennsylvania while the 
latted emigrated to North Carolina and set- 
tled four miles south of Winston-Salem, 
where on .April 19, 1785, was born to him a 
son whom he named Joseph. 

Joseph Rothrock was a farmer and black- 
smith, and spent his life in the vicinity of his 
birth. He died in 18f)8 and was buried in the 
cemetery beside the Freiburg Moravian 
church, seven miles south of Winston-Salem, 
of which church he was a devout member. 
Joseph was twice married — first to Magda- 
lena Knaup. who bore to him six children, 
and after w^hose death he married Sarah 
Spach, six children being born of this second 
union. For this sketch our interest centers 
in Martin, who was born April 24, 1814, the 
second son, by the first marriage. 

Martin Rothrock left his childhood home 
and immigrated to the new west in 1838, 
settling in Edwards county, Illinois, where he 
followed the occupations .of his father. 
Among the people whom he learned to know- 
in the vicinity of his new home was an orphan 
girl. Elizabeth Rothrock. who was born 
January 22, 1822, and who lived with a family 
of another name. Their acquaintance ripen- 
ed into love and they were united in holy 
matrimony June 22, 1842. To this union 
were born five sons and three daughters. The 
second child. l''.li Sanford. was born .August 
5. 1849. 

Eli S. Rothrock grew to manhood in the 
vicinity of his birth and on .August 4. 1870, 
he married Susannah Forney. To this union 
were born ten children, the seventh of whom 
is the subject of this sketch. Eli S. Roth- 
rock and his good wife left their childhood 
home early in 1876, with three horses and a 
covered wagon, and drove to Pawnee countv, 
Nebraska, where they lived until the spring 
of 1878, when they removed to what is now 
Carlisle, Fillmore county, Nebraska. By oc- 
supation he was a farmer, but he also served 



the Bethel Church of the Brethren accept- 
ably as a minister. On March 11, 1883 a son 
was born to them, whom they named Edgar 
Eli. 

The Forneys came to America from 
Switzerland and settled in Pennsylvania in 
colonial days. John Forney, Salisbury, Som- 
erset county. Pennsylvania was born Novem- 
ber 15, 1777. He married Susannah Buechley, 
and to them, were born nine sons and three 
daughters. By trade John Forney was a car- 
penter and cooper, and from the year 1830 
he served the Berlin congregation of what is 
now the Church of the Brethren (Dunkard) 
as minister. He died .August 31, 18-k3, and 
his wife departed this life July 27, 1862, at 
the age of seventy-five years. 

Michael Forney, son of John and Susannah 
Forney, was born in Somerset county, 
Pennsylvania. January 14, 1811. February 
16, 1834 he married Rachel Horner, who was 
a daughter of John Horner. To this union 
ten children were born. The seventh was 
Susannah, who married Eli Sanford Roth- 
rock. The Forneys were Dunkards, and 
many of them preachers. Michael and two 
of his brothers, two of his sons, and several 
grandsons were ministers. The Rothrocks 
were Moravians. Elizabeth Rothrock chang- 
ed her church relationship and united with 
the Church of the Brethren when she was in 
middle life. 

Edgar Eli Rothrock grew up on his father's 
homstead at Carlisle, Nebraska. Having 
completed their studies in the country school 
he and his brothers and youngest sister drove 
to Davenix)rt. Nebraska, and finished in the 
high school. Then Edgar attended Mount 
Morris College, Mount Morris. Illinois, nearly 
two years, and finished the Latin-Scientific 
course. The following year was spent in the 
school of agriculture at Lincoln, Nebraska. 
February 14. 1907, he and Bertha Evora 
Sweitzer were united in marriage, at the 
bride's home, near Waterloo, Iowa. Mrs. 
Edgar Rothrock, daughter of -Amos D. and 
Harriet ( Engle) Sweitzer was born Septem- 
ber 11, 1886, being the seventh in a family of 
eight children. Both her i)arcnts were born 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



593 



and reared in Pennsylvania, as were their 
parents before them, being of the sturdy 
Pennsylvania-German pioneer stock of that 
great commonwealth. After their marriage 
Edgar and Bertha Rothrock, settled on a farm 
near Carlisle, Nebraska. The Bethel congre- 
gation of the Church of the Brethren elected 
him to the ministry in November, 1907. At 
once he entered upon his duties and preached 
his first sermon the first Sunday of January, 
1908. The following winters were spent in 
study at home, in McPherson College, Kansas, 
and Bethany Bible School, Chicago, Illinois. 
March 1, 1910, the Bethel church invited him 
to accept the pastorate, which he did, and he 
served his home congregation in a very ac- 
ceptable manner for seven and one-half years. 
He resigned this position to accept a similar 
one in the South Beatrice church, near 
Holmesville, Gage county, Nebraska, in Sep- 
tember, 1917. In this new field he is active 
not only in the things pertaining directly to 
the church but also in those for the general 
development of the community life. He help- 
ed to plan the campaign which resulted in the 
forming of the consolidated school at Holmes- 
ville. He knows and loves country people 
and he believes in the future of the rural com- 
munity. 

Into this home six children have been born, 
all of whom are living. They are: Kathryn 
Bernita, born February 6, 1908 ; Aileen May, 
born Alay 1. 1909; Kevin Monroe, born De- 
cember 23, 1910: Ruth Elizabeth, born De- 
cember 1, 1912: Samuel Amos, born March 

26, 1914; and Edgar Spurgeon. born, July 

27, 1918. 



JAMES \V. MARPLES, the subject of 
this sketch, was born in Faribault county, 
Minnesota, May 19, 1864. He is the son of 
Charles Marples and Hannah Jane (Isley) 
Marples. In 1868 his parents migrated from 
Minnesota to the then new state of Nebraska, 
and located in Saline county, on a farm near 
the present city of Wilber. His father served 
four years as county clerk of that county 
during its early history, the county seat at 



that time being Swan City, located on Swan 
creek, a short distance southwest of DeWitt. 
It was afterwards moved to Pleasant Hill, 
and when Wilber was laid out, in 1872, it 
became, and still is, the county seat of Saline 
county. 

In 1875 Mr. Marples" parents moved to 
Gage county and located on a farm southeast 
of Blue Springs, where the head of the fam- 
ily died within the following winter. In 
1877 the mother married N. Norris, an early 
settler in Saline county, and they still live on 
the old Marples homestead, three miles east 
of Wymore. 

Mr. Marples obtained a good, usable edu- 
cation in the country schools of Island Grove 
township, Gage county, and looks back with 
much satisfaction to those happy days of his 
early life, — -days when the old-fashioned 
spelling school and the A, B, C method of 
instruction had not gone entirely out of style, 
and the Three R's still constituted the prin- 
cipal source of learning in the common 
schools. Having completed an eighth-grade 
course in the district school, he spent some 
time in Campbell University, at Holton, 
Kansas, entering that institution in 1884. 

In 1875, when Mr. Marples first came to 
Gage county, there was still much unbroken 
prairie throughout the county, where wild 
game common to prairie solitudes could be 
found — the quail, prairie chicken, and now 
and then a deer. A few miles south of his 
father's farm lay the Otoe Indian reservation, 
an unbroken stretch of prairie reaching from 
three miles in Jefiferson county to within two 
miles of the east line of Gage county, and ex- 
tending ten miles south, two of which were in 
Marshall and Washington counties, Kansas. 
By a short ride or drive from Mr. Marples' 
boyhood home, a person could be in the midst 
of primeval conditions, — overhead the blue 
skv like a great hollow dome ; on every hand 
the wide, rolling prairie, stretching to the far 
horizon ; a landscape unbroken by a single 
sign of civilized life, and a silence which had 
brooded over Nebraska from the dawn of 
time. Mr. Marples' boyhood and youth were 
not infrequently enlivened by the presence of 



594 



HISTORY OF GAGE COfXTV, NEBRASKA 



blanketed Indians and he recalls these experi- 
ences with the keenest interest. 

Mr. Marples has until recently led the life 
of a farmer. In 1909 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the Gage county board of supervisors, 
from the Fifth supervisors' district, which in- 
cludes Rockford, Blue Springs, Sherman, 
Island Grove and Liberty townships. By 
successive re-elections he held this office until 
January. 1918, when he resigned to accept 
the position of deputy county clerk of Gage 
county. During his connection with county 
affairs, the entire indebtedness of Gage county 
has been liquidated, leaving the county for 
the first time since 1870 entirely free of debt. 
To Mr. Marples much of the credit is due for 
this vcrv satisfactory state of atTairs. 



:MARI0X TAYLOR CL'MMIXGS was 
born in Van Buren county, Iowa, June 21, 
1862. He is a son of A. M. Cummings and 
Frances B. Cummings. When he was one year 
old his parents moved from Iowa to the state 
of Kansas and located near Gardner. He 
obtained the rudiments of an education in 
the common schools of that state and, having 
prepared for university work, he, in 1883, 
went to the State L'niversity at Lawrence, 
Kansas, quitting in his junior year. For one 
year he was engaged in a clerical position at 
Lawrence. 

While attending the L'niversity of Kansas 
he made the acquaintance of Miss Marianna 
Griffin, a native of that state, born June 25, 
1869. In the delightful intimacy of college 
life was formed between these two students 
a friendsiiip which led to romantic love, and 
on the 1st day of May, 1888. at Lawrence. 
Kansas, they became husband and wife. Both 
were independent thinkers, both well educat- 
ed, both ambitious, and the marriage that was 
broken by death was an ideal one. In .August, 
1890. they moved from Kansas to Beatrice, 
Nebraska, and soon became factors in the 
social and business life of the communitv. 
Here on the 30lh day of November. 189<>. .Mr. 
Cummings' beloved wife, Marianna.. died, and 
she was laid to rest in Evergreen Home cem- 



etery. The children of this marriage were 
Luella, Edith Eleanor and Gale Taylor Cum- 
mings. 

On the 5th day of January, 1901 Mr. Cum- 
mings married Almida Marie Longtin. of 
Beatrice, a good and noble woman, and from 
this marriage have sprung Marianna Marie, 
Francis Marion and Emerie Sextus Cum- 
mings. These children are all living. Mr. 
Cummings' eldest child, Luella, is serving the 
government at Washington as clerk in the 
geological survey ; Edith Eleanor is fellowship 
assistant in astronomy at Lick Observatory, 
Mount Hamilton, California, while Gale Tay- 
lor Cummings is in the marine service of his 
country, at present stationed at Mare Island. 
California. The children of the second mar- 
riage are at home, the eldest. Marianna. hav- 
ing just graduated from the Lincoln high 
school. 

Mr. Cummings, with his family, came to 
Beatrice from Lawrence, Kansas, in August, 
1890. His first act was to buy a cup of 
w-ater, for five cents, on the old Chautauqua 
grounds, on the day w-hen the Rev. Thomas 
DeWitt Talmage preached to the nuiltitude. 
His first meal in Gage county was eaten on 
the open prairie, east of the tile works, near 
where the Country Club now has golf links. 

His prairie schooner stopped at 722 South 
Sixth Street, and he unloaded his wife and 
baby and took root there. His assets were 
a blind horse and eight hundred and sixty- 
four dollars in cash : his bills payable were 
one thousand dollars, for which his mother 
was security. But Mr. Cummings was young, 
ardent, and active. He worked hard, and pros- 
pered. After a year in the coal business, he 
put up an ice crop, and from this he paid his 
debts and bought a home for his fainily. This 
venture also started his father-in-law in the 
ice business, from which he grew wealthv. 
To his coal and ice business Mr. Cummings 
then addeil a grain business, and "went over 
the top." He was the first man in Nebraska 
to handle a wet harvest by use of a drving 
kiln. The venture paid, and out of it he 
coined the aphorism, "The Lord loves the 
valorous." This has been his motto ever 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



595 



since, and his success in business affairs 
seems to prove its verity. 

In 1903 there came a tremendous flood and 
the Big Bkie river attained proportions which 
had previously been unknown, even to the 
oldest inhabitant of the state. Most of ]\Ir. 
Cummings' property, cribbed corn, cattle, and 
milling interest, was swept in a red streak on 
the wrong side of the ledger. His operations 
had been extensive and varied, and he found 
himself indebted to the various banks in a 
total sum of seventy-one thousand dollars. 
After selling off every kind of merchantable 
stock, he was still behind the game in the 
amount of twenty thousand dollars. With 
undaunted courage, he smiled a little more af- 
fably, buckled down a little harder and paid 
out the second year after the flood. 

He had acquired a tract of one block with 
double trackage on Si.xth street, opposite the 
Dempster mill manufacturing plant, and 
shortly after the great flood, he erected on 
this property a fine elevator, having a capacity 
of eighty thousand bushels. In 1906 he en- 
tered into copartnership with Robert Pease in 
the coal and grain business, but the university 
attracted him to Lincoln, and he, in 1908, sold 
his Beatrice business to his partner, moved to- 
Lincoln, purchased an elevator there in 1910, 
and the following year moved his familv to 
the capital city, where they are now settled in 
an elegant home on the corner of Twenty-first 
and B streets. As a business proposition, Mr. 
Cummings has no complaint to make of the 
new location. Prosperity appears to have at- 
tended every move. 

Mr. Cummings' family motto has been 
''Not a boom — just a steady growth". It 
has found expression in a family of twenty- 
seven children, the six already named, and 
also ten Belgian and eleven French war or- 
phans who are now his by adoption. Those 
who know his humane tendencies will not be 
surprised to see this family doubled in the 
near future. 

But Mr. Cummings lias found time for 
other activities. He is the inventor of a sys- 
tem for salvaging wet or immature grain, 
which he has employed in his own business 



with great success. He was also one of the 
first, probably the very first, inventors of the 
depth bomb, which is nearly the sole reliance 
for combatting the odious submarine. He 
also invented a pneumatic mortar for hurling 
these bombs at the rate of seven a minute, 
a distance of one thousand yards. 

Germany declared unrestricted submarine 
warfare February 2, 1917. On February IStJi 
Mr. Cummings was in Washington with blue- 
prints of these inventions, and formally laid 
them before tlie board of naval ordnance. Tin. 
board nominally turned him down, but actu- 
ally adopted the depth charge, which, in a 
slightly modified form, they have been using 
since June, 1917. They also declined out- 
wardly to consider the pneumatic gun, but 
the New York World of July 5, 1918, gives 
an account of a battle in which the pneumatic 
mortar was first employed, and with perfect 
results, five out of six attacking submarines 
being sunk by two merchantmen armed with 
this weapon. Doubtless more will be heard 
of it before the great world war closes. With 
the patriotic generosity characteristic of him, 
Mr. Cummings took out no patents on these 
inventions, but presented them to the ordnance 
department of the United States, without re- 
servation and without price. He wishes to 
credit here Dean Oscar V. P. Stout, a graduate 
of the Beatrice high school and of the State 
University of Nebraska, and for many years 
the distinguished head of the engineering de- 
partment of that university, for valuable as- 
sistance in perfecting these inventions, and 
Congressman Reavis and Senator Borah for 
their aid in getting the inventions properly 
lodged with the national ordnance department 
at Washington. 

The writer of this sketch, after many years 
of intimate personal friendship with Mr. Cum- 
mings, can attest his value as a citizen, a friend 
and a man. 

JOHN L. SCHIEK. — Civic and business 
altruism has been effectively exemplified in 
the career of this representative business man 
of the city of Beatrice, and he is now success- 
fully established in the automobile business, 



596 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



with headquarters in a modern and well equip- 
ped building of which he is the owner. Mr. 
Schick has been a resident of Gage county for 
more than thirty years, has here been con- 
cerned with various lines of business enter- 
prise and his secure place in popular confi- 
dence and esteem is assured by the fact that 
he served two and one-half terms as sheriff 
of the county, his administration having passed 
upon record as being one of the best given to 
the shrievalty of the county within the entire 
period of its history. 

Mr. Schick was bom at Mokena, \\'ill 
county, Illinois, on the 26th of March, 1863, 
and is a son of John and Helena (Miller) 
Schick, both natives of Germany. John 
Schick was reared and educated in his native 
land and was one of the many sterling sons of 
Germany who was a revolter and came to the 
United States in the year 1848. From the 
.'\tlantic seaboard he made his way westward 
to Chicago, which was then a comparatively 
insignificant city, and from the future metro- 
polis of the west he proceeded with wagon and 
ox team to Joliet, Illinois, finally establishing 
a permanent home in Will county, where he 
became a prosperous farmer, besides having 
been for a number of years engaged in the 
hotel business at Mokena and having also been 
one of the leading merchants of that village. 
His energy was equalled by his busmess ver- 
satility, and through his own well directed cut 
deavors he achieved independence and definite 
prosperity. He was one of the pioneer oper- 
ators of a threshing machine in northern Illi- 
nois, and he continued his residence in that 
state until his death. He was one of the 
honored pioneer citizens of ^V'ill county, Illi- 
nois, and was about sixty-eight years of age at 
the time of his demise. He was a son of 
Henry Schick, and the entire family came 
from Germany to America in the late '40s, the 
parents of Mr. Schick having been residents 
of Illinois during the closing years of their 
earnest and worthy lives. John Schick 
aligned himself as a stalwart supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party, was in- 
fluential in public affairs of a local order and 
held various offices of trust, including that of 



county commissioner. His venerable widow, 
now a resident of Joliet. Illinois, is a daughter 
of George Miller, who immigrated with his 
family from Germany and established himself 
as one of the pioneer farmers of Cook county, 
Illinois, where he passed the residue of his 
life. Mr. and Mrs. Schick became the parents 
of nine children, of whom the subject of this 
review was the fourth in order of birth, and 
of the number seven are now living. 

To the public schools of Mokena, Illinois. 
John L. Schick is indebted for his early educa- 
tional advantages, and as a lad he began tcv 
assist his father in connection with the lat- 
ter's various business affairs. He remained 
in his native state until 1886, on the 26th of 
March of which year he arrived in Beatrice, 
Nebraska. Here he was for a number of 
years emploj'ed in the general mercantile es- 
tablishment of Kline, Lang & Mosshel, and 
within this period he assisted in the organiza- 
tion of the Beatrice volunteer fire department, 
of which he served several years as chief. He 
finally established himself in the general mer- 
chandise business in the village of Filley, this 
county, where he continued operations in this 
line for three years. He then returned to- 
Beatrice and resumed his association with the 
mercantile concern by which he had previously 
been employed ; later he engaged in buying 
and selling horses, and in 1916 he was elected 
sheriflf of the county, his efficient administra- 
tion meeting with such approval that he was 
retained in this office two and one-half tenns, 
as previously noted in this context. Since his 
retirement from public office Mr. Schick has 
built up a most prosperous enterprise in the 
handling of automobiles and the conducting of 
a general garage and repair shop, his estab- 
lishment having a full line of automobile parts 
and accessories. He is the local agent for the 
popular Buick automobile. 

Mr. Schick is known as one of Gage county's 
loyal and aggresive advocates of the cause of 
the Republican party and he has been in- 
fluential in political affairs in the county. He 
has served in various minor political offices 
of local order, and he has been prominent in 
connection with fire-department affairs. He 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



597 



was a delegate from Gage county to the con- 
vention of the International Firemen's Asso- 
ciation held in the city of Montreal, Canada, 
has served as president of the Nebraska State 
Firemen's Association, and at the Louisiana 
Purchase Exposition, in the city of St. Louis, 
he was a member of the official board which 
had charge of awarding prizes to firemen. In 
addition to being prominent and influential in 
civic afiairs in his home city and county Mr. 
Schick is actively affiliated with the local or- 
ganizations of the Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America 
and the Travelers' Protective Association, be- 
sides which he is a popular member of the 
Beatrice County Club. Both he and his wife 
are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal 
church. 

In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Schiek to Miss Anna Grussel, who was born 
in the state of New York, and in conclusion of 
this review is given brief record concerning 
their children : Vivian became the wife of 
Berney Keach and has one child, Enid ; Julia 
is the wife of Frank J. Kline, of Beatrice; 
John is an artificer in the One Hundred and 
Thirty-fourth United States Infantry, of the 
national army forces that are preparing to 
take part in the great European war, and is 
stationed at Deming, New Mexico; and Bea- 
trice and Ralph remain at the parental home. 

W. C. BLACK, JR. — One of the most im- 
portant and effectively ordered industrial en- 
terprises of the city of Beatrice is that con- 
ducted under the title of Black Brothers, and 
this enterprise involves the ownership and op- 
eration of a thoroughly modern flour mill that 
has a daily output capacity of three hundred 
barrels. The products of this mill are of the 
highest standard and command a substantial 
trade as a standard household provision 
throughout southeastern Nebraska. He whose 
name initiates this paragraph has been the 
active manager of the Black Brothers mill 
since 1902 and his interposition in this capac- 
ity has inured notably to the success and ex- 
pansion of the business. 



Mr. Black was born at Sycamore, Dekalb 
county, Illinois, on the 3d of June. 1878, and is 
a son of William C. and Mary (Conant) 
Black. William C. Black, Sr., was born in 
Ireland, in May, 1835, and was a child of 
three years at the time of the family immi- 
gration to the United States. He was reared 
and educated in Pennsylvania and as a young 
man his ability was on a parity with his am- 
bition, with the result that he achieved dis- 
tinct success and became prominently engaged 
eventually in the milling and lumbvring busi- 
ness. With these lines of enterprise he was 
actively identified at Sycamore, Illinois, and 
later he moved to the city of Youngstown, 
Ohio. In 1879 he became associated with his 
brother, Cochrane S. Black, in the purchase ol 
the flour mill at Beatrice, Nebraska, and the 
same has since been operated under the title 
of Black Brothers, the while its equipment has 
at all times been kept up to the best modern 
standard in all departments. In 188S the firm 
purchased also a mill at Blue Springs, this 
county, and this also has continued to be op- 
erated successfully by the firm of Black 
Brothers. William C. Black, Sr., celebrated 
in May, 1917, the eighty-second anniversary 
of his birth, and though he did not remove to 
Nebraska at the time when he and his brother 
purchased the mill at Beatrice, his brother as- 
suming active charge of the same, he finally 
established his residence in Beatrice, in 1902, 
and here he is now living virtually retired, a 
venerable citizen who commands the unquali- 
fied esteem of all who know him. He has been 
one of the world's productive workers and haa 
achieved success worthy of the name. His 
gracious wife was born in the state of New 
York, and their companionship has continued 
in ideal relationship for more than fifty years, 
both being earnest members of the Presbyter- 
ian church. Of the two children Mrs. C. M. 
Shafer is the elder, and is living in Kansas 
City, Missouri. 

W. C. Black, Jr., acquired his yomhful edu- 
cation in the public schools of Illinois and Ohio 
and his initial business experience was gained 
through association with enterprise? in which 
his father was a principal. He developed 



598 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



strong initiative and executive ability and thus 
was well equipped when he assumed the active 
management of the mill and business of Black 
Brothers at Beatrice, his service in this capac- 
ity having covered a period of fifteen years, 
within which he has become recognized as one 
of the most progressive and loyal citizens and 
representative business men of Gnge county 
and the fine little city which is its metropolis 
and judicial center. Mr. Black is a member 
of the directorate of the First National Bank 
of Beatrice, is a Republican in his political 
allegiance, and he and his wife are active 
members of the First Presbyterian church in 
their home city. 

In the year 1901 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Black to Miss Ivy Howv-y, a mem- 
ber of a well known Gage county family that 
finds representation on other pages of this 
publication, and the three children of this 
union are Frances, William and Be.itrice. 



GEORGE H. \AN HORNE. — An able 
and popular public executive in tlie city of 
Beatrice is Mr. \'an Home wJio is superin- 
tendent of mails in connection with ihe admin- 
istration of the large volume of business now 
conducted in the postofifice of the metro])olis 
and judicial center of Gage county. Aside 
from his assured standing as a citizen special 
interest attaches to the career of Mr. Van 
Home by reason of the fact that he is con- 
sistently to be designated as a pioneer of Gage 
county, within whose gracious borders he es- 
tablished his home nearly half a century ago, 
so that he has been a witness of and con- 
tributor to the vigorous ])rocess of develop- 
ment and advancement that has made this one 
of the populous, prosperous and representa- 
tive integral divisions of a great common- 
wealth. 

Mr. Van Home takes a just pride not only 
in claiming pioneer honors in Gage county but 
also in being a representative of two of the 
sterling pioneer families of the Wolverine 
state. He was born on the paternal home- 
stead farm in Bridgewater township. Wash- 
tenaw county, Michigan, and the date of his 
nativitv was March 30, 1854. His parents, 



William H. and Elizabeth G. (Howe) Van 
Home, were born in the state of New York 
and their marriage was solemnized in Mich- 
igan, to the settlement of the southern por- 
tion of which commonwealth the old Empire 
state contributed a numerous quota in the 
pioneer days. Both the paternal and maternal 
grandfathers of the subject of this review were, 
numbered among the pioneers of southern 
Michigan, and the former became a large land- 
owner and influential citizen, as a pioneer of 
energ)' and much constructive ability. The 
maternal grandfather of Mr. Van Home like- 
wise became prominent in connection with 
civic affairs and industrial development in 
southern Michigan, ser\-ed as a member of the 
state legislature in the early days and was 
otherwise a figure of no little prominence in 
the formative history of that state. William 
H. V^an Home became a substantial farmer 
in \\'ashtenaw county, Michigan, where he 
conliiuied his residence until ISSO, when he 
established his residence in Beatrice, Ne- 
braska. Here he lived to the patriarchal age 
of ninety-five years, his loved and devoted 
wife having entered into eternal rest in the 
year 1891. Of their children the subject of 
this sketch is the eldest: Dwight W. is railroad 
station agent for the Chicago, Burlington & 
Quincy Railroad in the village of Syracuse. 
Otoe county, Nebraska ; Miss Agnes H. re- 
mained with her venerable father until his 
death : James H. is a machinist by vocation 
and resides at Council BlutYs. Iowa ; Josephine 
remains at the parental home, in Beatrice; 
and Julia, who was for fifteen years sten- 
ographer and chief clerk in the offices of the 
Sonderegger nurseries, at Beatrice, is now in 
the service of the government in connection 
with war activities in the national capital, her 
technical and executive ability having gained 
to her a responsible clerical position. 

William H. Van Home died in a hospital at 
Beatrice on the morning of May 8, 1918. 
About a week previously he had received a fall, 
in which he fractured one of his legs, the phy- 
sical shock, owing to his great age, h.iving been 
the virtual cause of his death. He was a 
stalwart supporter of the cause of the Demo- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



599 



cratic party and was for many years affiliated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
in which he passed the various official chairs. 
While he resided in Michigan his religious 
views was in harmony with the tenets of the 
Presbyterian church, of which his wife was a 
zealous member. 

In his native county George H. Van Home 
gained his early educational discipline in the 
rural schools and the public schools of the vil- 
lage of Manchester, where he completed the 
curriculum of the high school. As a boy and 
youth he gained practical experience in con- 
nection with the operations of the home farm 
and that he made good use of the educational 
advantages that were afforded him is demon- 
strated in the effective service which he gave 
as a member of the pedagogic profession, he 
having devoted about a decade to service as a 
successful and popular teacher in the public 
schools of Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska. De- 
sirous of identifying himself with the progres- 
sive west, Mr. Van Home came to Nebraska 
and established his residence at Beatrice on 
the 21st of April, 1875, — about eight years 
after the admission of tlie state to the Union. 
He soon afterward purchased a farm in what 
is now Lincoln township, and for the ensuing 
ten years he was engaged in breaking his land 
and improving and cultivating his farm besides 
participating in the public and civic aflfairs of 
his township and county and serving as school 
director, etc. In 1885 he left the farm and re- 
moved to Beatrice, the judicial center of the 
county, and here he followed various occupa- 
tions until September, 1888, when he was ap- 
pointed to a clerical position in the local post- 
office, with the administration of which he has 
since been consecutively identified and in which 
he now holds the position of superiiUendent of 
mails. Mr. Van Home adheres to the Demo- 
cratic faith and takes loyal interest in all things 
touching the civic and material welfare of his 
home city, county and state. He is affiliated 
with the Royal Highlanders and the Modern 
Woodmen of America, and he and his wife 
hold membership in the Presbyterian church. 

On the 27th of June, 1889, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Van Home to Miss Marj' 



Shear, who was born in the state of New York, 
and their only child is an adopted son, Leslie 
G., who was taken into their home when he 
was nine months old, after the death of his 
mother, Mrs. E. E. Greer, a sister of his 
adoptive mother. 

KILPATRICK BROTHERS. — No his- 
tory of Gage county, and in fact no history of 
Nebraska or the west, would be complete, if it 
failed to take account of the Kilpatrick family 
and of Kilpatrick Brothers. 

The family of Sanuiel and Rachael Kilpat- 
rick in point of time was amongst the first 
families of Gage county. These ])ioneers came 
tc our county from Iowa, in 1859. Leaving 
Benton county in June of that year, with ox 
teams, they crossed the Missouri river at 
Plattsmouth on the third day of July, and fol- 
lowed the course of that great river to Ne- 
braska City. After a few days they ventured 
west as far as Tecumseh, where they camped 
for a while on the open prairie. From that in- 
significant western village they came to Beat- 
rice, then a village even more insignificant, and 
for an entire week camped on the bottom land 
of the Big Blue river, at a point a little west 
and south of the old Court street ford. About 
the first of August, Samuel Kilpatrick estab- 
lished, by actual settlement, preemption rights 
to the "north half of the northwest fractional 
quarter and the southwest fractional quarter 
of the northwest fractional quarter of section 
thirty-one, in township four north, of range 
five east" in Gage county, Nebraska, — the 
tract containing 102 ^V,on acres. On the first 
day of January, 1863, at Brownville, Nebraska, 
he made entry of this tract of land under the 
new homestead law of congress which went 
into eff^ect that day, his entry being the second 
one under the act. This quarter-section of 
land continued to be the home of Samuel and 
Rachael Kilpatrick the remainder of their 
lives, and it is still owned by their sons and 
held by them in reverent memory of their 
parents. 

Samuel Kilpatrick was born at McConnells- 
ville, Ohio, December 5. 1818. His parents, 
John and Sarah (Wallace) Kilpatrick, were of 



600 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Scotch-Irish descent, and were pioneers by 
habit, tradition, aiui instinct. At a very early 
age in the life of their son, they moved from 
Ohio to Indiana, and thence to Illinois, where 
he grew to maturity. In the country district 
schools of those states he obtained a good, 
usable education for that day. In his late 
youth and early manhood he spent much of his 
time as a farm hand, and by industry and fru- 
gality he had acquired considerable property 
before settling down in life. 

Rachael (Thompson) Kilpatrick also was 
born in Ohio, near Senecaville, Guernsey coun- 
ty, where she resided with her parents, David 
and Ruth Thomi^son. until she attained the age 




KlLI'.ATRlCK MaUSOLECM 

Evergreen Home Cemetery 

of ten years, when they moved to Adams coun- 
ty, Ohio, locating near Wilmington. In 1841 
they moved to Will county, Illinois, and settled 
near Kankakee. Here on the eighteenth day 
of May. 1844, she and Samuel Kilpatrick were 
married, at her father's home, by Dr. Jewett. 
a Methodist Episcopal clergyman. At the 
time of their marriage the husband was twen- 
ty-si.K years of age and the wife eighteen. 
This marriage, solemnized so long ago, proved 
to be an ideally happy one and was broken 
only by the death of the husband. Samuel Kil- 
patrick, which occurred on the 20th day of 
Februarv. 1875. His beloved wife. Rachael. 
survived him until the 23d day of May, UX)8. 
when she too passed away, at the old home 
where so many years of her long and useful 
life had been spent. 



Almost immediately after their marriage 
Samuel and Rachael Kilpatrick left Illinois 
and went to live in the state of Missouri, where 
they made their home on a farm in Jasper 
county from 1845 to 1857 and where six of 
their children were born. During the year 
last above named they moved to Benton coun- 
ty, Iowa, and thence they came, as above nar- 
rated, in 1859, to Gage county, Nebraska. 

To Samuel and Rachael Kilpatrick the fol- 
lowing children were born, namely : Sarah 
Elizabeth Kilpatrick, July 19. 1845 : John 
David Kilpatrick, October 7, 1847; Henry 
Clay Kilpatrick, August 23, 1850; William 
Hamilton Kilpatrick, February 6, 1853; Abra- 
ham Kilpatrick, February 21, 1855; Robert 
Jackson Kilpatrick. September 11, 1856; Sam- 
uel Davenport Kilpatrick, March 21, 1859; 
.\braham L. Kilpatrick. August 31, 1861 ; 
Josephus M. Kilpatrick, September 7. 1867; 
Lottie Rebecca Kilpatrick, March 5, 1871. 

Of these children, Sarah Elizabeth die<l 
August 31, 1851, aged six years, one month, 
twelve days ; .Ibraham died September 30. 
1855, aged eight months. Their remains rest 
in a country cemetery in Jasper county, near 
Joi>lin. Missouri, and the place of their burial 
is marked by a stone. Abraham L. died Sep- 
tember 18. 1863, aged two years, seventeen 
days. Lottie Rebecca died December 23. 1873. 
aged two years, nine months, seventeen days. 
John David Kilpatrick, the eldest son, died at 
his home in Beatrice. July 27 . 1891. aged forty - 
three years, nine months, twenty days. Henry 
Clay Kilpatrick died at his farm home, ten 
miles east of He])ron, in Thayer county. May 
11, 1902. aged fifty-one years, three months, 
twelve days. The remains of the deceased 
members of this pioneer family, parents and 
children, except those of Sarah Elizabeth and 
Abraham, are interred in the splendid mauso- 
leum erected in 1912 by the surviving sons, 
William Hamilton, Robert Jackson, Samuel 
Davenport, and Josephus M. Kilpatrick. in 
Evergreen Home cemetery, near Beatrice. 

No one who was at all acquainted with Sam- 
uel and Rachael Kilpatrick, the founders of 
this Gage county family, ever failed to ac- 
cord to them the highest respect, not only for 
their kindness of heart and neighborly quali- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



601 



ties, but also for tlieir acknowledged worth of 
character. He was a kindly, good man, sin- 
cerely and devoutly religious, a lifelong mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Though unassuming, and unambitious of 
worldly fame and favor, he was a good busi- 
ness man, extremely useful to his community, 
highly honored, and exerted a wholesome influ- 
ence wherever he was known. He was well 
informed, a genial companion, a most kind 
husband and father, a charitable and helpful 
neighbor, a true, good friend. Mrs. Rachael 
Kilpatrick also came of religious stock. Her 
father, David Thompson, was a long-time 
member of the United Brethren church and 
was a minister of the Gospel. Her early life 
was spent in an atmosphere of piety and re- 
ligious enthusiasm, and there was probably 
never a conscious moment of her life when she 
was not dominated by the deep forces of the 
Christian religion. Her charities were large. 
She not only gave liberally to the church of 
which she was a member, but also stretched a 
helping hand to the poor and needy. She, with 
Mrs. Nathan Blakely, many years ago donated 
to Centenary Methodist Episcopal church of 
Beatrice the fine pipe organ now in use there, 
and in many other ways she demonstrated the 
natural benevolence of her heart. She died the 
object of the love and veneration of her stal- 
wart sons and of the afifection and profound 
respect of a host of relatives and friends. 

The firm known as Kilpatrick Brothers and 
the corporation described as Kilpatrick Bros. 
& Collins Contracting Company, originated 
with John David Kilpatrick, and may be said 
to date from his old freighting days along the 
Oregon Trail from Missouri river points west 
to the Rocky mountains. From his youth he 
was engaged in this adventurous business and 
was a well known figure amongst the traders, 
freighters, emigrants, gold-seekers, and over- 
land stage drivers who thronged that great 
highway in the early history of the west. 
When the Union Pacific Railway was under 
construction across the state in 1867-68-69, he, 
with a string of teams, engaged for two years 
in this work, which he continued until connec- 
tion was made between the Union Pacific and 



Central Pacific Railway lines at Promontory 
Point, state of Utah, where he witnessed the 
driving of the golden spike, May 10, 1869, 
which signalled the completion of the first 
transcontinental railway line in North Amer- 
ica. That same year he moved his grading 
outfit to Kansas, then to Arkansas, then to 
Louisiana and Texas. In each of these states 
he engaged in railroad construction work, and 
in the city of Galveston he was employed by 
the municipal corporation in building docks 
and grading the streets. He built, under con- 
tract, for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Rail- 
road Company, the first sixty-five miles of track 
north from Galveston, which included a bridge 
across Galveston Bay, and this was the only 
railroad bridge at Galveston that survived the 
great disaster of 1900. With his associates he 
built the Tremont House, a six-story, brick 
hotel covering a fourth of a block in the city of 
Galveston. Such, indeed, were his activities 
that by the time he was thirty years of age he 
was one of the best known contractors and 
business men of the south. In 1879 he re- 
turned to Nebraska and formed the co-partner- 
ship of Kilpatrick Brothers, at that time com- 
posed of himself, and his brothers William H., 
Robert J., and Samuel D. Kilpatrick. As rail- 
road contractors the firm was immediately suc- 
cessful. That same year it obtained a contract 
for the grading of the Union Pacific Railway 
line from Oketo, Kansas, to Beatrice, and for 
building the bridges and laying the track on 
this line from Marysville to Beatrice. 

In 1882 the Union Pacific Railway Company 
undertook the construction of what is known 
as the Oregon Short Line, extending from the 
town of Granger, Wyoming, to Portland, Ore- 
gon, and Kilpatrick Brothers obtained a con- 
tract covering the construction of two hundred 
sixty-four miles of this important line of rail- 
way. The work carried the railroad line across 
the lava beds of southern Idaho, through the 
Rocky, Sierra and Coast Range mountains, 
and was in those days a most difficult feat of 
railroad construction. But under the manage- 
ment of John David Kilpatrick the firm's con- 
tract was performed with such care, skill and 
ability as to lay the foundation of the Kilpat- 



602 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



rick Druthers' fortunes. liy 1886 the firm liad 
graded approximately six hundred thirty-two 
miles of railroad lines, located in Texas, Ne- 
braska, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, South Dakota, Kansas, and Illi- 
nois. 

In 1886 Kilpatrick brothers associated with 
themselves C. \V. Collins, of Brooklyn, New 
York, in a copartnership known as Kilpatrick 
Bros. & Collins. Mr. Collins was then an 
active young man with considerable experience 
as a railroad contractor and a wide acquaint- 
ance with railroad officials. This new firm was 
successful from the first, and a period of great 
activity ensued in railroad construction. In 
1891, after the death of John David Kilpatrick, 
Kil])atrick Bros. & Collins organized a cor]X)r- 
ation known as Kilpatrick Bros. & Collins Con- 
tractiui^ Company. These organizations and 
Kilpatrick Brothers, the partnership in which 
the brothers were the only members, continued 
in railroad construction for sixteen years, dur- 
ing wliich time they held construction con- 
tracts covering 3,339.07 miles of railroad, for 
which they received $31,363,947.08. In addi- 
tion to their railroad contracts they put in thir- 
ty-four miles of water pipe lines for the Union 
Pacific and the Colorado & Southern Rail- 
roads, for which they were paid $88,315.99; 
and constructed reservoirs for two privately 
owned irrigation and development companies, 
and a reservoir and tunnel for the United 
States government, for all which they received 
$326,970.56. 

Amongst other activities these companies 
discovered and opened a great coal field in the 
state of Wyoming. They induced the Chicago, 
I'urlington & Quincy Railroad Company to ex- 
tend its line of railroad from .Alliance, Nebras- 
ka, to the.se coal fields, a distance of one hun- 
tlred sixty-five miles, and in December, 1889, 
was loaded the first coal train at their mines. 
This industry rcsultcil in the founding of the 
towns of Newcastle ant! Cambria. Wyoming. 
In 1910 the coal mines, with their equipment, 
were sold Iiy Kilpatrick Brothers, who, by the 
retirement of Mr. Collins, in 1902. liad suc- 
ceeded to all the rights of Kilpatrick Bros. & 
Collins and Kilpatrick Bros. & Collins Con- 



tracting Company. These mines are to-day in 
successful operation and have been the source 
of a tremendous output of coal. 

Mention has been made of the retirement of 
Mr. Collins from the copartnership and the 
corporation in which he was associated with 
the Kilpatrick Brothers. This association had 
lasted for sixteen years, all of which had been 
crowded with important business. On his re- 
tirement, in 1902, his interests were purchased 
by his associates, and the records of these con- 
cerns were in such perfect condition that this 
transfer was com])leted within an hour, to the 
satisfaction of all persons concerned. 

The immense labors performed by the Kil- 
])atrick Brothers and their associates in busi- 
ness, offer mute but most convincing evidence 
of their energy and courage. As railroad con- 
tractors of integrity and ability they arc known 
over all the west, from the Missouri river to 
the Pacific coast. 

In addition to their railroad construction 
work, the Kilpatrick Brothers have for many 
years been engaged in the business of fanning 
and stock-raising. Since 1917 they have de- 
voted their attention exclusively to these inter- 
ests. They own farming and grazing lands in 
Nebraska, Kansas. South Dakota, Idaho, Ore- 
gon, and Texas. At present they are farming 
over si.x thousand acres of land, and the re- 
mainder of their extensive holdings is used 
for grazing purposes. U'illiam, Robert, and 
Davenport own beautiful homes in the city of 
lleatrice. The youngest brother, Josephus 
M., lives on the old family homestead, in a 
beautiful modern mansion. In addition to 
their homes in this city, they have for many 
years owned the old stone building at the cor- 
ner of Fifth and Court streets, erected in the 
early '70s by Blakely, Reynolds & Townsend, 
pioneer merchants of Beatrice, and to this 
they have built an extensive brick addition on 
tlie rear, to the alley. They own also a splen- 
did office building at the corner of Fifth and 
Ivlla streets, which, besides furnishing them 
with commodious offices, is occupied by the 
l\lks Club and the Beatrice Commercial Club, 
and is one of the most used and necessary 
buildings in the city. Outside of the Beatrice 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



603 



])roperty here mentioned, they own l)ut httlc 
city or town propery anywhere. 

In 1877, John David Kilpatrick married 
Miss Jennie Kane, at Galveston, Texas. Two 
ciiildren were born of this marriage, John 
David and Ray M. Kilpatrick. The son died 
in New York, many years ag"o. The dausjhter 
liccame the wife of John P. Cook and now re- 
sides with her husband in New York city. 

Henry Clay Kilpatrick, on March 14, 1875, 
married Miss Charlotte Wands, and moved at 
once to the Thayer county farm, where he re- 
sided until his death. May 11, 1902. Twelve 
children were the fruit of this marriage. Ten, 
with their mother, still survive. 

William Hamilton Kilpatrick, on the 4th day 
of June, 1890, at Roseville, Illinois, led to the 
marriage altar Miss Margaret E. Nisley. They 
are the parents of a son, William H. Kilpatrick, 
Jr., and a daughter, Rachael E., now the wife 
of Leonard Purdy, a promising young business 
man of Beatrice. The son is serving his coun- 
try in France as a sergeant in the quartermas- 
ters department of the expeditionary army of 
the United States. 

Robert Jackson Kilpatrick, on the 28th day 
of December, 1881, at Beatrice, married Ma- 
rian D. Jones, who for several years had been 
a teacher in the city schools of Beatrice. They 
are the parents of two daughters, Adelaide D., 
now the wife of Irving C. Hancock, of Chi- 
cago, Illinois, and Katherine R., the wife of 
C. L. Sherwood, an employe of the Beatrice 
National Bank. 

Samuel Davenport Kilpatrick, on the 2Sth 
day of September, 1898, at Beatrice, married 
Miss Mary Bradt, a member of a pioneer fam- 
ily of Gage county. 

Josephus M. Kilpatrick, on the 20th day of 
September, 1892, at Brownville, Nebraska, 
married Miss Augusta Meitz. To them have 
been born a daughter. Augusta, wife of Clar- 
ence W. Gral¥, and two sons, John J. and 
Clarence Kilpatrick, both now in the service of 
their country, — John as a first-class truck 
driver. Company D, Eighth Train, while Clar- 
ence is in the United States navy. Fourth Divi- 
sion, on board the ship North Carolina. 

It will be readily conceded by all who are 



familiar with their history that Kilpatrick 
Brothers have made for themselves a large 
place in the world of work as well as in the 
world of finance. No other family or organi- 
zation of Gage county, or perhaps in the state 
of Nebraska, has a more enviable recoi^d of 
usefulness and of things achieved. They have 
performed vast labors and acquired large pos- 
sessions by methods which will bear the closest 
scrutiny. Beginning with the career of the 
oldest brother, the generous and courtly John 
D. Kilpatrick, and continuing through the long 
years, they have maintained a high standard of 
integrity and efficiency. Their phenomenal 
success has been due in part to careful, sys- 
tematic business methods ; in part to a keen, 
discriminating knowledge of men ; but more 
than all else, perhaps, to an unbounded loyalty 
and confidence in each other, enabling them to 
act, in the gravest affairs of life, as one man. 
This brotherhood has never palled or weak- 
ened ; it is not subject to fluctuation or change. 
Singly any one of its members might have 
carved out for himself a conspicuous place in 
the world ; collectively they have proved in- 
vincible. 

JOSEPH H. RAMSEY. — There is no 
dearth of interesting data in the personal and 
ancestral record of this sterling pioneer citi- 
zen, who has been a resident of Gage county 
for nearly forty years and who, after having 
been long and successfully identified with 
])roductive agricultural and live-stock indus- 
try in Filley township, is now living retired 
in his attractive home at 1220 Elk street in the 
city of Beatrice. Enduring distinction must 
ever attach to the name of Mr. Ramsey for 
the gallant service which he gave as a youth- 
ful soldier of the Union in the Civil war, for 
few lived up more fully to the tension of that 
great conflict, or endured a greater cjuota of 
hardships and perils. Again, few have had 
more varied and intimate experience in con- 
nection with pioneer life, for he was but a 
child at the time when his parents became 
[jioneer settlers in Iowa, about the time of the 
admission of that state to the Union, so that 
he was literally reared under the conditions 



604 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY, NEBRASKA 



and influences of the frontier. Adverting to 
the genealogy of Mr. Ramsey, it may be said 
that he is a scion of famiUes that were 
founded in \'irginia in the colonial period of 
our national history, his mother having been 
a menilier of one of the patrician and influ- 
ential families of the Old Dominion and her 
father having offered her as her marriage 
dowcry cither a certain n amber of slaves or 
a stijnilatcd sum of money. Though she had 
been reared under the influences of the insti- 
tution of slaverj- she was averse to the same 
as a young woman, long before the historic 
abolition movement culminated in the Civil 
war. Thus it was but natural that her son 
Joseph should prove in no uncertain way his 
loyalty to the L'nion when was precipitated 
the war between the states of the north and 
the south. 

Joseph H. Ramsey was born in Washing- 
ton county, Missouri, on the 31st of Januan,', 
1843, and is a son of Jo.seph and Jane ( Berry) 
Ramsey, both natives of Washington county, 
Virginia, where they were reared to adult 
age, their marriage having been solemnized 
at Abingdon, that county, ^\■ithin a short 
time after their marriage the parents of Mr. 
Ramsey established their residence in Wash- 
ington county, Missouri, but in the late '40s 
they removed to Iowa and became early set- 
tlers of Appanoose county, where the father 
obtained government land and developed a 
productive farm, besides which it is supposed 
that he there found more or less demand for 
his services as a skilled millwright. He was 
one of the substantial and popular citizens of 
Appanoose county and there he and his wife 
passed the remainder of their lives, her death 
occurring in 1868 and he hav'ng passed away 
in 1878. They became the parents of three 
sons and seven daughters, the subject of this 
sketch l)(.'ing the youngest of the number, and 
of the others one daughter is living in 1918. 

Joseph H. Ramsey was a child of two 
years at the time of the family removal to 
Iowa Territory, and there he was reared 
tinder the influences of the pioneer farm, the 
while he made good use of the advantages of 
the common schools of the localitv- He was 



eighteen years old at the inception of the 
Civil war and promptly manifested his youth- 
ful patriotism by enlisting, on the 30th of 
.\ugust, 1861, as a member of Companv I, 
Third Iowa Cavalr}-. 1 le was stationed with 
his command at Benton Barracks, Missouri, 
until the following January, and his first 
active field service was in the southwestern 
l)art of that state, where his command came 
in spirited contact, at Pea Ridge, with In- 
dians who were under Confederate influence 
and direction. Within a short time there- 
after his regiment joined the forces under 
General Curtis and became involved in almost 
constant skirmishing while proceeding down 
the White river to its mouth. Thereafter the 
Third Iowa Cavalry took part in the first at- 
tack on Vicksburg and the battle at Jackson, 
Mississippi, whence they continued to Can- 
ton and then marched thirteen consecutive 
days and nights, with Memphis, Tennessee, as 
the objective point. In the fall of 1862 Mr. 
Ramsey was with the force that repelled the 
Confederate" forces and cut them oflf from 
I lolly Springs, at the time when General 
Grant was pressiiig against the enemy at 
Helena, Arkansas, in the same campaign, and 
in this connection he rode on his horse a dis- 
tance of seventy-five miles in a single night. 
He was present during the entire siege of 
Vicksburg and thereafter took part in im- 
portant conflicts with the enemy at Memphis 
and Little Rock. Near the latter place he 
thereafter was assigned with his regiment to 
the guarding of army supplies and outposts 
extending for a distance of twenty-five miles, 
until the spring of 1864, when he and his 
comrades of Company I recoived a furlough 
of thirty days. Within this period, and at the 
time of his visit to his home in Iowa, Mr. 
Ramsey further fortified himself for re- 
sponsibility, as, on the 4th of March, 1864, he 
wedded Miss Sarah J. Evans, a daughter of 
Jesse and Mary (Ferguson) Evans, who 
were natives of Pennsylvania and who settled 
in Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1858, the 
death of the loved wife and mother having 
occurred the same year and the father having 
passed the closing period of his life in Ham- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



605 



ilton county, Nebraska. Though his term of 
enlistment had e.xpired, Air. Ramsey and a 
number of his comrades from Appanoose 
county promptly re-enlisted as veterans, and 
ten days after his marriage he set forth to 
rejoin his regiment, which was then encamped 
at Memphis. Tennessee. On the 1st of the 
following June the command received march- 
ing orders and after arriving at Ripley, 
Mississippi, Mr. Ramsey's company, with one 
other, was sent forth to collect forage for the 
horses, and in pursuance of this duty they en- 
countered a Confederate battery. This pre- 
cipitated activities on the part of the general 
command, which took up the line of march 
about noon on the 10th of June. In the 
meanwhile General Forrest had brought his 
Confederate forces into a desperate battle at 
Rrice's Crossroads, Mississippi, where he had 
gained a decisive victory. While with his 
company engaged in protecting supplies on 
retreat Mr. Ramsey and his comrades were 
captured by the enemy, and incidental to this 
experience the following interesting record 
has been given : "W'hile surrounded by the 
enemy Mr. Ramsey and his comrades made a 
dash for liberty, putting spurs to their horses 
and breaking for the woods. Being unable to 
cross the streams with their horses, they 
turned the animals loose and, after throwing 
away their heavy carbines, they traveled four 
nights, secreting themselves and resting dur- 
ing the days. When near White Station, 
Tennessee, Mr. Ramsey, with twenty-four of 
his comrades, was captured by the enemy, and 
he was then taken to Andersonville, where he 
remained incarcerated in the historic and 
odious Andersonville Prison until the fall of 
.\tlanta. Here he endured all the horrors and 
sufferings which gave to l!iat Confederate 
prison its infamous place in history, and after 
the capture of Atlanta he was transferred 
with other prisoners of war to Florence, in 
the northern part of South Carolina, where he 
encountered hardships no less strenuous than 
those of Andersonville. On the 31st of Janu- 
ary, 1865, the twenty-second anniversary of 
his birth, ^Ir. Ramsey was delirious from the 
suffering of hunger and thirst, and he con- 



tinued in this deplorable state for fifteen days, 
at the expiration of which he, with others, 
was taken to Goldsboro, North Carolina, 
where he was kept under guard until Febru- 
ary 26th, when he and his equally unfortunate 
comrades were released, through exchange. 
■Such was his physical emaciation and debility 
that he was carried by one of his comrades to 
the hospital at Wilmington, South Carolina, 
and he still had strength to realize the bliss of 
freedom, feeling that he had escaped, as it 
were, from the inferno to paradise." 

After sufficiently recuper-iting his wasted 
energies to make this possible, Mr. Ramsey 
proceeded to Annapolis, Mar\'1and. Later he 
was located at St. Louis for thirty days and 
he was at Atlanta, Georgia, at the time when 
he received his honorable discharge, on the 
22d of August, 1865. He then returned to 
his home and his young bride, in Appanoose 
county, Iowa. There he finally rented land 
and engaged in farm enterprise, but about two 
years later he removed to Taylor county, that 
state, where he continued his zealous activities 
as an agriculturist for the ensuing twelve 
years. In March, 1880, after having disposed 
of his property in Iowa, Mr. Ramsey came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, where, in the follow- 
ing June, he purchased one himdred and si.xty 
acres of land in Section 34, Filley township. 
He and his family used their wagon as an 
abiding place until he could erect on his wild 
prairie farm a temporary house, the same hav- 
ing been a mere shanty, twelve by twenty feet 
in dimensions. In the following atitumn he 
erected a good frame house on the place, and 
he then turned his attention vigorously to re- 
claiming and developing his land, which he 
eventually transformed into one of the val- 
tiable and well improved farms of this section 
of the state. He became a most progressive 
and successftil exponent of agricultural and 
live-stock industry and with increasing pros- 
perity he showed his excelleiU judgment by 
adding materially to the area of his landed 
estate. He purchased an entire half section 
of land — -one hundred and sixty acres in 
Holt township and the adjoining tract of equal 
area in Midland township. He ttius found 



606 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



ample scope for the concrete expression of his 
vital energy and progressiveness, and he de- 
veloped his large property into one of the 
Ijcst of the landed estates of Gage county. In 
his activities Mr. Ramsey proved a veritable 
incarnation of energy and progressiveness, 
and not imtil about 1905 did he consent to 
leave the farm and abate his .strenuous labors. 
At that time he removed to Beatrice, but soon 
the life of inactivity palled upon him and he 
returned to the farm. There he applied him- 
self with characteristic vigor until 1912, when 
he came to a realization that both consistency 
and expediency justified his retirement from 
the responsibilities and labors that had long 
been his portion, and at this juncture he was 
fortunate in being able to purchase a hand- 
some and recently erected house of modern 
design and facilities — his present attractive 
residence in the city of Beatrice, where his 
wife proves a most gracious and poini'ar 
chatelaine of a home that is at all times ready 
to extend hospitable welcome to their host of 
friends. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey celebrated 
their golden wedding anniversary in 1914 and 
the occasion was made one notable in the so- 
cial annals of Gage county. In the summer of 
1917 they made a most pleasing visit to the 
old home in .Appanoose county, Iowa, where 
Mr. Ramsey attended a reunion of his old 
comrades of the Civil war and renewed the 
more gracious memories and associations of 
his military career as a youthful soldier of the 
Civil war. He further vitalizes these associa- 
tions through his affiliation with Rawlins 
Post, No. 36, Grand Army of the Republic, 
at Beatrice. He holds membership also in 
the Masonic fraternity and he and his wife 
have been for many years active members of 
the Methodist Episcoi)al church. In 190.^ Mr. 
Ramsey was a member of the Nebraska legis- 
lature, and in iliis connection it is specially 
worthy of note that he introduced and ably 
championed what was known as the farmers' 
elevator bill, a most valuable measure that 
came to successful enactment. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey became the parents 
of eight children, two of whom died, in early 
childhood, while the family home was main- 



tained in Taylor county, Iowa, besides which 
Charles, a lad of fourteen years, was killed by 
lightning, in 18S3. about two years after the 
family removal to Gage county. Frank K. is 
now a resident of Riverside, California; Min- 
nie is the wife of B. P. Wood, a successful 
farmer of Holt township; Merrill is a resident 
of Petersburg, Texas; and Ralph and Roy 
maintain their home in the city of Beatrice. 
.Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey enjoy the best of 
health and find the gracious twilight of their 
long and devoted companionship to be com- 
passed by most cheering enviroimient and the 
filial solicitude of their sons and daughters, 
the company of friends who are tried and 
true, the while they count themselves favored 
indeed in that they have seventeen grand- 
children. 

ANDREW J. J.\MISON. — One of the 
representative farmers of Elm township who 
has by strict attendance to his fanning inter- 
ests become one of the progressive citizens of 
Gage county is Andrew J. Jamison, whose life 
review follows. 

.Andrew Jackson Jamison was born May 
23, 1S67, in Greene county, Indiana, the 
county which saw the birth of his parents, 
Isaac and Caroline (Burcham) Jamison; the 
former was born in 1842 and died in 18S2 ; 
the latter was bora in 1848 and in her natal 
state she married Isaac Jamison, to which 
marriage seven children were bom. The 
eldest is .Andrew Jackson, the subject of this 
review ; Jane is the widow of W. Heaton ; 
Lsaac is a farmer of Elm township ; Roxy 
-Ann is the wife of A. Bland, living at 
Terre Haute. Indiana ; John is farming in 
Kim township ; the address of Seymour is un- 
known : William is living at Bicknell, Indiana. 
Mrs. Isaac Jamison, after her husband's 
death, married John Turley and by this mar- 
riage two children were bom, George, of Lin- 
coln, Nebraska, and Otis, of Bicknell. In- 
diana. John Turley was a native of Indiana 
and is now deceased. Mrs. Jamison-Turley 
makes her home in Linton, Indiana. 

Isaac Jamison was the son of Jackson 
lamison, who named Kentuckv as his natal 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



607 



state and in the early part of the nineteenth 
century moved to the wooded lands of In- 
diana, where he became a very well-to-do man. 
He was active in the logging business and the 
clearing of the forests for the tilling of the 
rich soil which gave of its treasures of wheat 
and corn. In 1884 Jackson Jamison came to 
Gage county and until 1894 he was here en- 
gaged in farming. He then removed to Okla- 
homa, where his death occurred. 

Andrew Jackson Jamison, with whom this 
review deals, received his education in the 
district schools of Greene county, Indiana, 
and in the meantime was helping with the 
farming operations of the old homestead. In 
the '80s he came to JefTerson county, Nebraska, 
where for a number of years he rented land 
and worked as a farm hand. In 1885 he 
came to Gage county, where he rented land 
until he was able, in 1907, to purchase the 
land which is his home, in Section 10, Elm 
township. He has added eighty acres to the 
original and also one hundred and sixty acres, 
in Section 9, which was received by his wife 
as her share of her father's estate. Mr. 
Jamison is now employed in the tilling of two 
hundred and forty acres of land and is also 
raising Duroc-Jersey hogs and Red Polled 
cattle. 

On October 18, 1893, was solemnized the 
marriage of Andrew J. Jamison and Miss 
Dora L. Hood ( for the family history see 
John C. Hood sketch in this volume). To 
this marriage have been born six children : 
Ethel, the wife of Archie Carpenter, of Har- 
bine, Nebraska ; Gertrude, attending the high 
school at Beatrice ; and Austin, Frances, Ina, 
and Grace, who are under the parental roof. 
Mrs. Jamison was born in Mason county, 
Illinois, in 1872, and came to Gage county in 
1884. 

Mr. Jamison allies himself with the Demo- 
cratic party, although he has sought no politi- 
cal honors. He is now serving on the school 
board of district No. 132. Coming to the 
state of Nebraska in his early manhood, Mr. 
Jamison has labored for all that he owns, 
realizes the worth of all that he has acquired. 



and is now giving his children educational ad- 
vantages which will fit them for useful lives. 

EDWARD \V. DOLE is president of the 
Dole Floral Company, of Beatrice, this being 
an important corporation that has developeo 
to large volume the floriculture enterprise es- 
tablished in a modest way by the mother of 
Mr. Dole, full data concerning the company 
and its honored founder being given on other 
pages of this work. Mr. Dole resides on his 
model little farm of thirty-six acres, which 
lies within the city limits of Beatrice, at the 
south, and he is one of the progressive and 
representative business men of Gage county 
and its fine capital city. 

The lineage of the Dole family traces back 
to sterling English origin and the American 
progenitor of the branch represented by the 
Doles of Nebraska was Richard Dole, who 
was born in Bristol, England, in 1624. The 
founders of the family in England came from 
the ancient province of Brittany, France. It is 
to be presumed that Richard Dole accompan- 
ied his parents to the new world in the 
autumn of 1639, though records extant give 
no specific information in this respect. Rich- 
ard Dole was thrice married and of his ten 
childen Joseph, born August 5, 1657, was next 
in line of direct genealogical line to him whose 
name introduces this review. Richard Dole 
settled at Amboy, Massachusetts, and he was 
eighty-one years of age at the time of his 
death. In a circumscribed article of this 
order there is no possibility of entering into 
details concerning the genealogical history of 
the Dole family, but it may consistently be 
said that in each successive generation the 
family has given to the nation men and 
women of worthy character and worthy 
achievement, while representatives of the 
name have been prominent not only in New 
England, that gracious cradle of much of our 
national history, but also in divers other states 
of the Union. 

Edward W. Dole was born in Seward 
county, Nebraska, February 15, 1870, and is 
a son of Josiah G. and Sophia (Hooker) 
Dole, adequate review of whose lives is given 



608 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



on other pages. At this juncture, however, 
it may be stated that Josiah G. Dole, who was 
born at Cincinnati. Ohio. December 25. 1825, 
joined the militarj' police, or home guard, at 
the outbreak of the Civil war, was made first 
lieutenant and continued in active service 
until the close of the war. He came to Ne- 
braska in 1867, the year that marked the ad- 
mission of the state to the Union, and he set- 
tled in Seward county. In 1868-1869 he was 
there engaged in the manufacturing of brick, 
and some of the brick was used in the con- 
struction of the first brick chimneys in the 
city of Lincoln. In 1869 Mr. Dole wedded 
Miss Sophia Hooker, and they became the 
parents of five children, of whom the subject 
of this review is the eldest ; \\'alter is now a 
resident of Bainbridge, Georgia ; Anna is the 
wife of George M. Johnston, individually 
mentioned elsewhere in this volume: Ella S. 
is the wife of Frederick Van Boskirk. like- 
wise specifically represented in this publica- 
tion ; and Elbert J. is a leading photographist 
in the city of Lincoln, this state. 

Edward \\'. Dole was reared and educated 
in Seward county and in his youth gained 
familiarity with the conditions and influences 
of the pioneer era in the histon- of south- 
eastern Nebraska. His father was associated 
with brick manufacturing about two years 
and then obtained a homestead in Seward 
county and turned his attention to farm en- 
terprise. Eventually, after having developed 
a productive farm, he came to Gage county, 
and he passed the closing years of his life in 
the city of Beatrice, where his death occurred 
April 19, 1903. His wife was born in the 
state of New York, October 6. 1836, a daugh- 
ter of Philip J. and Mary Ann (Derbyshire) 
Hooker, who came to Nebraska Territor)' in 
1866 and established their residence in Se- 
ward county, as sterling pioneers, the father, 
two of the son.s and two of the daughters, in- 
cluding Mrs. Dole, having each taken up a 
homestead claim in that county. Mr. Hooker 
died many years ago, when well advanced in 
years, and his widow was ninety-two years of 
age at the time of her death, in January, 1906. 

The early educational advantages of Ed- 



ward W. Dole included a year of study in 
the Beatrice high school, and thereafter he 
was for a time identified with the newspaper 
business — with the Beatrice Daily Express. 
In 1891 he and his brother Walter A. became 
associated with their mother in establishing a 
small greenhouse in Beatrice and initiating 
the enterprise that has since been developed 
into the extensive and well ordered business 
now conducted under the title of the Dole 
Floral Company, of which l-'dward W. Dole 
has been president from the time of its incor- 
poration. Mr. Dole has been vital and pro- 
gressive as a business man and loyal and pub- 
lic-sjjirited as a citizen, though he has never 
sought or held public ofifice of any description. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party and he and his wife are active 
members of the Christian church in Beatrice. 
April 26, 1890, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Dole to Miss Ellen E. McCrea, daughter 
of Edgar and Julia (Dearsdorf ) McCrea, who 
were early settlers in Seward county, Mr. 
McCrea having died at Mil ford, that county, 
November 23, 1917, and his widow being still 
a resident of that village. ^Irs. Dole has two 
brothers and three sisters: John W. and 
Thomas W. are residents of Beatrice : Lydia 
Pv. is the wife of Christopher M. Miller, of 
this city; Florence D. is the wife of Jesse W. 
Dubbins, of Beatrice ;- and Fannie B. is the 
wife of S. D. Newman, of Milford. Seward 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Dole have an adopted 
daughter, Gladys Thelma. who is a member 
of their gracious home circle. 

JAMES F. BOGGS, postmaster of the vil- 
lage of Filley, has been a resident of Gage 
county since he was a lad of fifteen years and 
is a son of that honored pioneer, Hon. Lewis 
B. Boggs. M. D., to whom a merited tribute is 
])ai(l on other pages of this work, so that fur- 
ther reference to the family record is not de- 
manded in the present connection. Mr. Boggs 
was bom at North Manchester. Indiana, Jan- 
uary 7, 1856, and he acquired his early educa- 
tion in the schools of Indiana and Gage 
county, Nebraska, to which latter state he 
came with his ])arents in the year 1871. In 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



609 



this county he became closely and effectively 
associated with his father in farm enterprise 
and in 1888 he assumed a position as clerk- 
in a hardware establishment in the village of 
Filley. Later he here became associated with 
his brother, Dr. Charles S. Boggs, in the 
ownership of a well equipped drug store, and 
this alliance has since continued, the firm hav- 
ing recently erected a new building for tl-ie 
store and ha\'ing an establishment of attrac- 
tive order and the best of faciHties and ser- 
vice. 

Mr. Boggs identified himself with the Pro- 
gressive party at the time of its organization 
and has been influential in its local councils 
in Gage county. He has held various munic- 
ipal offices in the village of Filley and is now 
serving his second term as postmaster, his 
original appointment to this office having been 
made in 1911. He is one of the loyal and pro- 
gressive citizens of his home village and 
county and his circle of friends is coincident 
with that of his acquaintances. He is af- 
iilliated with the Masonic fraternity and he 
and his wife are active members of the Chris- 
tian church at Filley. 

The year 1882 recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Boggs to Miss Laura E. Faulder, daugh- 
ter of the late David S. Faulder, to whom a 
memoir is dedicated on other pages of this 
volume. Mr. and Mrs. Boggs have two chil- 
dren : Ethel L. is the wife of Glenn W. Hild- 
reth, who is ( 1918) superintendent of the pub- 
lic schools at Roseland, Adams county, Mrs. 
Hildreth being principal of the schools and 
both being teachers of distinctive talent and 
popularity ; Edgar D. Boggs, who was born 
October 29, 1893, is a skilled machinist and 
is employed in the shops of the Burlington 
Railroad lines at Plattsmouth, Nebraska ; the 
maiden name of his wife having been Ruby 
McPherson. 

FIDILLO HUNTER DOBRS — The fam- 
ilv from which Fidillo Hunter Dobbs was 
derived, as far as its history is known, begins 
with Sir Richards Dobbs, a Yorkshireman, 
who during the reign of Edward \'I was Lord 
Ma\'or of London, and. according to Froude, 



a pillar of state. For his services to the 
young king he was knighted. In 1596 his 
nephew, John Dobbs, accompanied Sir Henry 
Dockwra, Lord-Treasurer of Ireland, to that 
island, and served as his deputy for the Pro- 
vince of Ulster. In 1603 he married Mar- 
garet, only child of John Dalway, of Ballyhill, 
Countv Antrim, a lady of distinction and for- 
tune, and through this marriage was founded 
the well known Dobbs family of Irish his- 
tory. The ancient seat of this family is Dobbs 
Castle, County Antrim, Ulster Province. Its 
present master and the present head of the 
family in Ireland is Montague William 
Edward Dobbs, Esquire, born September 28, 
18-14. 

In America the family history begins with 
Governor Arthur Dobbs, born April 2, 1689, 
who was high sheriff of County Antrim and 
for many years member of parliament for 
Garrickfergus. He was appointed engineer and 
surveyor general of Ireland by Sir Robert 
Walpole, and in 1753 was sent out by George 
II as governor of the colony of North Caro- 
lina. He took office, at Newbern, November 
1, 1754. and imiuediately adopted measures to 
conciliate the Indians. Treaties were made 
with the Catawabas and Cherokees, and, to pro- 
tect western North Carolina from Indian de- 
predations, he erected, armed and manned 
Fort Dobbs, on the south fork of the Yadkin. 
He established courts of justice in a number 
of districts where none had been before, and, 
himself a man of letters, he encouraged learn- 
ing in the colony. In a book entitled "Lives 
of Distinguished Men of North Carolina," 
by J. W. Peele, (Raleigh, 1898,) is the fol- 
lowing reference to his administration: "Pro- 
gress of the style which marked the period of 
the American Revolution can be traced in 
North Carolina from the administration of 
Governor Dobbs". This has reference to the 
exalted style and purity of expression which 
characterizes the writings of the heroes of the 
Revolution. Governor Dobbs governed his 
colony wisely and well, raising it from a 
wretched state of poverty to a position of 
financial independence. Amongst other things 
he was remarkable as a colonizer. When he 



610 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV. NEBRASKA 




FiDiLLo Hunter Doiins 
Pioneer resident of Gage County 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



611 



> 





Maky Jane Douns 
Wife of Fidillo Hunter Dolibs 



612 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



came to North Carolina the colony contained 
nine thousand inhabitants, but at the close of 
his eleven years' service as governor it had 
forty-five thousand. 

Amongst the immigrants whom he induced 
to come to North Carolina were many of his 
immediate relatives, who came with the hope 
and expectation of appointment to office and 
other preferments. The Governor amassed 
large possessions and by a high-toned defense 
of the royal perogatives, against the rising tide 
of democratic resistance to royal claims, made 
many powerful enemies. Charges were pre- 
ferred against him to the crown, including 
amongst other things nepotism, the unjust ac- 
cumulation of wealth and a fi.xed determina- 
tion on his part to locate the capital of the 
colony on his own land. In 1763, nearly ten 
years prior to the beginning of the Revolution- 
ary war, he resigned his office to return to 
England and defend liimself in the court of 
George III, his friend and i)atron, the learned 
George II, having died in 1760. Before he 
was able to adjust his affairs and take ship, 
he died, at the age of eighty-two years. 

Governor Dobbs left numerous relatives in 
North Carolina, amongst them his sons. Con- 
way Richard and Edward Brice Dobbs, the 
latter being a member of his council. He also 
left a brother, described in his will as Rev. Dr. 
Richard Dobbs; also Richard Spaight, likewise 
a member of his council, and presumably the 
father of Richard Dobbs Spaight, a nephew of 
the Governor, who was afterward distin- 
guished as a delegate from North Carolina to 
the convention which framed the federal con- 
stitution, and who afterward became the eighth 
governor of the state of North Carolina. 

According to Gruppy, a recognized author- 
ity on Irish genealogy, a son Chesley was born 
to Governor Arthur Dobbs by his marriage 
with .Ann, daughter and heir of Captain Os- 
borne, of Timahoe, County of Kildare. relict 
of Captain Norbury. Burke, in the Irish 
Landed Gentry, states that there was issue of 
this marriage and that Conway Richard Dobbs 
took the inheritance, but fails to give the names 
of the other sons. 

From some branch of this colonial familv 



came Chesley Dobbs, the grandfather of Fi- 
dillo Hunter Dobbs. It is stated of him that 
he served seven years in the Revolutionary 
army under a Colonel William Washington, 
and afterward settled in Claiborne county, 
Tennessee. His son Joel, father of Fidillo 
Hunter Dobbs, was born in Buncombe county, 
North Carolina. He married Sallie Morgan, 
also a native of North Carolina, and a member 
of the well known southern family of that 
name. She was closely related to General 
John Morgan, the "Raider" of Civil war fame. 
Their marriage took place in Claiborne county, 
Tennessee, in 1815. Shortly afterward the 
family removed to Casey county, Kentucky, 
where Fidillo Hunter Dobbs was born on the 
4th day of March, 1823. The other children 
of this marriage were Hugh H., Russell L., 
Bethene, Anderson, Orlean, William C, Arch- 
ibald and Sallie. In 1828, the mother died, 
and in 1829 Joel Dobbs contracted a second 
marriage, with Elizabeth Lang\-ille. From 
this union there were born seven children, of 
whom five reached maturity : some attained 
wealth and prominence in eastern Illinois. 

In 1830 Joel Dobbs removed his family from 
Kentucky to Putman county, Indiana, where 
he located near Greencastle, on the great na- 
tional highway then being constructed across 
the state from Terre Haute to Cincinnati. In 
1837 the family, except Hugh, Russell, 
Bethene and Anderson, all of whom remained 
in Indiana, removed to the Ozark country in 
southwestern Missouri and located in the val- 
ley of the White river, in Taney county, where, 
in 1842. the father, Joel Dobbs, died. 

Fidillo Hunter Dobbs acquired in the com- 
mon schools of Indiana and Missouri, a good, 
unable education for those times, and when 
twenty-one years of age he became a 
schoolmaster, pursuing this useful occupation 
five years. On August 1, 1847, at Forsyth, 
Taney county. Missouri, he married Mary 
Jane Schullenbarger, the eldest daughter of 
Jacob and Susan (Simeon) Schullenbarger; 
she was one of his pupils in a district school 
ii; the Ozark mountains. They became the 
parents of eleven children. William Jacob, 
Hugh Jackson. Susan Catherine, Russell Lane, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



615 




614 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Sarah Jane, Louisa Florizelle, Joel Bracken, 
Josephine, John Abram, Tiiomas Francis and 
Lucy Ann. All grew to maturity and are still 
living excepting Susan Catherine, who died 
in Andrew county, Missouri, of an infantile 
disease, in 1842, aged thirteen months. 

In May, 1852, the family moved from south- 
Avestern to northwestern Missouri, where 
Fidillo Hunter Dobbs purchased a farm of 
eighty-seven acres on the Nodaway river, ten 
miles southwest of Savannah, the county seat 
of Andrew county. In March, 1856, he sold 
his farm and moved to a farm on the Hundred 
and Two river, in the edge of Grand Prairie, 
eight miles northeast of Savannah. 

In August, 1858, he came to the new terri- 
tory of Nebraska, and under the pre-emption 
law of the country he located a claim in Sec- 
tion twenty-three, Rockford township. Gage 
county. He built a round-log cabin on his 
claim, rived clapboards to cover it, mowed 
with a scythe and stacked five tons of prairie 
hay, and returned to Missouri to spend the 
winter of 1858-1859. He left Missouri on the 
first day of March with his family, consisting 
of his wife and six children, and arrived in 
Gage county March 12, 1859. The following 
May he sold his first claim and bought of 
George W. Stark his pre-emption rights to 
the northwest quarter of Section fourteen in 
Rockford township. On August 5, 1863, at 
Brownville, Nebraska, he made homestead 
entry of this tract of land at the government 
land office, he being the forty-seventh entry- 
man under the homestead law. This tract of 
land constituted the family homestead until 
1906, when this pioneer husband and wife 
left their old home and came to Beatrice to 
spend the brief remnant of their days. 

Fidillo Hunter Dobbs died at his home in 
Beatrice, from a stroke of paralysis, on the 
16th day of July, 1907, aged eighty-four years, 
four months, twelve days. 

His beloved wife, Mary Jane Dobbs, sur- 
vived him but a few months, dving at her 
home in Beatrice March 7, 1908, aged seventy- 
six years, six months, seventeen days. They 
lie side by side in Evergreen Home cemetery 



and their resting place is marked by a monu- 
ment. As the fruit of their marriage, there 
were living at the time of their death, ten 
children, fifty-four grandchildren and eleven 
great-grandchildren. Their living posterity 
now includes ten children, fifty-five grandchil- 
dren, fifty-one great-grandchildren, and four 
great-great-grandchildren,— a total of one 
hundred and twenty persons. 

Throughout his long life Fidillo Hunter 
Dobbs was an active and a useful member of 
society. He was by occupation a farmer but 
found time to take an intelligent interest in 
public affairs. From 1862 to 1866, inclusive, 
he was a member of the board of county com- 
missioners of Gage county, and with William 
Tyler and Fordyce Roper, the other members 
of the county board at that time, and John W. 
Prey, one of the commissioners of Lancaster 
county, adjusted the aflfairs of old Clay county 
after its partition between Lancaster and Gage. 
The home of Fidillo Hunter and Mary Jane 
Dobbs was always known far and wide for its 
open hospitality. All who came were welcome 
and for the entertainment of strangers it is 
doubtful if he ever accepted willingly a cent of 
compensation. In 1866 they erected a hewed- 
log, story-and-a-half house ; though in a ruined 
condition, it still exists on the old homestead. 
Here for many years 

The great fires up its chimney roared, 
The stranger feasted at its board. 

This was their residence until 1885. when 
they erected, near the northeast corner of their 
homestead, a commodious frame house which 
formed their domicile while they remained on 
the farm. Both these homes were centers for 
the social, educational and religious life of the 
community, and, covering a radius of many 
miles, the spirit of this home was a potent 
influence for the best there is in humanity. By 
their simple, unostentatious and helpful lives, 
Fidillo Hunter and Mary Jane Dobbs endeared 
themselves to hundreds of the pioneers of Gage 
county, and if "to live in hearts we leave be- 
hind is not to die" they are assured of im- 
niortalitv. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



615 



JOHN B. REIFF has resided since 1889 on 
his present farm, which comprises one hun- 
dred and sixty acres and is situated in Section 
21, Rock ford township. He was born in Wood- 
ford county, Illinois, February 10, 1863, and 
is a son of Joseph and Mary (Bailey) Reiff, 
the former of who was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1828, and the latter 
of whom was born in Ohio, October 5, 1837. 
The death of the father occurred July 3, 1903, 
and that of the mother on the 22d of May, 
1917. 

Joseph Reiff was a son of Jacob Reiff, who 
passed his entire life in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, and who was a farmer by vo- 
cation, he having been a descendant of one of 
three brothers who came from Gennany and 
settled in the Old Keystone state in the pio- 
neer era of its history. The wife of Joseph 
Reiff" was a daughter of Yost Bailey, who came 
from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania, 
whence he later removed to Ohio, and finally 
he established his home in Illinois, in the pio- 
neer days, his death having there occurred in 
1877. In 1848 Joseph Reiff became a resident 
of Woodford county, Illinois, and finally he 
purchased land and turned his attention to 
independent farm enterprise. He eventually 
accumulated four hundred and forty acres of 
land and he so improved the property that 
when he finally sold the same he was able to 
dispose of the land at a rate varying from 
eighty to eighty-five dollars an acre. In 1889 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska, where he 
purchased five hundred and sixty acres of 
land, much of which he later gave to his chil- 
dren, who were five in number and three of 
whom are still living: Samuel is a retired car- 
penter and builder residing at McPherson, 
Kansas, in which state he established his home 
in 1888 and in which he owns valuable farm 
property; John B., of this sketch, is the next 
younger; and Elizabeth, who is the widow of 
Ezra P. Steel, resides at Kidder, Missouri. 
The parents were earnest members of the 
Church of the Brethren and in politics the 
father was an independent Republican during 
the later period of his life. He achieved a 
large measure of temporal prosperity and did 



much to foster civic and industrial progress 
after he had initiated the development of his 
farm properties in Gage county. 

John B. Reiff is indebted to the public 
schools of Illinois for his early educational 
discipline, which was supplemented by higher 
studies in Mount Morris College, that state. 
After having been for four years engaged in 
independent farming in his native common- 
wealth he came to Gage county and purchased 
his present well improved farm, a property 
that has been transferred but three times since 
it was a part of the government domain, the 
substantial and commodious house on the 
homestead having been erected in the '60s and 
showing the throughness which attended 
building operations in that pioneer period. 

In 1885 Air. Reiff' married Miss Susan Gish, 
who likewise was a native of Woodford 
county, Illinois, and she passed to eternal rest 
January 16, 1897. Of this union were born 
five children : Carson is a farmer in Rockford 
townsliip, as is also Charles; Ida is the wife 
of Lee Divine, a farmer near Blue Springs, 
this county ; Oma is employed as a skilled 
stenographer in the city of Denver, Colorado ; 
and Estella is the wife of Robert E. Harris, of 
Pleasanton, Buffalo county, Nebraska. 

In 1899 Mr. Reiff' contracted a second mar- 
riage, when Miss Martha Fink became his 
wife. She is a daughter of Samuel and Han- 
nah (Watenberger) Fink, both natives of 
Tennessee, where the father passed his entire 
life, Mrs. Fink having passed the closing years 
of her life in the home of her daughter 
Martha, Mrs. Reiff. Mr. and Mrs. Reiff have 
four children, — ■ Hilda, Joseph, Elva and Ola. 

In politics Mr. Reiff is a Republican, and 
he is now sen-ing as justice of the peace, and 
as a member of the school board of his dis- 
trict. He is a director of the Blue Springs 
Telephone Company and a member of the 
Crop Improvement Association of Gage 
county. He and his wife are zealous mem- 
bers of the Brethren church of Rockford 
township, and he is secretarj' of the same. He 
is a member of the board of directors of the 
Farmers Elevator Company of HolmesviP.e, 
is now the owner of a fine landed estate of 



616 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



two hundred and forty acres and is one of the 
substantial farmers of the county, — a citizen 
who commands unqualified popular esteem. 

JOSEPH COOPER properly finds recog- 
nition in this history by reason of his standing 
as one of the progressive exponents of farm 
industry in Gage county, his home fann being 
in Section 34, Riverside township. Mr. 
Cooper was born at Stratford, Perth county. 
Province of Ontario, Canada, and the date of 
his nativity was Februan*- 12. 1881. He is a 
son of Joseph Cooper, who likewise was a na- 
tive of Stratford, where he was born July 13, 
1849. Joseph Cooper, Sr., followed the busi- 
ness of brick manufacturing in his native prov- 
ince until 1886, when he came with his family 
into the United States and engaged in the 
same line of industrial enterprise at Man*- 
ville, Missouri. There he continued his activi- 
ties in this field of productive enterprise until 
1892. when he came with his family to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and established his resi- 
dence in the city of Beatrice. Here he de- 
veloped a prosperous business as a manufac- 
turer of brick and he established and con- 
ducted also a brick yard at Pawnee City. Of 
both of these enterprises he continued the ex- 
ecutive head until hi.^ death, which ocrurred 
October 9, 1900. and he was known and hon- 
ored as a successful business man and loyal 
and progressive citizen. His widow, whose 
maiden name was Isabel \\'harram, was born 
at Bayfield, Ontario, Canada, on the 28th of 
December. 1858, and she now makes her home 
with her son Joseph, subject of this review. 
Joseph and Isabel Cooper became the parents 
of the following named children: Rosetta. 
George R., Rachel, Lillian. Joseph, Jr., Man,-. 
\\'illiam. John, Frances, Harry, Ethel B. and 
Fred A. Rosetta is deceased ; Man*' is the 
wife of C. Fritz, of Midland township; Wil- 
liam is a resident of Beatrice; John lives in 
Riverside township: Frances is the wife of B. 
Connelly, of Beatrice; Harry is a resident of 
Riverside township; and Ethel B. and Fred A. 
remain in Beatrice. 

Joseph Cooper, the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was five years of age when the 



family came from Canada to the United 
States, and he attended the public schools of 
Missouri and those of Beatrice, Nebraska, in- 
cluding the high school in the Gage county 
metropolis. As a young man he assisted his 
father in the manufacturing of brick, and in 
1900 he purchased forty acres of land in 
Riverside township, where he turned his at- 
tention to agricultural pursuits. In the year 
1910 he enlarged the scope of his enterprise 
by leasing a larger tract of land, and five years 
later he purchased the quarter-section of land 
where he now resides. By following progres- 
sive methods in tilling the soil, rotating crops, 
and planting those cereals best adapted to soil 
and climate, and by feeding cattle for market 
quite extensively he has been more than or- 
dinarily successful. He is now the owner of 
four hundred and eighty acres and leases an 
equal amount. He makes a specialty of put- 
ting up prairie hay, of which product he 
markets hundred of tons ever>' year. Mr. 
Cooper has erected four sets of buldings on his 
land and his progressiveness is further shown 
by his commendable interest in all measures 
advanced for the public good. Mr. Cooper 
is still a young man, and as he is making good 
use of his opportunities and is industrious 
and enterprising, his success and prosjierit)' 
are well merited. 

GEORGE O. RAINS conducts in the city of 
Beatrice a substantial business in the sale of 
leading and popular types of automobiles, and 
is agent for the Oakland, the Paige, the Dodge 
and the Maxwell cars. He owns the well 
equipped building occupied by his salesrooms, 
on South Sixth street. He is essentially one 
of the progressive business men and represen- 
tative citizens of the county that has been his 
home from his boyhood and in which he has 
achieved through his own ability and eflforts 
a large and worthy success. 

Mr. Rains was born in Madison county. In- 
diana, on the 29th of January-, 1871, and is a 
son of Joab F. and Mary (Rodecap) Rains, 
the former a native of Pennsylvania and the 
latter of \'irginia. The father was identified 
with agricultural pursuits in the old Hoosier 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



617 



state until 1883, when he came with his family 
to Nebraska and settled in Nemaha county. 
In the following year, however, he came to 
Gage county, where he purchased a partly im- 
proved farm of one hundred and twenty 
acres, in Riverside township. With the pass- 
ing years he developed this homestead into 
one of the fine farms of this section of the 
state and he was one of the substantial and 
honored citizens of the county, — a man who 
contributed his quota to civic and industrial 
progress and \vho commanded the confidence 
and good will of all who knew him. He con- 
tinued to reside on his farm until his death. 
His wife is still living and is a consistent mem- 
ber of the Brethern church. In politics Mr. 
Rains was a stalwart Democrat. 

George O. Rains gained his rudimentary 
education in the schools of his native state and 
was a lad of about twelve years at the time of 
the family removal to Nebraska. On the 
homestead farm in Gage county, this state, he 
■was reared to adult age, early beginning to as- 
sist his father in the arduous work of the 
farm and in the meanwhile making good use 
of the advantages of the public schools of the 
locality. After leaving the parental home he 
rented land and engaged in farming in an in- 
dependent way, and later he did successful 
work as a traveling salesman, his activities as 
a salesman of agricultural implements having 
covered a period of about five years, within 
which he traveled through an assigned terri- 
tor\- that included many of the counties of 
southeastern Nebraska. Finally he estab- 
lished himself independently in the implement 
"business at Beatrice, and with this line of en- 
terprise he here continued his successful as- 
sociation for several years, after which, in 
1910, he established his present thriving busi- 
ness, which he has developed into one of the 
most important of the kind in this section of 
the state. 

Vigorous and unremitting in his application 
to business, Mr. Rains has not hedged in his 
interests with mere personal advancement but 
has shown himself loyal and liberal in his 
■civic attitude, and while he has had no politi- 
cal ambitions he is found aligned as a staunch 



supporter of the cause of the Republican party. 
He is affiliated with the camp of Modern 
Woodmen of America in the village of Ellis, 
this county, and he and his wife hold member- 
ship in the Christian church. 

In the year 1891, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Rains to Miss Emma E. Harnes, 
who was born in the state of Iowa but who 
was a girl at the time of her parents' removal 
to Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Rains have four 
children, — Letha, who is the wife of Allen O. 
Weigel, a prosperous farmer in Sicily town- 
ship, this county ; William, who is married and 
resides in Beatrice, Avhere he is engaged as an 
automobile salesman ; Everett and his wife 
likewise maintain their residence at Beatrice 
and he is clerk in a grocery ; and Robert, who 
celebrated his nineteenth birthday anniversary 
in 1917, remains at the parental home. 

DAVID S. FAULDER became one of the 
pioneers of Gage county when, in 1878, he 
settled on a farm in Hanover township, his 
homestead place comprising one hundred and 
sixty acres. He was bom in Washington 
county, Maryland, January 9, 1832, a son of 
Samuel and Margaret (Rohr) Faulder, na- 
tives respectively of Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania. The lineage of the Faulder family 
traces back to English origin, John and Han- 
nah Faulder, parents of Samuel, having come 
to America in 1794 and having settled in Mary- 
land, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives, John Faulder having been a suc- 
cessful school teacher and having been a tailor 
by trade. Samuel Faulder was born in the 
year 1798 and in his youth he learned the 
trade of cooper, besides which he early became 
identified with agricultural pursuits. He be- 
came the owner of a good fann in Maryland, 
near the Pennsylvania line, and there his death 
occurred in 1872, his wife having passed away 
in 1858, and their three children having been 
Mary, David S. and Margaret. 

David S. Faulder acquired his early educa- 
tion in the schools of his native state and as 
a youth he learned the cooper's trade under 
the direction of his father. He followed his 
trade as a vocation for a period of about ten 



618 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



years. In 1853 he wedded Miss Elizabeth 
Snyder, who was bom in Marj'land, Februan,' 
27, 1833, a daughter of Simon and Agnes 
Snyder. After his marriage Mr. Faulder con- 
tinued to be engaged in farm enterprise in his 
native commonwealth until 1873, when he re- 
moved with his family to Ogle county, Illinois. 
There he leased a farm and there he continued 
his alliance with agricultural pursuits for five 
years. In 1878 he came with his family to 
Nebraska and settled in Gage county, as before 
noted. Here he reclaimed and improved a 
valuable farm estate of two hundred and forty 
acres, in Hanover township, and his success 
made him one of the substantial citizens of the 
county, even as his sterling character gained 
to him inviolable esteem. In 1891 Mr. Faul- 
der retired from his farm and removed to the 
city of Beatrice, and there his death occurred 
September 13, 1917, his widow being still a 
resident of that city. Mr. Faulder was a stal- 
wart Republican in politics and served many 
years as justice of the peace in Hanover 
township. His religious faith was that of the 
Christian church, of which his widow likewise 
is a devoted member. Of their eleven chil- 
dren nine are living: Jerome S. is associ- 
ated with a mercantile concern in Beatrice and 
remains with his widowed mother; Samuel R. 
is deceased; Laura Ellen is the wife of James 
F. Boggs, of whom mention is made else- 
where in this volume; Mary C. is the wife of 
Dr. Charles S. Boggs, of Filley, who is made 
the subject of a specific sketch on other pages 
of this work; Charles remains with his 
mother: Anna is the wife of Dr. M. H. Black- 
burn, of Princeton, Illinois ; Ira M. is a mer- 
chant in the city of Beatrice ; In'ing is a farm- 
er in Riverside township; Lucy E. is the 
wife of A. H. Voortman, of Beatrice; and 
two children died in childhood, prior to the 
family removal from Marj-land. 

DRS. BURT L. & CLEMENS A. SPELL- 
MAN.— With one exception the Spellman 
brothers have been established in the success- 
ful practice of dentistry in the city of Beatrice 
longer than all others of their professional 
contemporaries in Gage county and they have 



built up a practice whose broad and represen- 
tative scope bears evidence of their proficiency 
in a vocation that is both a scientific profes- 
sion and a mechanical art. The brothers have 
been associated in the practice of their profes- 
sion at Beatrice since the summer of 1898, in 
which year both were graduated in the Chi- 
cago College of Dentistn.', in the city of Chi- 
cago, each receiving from this institution the 
degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Their 
fraternal and professional alliance has proved 
most effective and they maintain offices of at- 
tractive appointments and the best of modern 
facilities in both the operative and laboratory 
departments. The brothers have been resi- 
dents of Gage county since boyhood and are 
members of a family that can consistently 
claim a measure of pioneer distinction, as their 
parents came from Iowa and established their 
home in Gage county nearly forty years ago. 

Dr. Burt L. Spellman was born at Atlantic^ 
Ca^ss county, Iowa, on the 14th of January, 
1873, and is a son of William N. and Louisa 
(Gleason) Spellman, whose marriage was 
solemnized in that state. \\^illiam N. Spell- 
man was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, and 
was a son of Clemens Spellman, who likewise 
was a native of the old Buckeye state, where 
his parents settled in the pioneer days. From 
Ohio Clemens Spellman eventually removed 
with his family to Illinois, where he passed 
the remainder of his life, his age at the time of 
death having been eighty-six years, ^^■illiam 
N. Spellman continued his association with 
farm industrj' in Illinois until about the year 
1866, when he removed to Iowa. There he 
became one of the progressive and successful 
farmers of Cass county, and he was also a 
pioneer in the operation of threshing outfits in 
that section of the Hawkeye state. In 1878 
Mr. Spellman came to Nebraska in an attempt 
to apprehend a threshing employe who had 
stolen and made away with a team of his 
horses. Incidental to this visit he became so 
impressed with the attractions and resources 
of Gage county that he determined to establish 
his residence within its borders. Lie returned 
to his home in Iowa and about six months 
later, in the same year, came with his familv 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



619 



to this county, where he not only became the 
•owner of valuable farm property but also 
.achieved marked success in the buying and 
shipping of grain. At one time he owned a 
half interest in a flour mill at Blue Springs, his 
associate in the ownership and ojjeration of 
this mill having been the late Dr. Gumaer. He 
was about sixty-four years of age at the time 
of his death and his wife, who is still living 
.and resides in Beatrice, is sixty-three years 
of age in 1918. The only surviving chil- 
dren are the two sons to whom this re- 
view is dedicated. Mr. Spellman was a stal- 
wart supporter of the principles of the Re- 
puljlican party, he held membership in the 
Presbyterian church, as does also his widow, 
and he was prominently identified with local 
organizations of the ^lasonic fraternity. He 
served as worshipful master of Tyre Lodge, 
No. 85, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, at 
Blue Springs, and his Masonic affiliations in- 
cluded also his active membership in the com- 
mandery of Knights Templars at Beatrice and 
the Temple of the Mystic Shrine in the city 
■of Lincoln. 

Dr. Burt L. Spellman profited fully by the 
advantages offered in the public schools of the 
village of Blue Springs. In 1895 both he and 
Tiis brother, Clemens A., entered the Chicago 
College of Dentistry, and both were there 
graduated in 1898, as previously noted in this 
•context. Prior to thus preparing himself for 
the profession in which he has achieved un- 
equivocal success Dr. Spellman had given 
three years of effective service as a teacher in 
the district schools of Gage county. The 
brothers began the practice of their profession 
at Wymore, this county, but four months later 
they removed to Beatrice, the metropolis of the 
county, on the 5th of August, 1898, since 
which time they have been here associated in 
the successful practice of their profession, 
with a distinctively representative clientele. 
For seventeen years they maintained their of- 
fices in a building at Sixth and Ella streets, 
and they then removed to the'r present well 
appointed quarters, in the Baker building, 
likewise at Sixth and Ella streets. 

Dr. Burt L. Spellman gives his political al- 



legiance to the Republican party, he and his 
wife are active members of the Presbyterian 
church, and his Masonic affiliations are with 
Beatrice Lodge, No. 26, Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons ; Livingston Chapter, No. 10. 
Royal Arch Masons ; Mount Herman Com- 
mandery, No. 9, Knights Templars ; and Sesos- 
tris Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in the city 
of Lincoln. 

In the year 1901 Dr. Spellman wedded Miss 
Roza Barnum, who was born and reared in 
Gage county and who is a daughter of the 
late H. Sizer Barnum. Her farther became 
one of the earliest permanent settlers in this 
count)', where he established his residence in 
May, 1859, nearly a decade before the admis- 
sion of Nebraska to the Union. Mr. Barnum 
was born in the city of Buffalo, New York, 
November 11, 1837, and in the following year 
his parents, Hiram and Irena H. (Howard) 
Barnum removed to the former's old home in 
his native state of Ohio, where Hiram Barnum 
became a representative lawyer and a prom- 
inent and influential citizen : he was born in 
Trumbull county, in 1811, and passed the 
closing years of his life on a farm in that 
county, where he died at the age of seventy- 
six years, his wife surviving him by a num- 
ber of years. Hiram Barnum was a son of 
Eli Barnum, who was a native of Danbury, 
Connecticut, and who became one of the ear- 
liest settlers in Trumbull county, Ohio. 

H. Sizer Barnum, as before stated, came 
to Gage county in 1859, and at the time when 
he established his residence in Blue Springs 
township there were only three other families 
within its borders. He developed one of the 
productive farms of that part of the county 
and here contiiuied his activities until the out- 
break of the Civil war, when, on the 1st of 
September, 1861, he enlisted in the First Bat- 
talion of Nebraska Calvar)% being later trans- 
ferred to the Fifth Iowa Cavalr>-, and con- 
tinuing in service in Kentucky and Tennessee 
until November 11, 1862, when physical dis- 
ability necessitated his discharge. Thereafter 
he remained on his farm until 1871, when he 
removed with his family to the village of Blue 
Springs, where for many years thereafter he 



G20 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



was engaged in the livery business and in the 
breeding of line horses. He became one of 
the most substantial and influential pioneer 
citizens of the county and was called upon to 
serve in various local offices of public trust. 
In this connection it should be noted that he 
was elected register of deeds for the county 
before the formal organization of the county 
had been effected, his certificate of election, 
carefully preserved by the family, bearing date 
of July 16, 1859. Mr. Barnum was living on 
East Court street, Beatrice at the time of his 
death and his wife, whose maiden name was 
Myra H. Rappleye, passed away when about 
seventy-two years of age. Of their four 
children three are living, and of the number 
•Mrs. vSpellman is the youngest. Dr. and Mrs. 
Spellman have two children, — KathPi-n and 
Marguerite. 

Dr. Clemens A. Spellman was bom at At- 
lantic, Iowa, on the 8th of September, 1875, 
and was not yet three years of age at the 
time of the family removal to Gage county. 
Here he received in his boyhood excellent edu- 
cational training under the direction of Pro- 
fessor Blake, one of the early and able repre- 
sentatives of the pedagogic profession in this 
county, and in 1892 he was graduated in the 
high school at Blue Springs. In a preceding 
])aragraph it has been noted that in 1898 he 
and his brother were graduated in one of the 
leading dental colleges in the city of Chicago, 
but prior to this he had taught two years in 
the district schools of his home county and 
for one year had been associated with his 
father's grain business. In this article ade- 
quate data have already been given relative to 
his successful professional career. Both of 
the brothers have been specially active and 
appreciative in connection with their Masonic 
afliliations, as is indicated by the statement 
that each is past master of his lodge, past high 
priest of his chapter and past eminent com- 
mander of his commandery of Knights Tem- 
plars. Dr. Clemens A. Spellman is likewise 
past patron of the local cha]iter of the Order 
of the Eastem Star, of which his wife is a 
leading member, she being, in 1917-1918, con- 
ductress of the Nebraska grand chapter of this 



order. The Doctor and his brother are both 
affiliated with the Phi Omega dental frater- 
nity, and Dr. Eurt L. Spellman was secretary 
of the local organization while a student in the 
Chicago College of DentistrA\ 

Dr. Clemens A. Spellman is found aligned 
as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican 
partv and while he has had no ambition for 
public office he has manifested his civic loy- 
alty through his effective service as a member 
of the board of education of Beatrice, a po- 
sition of which he is the incumbent at the time 
of this writing. His Masonic affiliations in- 
clude membership in Sesostris Temple of the 
Mystic Shrine, in the city of Lincoln, and both 
he and his wife are zealous members of the 
Presbyterian church at Beatrice, in which he 
is sening as deacon, as well as superintendent 
of the Sunday school. On the 27th of Sep- 
tember, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of 
Dr. Clemens A. Spellman to Miss Carrie M. 
Schlosser, who was born and reared in this 
county and who is a daughter of Jesse L. 
Schlosser, subject of specific mention on other 
pages of this work. Dr. and Mrs. Spellman 
have two children, — Helen and Clemens 
Eugene. 

LEROY BRUGH, who is one of the repre- 
sentative farmers of the younger generation in 
Midland township, is a native son of Ne- 
braska and a member of a well known family 
that was here founded in the territorial days, 
his paternal grandfather having been one of 
the earliest settlers of Dodge county. Mr. 
Brugh was bom on a farm near Wahoo, judic- 
ial center of Saunders county, Nebraska, on 
the 18th of April, 1881, and is a son of Jacob 
A. and Laura E. (Davis) Brugh, the former 
of whom was born at Hartford City, Indiana, 
August 29, 1854, and the latter of whom was 
born in the state of Indiana, a daughter of 
Andrew J. and Nancy (Cowan) Davis. Of 
the children of Jacob A. and Laura E. (Davis) 
Brugh the following brief record is given : 
Mabel died when about six years of age; 
Maude is the wife of Elof Pierson, of Oak- 
dale, Antelope county, Nebraska ; Leroy, of 
this review, was the next in order of birth : 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



621 



Dr. Spangler Brugh, a representative pliy- 
siciai and surgeon of Gage county, is engaged 
in the practice of his profession at Beatrice; 
Nancy is the wife of George A. Girl, of Rock- 
ford township, this county ; Arthur is married 
and conducts a hotel at Holmesville, this 
county; Milo is a resident of Beatrice; and 
one son died in infancy. The marriage of the 
parents was solemnized December 5, 1875. 

Jacob A. Brugh is a son of Spangler and 
Nancy (Shick) Brugh, and he was seven years 
of age when his parents came to Nebraska 
Territory, in 1861, and established their home 
in Dodge county, where the father took up 
land tuider the terms of a squatter's right. 
About three years later Spangler Brugh sold 
this squatter's claim and removed with his 
family to Fremont, which is now a thriving 
little city of about ten thousand population, 
the judicial center of Dodge county. When 
i\Ir- Brugh there took up his abode the town 
was represented materially in one store and 
three or four houses, and he thus became vir- 
tually one of the founders of the present at- 
tractive city. Upon coming to Nebraska with 
his family Mr. Brugh made the journey by 
railroad to St. Joseph, Missouri, from which 
point he came with wagon and ox team to 
Dodge county. Later he engaged in freight- 
ing with ox teams between Omaha and Den- 
ver, in which profitable venture he was as- 
sisted by the late Herman Kountz, who was 
at that time engaged in the banking business in 
Omaha and who furnished him with the re- 
quisite freighting outfit. Mr. Brugh con- 
tinued operations as a frontier freighter until 
the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, 
and he then engaged in the hotel business at 
Fremont. In this connection he conducted 
feed yards in which accommodations were 
provided for horses and wagons of settlers and 
travelers. He constructed a large shed of Cot- 
tonwood poles, with straw roof, and this shed 
would accommodate seventy-five teams, a 
charge of one dollar a night being made for 
each team. About the year 1875 Spangler 
Brugh removed with his family to Saunders 
county, where he remained abovU fifteen years 
and greatly amplified his pioneer experiences. 



There he took up land and engaged in farm 
enterprise, and after his retirement from active 
life he returned to his old home in Fremont, 
where he died on the 5th of February, 1917, at 
the age of eighty years, his wife having passed 
away October 24, 1912, and the names of both 
meriting enduring place on the roster of the 
honored pioneers of Nebraska. They became 
the parents of two sons and three daughters, 
Jacob A. having been the elder son ; Spangler 
M. is now a resident of Pueblo, Colorado ; 
Mary E. became the wife of Leo Snyder and 
was a resident of Arlington, Washington 
county, this state, at the time of her death : 
Cora M. became the wife of George Codding- 
ton and died at Fremont, Dodge county ; and 
Miss Edna is a resident of Fremont. 

Jacob A. Brugh was reared under the con- 
ditions and influences of the pioneer epoch 
in Nebraska history and received his early 
education in the schools of Dodge county. 
He accompanied his parents on their removal 
to Saunders county, and there he was engaged 
in farm enterprise until 1887, when he re- 
moved with his family to Colorado. There 
he remained eleven years, at the expiration of 
which he returned to Nebraska, and he and 
his wife now reside at Holmesville, Gage 
county, where they have a pleasant home and 
where he is living retired. 

Leroy Brugh was a lad of six years at the 
tinie of the family removal to Colorado, where 
he was reared to adult age and given the ad- 
vantages of the public schools. In 1898 he 
returned with his parents to his native state, 
and he has since been actively and success- 
fully identified with agricultural and live-stock 
industry in Gage county, his operations being 
carried on somewhat extensively, as he is farm- 
ing a well improved estate of three hundred 
and twenty acres, in Section 21, Midland 
township, and about three miles distant from 
Beatrice, on rural mail route No. 4. Mr. 
Brugh is an energetic and progressive expon- 
ent of farm enterprise, a good business man 
and a loyal young citizen. He is a Democrat 
in politics but has never been troubled with 
any desire for jniblic office. 

Februarj^ 26, 1902, recorded the marriage 



622 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 





< 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



623 



of "Sir. Brugh to Miss May Warford, daugh- 
ter of Louis M. Warford, of Rockford town- 
ship, to whom is accorded individual mention 
on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. 
Brugh have three children : Dwight, Viola and 
Hazel, all of whom are attending school. 

CHARLES S. BOGGS, M. D., who is en- 
gaged in the active practice of his profession 
at Filley, is essentially one of the representa- 
tive physicians and surgeons of Gage county 
and is upholding in both a professional and 
civic way the high prestige of the name which 
he bears, his father, Hon. Lewis B. Boggs. 
M. D., having been one of the leading pioneer 
physicians and influential citizens of the 
county and being made the subject of a 
merited tribute on other pages of this publi- 
cation, so that further record concerning the 
family history is not here demanded. 

Dr. Charles S. Boggs was born at North 
Manchester, Indiana, on the 19th of June, 
1857, and he acquired his early education in 
the public schools of the old Hoosier state. 
He was a lad of fourteen years at the time of 
the family removal to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, in 1872, and here he continued his 
studies until he had completed the curriculum 
of the Beatrice high school, in which he made 
a splendid record as a student and was at the 
head of his class in scholarship. After leav- 
ing the high school Dr. Boggs gave four years 
of most ettective service as a teacher in the 
schools of this part of Nebraska and he then 
followed the trend of ambition by beginning 
the work of preparation for the profession that 
has been significantly dignified and honored 
by the services of his father. He entered the 
medical department of the University of Iowa, 
at Iowa City, where he continued his technical 
studies one year. He then entered the medi- 
cal de])artment of the University of Nebraska, 
in which he was graduated as a member of 
the class of 1884 and from which he received 
his well won degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
He forthwith became associated with his 
father in practice, with residence and profes- 
sional headquarters in the village of Filley, 
and here he has continued his earnest and ef- 



fective labors during the intervening period 
of more than thirty years, his success and 
popularity showing the high estimate placed 
upon him and also giving assurance that he 
has kept closely in touch with the advances 
made in medical and surgical science. The 
Doctor has a large and representative prac- 
tice, is actively identified with the Gage County 
Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medi- 
cal Society and the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, and in connection with his profes- 
sional activities he conducts a well ordered 
drug store at Filley, he having recently erected 
a handsome new building for his store. 

In 1882 was recorded the marriage of Dr. 
Boggs to Miss Mary C. Faulder, daughter of 
David S. Faulder, of whom individual men- 
tion is made on other pages of this work. Dr. 
and Mrs. Boggs became the parents of one 
daughter, Mabel, whose death occurred when 
she was twenty years of age. 

In politics Dr. Boggs is found aligned with 
the Progressive party, and he has shown his 
civic loyalty by many years of service as a 
member of the school board of Filley, as well 
as by service as a member of the village coun- 
cil. He is affiliated with the Masonic frater- 
nity and his wife holds membership in the 
Christian church. 

STURMEUS PFEFFERMAN owns and 
occupies, at 1301 Ella street, one of the pleas- 
ant homes in the city of Beatrice, where he is 
now living retired, after many years of 
earnest and productive endeavor in connec- 
tion with farm enterprise. He was born in 
Germany, December 21, 1834, a son of Mich- 
ael Hefiferman, who passed his entire life in 
Germany and who was engaged in the mer- 
cantile business for many years. The subject 
of this review was reared and educated in his 
native land, where also he learned the tailor's 
trade in his youth, but he never gave any con- 
siderable attention to his trade after having 
acquired the same. In 1861 he immigrated to 
America and settled in Livingston county, 
Illinois, where he was employed at farm work 
until the spring of 1862. He then gave evi- 
dence of his earnest lovaltv to the land of his 



624 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



adoption by tendering his aid in defense of 
the Union. He enhsted in Company B, One 
Hundred and Twenty-ninth IHinois Volun- 
teer Infantry, with which gallant command 
he took part in numerous engagements and 
with which he accompanied General Sher- 
man's forces on the historic march from At- 
lanta to the sea. He was fortunate in escap- 
ing wounds, but it is worthy of note that on 
one occasion, while in a dense brush, he felt 
an impact which he believed to have been 
made by a twig or bush, but upon later in- 
vestigation he found a bullet hole in his belt, 
showing that his escape had been narrow. 
After the close of the war Mr. Pfeffemian 
continued his residence in Livingston county, 
Illinois, until 1870, when he came to Ne- 
braska and numbered himself among the pio- 
neers of Gage county. He purchased land in 
Lincoln township and with the passing years 
reclaimed and developed one of the fine farm 
properties of the county. He still owns this 
valuable landed estate, of six hundred and 
forty acres, and his sons have active manage- 
ment of its operation. 

Mr. PfefTerman remained on his farm until 
1897, when he removed to Beatrice, where he 
has since lived retired and where he is most 
fully enjoying the gracious rewards that 
are so justly his due. In politics Mr. 
Pfefferman supports the Republican party 
and he was reared in the faith of the Catholic 
church. 

In December, 1866, Mr. Pfefferman wedded 
Miss Sarah A. Thomas. She was Iwrn in 
Cumberland county. Peimsylvania, October 
17, 1837, a daughter of John and Mary 
Thomas, who passed their entire lives in the 
old Keystone state, Mr. Thomas having been 
a miller by trade and vocation. Of the ten 
children Mrs. Pfefferman and her twin 
brother, Emanuel, were the youngest. Mrs. 
Pfefferman passed to the life eternal on the 
21st of January, 1917. 

.Mr. and Mrs. Pfefferman became the par- 
ents of five sons and one daughter and con- 
cerning them brief record is here entered' 
George, who was born December 12, 1867, is 
a successful fanner in Gage county ; Lewis, 



who was born November 14, 1S69, died in 
1908 ; Edward C. was born February 17, 
1871 ; Albert C. was born January 7, 1873 ; 
Jennie B., the only daughter, was the next in 
order of birth : and Sturmeus, Jr., was born 
April 24, 1877. 

FRANK J. CHITTENDEN. — Under the 
modern system of agricultural and live-stock 
industry the application of energy and good 
business policies insures success, and this is 
being significantly demonstrated in the activi- 
ties of Mr. Chittenden, who is a young man 
of progressiveness and utmost diligence and 
who is being prospered in his enterprise as a 
fanner. He is operating a farm of two hun- 
dred acres in Clatonia township, — a prop- 
erty which he rents from Henrj' Albert, a sub- 
stantial citizen individually mentioned on 
other pages. The success of Mr. Chittenden 
is the more pleasing to record by reason of his 
being a native of Gage county. He was bom 
in Highland township, on the 28th of Decem- 
ber, 1881, and is a son of Warren E. and 
Emma (Pitman) Chittenden, concerning 
whom more specific mention is made else- 
where in this publication. 

Frank J. Chittenden supplemented the dis- 
cipline of the district schools by attending the 
high school in the village of Clatonia and by 
a course in the Northwestern Business Col- 
lege, at Beatrice. Reared to the sturdy train- 
ing of the farm. Mr. Chittenden has found the 
industries of agriculture and stock-growing 
well worthy of his continued allegiance, but 
he held for three years a clerical position in the 
office of the treasurer of Gage county. He 
resigned this jjosition in 1908, and thereafter 
rented a farm in Highland township until 
1910, in May of which latter year he effected 
the lease of the large and well improved farm 
which now receives his supervision and in 
connection with which he is meeting with sub- 
stantial success. In politics he is unswerving 
in his allegiance to the Republican party and 
he takes loyal interest in coninnniitv affairs, 
as a liberal and jniblic-spirited citizen. 

November 18, 1908, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Ciiitlenden to Miss Effie [. Albert, who 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



623 



was born and reared in Clatonia township, a 
daughter of Henry Albert. Mr. and Mrs. 
Chittenden delight in extending to their 
many friends the hospitality of their pleasant 
home, which is brightened further by the 
presence of their winsome little daughter, Ger- 
trude E. They are active members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church in the village of 
Clatonia. 

JACOB S. RUTHERFORD. — The ulti- 
mate and consistent reward that should prove 
the crown of years of earnest and effective 
toil and endeavor is the gracious retirement 
and compassing prosperity that may be had 
by men and women who have arrived at the 
stage on life's journey when the shadows be- 
gin to lengthen from the crimson west, where 
the sunset gates are open wide. Such reward 
has been granted to the sterling and honored 
Gage county pioneer whose name initiates this 
paragraph, and his name and achievement 
have been of distinctive influence in connection 
with the civic and material development and 
progress of Gage county and especially of its 
judicial center, the fair city of Beatrice, where 
he is now living virtually retired. He has held 
various local positions of public trvist, includ- 
ing that of mayor of Beatrice, and further 
honor attaches to him for the service which he 
gave in his youth as a soldier of the Union in 
the Civil war. As a venerable pioneer and also 
as a citizen who has been prominent and in- 
fluential in the communal affairs of Gage 
county, Mr. Rutherford merits a definite 
tribute in this history. 

Jacob S. Rutherford was born in Sauk 
county, Wisconsin, on the 6th of April, 1846, a 
date that gives assurance that his parents 
were numbered among the pioneer settlers of 
that section of the Badger state. He is a son 
of James B. and Blanche (Slentz) Ruther- 
ford, the former a native of Kentucky and the 
latter of Ohio, their marriage having been 
solemnized at Mount Carmel, Illinois. From 
the latter state they went to Wisconsin and 
became pioneers of Sauk county, the father 
having there engaged in the development of a 
farm and having also operated a grist mill. 



In 1853 he became one of the argonauts in 
California, where he engaged in the mining 
of gold and other lines of enterprise, with a 
fair degree of success, and where he remained 
until 1856, when he returned to Wisconsin. 
In the latter state he continued his residence 
until the spring of 1866, when he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, and, in April of that 
year, established his residence on a pioneet- 
farm which he had purchased the preceding 
year, this old homestead being one mile north 
of the present village of Pickrell. He insti- 
tuted the development of his farm, besides 
eventually adding to his landed property by 
taking up a homestead claim. He continued 
as one of the prosperous farmers and valued 
citizens of the county until his death, at the 
age of seventy-two years, his wife having been 
fifty-six years of age at the time of her de- 
mise. 

Jacob S. Rutherford, the immediate subject 
of this review, acquired his early education in 
the pioneer schools of Wisconsin and was 
fifteen years of age at the outbreak of the 
Civil war, so that he was ineligible for enlist- 
ment at that stage. His youthful patriotism, 
however, was not long to be curbed, for on the 
3d of July, 1864, as a sturdy youth of eigh- 
teen years, he enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany H, Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infan- 
tr}', with which gallant command he continued 
in active senice until victory had crowned 
the Union amis, in the spring of the following 
year. He took part in various engagements, 
including the battle of Nashville, where he re- 
ceived a flesh wound in the side. While with 
his regiment participating in the seige of Vicks- 
burg Mr. Rutheford fell a victim to an ignoble 
foe, as he was attacked so severely with 
measles as to become delirious, the result be- 
ing that when he resumed normal control of 
his mental faculties he found himself in a bar- 
racks hospital in the city of New Orleans. He 
had not yet recovered his wonted vigor when 
the war came to a close, and he received his 
honorable discharge while stationed at De- 
mopolis, Alabama. 

After the close of the war Mr. Rutherford 
returned to Wisconsin and the next spring he 



626 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Gage county, Nebraska. For a few years there- 
after he gave his attention principally to op- 
erating saw mills at Beatrice and to freighting 
from Gage county to Kearney, this state, and 
also into Colorado. Finally his mechanical 
ability gained to him prestige as a skilled 
artisan at the carpenter's trade, and eventually 
lie developed a substantial and successful busi- 
ness as a contractor and builder. He was 
concerned in the erection of many buildings 
in this county and certain of the important 
buildings in Beatrice stand as enduring monu- 
ments to his skill — notably those of the Be- 
atrice National Bank and the public library, 
besides which he was the contractor for the 
larger part of the excellent street paving of 
this city. He continued his successful activi- 
ties as a contractor until 1915, since which time 
he has lived practically retired, owing to de- 
fective eyesight. 

Mr. Rutherford has been notably loyal and 
public-spirited as a citizen and has been in- 
fluential in the local councils and campaign 
activities of the Democratic party. In the 
early days he served as assessor of Beatrice 
and adjoining townships, for two years he 
held the office of street commissioner of Beat- 
rice, and his ability and popularity were fur- 
ther indicated by his having been retained for 
fourteen years as a member of the city coun- 
cil, of which municipal body he was president 
four years. His progressive policies were en- 
grafted strongly upon the administration of 
city affairs and finally, in 1909 he had the 
further distinction of being elected mayor of 
Beatrice, an office of which he continued the 
incumbent two years and in which he did 
much to further the civic and material ad- 
vancement of the city which he has seen de- 
velo[) from an insignificant village of true 
frontier type. Mr. Rutherford has been for 
manv vears affiliated with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, he is one of the hon- 
ored members of Rawlins Post, Grand .\rmy 
of the Republic, and his religious faith is that 
of spiritualism. 

In the year 1869 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Rutherford to Miss Marj- Brick, 



who was bom in Wisconsin and who came 
with her father, the late Henry Brick, to Gage 
county, Nebraska in 1867, the year that 
marked the admission of the state to the 
Union. Mrs. Rutherford passed to the life 
eternal in the year 1908, and her memory is 
revered by all who came within the compass 
of her kindly and gracious influence. Though 
Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford became the parents 
of ten children none of the number attained 
to adult age. 

FRANCIS M. PETHOUD, whose death 
occurred at his home farm, in Section 2, Mid- 
land township, on the 7th of April, 1906, was 
about twenty-one years of age when his par- 
ents settled in Gage county, in 1858, nearly 
ten years prior to the admission of Nebraska 
to statehood, and it was given him not only 
to experience his full quota of the hardships 
and trials incidental to life on the frontier but 
also to do well his part in developing the fun- 
damental resources of the county which con- 
tinued to be his home until his death and in 
which he lived and labored to goodly ends. 

Francis Marion Pethoud was bom at Iron- 
ton, Lawrence county, Ohio, July 7, 1837, a 
son of John Pethoud, a territorial pioneer 
whose name merits enduring place of honor 
on the pages of Gage county history and to 
whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of 
this work. The subject of this review ac- 
quired his early education in the common 
schools of the old Buckeye state and came with 
his parents to the Territor>' of Nebraska at a 
time when this section was still on the fron- 
tier. In Gage county he entered claim soon 
afterward to a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in what is now Section 2, Midland 
township, and with characteristic energy he 
girded himself to the arduous work of re- 
claiming from the virgin prairie a productive 
farm. His first house was a snug but mde 
structure of sod and boards, and in this primi- 
tive domicile all of his children were born, the 
same having continued as the family home for 
a period of fifteen years, ilr. Pethoud met 
his full share of hardships through drought 
and grasshopper scourge in the early days but 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



627 



he was not to be discouraged and had pre- 
science of the gracious returns that the soil 
of the county would ultimately yield. He ap- 
plied himself with unremitting diligence, was 
prospered in his progressive activities as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower and at the time 
of his death he was the owner of a valuable 
landed estate of two hundred and forty acres, 
•clear of all indebtedness and constituting one 
of the highly improved farm properties oi 
Midland township. Mr. Pethoud was a pro- 
ductive worker and while always ready to do 
his part in the support of measures and enter- 
prises advanced for the general good of the 
community he was entirely free of ambition 
for political activity or public office of any 
order. 

As a young man Mr. Pethoud married Miss 
Emily Maloney, who was born in Stark 
county, Ohio, August 28, 1839, and she en- 
<lured with him the vicissitudes of pioneer life, 
even as she enjoyed with him the prosperity 
of later years. After his death she remained 
on the old homestead until she too was sum- 
moned to the life eternal, — on the 12th of 
December, 1912. In the concluding paragraph 
of this memoir is given brief record concern- 
ing their children. 

Fordyce iVlyron, who has remained a 
hachelor, remains on the old homestead, as 
■does also his bachelor brother, Darwin Con- 
nor, and their maiden sister, Clara B, pre- 
sides over the domestic economies of as well 
as being the popular chatelaine of the home, 
the two brothers being actively associated in 
the management of the fine farm property and 
heing representative exponents of agricultural 
and live-stock enterprise in their native county. 
Darwin C. Pethoud was the fourth in order 
of birth of the eight children. Charles F. the 
second child, lives upon and has control of 
forty acres of his father's estate, and is one of 
the prosperous farmers of his native town- 
ship. He married Miss Stella Richardson, 
and they have three children, — Chester, 
Dwight and Percy. The eldest son, Chester, 
is married. Mary A. is the wife of Eli D. 
McCune, of Riverside, California. Florence 
E. is the wife of I. M. Hadley, of Lincoln, 



Nebraska. Carrie and Clara are twins, the 
latter remaining with her brothers at the old 
home, as previously noted, and Carrie being 
the wife of August Guenther, a prosperous 
farmer in Riverside township. Martha died 
in early childhood. 

ALFRED H. GRAY. — Since the year 
1913 Mr. Gray has been general agent for the 
Bankers' Life Insurance Company, of Lincoln, 
Nebraska, with residence and official head- 
quarters in the city of Beatrice, and in the 
extended territory assigned to his jurisdiction 
he has developed a large and representative 
business that marks him as one of the able in- 
surance executives and underwriters of the 
state. The signal success that has attended 
his varied activities is the more pleasing to 
contemplate in view of the fact that from his 
youth he has depended entirely upon his own 
resources and has made advancement through 
his own ability and well directed endeavors. 

A scion of a family whose name has been 
closely associated with pioneer life in various 
states of the west, Alfred H. Gray was born 
in Olmsted county, Minnesota, on the 22d of 
June, 1861, and he is a son of William and 
Malinda (Loehr) Gray, the former a native 
of Illinois, where he was born in the year 
1828, and the latter of whom was born in the 
state of Indiana, in 1840, their marriage hav- 
ing been solemnized in Iowa. Alfred Gray, 
grandfather of the subject of this review, was 
a native of Ohio and thence removed to Illi- 
nois, where he remained for a number of 
years. He then went with his family to 
Iowa, where he became a pioneer farmer, 
though he had previously followed the trade 
of cabinetmaker, and in the Hawkeye state 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives. James Loehr. maternal grandfather of 
him whose name initiates this sketch, was 
born in Pennsylvania, of staunch German line- 
age, and he likewise became one of the ster- 
ling pioneers of Iowa, where he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits and wliere he continued 
his residence until his death. 

After his marriage William Gray continued 
his residence in Iowa until about the vear 



628 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1860, when he removed to Minnesota and set- 
tled on a pioneer farm in Olmsted county. 
Later he became one of the virtual founders 
of the village of Eyota, that county, where 
he erected the first house and where he was 
engaged in the hotel business five years. He 
then removed with his family from the south- 
eastern part of the state to the wilds of the 
southwestern section of that commonwealth. 
He entered a homestead claim and instituted 
the reclamation of a farm, his nearest neigh- 
bor at the time having resided at a point five 
miles distant and the nearest postoffice and 
trading point being twenty-six miles distant. 
He remained on his embroyonic farm and gave 
himself vigorously to aiding in the develop- 
ment and upbuilding of a new countn,-, the 
construction of the railway eventually giving 
.spur to the march .of advancement. His wife, 
now venerable in years, maintains her home 
at Norton, Kansas. She was formerly a 
member of the Christian church but is now 
affiliated with the Church of Latter Day 
Saints. 

Reared in a pioneer community in which 
educational advantages were notable more 
particularly for their absence, Alfred H. 
Gray had but little opportunity to attend school 
and his education has been mainly that gained 
through self-disci])line and through associ- 
ation with the practical affairs of life. As a 
boy he attended a select school for three 
months and aside from this he had practi- 
cally no definite pedagogic instruction. An 
alert and receptive mind, however, refuses to 
recognize such handicaps and he has so profited 
by experience and service as to be a man of 
broad information and mature judgment. As 
a boy he gained fellowship with hard work and 
he has never since failed in appreciation of 
the dignity and value of honest toil. He as- 
sisted in the support of the family and his first 
independent work was initated when he ob- 
tained a position as railroad brakeman. He 
followed this occupation ten years and then 
became a traveling salesman, a vocation which 
he followed successfully for a long tenu of 
years, — in fact, until he turned his attention 
to the insurance business. 



In June, 1913, Mr. Gray established his 
residence in Beatrice and here became general 
agent of the Bankers' Life Insurance Com- 
pany for the territor}' including Gage county 
and extending to Norton, Kansas and the 
southern tier of Nebraska counties as far to 
the west as Harlan county. He has shown 
marked finesse and ability in the directing of 
the work of a large number of agents and has 
made a splendid record as a successful and 
progressive exponent of the insurance busi- 
ness. 

In politics Mr. Gray supports the Republican 
party cause in a general way but in local af- 
fairs he maintains an independent attitude and 
gives support to means and measures meeting 
the approval of his judgment, irrespective of 
partisan lines. He is affiliated with the local 
organizations of the Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Mod- 
em Woodmen of America and the Royal 
Neighbors. 

On the ISth of December, 18^^, Mr. Gray 
wedded Miss Clara Ross, who was bom at 
Red Cloud, Nebraska, her father, Henry Ross, 
having been one of the pioneer settlers of Web- 
ster county, of which Red Cloud is the judicial 
center; he became one of the successful fann- 
ers of Webster county, where he also fol- 
lowed his trade of brick mason, and he is now 
a successful mason contractor at Campbell, 
Franklin county, this state. Mrs. Gray died 
in 1901 leaving two sons, — John L., who is a 
skilled mechanic residing in Beatrice ; and Al- 
fred M., who is now serving in a machine-gun 
company of the Fifth regiment of the national 
army that is preparing to enter active service 
in the great European war. September 9, 
1908, Mr. Gray wedded Fannie L. Grensman, 
of Cortland, Gage county, and they have two 
children, Robert H. and Thomas H„ aged, in 
1918, four and six years respectively. 

FRANK MEYER. — The southwest quar- 
ter of Section 35, Blakely township, consti- 
tutes the attractive and well improved home- 
stead farm of Mr. Meyer, who has been a 
resident of Gage county since he was a lad 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



629 



■of about twelve years and who is a represen- 
tative of one of the sterHng pioneer families 
of this favored section of Nebraska. His 
landed estate includes also the northwest quar- 
ter of Section 11, Lincoln township, so that he 
has an ag'gregate of three hundred and twenty 
acres of the excellent land of Gage county 
and has full scope for his successful activities 
as an agriculturist and stock-grower. 

Mr. Meyer was born in La Salle county, Illi- 
nois, on the 28th of December, 1860, and is a 
son of Joseph and Crescentia (Hiebeler) 
Meyer, both natives of Bavaria, Germany, 
where they were reared to adult age, their 
marriage having been solemnized in the state 
of Illinois. Joseph Meyer was born April 22, 
1822, and in 1854 he came to America and es- 
tablished his residence in Illinois. After his 
marriage he continued his activities as a 
farmer in Effingham county, that state, until 
1872, when he came with his family to Ne- 
braska and rented a farm in Blakely town- 
ship, west of Beatrice, the judicial center of 
Gage county. There he continued his oper- 
ations as a renter until 1877, when he pur- 
chased the farm now owned by his son Frank, 
of this review. He made excellent improve- 
ments on this pioneer farm, erecting good 
buildings, setting out trees, etc., and was an 
honored and influential factor in the com- 
munity life, while he endured his full share 
of the adversity incidental to drought and 
grasshopper scourge in the early days. He 
served several years as a member of the school 
board of his district and gave with consistent 
liberality to the support of measures and en- 
terprises advanced for the general welfare 
of the community. It is interesting to record 
that he and his family made the journey from 
Illinois to Gage county with teams and two 
covered wagons of the type best known as 
prairie schooners, and six weeks were required 
in making the long overland trip. This hon- 
ored pioneer passed to the life eternal in April, 
1887, and his wife survived him by nearly 
thirty years. She was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
many, on the 14th of ^larch, 1823, and came 
to the United States in 1856, establishing her 
liome in Illinois, where her marriage occurred. 



as previously noted in this article. She passed 
the closing years of her life in the home of 
her oldest daughter, Airs. Emil Lang of Bea- 
trice, and was ninety-three years of age at the 
time of her death, in 1916. She was one of 
the revered and venerable pioneer women of 
the county. Both she and her husband were 
earnest members of the Catholic church. They 
became the parents of five children : Caro- 
line is the wife of Emil Lang, of Beatrice, this 
county; Christena is the wife of John G. 
Hoefling, of Iron River, Wisconsin; the sub- 
ject of this sketch was the next in order of 
birth ; John is a prosperous farmer of Lincoln 
township; and Mary is the wife of Philip 
Graff, of whom individual mention is made on 
other pages of this volume. 

Frank Meyer acquired his rudimentary edu- 
cation in the schools of his native state and as 
a boy of twelve years found the long overland 
trip to Nebraska an experience which afforded 
him much enjoyment. He assisted his father 
in the development of the home farm upon 
which he now resides and in the meanwhile 
he attended the local schools when opportunity 
offered. In 1888, the year after the death of 
his father, he purchased the old homestead 
in association with his only brother, John, and 
in 1890 he purchased also the latter's interest in 
the property, of which he has since been sole 
owner and upon which he has made extensive 
and well ordered improvements. In the 
autumn of 1906 he added to the area of his 
landed estate by purchasing a well improved 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Lin- 
coln township, and he gives to this also his 
close personal supenision. On this farm he 
has erected a large barn with modern facili- 
ties, as well as building corncribs and other 
minor farm buildings. He is politically in- 
dependent and he is serving in 1917-1918 as 
treasurer of school district No. 107. He is 
liberal and public-spirited as a citizen and is 
one of the substantial agriculturists and stock- 
growers of the county, — a man who merits 
and receives the fullest measure of popular 
esteem. He and his family are communicants 
of the Catholic church, and he is actively af- 
iiliated with the Knights of Columbus. 



630 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



On the 26th of April, 1892, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Meyer to Miss Marie 
Buriwal, who was born and reared in Austria, 
where she remained until 1888 when she came 
to the United States and established herself 
in the home of the Lang family, of Beatrice, 
Gage county, where she remained until the 
time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer 
became the parents of eight children, of whom 
the firstborn is Irene; the second child died in 
infancy; Aloysius is associated in the work- 
and management of the home farm and the 
other children likewise remain members of 
the gracious home circle, namely : Anna, Ray- 
mond, Ilildegard, Helen and ClitYord, the last 
two being twins. 

HENRY HORNER. — Both through pa- 
ternal heritage and pronounced personal ap- 
preciation Mr. Horner has been well equipped 
for the furtherance of the interests of musical 
art, and he has not only been successful as a 
teacher of music but has also been active in 
the sale of musical instruments and merchan- 
dise, in which field of enterprise he has been 
a leading representative in Gage county for 
the past thirty years, his well equipped music 
store being established in the city of Beatrice. 
He has exerted much influence in the gracious 
advancement of music in connection with the 
representative social life of Beatrice, has built 
up a prosperous business and has the securest 
vantage place in the esteem of the people of 
Gage county, the while he has always been 
generous in the application of his luusical tal- 
ent, which is of high order. 

Mr. Horner was born in Bradford. England, 
on the 2r)th of October, 1852, and is a son of 
Edward and Ann (Ellis) Horner, who came 
to the United States when the subject of this 
review was a child of two years. The father, 
a man of fine musical ability and attainments, 
was for many years actively engaged in the 
teaching of the "divine art." and upon coming 
to .\iuerica he first located at Galena. Illinois, 
whence he later removed to Morrison, that 
state, where he continued teaching, besides en- 
gaging in the sale of musical instruments, 
until his death, when he was sixty-nine years 



of age. His widow survived him and passed 
the closing period of her life at Beatrice, Ne- 
braska, in the home of her son Henr)', of this 
review, where she died when about seventy- 
five years of age. 

To the public schools of Illinois Henry Horn- 
er is indebted for his early educational dis- 
cipline and besides being reared in a home of 
distinctive musical atmosphere he received in 
his youth thorough training in instrumental 
music. In 1887 he came to Nebraska, and 
here he has been contiiuiously engaged in the 
sale of musical instruments, as well as in teach- 
ing music during the intervening period of 
thirty years. .As a teacher he has given his 
attention principally to instruction in piano- 
forte music. In politics Mr. Horner gives his 
support to the Republican parly and he has 
been for many years affliliated with the Ma- 
sonic fraternity. The maiden name of his 
wife was Anna Snyder and they became the 
parents of seven children, of whom five are 
living: Samuel is associated with an unc'e 
in business in the city of Chicago; Walter, 
Edward and Archibald are actively identified 
with their father's business and are assisting 
materially in its successful prosecution ; and 
Grace is an efficient and popular teacher in the 
Waverly public schools: she is a graduate of 
the high school of Beatrice, and the Univer- 
sity of Nebraska. 

A.V.WIAS BREWSTER. — Nearly half a 
century has passed since Mr. Brewster, a 
young man of indomitable energy^ and ambi- 
tion and one who had previously given loyal 
service as a youthful soldier of the Union in 
the Civil war, came to Nebraska and enrolled 
himself as a pioneer exponent of farm enter- 
prise in Gage county. He has been dependent 
upon his own resources from his boyhood and 
thus he had no fear of the exactions and stren- 
uous labors incidental to the reclaiming of a 
pioneer farm, the civic loyalty which he man- 
ifested having been consonant with his am- 
bitious efforts to win for himself by worthy 
means the independence and prosperity that 
were his due. With the fleeting years success 
attended his well ordered endeavors as an agri-- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



631 



culturist and stock-grower and he long held 
prestige as one of the prominent and influen- 
tial representatives of these basic lines of in- 
dustry' in Gage county. He has passed the 
psalmist's span of three score years and ten 
and now lives in gracious retirement in the 
city of Beatrice. 

^Ir. Brewster is a scion of the staunchest 
of American ancestry, as may well be appre- 
ciated when it is stated that he is a lineal de- 
scendant of Elder William Brewster, who was 
one of the Puritans who came from England 
to America on the first voyage of the historic 
ship "Mayflower" and founded the Plymouth 
Colony in Massachusetts, the family name hav- 
ing been worthily linked with the annals of 
American history during all succeeding gen- 
erations. He whose name introduces this ar- 
ticle was born in Oneida county, New York, 
on the 14th of February, 1847, and in Otsego 
county, that state, were born his parents, 
John and Elizabeth (Wilbur) Brewster, rep- 
resentatives of honored pioneer families of 
that section of the old Empire commonwealth. 
The father of Mr. Brewster was a farmer and 
miller by vocation and died in Oneida county, 
New York, when the subject of this review 
was a lad of eleven years, the devoted mother 
surviving by a number of years. 

Ananias Brewster, the youngest in a family 
of ten children, gained but little scholastic 
training in his youth, the death of his father 
making it necessary for him to depend mainly 
upon his own resources several years prior to 
attaining to adult age. He worked at what- 
ever occupation he could obtain and contin- 
ued to attend school at rare intervals until af- 
ter the outbreak of the Civil war, and prior 
to his seventeenth birthday anniversary he 
manifested his intrinsic patriotism by tender- 
ing his services in defense of the Union. In 
August, 1864, he enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany L, Fifteenth New York A'olunteer In- 
fantry, and with this gallant command he con- 
tinued in service until the c'.ose of the war. 
He participated in a number of important en- 
gagements, including the siege and battle of 
Petersburg, and after receiving his honorable 
<lischarge he returned to his native state and 



resumed his association with agricultural en- 
terprise. 

In 1869, at the age of twenty-two years, 
this youthful veteran of the Civil war came 
to the west, and after passing one year in Will 
county, Illinois, he came, in the spring of 1870, 
to Gage county, Nebraska, where he purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres of prairie land, 
about three miles east of Beatrice. In 1872 
he entered claim to a homestead of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of state land near the 
village of Clatonia, and upon this place he 
continued his residence eight years, in the 
meanwhile having made good improvements 
on the same. After selling this property he 
purchased a farm eight miles east of Beatrice, 
where he continued his progressive activities 
as a farmer and stock-grower for the ensuing 
twenty years, within which he developed the 
place into one of the well improved farms of 
the county. He finally sold this farm, but after 
residing four years in Beatrice he bought an- 
other farm, in Rockford and Riverside town- 
ships, where he remained until 1916, when he 
retired from active labors and established his 
residence in the city of Beatrice. Here he 
has an attractive home in which he and his 
wife delight to extend welcome and hospital- 
ity to their many friends. Both are active 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and he is a Democrat in his political faith and 
adherency. While residing on his farm in Lo- 
gan township he served a number of terms as 
township treasurer, as well as a member of 
the school board of his district. During his 
former period of residence in Beatrice he here 
served for a time as a member of the board 
of education. He maintains deep interest in 
his old comrades of the Civil war and mani- 
fests the same by his affliliation with Rawhns 
Post, No. 35, Grand Army of the Republic, 
in his home city. Mr. Brewster is a man of 
strong mentality and has kept himself well 
informed on the questions and issues of the 
day, so that he is well fortified in his opinions 
and convictions. He reads much and with 
discrimination and takes vita! interest in all 
things pertaining to the nation's participation 



r,32 



HISTORY OF GAGE COfXTY. NEBRASKA 



in the great European war — a service into 
which one of his sons has entered. 

January 3, 1872, Mr. Brewster wedded Miss 
Elvira Tanner, a member of a well known 
Gage county family that is given recognition 
on other pages of this publication, and con- 
cerning the children of this union the follow- 
ing brief record is offered : Frank is engaged 
in the practice of his profession at Beaver City, 
as one of the representative physicians and 
surgeons of Furnas county; Elizabeth, who 
likewise was graduated in a school of medi- 
cine, is the wife of Edward Lamb, a promi- 
nent attorney of Beaver City ; Captain Charles 
Lee, who was graduated in the law depart- 
ment of the University of Michigan, at Ann 
Arbor, and who is junior member of the law 
f^rm of Sackett & Brewster, of Beatrice, gave 
gallant service in the Philippine Islands as a 
soldier of the Spanish-American war, and he 
received a severe wound in one of his feet : he 
is now captain of Company C, of Beatrice, 
which has entered the national army for serv- 
ice in the European war and is w'ith his com- 
pany in the cantonment at Camp Cody, New 
Mexico, at the time of this writing, in the 
spring of 1918; Rose is the wife of Edward 
Thomas, president of a college at Alberta, 
Canada; Imogene is the wife of Edw-ard Rut- 
lege and they reside in the state of New IMex- 
ico; Frederick is a dentist by profession and 
is engaged in practice at Aspen, Colorado; 
Beulah is a successful teacher of domestic 
science in a college at Malbur, Iowa; and 
Lulu, who remains at the parental home, was 
a member of the class of 1913 in the Beatrice 
hitrh school. 



WILLIAM TOWN SEND. — The late 
^^'iIliam Townsend merits a tribute of honor 
in this history by reason of his having been a 
sterling pioneer of Gage county and a citizen 
of prominence and influence in Hanover town- 
ship, where he reclaimed and improved a fine 
farm property and where the little hamlet of 
Townsend was named in his honor, he having 
been appointed postmaster in the community 
in 1S74 and the postoffice having been estab- 



lished in his home, the locality thus being 
given his name, even as was the postoffice. 

Mr. Townsend was born in Delaware 
county, New York, February 1, 1829, a son 
of Moorehouse and Anna (Johnson) Town- 
send, the former a native of Connecticut and 
the latter of the old Empire state, where their 
marriage was solemnized. Moorehouse Tow-n- 
send was twelve years old at the time of the 
family removal to the state of New York, and 
after leaving school he followed a seafaring 
life until he was about thirty years old, when 
he turned his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. In 1864 he removed with his family to 
LaSalle county, Illinois, where he remained 
until 1870, when he became one of the pioneer 
settlers of Gage county, Nebraska. He passed 
the remainder of his life on his farm, in Han- 
over township, w'here his death occurred in 
1878, his widow having survived him by a 
number of years and having been of vener- 
able age at the time of her demise. They were 
survived by four children — • \\"illiam, subject 
of this memoir; Eunice, who became the wife 
of Daniel Griffin; Caroline, who became the 
wife of William Barrett ; and Wallace, who 
was a resident of Beatrice at the time of his 
death. 

William Townsend was reared under the 
invigorating discipline of his father's farm 
and gained his early education in the common 
schools. In Bradford county, Pennsylvania, 
on the 24th of November, 1851, he married 
Miss ^larian Denton, who likewise was born 
in Delaware county, New York. In 1866 Mr. 
Townsend removed with his family to La- 
Salle county, Illinois, where he engaged in 
farming on rented land. In 1870 he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of unbroken prairie 
land in Hanover township, for which property 
he paid seven dollars an acre. He reclaimed 
and developed in this township a valuable farm 
estate of three hundred acres, and here Ive 
continued his residence until 1892. when he 
removed to Nuckolls county, his death having 
there occurred on the 6th of Februarj-, 1895. 
The wife of his young manhood was called to 
the life etcmal on the 11th of March, 1874, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



633 




William Townsend 



634 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and of the eight children of this union five are 
living : Robert resides at Fort Morgan, Colo- 
rado ; Duane is a resident of Ranier, Oregon: 
Mrs. Emma Cox maintains her home in Be- 
atrice, as does Eilso John, who was the next in 
order of birth ; and Mary is the wife of Theo- 
dore Bohnstedt, of whom individual mention 
is made on other pages of this volume. In 
1876 Mr. Townsend married Mrs. Mary 
Jane (Shearer) Post, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and they became the parents of one 
child, Cora Belle. 

Mr. Townsend was a Republican in politics 
and in addition to having served several years 
as postmaster at Townsend, he also gave 
equally effective administration in the office 
of justice of the peace. He was a lifelong 
and zealous member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and his life was ordered in con- 
sonance with the faith which he thus pro- 
fessed. 

BERNARD E. DRUMMOXD. — The city 
of Beatri:e is favored in claiming as its own 
an institution that is not only a virtual publx 
utility but is also one of thoroughly metro- 
politan facilities, — the Kimball Laundry, of 
wliich Mr. Drummond is one of the proprie- 
tors. This laundry is operated with ecjuip- 
nuMit of the most modern type throughout and 
the large and representative patronage ac- 
corded to it gives evidence of the high popular 
estimate placed upon its service. Mr. Drum- 
mond and R. G. Weston purchased the plant 
and business of this well ordered steam laun- 
dry in January, l')14, and their careful and 
progressive business policies have inured great- 
ly to the success of the enterprise, the laundry 
having been established more than a quarter 
of a century ago and having maintained a 
high reinitation prior to passing into posses- 
sion of the present proprietors, who have ef- 
fectively enhanced its reputation for the best 
grade of service. In connection with the oper- 
ations of the Kimball laundry is retained a 
working force of six men and eighteen young 
women, each skilled in the w^ork assigned. 

Bernard Enimett Drummond was born in 
Saline county, this state, and is a son of 



Michael L. and Catherine (Mehan) Drum- 
mond, who were pioneer settlers of that coun- 
ty, where the father entered a homestead claim 
and developed a good farm ; he is now living 
practically retired and he and his wife main- 
tain their home in the city of Beatrice, they 
having come to Gage county when their son 
Bernard E. was a child. He whose name in- 
itiates this review acquired his youthful edu- 
cation in the schools of this county and at the 
age of nineteen years he entered upon an 
apprenticeship to the trade of iron-moulder. 
As an expert workman at his trade he was 
employed five years in the works of the Demp- 
ster Manufacturing Company, at Beatrice, and 
thereafter he w^as for twelve years successful- 
ly engaged in the cigar and tobacco business 
in Beatrice, his retirement from this business 
having occurred when, in 1914, he and his 
present associate purchased the plant and bus- 
iness of the Kimball Laundry, to which he has 
since given his undivided attention. He is a 
Republican in his political proclivities, is one 
of the loyal and popular members of the Be- 
atrice Commercial Club, and is affliliated with 
the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent & 
Protective Order of Elks. 

Tn 1903 was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Drummond to Miss Lena R. Bush, daughter 
of the late Judge James Bush, and the one 
child of this union is a fine little son, Charles 
Bernard, who was born February 12, 191.^. 

JAMES K. CULLEN. — Among the early 
settlers in Gage county was James Cullen. a 
man who came west in search of a home where 
land could be purchased more cheaply, and 
where the opportunities were greater than in 
the state of Illinois where he had been a farm- 
er for many years. He was moved also by an 
earnest desire to establish his home in a com- 
munity in which he should not be denied the 
full advantages of and fellowship in the church 
of which he was an earnest adherent. 

Mr. Cullen was born in Rockingham county. 
\'irginia, and when a young man he moved to 
\\'oodford county. Illinois, where he was en- 
gaged in farming for many years. Mr. Cul- 
len was united in marriage to Miss Christina 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



635 



TTarshbarger, also a native of Rockingham 
county, \'irginia. In 1885 Mr. Cullen came 
with his family to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
located in Rockford township, where he pur- 
chased eighty acres of land, partly improved. 
He was very successful, and at the time of 
his death he was the owner of two hundred 
acres in Rockford township. Mr. Cullen 
])assed away at the age of seventy-two years 
and his wife followed him to the life eternal 
three years later, at the age of seventy-four 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Cullen were members 
of the Church of the Brethren, were good 
Christian people and were very highly re- 
spected by all who knew them. They were 
the parents of ten children, all of whom are 
living: Sarah is the wife of Perry Van Dyke, 
of Newburg, Oregon ; John, who for many 
years was a successful farmer in Sherman 
township, is now living in Kansas ; Mary is 
the wife of J. C. Dell, of Gage county ; James 
resides in Rockford township ; William is a 
resident of Newburg, Oregon ; Augusta is the 
wife of Ulysses G. McPheron, of Sherman 
township; H. D. is a farmer in Rockford 
township; Naomi is the wife of J. S. Dell, of 
Rockford township ; and Clarence and Otis are 
at Newburg, Oregon. 

CLARENCE W. GALE.— The most mod- 
ern and metropolitan of facilities and service 
are represented in the attractively appointed 
photographic studio of Mr. Gale, in the city 
of Beatrice, and the large and representative 
supporting patronage accorded to him indicates 
the high popular estimate placed upon him and 
on the work issued from his establishment. 
He is a native son of Gage county and has 
won place as a leading exponent of high-class 
photographic portraiture in this section of 
Nebraska. 

Mr. Gale was born on a farm in Adams 
township, this county, and the date of his 
nativity was July 12, 1887. He is a son of 
Charles and Aldula (Garrison) Gale, the 
former a native of Wisconsin and the latter 
of Iowa, both having been young folk at the 
time of the removal of the respective families 
to Nebraska, about the year 1865. prior to 



the admission of the state to the L^nion. George 
Gale, paternal grandfather of the subject of 
this review, was born and reared in Wisconsin, 
where his parents settled in the early pioneer 
days, and upon coming to Nebraska Territory 
he numbered himself among the early expon- 
ents of agricultural industry in Gage county, 
where he and his wife passed the residue of 
their lives, as did also the maternal grand- 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Omer Garrison, who 
came to the territory about the same time, 
Mr. Garrison having been another of the 
sterling pioneer farmers of Gage county, and 
having been a native of the state of Pennsyl- 
vania. Charles Gale continued his active as- 
sociation with farm enterprise in this county 
until shortly after the birth of his son Clarence 
W., of this sketch, and in the meanwhile he 
made also an excellent record as a successful 
and popular teacher in the public schools of 
the county. LTpon leaving the farm he re- 
moved with his family to Beatice, and here 
he became secretary of the State Building & 
Loan Association, an oiifice of which he con- 
tinued the incumbent until 1916. Thereafter 
he here lived retired until his death, which 
occured October 25, 1917. He was a staunch 
Republican in politics and was an active mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is 
also his widow. Of their children the subject 
of this review is the eldest ; Laura is an 
efficient and popular teacher in the Beatrice 
high school ; Robert is engaged in the photo- 
graphic business at York, judicial center of 
the Nebraska county of the same name ; Marie 
and Dorothy remain with their widowed 
mother. Dorothy is a valued assistant in the 
photographic studio of her elder brother. 

In the public schools of Beatrice Clarence 
W. Gale continued his studies until he had 
completed the curriculum of the high school, 
in which he was graduated as a member of 
the class of 1904. He then devoted himself 
with characteristic vigor and earnestness to 
acquiring thorough knowledge of all scientific 
and art details of modern photography, and he 
has been independently engaged in business as 
a leading photographist in Beatrice since 1906. 
He is aligned as a staunch supporter of the 



636 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



cause of the Republican party but has mani- 
fested no ambition for political activity or 
official preferment. He and his wife are 
popular factors in the social activities of their 
home city and have a wide circle of friends 
in Gage county. 

The year 1909 recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Gale to Miss Gladys Majors, who was 
born at Peru, Nemaha county, this state, and 
who is a daughter of Hon. Thomas J. and 
Isabelle (I'.ushongi Majors. Her father 
served as colonel of a Union regiment during 
the j)criod of the Civil war, he having been 
born in Kentucky and having become a pioneer 
of Nebraska Territory prior to the war. He 
has been one of the representative farmers 
and most influential and honored citizens of 
Nemaha county for many years and is now 
living virtually retired in the village of Peru. 
Colonel Majors has been specially prominent 
in political affairs in Nebraska, has served as 
a member of the state senate and a few years 
ago he was the Republican candidate for 
governor of the state, his defeat being the 
result of normal political exigencies. ^Ir. 
and Mrs. Gale are active members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church and the attrac- 
tive family home is brightened by the presence 
of their two children. — Francis and Doris. 

ALEX L. .\Nl)ERSON:— In the city of 
Beatrice Mr. .\ndcrson is a successful repre- 
sentative of a line of enterprise that has im- 
])ortant bearing upon the civic and material 
advancement of every community, as he is 
here established in the real-estate business, in 
which his operations have become widely dis- 
seminated through Nebraska and other .states 
of the west. Thorough knowledge of realty 
values, progressive methods and fair and 
honorable dealings have gained to him un- 
qualified |>npular confidence and enabled him 
to build up a business of substantial and 
prosperous order, the while he is known as 
one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of 
Gage county and its capital city. 

Mr. Ander.son was born, reared and educat- 
ed in Sweden, where his parents passed their 
entire lives and where his father, Andrew 



.Anderson,, was a farmer by vocation. Mr. 
.\nderson was born in Sweden, on the 29th 
of March, 1859, and in 1881, soon after at- 
taining to his legal majority, he came to the 
United States, relying entirely upon his own 
resources in establishing himself in the land 
of his adoption and in here winning his way 
to the plane of prosperity and independence. 
For si.x months after his arrival he was em- 
])loyed on a dairy farm in Connecticut, and 
he then made his way to Wisconsin, where he 
found remunerative employment at his trade, 
that of blacksmith. A few months later he 
again yielded to the wanderlust, by coming 
to Nebraska, and after having worked about 
two years at his trade in the city of Lincoln 
he came, in 1884, to Beatrice, where he estab- 
lished himself in the work of his trade. He 
eventually developed a substantial independ- 
ent business as a blacksmith and with this 
sturdy line of industrial enterprise he con- 
tinued his active association until 1907, since 
which year he has given his time and atten- 
tion to the real-estate business, as previously 
noted in this context. As a loyal and appre- 
ciative citizen he has taken active interest in 
jjolitical affairs, though never an aspirant for 
public office, and he is found aligned as a 
stalwart supporter of the principles of the 
Democratic party. He and his family are 
communicants of the Lutheran church and he 
is affiliated with the Fraternal Aid Union and 
the Modern Wootlmen of America. 

In 1884 Mr. Anderson wedded Miss Lottie 
Berg, who likewise is a native of Sweden, and 
they have two daughters, — Miiuiie Rulh. who 
completed a course in the Beatrice high school 
and who is now a successful and popular 
teacher ; and Clara, who is a skilled steno- 
grapher and who holds as such a position in 
the city of Omaha. 

WILLIAM L. OZMAN.— The honored 
pioneer of Gage county whose name initiates 
this paragraph has passed recently the eighti- 
eth milestone on the journey of life and though 
in his experience he has endured to the full 
the "heat and burden of the day" and made 
his activities count in worthy productiveness. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



637 



the years rest lightly upon him and he has the 
mental and physical vigor commonly accredit- 
ed only to a man many years his junior. Since 
1910 he has lived practically retired in the city 
of Beatrice, and aside from the distinction that 
is his as one of the early settlers of Gage 
county there must ever attach to his name 
the high honor of having given valiant service 
as a loyal soldier of the Union in the Civil 
war. 

Mr. Ozman was born at Lansing, Tomp- 
kins county, New York, in the year 1837, and 
was reared to nianhood in the old Empire 
state, where he received the advantages of the 
common schools and where, at the age of 
eighteen years, he entered upon an apprentice- 
ship to the trade of harnessmaker, in which 
he became a skilled workman. Mr. Ozman is 
doubly appreciative of the pariotism mani- 
fested by the young men of America at the 
present time, when they are giving themselves 
earnestly to making up the fine national army 
for the country's participation in the great 
European war, and this attitude on his part 
can not but recall vividly to his mind the 
time when, as a young man of twenty-five 
years, he subordinated all personal interests 
to respond to- the call of patriotism, by ten- 
dering his services in defense of the Union. 
In 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company 
C, One Hundred and Ninth New York Vol- 
unteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to 
the front and took part in various engage- 
ments, including the first battle of the Wilder- 
ness. Shortly after this historic engagement 
he was attacked with illness and thereafter he 
remained incapacitated for active service until 
January, 1865, when he rejoined his regiment, 
with which he took part in the battle of 
Petersburg on the 2d of the following April, 
this being one of the last of the important 
battles of the great internecine conflict. After 
the surrender of Generals Lee and Johnston 
Mr. Ozman took part in the Grand Review of 
the victorious troops in the city of Washing- 
ton, where he received his honorable discharge. 
He then returned with other members of his 
regiment to New York state, and shortly af- 
terward he established himself in business as 



harnessmaker, at Ithaca, that state. In 1866 
he sold his business and went to Wheatland, 
Vernon county, Wisconsin, where he contin- 
ued in the same line of business until 1871, 
In the year last mentioned Mr. Ozman became 
a resident of Gage county, Nebraska, where 
he obtained a homestead claim of one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, in Section 6 Highland 
township. He was one of the early settlers 
of that part of the county, and recalls that at 
the time Indians were still much in evidence 
in this section of the state, the while deer 
and antelope still roved the prairies. He 
gave himself vigorously to the reclaiming and 
improving of his pioneer farm and eventually 
developed the same into one of the productive 
and valuable landed domains of the county. In 
character and ability he was well fitted for 
leadership in community affairs, and he was 
active in the furtherance of measures and un- 
dertakings that conserved both civic and in- 
dustrial advancement and prosperity. He and 
his devoted wife assisted earnestly in the or- 
ganizing of the first Sunday school in High- 
land township, and he was influential in the 
establishing and activities of the Gage county 
grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, as well 
as the Farmers' Alliance of later years. He 
was able also to give elifective service as one 
of the pioneer teachers of this section of the 
state, and while improving his homestead he 
taught eleven terms of school, in Gage and 
Lancaster counties, his service in the peda- 
gogic profession having been given during the 
winter terms, while he devoted the intervening 
summer seasons to the afifairs of his farm. 

Mr. Ozman has never abated his deep in- 
terest in his old comrades of the Civil war or 
in promoting lofty ideals of patriotism, in 
which connection it is pleasing to note that 
on the occasion of the old soldiers" reunion 
held at Beatrice in 1876, in connection with 
the centennial anniversary of our national in- 
dependence, he was chosen to deliver the pa- 
triotic address, a duty which he discharged 
with characteristic ability and earnestness. In 
all ways has this sterling pioneer stood ex- 
emplar of loyal and progressive citizenship, 
and none has commanded a greater degree 



638 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



of popular confidence and good will. The 
political proclivities of Mr. Ozman are indi- 
cated in the staunch support which he accords 
to the Republican party, and he and his family 
hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
church, in which he has been active and 
zealous for many years. He has been affiliated 
with the time-honored Masonic fraternity since 
1866 and is one of the honored and veteran 
members of Rawlins Post, No. 3?. Grand 
Army of the Republic, at Beatrice. 

In Wisconsin, Mr. Ozman wedded Miss 
Mary A. Phillips, who was born in England 
and who was a girl when she accompanied her 
parents on their immigration to America. A 
woman of strong character and high ideals, 
Mrs. Ozman shared with her husband the 
trials and vicissitudes of pioneer life in Gage 
county, and she was the first woman to live on 
their old homestead in Highland township, 
v;here she was the gracious and efficient chate- 
laine of the pioneer home and where she died 
at the age of forty-seven years, being sur- 
vived by si.x children, concerning whom the 
following brief record is given : Elizabeth Etta 
is the wife of Lincoln Paine, of Caldwell, 
Idaho ; Edmund Grant, who is now one of the 
prosperous farmers of Gage county, served 
in the command of General Colby in the Indian 
war that culminated in the battle of Wounded 
Knee, South Dakota ; .Agnes Nevada is the 
wife of Mr. LaGrange and they maintain their 
home in the state of Oklahoma; Marv Ella 
became a missionary of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and as such was in service in 
South .America for the three years preceding 
her death; Roscoe C, who was graduated in 
the law department of the University of Ne- 
braska, engaged in the practice of hir profes- 
sion at Lincoln, capitol of the state, and he 
thereafter had the distinction of serving three 
years as city clerk, besides which he well up- 
held the patriotic honors of the family name 
by enlisting for service in the Spanish-.Ameri- 
can war. in which connection he was assigned 
to duty in the Philippine Islands, where he 
took part in various engagements, in one of 
which he was wounded in the right wrist : in 
I'^l" he wedded Miss Edna Demming, one of 



his youthful schoolmates, and they now main- 
tain their home on one of the fine farms of 
Colorado; Alfred Blaine, the youngest of the 
children, married Miss Ida Brown, of Beatrice, 
and he is one of the progressive farmers of 
Holt township, this county. 

April 5, 1899, W'illiam L. Ozman contract- 
ed a second marriage, the maiden name of his 
wife having been Luetta May Kitchen. Mrs. 
Ozman was born and reared in Jasper county, 
Iowa, a representative of one of its well known 
pioneer families, and she makes the pleasant 
home of the family one notable for its gener- 
ous hospitality and good cheer. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ozman have two children,^ — Earl John and 
Theodore R.. both of whom remain at the 
])arental home and are students in the public 
schools of Beatrice. 

FREDERICK J. SMITH left a definite and 
worthy impress in connection with civic, in- 
dustrial and business advancement in Gage 
county, commanded the high regard of all 
who knew him and it is but due that a tribute 
to his memory be incorporated in thisvolme. 

Mr. Smith was born in the district of East 
Friesland, in the extreme northwestern part 
of Germany, and the date of his nativity was 
December 22, 1850. He was a scion of one of 
the old and sterling families of that historic 
section of Germany, a district formerly a ]iart 
of the Netherlands, and was a son of Jergen 
and Etta (Goldenstein) Schmidt, concerning 
whom more specific mention is made on other 
pages, in the memoir of John Carstens, who 
married their daughter Mary. Mr. vSmith was 
reared and educated in his native land and 
was alK)ut seventeen years of age when he 
crime to America, in 1868, he having found it 
expedient to change the original spelling of 
the family name to the English form after he 
had here established his home. At Rushville, 
Illinois, he has associated with the business 
conducted by his uncle until 1872. when he 
came to Gage county, after having previously 
purchased a homestead near Clatonia. Such 
was his intellectual ability that he was called 
upon to teach school in one of the districts 
of Clatonia township, and his ambition led 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



639 



liitii, about 1874, to take a higher course of 
study, in Wesleyan University at Warrenton, 
Missouri. Thereafter, he continued his suc- 
cessful service as a teacher in Clatonia town- 
ship until his marriage, in 1880, after which 
he engaged in farming, six miles west of 
Cortland. In 1885 he removed with his family 
to the village of Cortland, where lie engaged 
in the general merchandise business and built 
u]) a substantial and prosperous trade. He 
continued his activities as a representative 
merchant of Cortland until his death, which 
occurred January 21, 1913. He was the owner 
of a well improved farm in Clatonia township 
and also of another, in Rooks county, Kansas. 
He was a stockholder of the Farmers' State 
Bank of Cortland and also of the Farmers' 
Elevator Company of that place. He was 
loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, his 
course was guided and governed by the highest 
principles, and he held the inviolable confi- 
dence of those with whom he came in contact 
in the varied relations of life. His political 
support was given to the Republican party, he 
served a number of years as a valued member 
of the board of education at Cortland, he was 
affiliated with the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and he was a zealous member of 
the German Methodist Episcopal church, as 
i.s also his widow, who still resides at Cortland. 
He aided much in the organization of the 
church of this denomination at Cortland and 
in the erection of the church edifice, besides 
having served as an officer of the same. 

On the 1st of April, 1880, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Smith to Mrs. Maria 
(Wendt) Pothast, widow of Simon Pothast, 
whose death occurred when he was about 
thirty-two years of age, in Illinois, and who is 
survived by four sons, — Henry, who is en- 
gaged in the real-estate business in the city 
of Lincoln, Nebraska; David, who is a retired 
farmer in Colorado ; Edward, who is cashier 
of the Farmers' State Bank at Cortland ; and 
Frederick L., who is cashier of the Farmers" 
State Bank at Pickrell and is individually men- 
tion on other pages of this work. Mr. and 
Mrs. Smith became the parents of six chil- 
dren : Rosetta and Anetta died in early child- 



hood ; Lillie is the wife of Professor H. G. 
Least, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa ; Elsie is the 
wife of J. H. Wehrli, of Haxton, Colorado; 
Setta died at the age of three years, of mem- 
branous croup ; and Luella remains with her 
widowed mother at Cortland. 

Mrs. Maria (Wendt) Smith was born in 
Germany, October 10, 1850, and in 1868 she 
accompanied her parents on their immigra- 
tion to Aiuerica, the family home having been 
established in Illinois, where her first marriage 
was solemnized, and her parents having 
eventually come to Gage county, Nebraska, 
where they passed the remainder of their 
lives. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of Philip and 
Helen (Kentsche) Wendt, both natives of 
Germany, where the former was born in 1830 
and the latter in 1828. "Sir. Wendt was a 
shoemaker by trade, and resided at Davis, 
Illinois, until he came to Gage county, in 1886. 
Here he worked at his trade and clerked in 
the general store of F. J. Smith & Co. He 
died in 1892, and his venerable widow passed 
the closing years of her life in Cortland, where 
she died in 1903. Of their four children two 
are living, — Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Helena 
Lucka, who likewise resides at Cortland, this 
county. 

JAMES R. WILSON is numbered among 
the progressive business men and influential 
citizens of the village of Pickrell, where he is 
a stockholder in and general manager of the 
Farmers' Elevator Company, besides which 
his association with agricultural enterprise is 
further shown by his ownership of an excellent 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres in 
Thomas county, this state. 

Mr. Wilson was born on a farm near Spring- 
field, capital city of Illinois, on the 20th of 
April, 1870, and is a son of Robert and Mary 
E. (Reed) W'ilson, of whose seven children 
he is the firstborn ; Clara is the wife of P. 
G. Stanley, of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado ; 
Rilla is the wife of E. T. Locke, of Wichita, 
Kansas ; Lena is the wife of J. J. Sherman, 
of Doniphan, Hall county, Nebraska; Lillian 
is the wife of Ralph G. Ells, a successful 
farmer in Blakely township, Gage tounty; 



640 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Ada is the wife of W. E. Derby, of North 
Platte, this state ; and William W. resides at 
Beatrice, Gage county. 

Robert Wilson was born near the city of 
Liverpool, England. June 8, 1838, and was 
reared and educated in his native land. There 
he was associated with farm enterprise until 
about 1868, when he came to the United States 
and engaged in farming near Springfield, 
Illinois. In 1878 he came with his family to 
Nebraska and established his residence on a 
farm which he rented from Judge Parker, 
south of Beatrice, the judicial center of Gage 
county. Later he purchased land on the old 
Indian reservation, in Liberty township, where 
he reclaimed and developed a fine farm and 
where he continued to reside until 1900. when 
he sold the property. He then paid a visit 
to his son James R., of this review, after 
which he set forth to visit his old home in 
England, his intention being to return to 
America and purchase land in Canada. 
Mystery and probable tragedy are all that can 
be conjectured concerning him since that time, 
as none of his family has heard from him since 
he left Gage county and no trace of him 
has been obtained from any source. His wife, 
whose death occurred in 1902, was born near 
Springfield, Illinois, in June, 1846. 

James R. Wilson was a lad of eight years 
when he accompanied his parents to Gage 
county, where he was reared to manhood and 
made good use of the advantages afforded in 
the public schools. He continued thereafter to 
be associated with productive farm enterprise 
until 1911. in April of which year he assumed 
his present office, that of manager of the 
Farmers' Elevator Company at Pickrell. 

On the 20th of March. 1895. was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Wilson to Miss Rosa M. 
Rcnfro, who was born in southern Missouri. 
June 21, 1877, a daughter of J. T. and Martha 
(Boyd) Renfro, both likewise natives of 
Missouri, representatives of the Renfro family 
having been clergymen of the Baptist church 
in two or more generations. L^pon leaving 
Missouri the parents of Mrs. \\Mlson removed 
to western Kansas, where her father took up 
a homestead claim, but within a comparatively 



short time he came with his family to Pawnee 
county, Nebraska. He and his wife now 
reside at Peru, Nemaha county, where he is 
living retired, save that he gives his supervi- 
sion to his fruit orchard, which is a small but 
productive one. ^Ir. and Mrs. Wilson have 
three children, — Ray. who is assistant man- 
ager of the grain elevator at Pickrell, as his 
father's valued aid ; Harry, who is a student 
in the high school at Beatrice, and Frank, who 
i« the youngest member of the home circle. 

A wide-awake and progressive citizen and 
business man. Mr. ^^'ilson has been specially 
influential in public and community affairs at 
Pickrell. and he was prominently identified 
with the organization and incorporaiton of the 
village. In 1914 he was elected mayor, and 
of this municipal office he has since continued 
the incumbent. — a fact that attests alike his 
personal popularity and his effective admin- 
istration. He has been progressive in his 
official policies and under his regime great 
improvements have been made in the village, 
especially in establishing the system of electric 
street lighting and the construction of cement 
sidewalks. His political allegiance is given 
to the Democratic party and he is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order 
of United Workman. 

SILAS A. SEYMOUR is another of the 
honored Nebraska pioneers who has shown 
his appreciation of the advantages and at- 
tractions of the city of Beatrice by here 
establishing his home after retirement from 
productive activities as a farmer. He was 
born in Herkimer county. New York, on the 
4th of November, 1843, and is a son of Tomp- 
kins and Hannah (Dodge) Seymour, both 
likewise natives of the old Empire state, where 
they passed their entire lives and where the 
father became a substantial farmer and in- 
fluential citizen of Herkimer county. He also 
was a successful merchant and contractor for 
a term of years. His father, Silas Seymour, 
was born and reared in New York state, his 
parents having been natives of England, and 
he was a soldier in the war of 1812. His 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



641 



wife's father, Amasa Dodge, was a representa- 
tive of one of the old and honored famihes of 
the Mohawk valley of New York. Tompkins 
Seymour was originally a Democrat in politics, 
but finally he transferred his allegiance to the 
Republican party. He was a man of broad 
mental ken and mature judgement and he 
commanded the high esteem of all who knew 
him. He was called upon to serve in various 
township offices, and he and his wife were 
active members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Of their five children the subject of 
this sketch is the only one living. 

Silas A. Seymour acquired his preliminary 
education in the district schools of Oswego 
county. New York, and thereafter attended 
Pulaski Academy, at Pulaski, that state, be- 
sides pursuing higher academic studies in 
Falley Seminary, at Oswego. He enlisted in 
1864 as a member of Company E, One Hun- 
dred and Eighty-ninth New York Volunteer 
Infantry, and with this command he was in 
active service until the close of the Civil war, 
he having been with his regiment at Appo- 
mattox at the time of the surrender of General 
Lee and having taken part in numerous en- 
gagements that occurred within the final year 
of the great conflict. In later years he has 
vitalized his interest in his old comrades in 
arms by maintaining affiliation with the Grand 
.Army of the Republic. 

After the close of the war Mr. Seymour at- 
tended Falley Seminary, as noted above, and 
in 1867 he numbered himself among the 
I'ioneer settlers of Blackhawk county, Iowa, 
where he engaged in farm enterprise and 
wiiere he continued his residence until 1871. 
In that year, with team and covered wagon, 
he made the overland journey to Jefferson 
county. Nebraska, and the same primitive 
method of transportation was used when he 
brought his family to the new home, in the 
following year. He purchased in Jefferson 
county a quarter section of land, minor im- 
])rovements having previously been made on 
the place, including the erection of a house 
fourteen by sixteen feet in dimensions and 
built of Cottonwood lumber. On this farm 
he continued his residence fourteen years, 



within which period he brought the land under 
effective cultivation, enlarged and remodeled 
the house and erected other requisite farm 
buildings. He was successful in his vigorous 
activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower 
and in 1885 he came with his family to 
Beatrice, where he purchased property and 
established his permanent home. Here he has 
since lived practically retired during the in- 
tervening years and in the enjoyment of the 
peace and prosperity that fittingly crown a life 
of earnest and fruitful endeavor. 

On the 2d of January, 1868, was solemnized 
the marriage of ilr. Seymour to Miss Eliza- 
beth Porter, who was born and reared in the 
state of New York, a daughter of Nelson B. 
Porter, and certain of whose ancestors were 
patriot soldiers in the war of the Revolution, 
so that she is eligible for and actively affiliated 
with the Society of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Sey- 
mour have two children. Florence, a graduate 
of the Beatrice high school, remains at the 
parental home and is popular and active in 
connection with the social life of the com- 
munity. Gertrude is the wife of Verne H. 
Burnette, who is engaged in the printing busi- 
ness in the city of St. Joseph, Missouri, as a 
member of the Roubidoux Printing Company. 
The elder daughter is a skilled stenographer 
and has been employed as such for several 
years. 

Mr. Seymour is found arrayed as a loyal 
supporter of the cause of the Republican party, 
he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of 
America and the Knights and Ladies of 
Securitv and he and his wife are active mem- 
bers of the Congregational church. He finds 
ample demands upon his time and attention 
in his activities as a fancier and raiser of 
fancy poultry, in which field of enterprise he 
raises fine Rhode Island Reds, his exhibit of 
which at the Gage county fair in 1917 brought 
to him majority of the blue ribbons on this 
type of poultry. 

GEORGE E. THEASMEYER, who is the 
owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 15, Clatonia township, and 



r>42 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



who is giving special attention to the breeding 
and raising of Hereford cattle and Poland- 
China swine, is a member of one of the hon- 
ored pioneer families of Gage county and 
was born on the old homestead of his father, 
in Section 15, Clatonia township, July 26, 
1882, being fourth in a family of six children; 
Henry is the eldest of the family and remains 
with his mother; Anna is the wife of John 
Krauter, of Clatonia township; Emma is the 
wife of Henry Heller, of Lancaster county; 
Nina is the wife of Henry Horn, of Gering, 
Scotts Bluff county; and Daniel, who lives 
with his mother, is a farmer in Clatonia town- 
ship. 

Henry Theasmeyer, father of the subject 
of this review, was born in Detmold. Princi- 
I>ality of IJppe, Germany, February 21. 1850, 
and was one of the honored pioneer citizens 
of Gage county at the time of his death, De- 
cember 27, 1914. In early childhood he was 
left an orphan and he was reared by kinsfolk, 
the while he began to provide in a degree for 
his own maintenance when he was but ten 
years old, by doing farm work within the 
compass of his physical powders. His educa- 
tional advantages were limited and in his 
native land he applied himself diligently until 
he was nineteen years old, when he determined 
to come to America, where he felt that he 
could find better opportunities for advance- 
ment. In 1869 he embarked, at Bremen, on 
a sailing vessel, and in due time he landed 
in New York city. He thence went forthwith 
to Stephenson county, Illinois, where he found 
work on a farm and where his efficient services 
won for him a noteworthy advance in wages 
within the ensuing si.x years. There, on the 
21st of April, 1875. he married Miss Susan 
Lauber. who was born in Stephenson county, 
Illinois. July ,S0. 1852. and who now maintains 
her home in the village of Clatonia. Shortly 
after his marriage Mr. Theasmeyer came, in 
the spring of 1875, to Gage county, where he 
purchased eighty acres of railroad land, in 
Section 15, Clatonia township. A plentitude 
of success attended his earnest activities dur- 
ing the long years that marked the general de- 
velopment and progress of Gage county, and 



he became one of the most substantial farmers 
of Clatonia township. He and his w^ife 
bravely met the vicissitudes and trials of the 
pioneer days and in their kindliness and up- 
rightness gained the high regard of all who 
knew them. At the time of his death, Decem- 
ber 27. 1914, Mr. Theasmeyer was the owner 
of a valuable landed estate of eight hundred 
and eighty acres. He and his wife aided in 
the organization of the German ^lethodist 
Episcopal church at Clatonia and became 
charter members of the same, 'Sirs. Theas- 
meyer being still an active member. In poli- 
tics Mr. Theasmeyer was a staunch Republi- 
can and he took a lively and intelligent interest 
in governmental alTairs. both national and 
local. 

George E. Theasmeyer has been associated 
with farm enterprise in Clatonia township 
from the time of his boyhood, and a portion 
of his present farm came to him as a heritage 
from his father's estate, while the remainder 
he purchased from his widowed mother. He 
made good use of the advantages aiTorded in 
the public schools and this was fostered by 
influences that made for development of both 
brain and brawn and that admirably fortified 
him for the duties and responsibilities of life. 
He is one of the energetic and successful 
agriculturists and stock-growers of his native 
county and as a liberal and progressive citi- 
zen is fully upholding the honors of the fam- 
ily name. His political allegiance is given to 
the Democratic party and he and his wife are 
members of the German Methodist church. 

March 24, 190+, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Theasmeyer to Miss Frances Heller, who 
was born in Lancaster county, this state. Feb- 
ruary 6, 1883, a daughter of Joseph and Rosa 
(Liesech) Heller, who now reside at Hallan, 
that county. Mr. and Mrs. Theasmeyer have 
four children — Herbert, Hayward, Helen, 
and Dale. 

JOHN T. JURGENS. who is nninbered 
among the substantial citizens and representa- 
tive farmers of Hanover township was born at 
.\urich. in the province of Hanover. Germany, 
March 3. 1871. and is a son of Thee H. and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



643 




Mr. and Mrs. George E. Theasmeyer 



644 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Anna (Dutzman) Jurgens, both natives of that 
section of the German empire, where the 
former was born in 1833 and the latter in 
1830, her death having occurred in 1913. In 
1881 Thee H. Jurgens came with his family 
to Gage county and after farming several years 
on rented land he purchased eighty acres, in 
Hanover township. He continued his active 
and successful association with farm enter- 
pise until 1894, when he retired, and he now 
resides in the home of his son John T., of 
this review, — being known as one of the 
sterling pioneer citizens of the county, his 
political support being given to the Republican 
party and his religious faith being that of the 
German Lutheran church, of which his wife 
likewise was a devoted communicant. They 
became the parents of five children: Henry is 
a prosperous farmer in Logan township ; 
Wilke died when about fifty years of age ; 
Thee T. is a farmer in Hanover township; 
Grace is the wife of Ehme Waldman, of Logan 
township; and the subject of this sketch is the 
youngest of the number. 

John T. Jurgens was ten years old at the 
time when the family home was established 
in Gage county, and here he was reared to 
the sturdy discipline of the farm, the while he 
made good use of the advantages afforded by 
the district schools. He finally purchased his 
father's farm, to which he has added until it 
now comprises three hundred and twenty acres 
of land, in Hanover township. His success has 
been won with integrity and honor and by 
close application and good management. He 
has made excellent improvements on his farm 
property, including the erection of his pres- 
ent large and attractive house, in 1910. and 
his large barn, in 1911. He is liberal and 
loyal as a citizen, is a Republican in politics, 
has served fifteen years as a member of the 
school board of his district, besides having 
given equally eflicicnt service as road over- 
seer and as a member of the official board of 
the township of Hanover. In connection with 
diversified agriculture he gives special atten- 
tion to the raising of good live stock, and he 
has bred from fdur full-blood Short-horn bulls 
that have been owned bv him. 



In 1896 Mr. Jurgens wedded Miss Elsche 
Francen, who was born in Champaign county, 
Illinois, and reared in Gage county, Nebraska. 
She is a daughter of Harm Francen, who came 
from Germany and settled in Illinois, where 
he remained until 1882, when he settled in 
Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Jurgens are ac- 
tive communicants of the German Lutheran 
church. They have eight children, all of whom 
remain members of the gracious home circle — 
Thee, Harm, Henry, Grace, \\'ilke, John, 
Dick, and Anna Y. 

O. J. LYNDES. — The greater number of 
the pioneers of Gage county were of fine, 
sturdy stock — generous-hearted, resourceful, 
courageous and optimistfc, — and such attri- 
butes have significantly denoted the sterling 
pioneer citizen to whom this sketch is dedi- 
cated. Mr. Lyndes is now living virtually re- 
tired in the city of Beatrice, but is here as- 
sociated with his son-in-law, George Mayborn, 
in the conducting of a well equipped meat 
market, under the firm name of Mayborn & 
Lyndes. 

Mr. Lyndes was born at Grafton. Lorain 
county, Ohio, March 6, 1848, and is a son of 
Orville and Mary (Turner) Lyndes. the 
former a native of Massachusetts and the lat- 
ter of Vermont. Orville Lyndes was a scion 
of fine old Puritan New England ancestry on 
both the paternal and maternal sides and af- 
ter his removal to Ohio he became a prosper- 
ous farmer in Lorain county, both he and his 
wife having continued their residence in the 
old Buckeye state until their death. Three of 
their sons were valiant soldiers of the L'nion 
in the Civil war. Anson served more than 
three years and after being captured by the 
enemy was confined in a Confederate prison 
for somewhat more than six months ; Frederick 
was in the Union ranks for more than three 
years and was with General Sheridan in the 
historic Shenandoah campaign ; and John, 
whose military career covered four years, was 
assigned the greater part of the time to the 
guarding of Confederate prisoners at Colum- 
bus, Ohio. 

O. T. Lvndes was reared on the old home 



HISTORY OF CxAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



645 



farm and gained his early education in the 
common schools of his native county. At the 
age of eighteen years he went to Lee county, 
Illinois, where he found work on a farm and 
where later he engaged in farm enterprise in 
an independent way. There he continued his 
residence until 1879, when he came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, being accompanied by his 
wife and their infant child and bringing a 
small supply of household effects to equip the 
new home, his cash capital at the time of his 
arrival in Beatrice having been three hundred 
and fifteen dollars. He purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of land on the Indian reserva- 
tion and now included in Glenwood township. 
Fort twenty-five dollars he bought a breaking 
plow from the pioneer firm of Wagner & 
Lamb ; from J. B. Lester he obtained a wagon, 
for which he paid twenty dollars ; and for 
ninety-nine dollars Samuel Wymore trans- 
ferred to him a yoke of oxen. Much of his 
available cash was thus expended for equip- 
ment, for his land and for incidental expenses 
of the family, so that he was glad to add to 
his resources by breaking prairie land for 
others, at two dollars an acre. In the autumn 
of 1880 Mr. Lyndes built on his pioneer farm 
a frame house fourteen by twenty feet in di- 
mensions, and the freezing of his lime made 
it impossible for him to plaster the rooms un- 
til the following spring. The little house was 
weather-boarded with one-half inch lap, and in 
order to make the building snug he covered 
the interior with building paper, in lieu of 
plaster. The ensuing winter was the coldest 
yet known in the history of Gage county, and 
Mr. Lyndes, his wife and their two children 
endured the rigors of the winter by living in 
their primitive little house, which had but one- 
half of an inch of protective material between 
the inside and the exterior surface. For his 
land Mr. Lyndes paid three and one-half dol- 
lars an acre, and later he purchased an ad- 
joining tract of one hundred and twenty acres. 
With valiant energy and perseverance he car- 
ried forward the reclaiming and developing 
of his farm and there he continued his activi- 
ties as an agriculturist and stock-grower for 
thirty years, at the expiration of which he 



sold the well improved property at the rate 
of one hundred and ten dollars an acre. Af- 
ter selling his farm Mr. Lyndes and his wife, 
who had shared with him in the vicissitudes 
of the pioneer days, removed to the city of 
Beatrice, where they now occupy their attrac- 
tive residence at 1336 Elk street. Since 1910 
Mr. Lyndes has been associated with George 
jMayborn in the meat-market business, and 
their establishment, at 1220 Court street, re- 
ceives a substantial and representative patron- 
age, Mr. Lyndes giving but minor attention 
to the business. 

At Dixon, Illinois, in the year 1877, Mr. 
Lyndes wedded Miss Clara Lindeman, who 
was born and reared in Lee county, that state, 
a daughter of Harmon and Nancy ( Fritz) 
Lindeman, the former of whom is deceased 
and the latter of whom is now a resident of 
Dixon, Illinois, she having attained to most 
venerable age. Mr. and Mrs. Lyndes became 
the parents of five children : Harry has for 
fully fifteen years been employed by an im- 
portant chemical manufacturing company in 
the city of Denver, Colorado ; Gertrude be- 
came the wife of George Mayborn and is now 
deceased ; Jay G. is a successful farmer near 
Powell, Wyoming; Mary Ethel is the wife of 
Earl Martin, of Sterling, Illinois ; and Edna 
is the wife of John Wilson, a successful farm- 
er in Midland township. 

Mr. Lyndes relates many interesting inci- 
dents pertaining to the pioneer period of Gage 
county history, and his reminiscences are es- 
pecially graphic. Mr- Lyndes has stated that 
he has had no happier period in his life than 
that when he and his family lived in their 
bleak little house during the frigid winter of 
1881, for he realized that he had good pros- 
pects for establishing a home and had the de- 
voted companionship of his wife, who en- 
couraged him in his determination to win in- 
dependence and prosperity in the county of 
their adoption. 

^Ir. Lyndes was alert and loyal in support 
of all things tending to advance the communal 
welfare of the township in which he was one 
of the first settlers, and was specially promi- 
nent in effecting the organization of the school 



646 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



district in iiis locality, he having been one of 
its first directors. He served in 1892-1893 
as a member of the county board of supervis- 
ors and in 1893 he was candidate for county 
sheriff, but met defeat with the rest of his 
party's candidates in that election. He and 
his wife are zealous members of the Christian 
church, of which he has been an elder about 
si.x years. He assisted in organizing the church 
and Sunday school in his townshi]), besides 
becoming the first superintendent of the Sun- 
day school. In a basic way he gives his sup- 
port to the Republican party, but in local af- 
fairs he is not constrained by strict partisan- 
ship. He is affiliated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity and he and his wife are known and 
honored as sterling pioneer citizens of Gage 
county, where they have a host of friends. 

J()iIX O. REED was a young man when 
he came witii his parents to Gage county and 
thus can claim pioneer prestige, besides which 
he is one of the prosperous business men and 
popular citizens of Beatrice, where he and his 
brother Luther have for a score of years con- 
ducted a well equipped feed and sales stable 
wiiich represents one of the undivided prop- 
erties of the Reed family estate. 

Mr. Reed was born in IJutler county, Ohio, 
January 29, 1845, and is a son of David and 
Mary A. (Cochran) Reed, the former a na- 
tive of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. In 
1852 David Reed removed with his family to 
Sangamon county, Illinois, and there he con- 
tinued his residence until 1871. when he came 
with his family to Nebraska, his arrival in 
Beatrice having occurred .April 13th of that 
year. In Riverside township he purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land, 
and there he developed a productive farm, the 
while he was known and honored as one of the 
sterling pioneer citizens of the county. He 
finally retired from the farm and both he and 
his wife passed the closing years of their lives 
in Beatrice, both having been zealous mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian church, in which he 
served as elder. Of the six children three are 
living: Luther is associated with the subject 
of this review in conducting the feed and sales 



stable in Beatrice, as previously noted ; John 
O. is the next younger ; and Nancy, who is 
the widow of Richard Lowe, likewise resides 
in Beatrice ; Fannie became the wife of New- 
ton Weatherald and both are now deceased ; 
William was a resident of Beatrice at the time 
of his death; and David Gibson died in child- 
hood, in Ohio. 

John O. Reed is indebted to the schools of 
Illinois for his early educational training and 
was twenty-six years of age when he came 
with his parents to Gage county- Here for 
several years he did a successful business in 
the feeding and shipping of cattle, and for 
five years he purchased cattle for the govern- 
ment, the stock being for the use of the Indians 
on the Otoe reservation in this county. For 
the past twenty years he and his brother have 
been associated in business in Beatrice, as 
previously noted, and he in the meanwhile 
gave a most efficient administration in the 
office of chief of the Beatrice police depart- 
ment, a position of which he continued the 
incumbent four years. For fifteen years he 
held the office of county coroner, and he re- 
tained this post until the office was abolished, 
his final term having terminated January 1, 
1917, Mr. Reed has seen Beatrice develop 
from a frontier village to a fine city of metro- 
l)o!itan appearance and facilities, and he takes 
satisfaction in designating himself as one of 
the "old-timers" of Gage county. His politi- 
cal allegiance is given to the Republican party 
and he has given active service in its behalf 
in his home county. 

October 8, 1884 :\Ir. Reed wedded Miss 
Elizabeth .A. Fairbanks, who was born and 
reared in Indiana, and who is a cousin of the 
late Charles N. Fairbanks, former vice-presi- 
dent of the L'nited States, Mr. and Mrs. Reed 
have one daughter Mary Elizabeth, at home. 

LEMl'EL P. GESSELL.— From a modest 
inception Mr. Gessell has built up in the city 
of Beatrice a most substantial and prosperous 
job-printing business and his establishment is 
now throughly metropolitan in its equipment 
and facilities, so that he caters most acceptably 
to a large and representative patronage. He 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



647 



keeps his stock of type-faces up to the best 
modern standard at all times and in its selec- 
tion makes provision for the handling of all 
kinds of artistic job work, both large and 
small. His battery of presses comprises 
three modern job presses and he now gives 
employment to an efficient corps of three as- 
sistants. 

Mr- Gessell was born in Delaware county, 
Indiana, on the 8th of January, 1867, and is a 
son of John and Sarah (Brooke) Gessell, both 
of whom were born and reared in Fairfield 
county, Ohio, members of pioneer families of 
that section of the old Buckeye state. Soon 
after their marriage John Gessell and his wife 
removed to Indiana, where he gave consider- 
able attention to the work of his trade, that 
of shoemaker. In 1869, about two years after 
the admission of Nebraska to statehood, he 
came with his family to Gage county and 
entered claim to a homestead of one hundred 
and twenty acres, in what is now Grant town- 
ship. He reclaimed and developed one of the 
productive farms of the county, was influential 
in community affairs in the pioneer days and 
was a Democrat in his political proclivities, 
both he and his wife having been charter 
members and earnest communicants of the 
Trinity Lutheran church at Beatrice. John 
Gessell had the most meager of financial re- 
sources when he numbered himself among the 
pioneers of the new state of Nebraska, but he 
so applied his energies in developing the ad- 
mirable resources of Gage county that he 
achieved a substantial competency. He was 
sixty-four years of age at the time of his 
death and his wife passed to eternal rest at 
the age of ninety-six years — sterling pioneers 
whose memories are revered by all who knew 
them. Of their thirteen children only four 
are now living: Elmer is a printer by trade 
and now lives in the city of Dallas, Texas ; 
Jesse is a popular salesman in one of the 
leading grocery stores of Beatrice; Lemuel P., 
of this review, was the next in order of birth ; 
and Oscar, a clergyman of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, holds at the time of this 
writing, in 1918, a pastoral charge at Enter- 
prise, Kansas. 



Lemuel P. Gessell was about three years of 
age at the time when his parents came from 
Indiana and established their home on the 
pioneer farm in Gage county. As a boy he 
gained full fellowship with farm work and 
in the meanwhile he broadened his mental 
horizon by attending the schools of the locality 
and period. He continued his studies in the 
public schools at intervals until he was about 
sixteen years of age, and his first work after 
leaving the parental home was as a farm 
hand. At the age of sixteen years, however, 
he entered upon a practical apprenticeship to 
the printer's trade, in the office of the Beatrice 
Weekly Express, at Beatrice. He continued 
to work at his trade — principally in the city 
of Beatrice — until 1909, when he here opened 
a little printing establishment of his own. 
His technical skill in the execution of job 
work, combined with his personal popularity, 
gained him an appreciative support, and each 
year witnessed a substantial development in 
his business, which is now one well established 
and of prosperous order, as noted in an earlier 
paragraph of this article. 

Mr. Gessell takes loyal interest in all things 
pertaining to the welfare of the county that 
has represented his home from childhood and 
while he has had no ambition for political 
office he accords staunch support to the cause 
of the Republican party, both he and his wife 
holding membership in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and he being affilliated with the 
Fraternal Aid Union. 

In the vear 1889 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Gessell to Miss Elizabeth Kelly, 
who was born on the Isle of Man. in the Irish 
sea, and who was a child at the time of her 
parents' immigration to America. Mr. and 
Mrs. Gessell have one child, Annie, who is a 
member of the class of 1919 in the Beatrice 
high school. 

STEPHEN BULL was a gallant young 
veteran of the Civil war when, in 1869, he 
came to Nebraska and numbered himself 
among the pioneers of Gage county. Here he 
achieved independence and stable prosperity 
through his active association with farm in- 



648 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



dustry, did well his part in the furtherance of 
civic and material progress in the pioneer days, 
and, now venerable in years, he is one of the 
honored pioneer citizens of Ueatrice. his pleas- 
ant home in this city being at 1505 Grant 
street. 

Mr. Bull was born at Camden, Oneida comi- 
ty, New York, September 20, 1844, and is a 
son of John S. and Lydia Bull. Stephen Bull 
Nk-as reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm 
and profited duly by the advantages afforded 
in the common schools of the locality and 
period. He was but a youth at the inception 
of the Civil war but his patriotism and loyalty 
found exemplification on the 24th of August, 
1864, when, at the age of twenty years, he en- 
listed, from Oswego county. New York, for 
a term of twelve months. On the 7th of the 
following month he was mustered in as a 
private in Company C, ( Caj)tain Edward 
Swan) of the One Hundred and Eighty-sixth 
New York \'olunteer Infantry, commanded by 
Colonel Bradley W. Winslow, the organiza- 
tion of this command having been p>erfected 
at Sackett's Harbor, New York. The regi- 
ment left for the front September 28. 1864, 
being assigned to the Second Brigade, Second 
Division, Ninth Corps, Army of the Potomac. 
Of the admirable record of this gallant regi- 
ment the following data have been obtained: 
During its [)eriod of service the One Hundred 
and Eighty-sixth New York Infantry partici- 
pated in the following engagements and skirm- 
ishes: Before Petersburg, \'irginia, October 1, 

1864, and April 2, 1865 ; Hatcher's Run, \'ir- 
ginia, October 27-28. 1864; Fort Steadnian, 
Virginia, March 25, 1865; .\ppomattox cam- 
paign, \'irginia, March Z?: - .\pril 8, 1865; 
fall of Petersburg, Ai)ril 2. 1865. "The regi- 
ment performed brave and valiant service at 
all times, and lost one hundred and eighty offi- 
cers and men, in killed, wounded, and miss- 
ing, during its term of service. It was hon- 
orably discharged and mustered out June 2, 

1865, near Alexandria, \'irginia." 
Pertinent to the personal record of Mr. Bull 

definite details have been given in the follow- 
ing official statement : 'The said Stephen Bull 
was wounded during the assault on Fort Stead- 



man, Petersburg, \'irginia, April 2, 1865, while 
outside the fort, a minie ball having shattered 
his lower right arm and elbow. He walked 
from the fort to the Union lines with his in- 
jured arm swinging, entered an ambulance and 
was taken to the field hospital, where the arm 
was amputated, five inches below the shoulder 
point. Two days later he embarked at City 
Point, \"irginia, and proceeded to Fairfax 
Seminary general hospital, at .\lexandria, \'ir- 
ginia, where he remained until June 16, 1865, 
when he received an honorable discharge, by 
reason of surgeon's certificate of disability on 
account of loss of arm. Mr. Bull was con- 
stantly with his command during its service 
as outlined until he was wounded ; he bore a 
gallant part in all its engagements and rend- 
ered faithful and meritorious service to his 
country." In the present decade of the 
twentieth century, when nearly all of the civil- 
ized world is aflame with war, it is interest- 
ing to revert to the gallantry and sacrifice of 
Mr- Bull during his period of service as a 
loyal young soldier of the Union, and he 
pepetuates the more gracious memories and 
association of his military career by his affilia- 
tion with Rawlins Post, No. 35. Grand Army 
of the Republic, at Beatrice, in which noble 
organization he has passed all of the official 
chairs, including that of commander, of which 
office he was the incumbent in 1907. 

.\fter the close of the war Mr. Bull con- 
tinued his residence in the state of New York 
until 1869, when he came to the new state of 
Nebraska and gallantly arrayed himself among 
the pioneers of Gage county. He purchased 
land in Midland township and. notwithstand- 
ing his jihysical infirmity, in the loss of his 
right arm. he proved himself resourceful and 
a master of industrial expedients, so that he 
reclaimed and developed one of the fine farms 
of the county. He continued his successful 
association with farm enterprise until Feb- 
ruary, 1901, since which time he has lived vir- 
tually retired, in the city of Beatrice. 

On the 23d of March, 1868, at Williams- 
town, New York, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Bull to Miss Polly Louisa Park, who 
was born at Waterbury. Connecticut, Novem- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



649 



ber 20, 1847, and who was reared and educat- 
ed in the state of New York. In the year 
succeeding that of their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Bull came to Gage county and took up 
the burdens and responsibilities of pioneer 
life. In this county were born all of their 
children, — three sons and six daughters, and 
two of the number, George Frederick and 
Musadora. preceded their mother to the life 
eternal. In all that makes for gracious and no- 
ble womanhood Mrs. Bull was preeminent, and 
she went through life trailing the beatitudes 
of her train, so that her memory is revered by 
all who came within the compass of her gentle 
influence. She continued as the devoted com- 
panion and helpmeet of her husband for nearly 
half a century, and the gracious ties were 
severed by her death, which occurred August 
7, 1915. Mrs. Bull was a most earnest mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
was one of the loved members of the Centen- 
ary church of this denomination in Beatrice 
during the entire period of her residence in this 
city. She identified herself actively with the 
various women's societies of this church and 
was also affiliated with the Woman's Relief 
Corps organized as an adjunct of Rawlins Post 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, besides 
which she was affiliated with several fraternal 
societies. Until impaired health made it im- 
possible, Mrs. Bull was a prominent and loved 
factor in connection with the best social life of 
the Gage county metropolis, and her memory 
rests like a benediction upon her venerable 
husband and her surviving children, concerning 
whom the following brief record is consistent- 
ly entered : Nora E. is the wife of Charles 
Lash, of Des Moines, Iowa ; Emma A- resides 
in Beatrice and for fifteen years has followed 
the profession of trained nurse ; Charles A. 
resides in Beatrice ; Rev. Albert S. is, in 1918, 
pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
Tekama. Nebraska ; Harriet N. is the wife of 
Fay Shottcnkirk. of Beatrice ; Lydia V. is the 
widow of Frank Wing, of Steele City, Ne- 
braska ; and Mary E. is the wife of Robert 
Shadier, of Casper, Wyoming. September 20 
1916, Mr. Bull married Henrietta Miller of 
Beatrice. ' 



In ])olitics Mr. Bull gives unwavering alle- 
giance to the Democratic party and he has 
always shown a loyal interest in communal 
affairs, as a liberal and progressive citizen. 
He holds membership in the Centenary Metho- 
dist Episcopal church of Beatrice and while he 
has never been animated by ambition for pub- 
lic office he served as deputy sheriff of Gage 
county in 1890-1891. A resident of this 
county for more than half a century, he is w'ell 
known to its citizens and his circle of friends 
is limited only by that of his acquaintances. 

JOHN KRAPP.— To have attained to the 
success and status that mark the operations of 
Mr. Krapp as an agriculturist and stock- 
grower implies the concentrating of fine ability 
and energies in the achievement of definite 
ends. He is the owner of a valuable and well 
improved landed estate of eight hundred acres, 
all in Highland township, and his attractive 
home place, of one hundred and sixty acres, 
is situated in Section 10. His progressive- 
ness may be said to denote him fully as a 
native of the great empire of the west, and he 
is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Min- 
nesota- In Wabasha county, that state, he 
was born April 18, 1864, a son of Joseph 
and Mary (A'ollert) Krapp, of whose seven 
children Saloma, the first, and Peter, the 
youngest, are deceased, the subject of this 
review being the eldest son ; Mary became the 
wife of August Heidecker and was a resident 
of Hallam at the time of her death; Lena is 
the wife of J. H. Doolittle, of Nemaha town- 
ship. Gage county ; Frances is the wife of 
Philip O'Brien, of Princeton, Lancaster coun- 
ty, Nebraska : and Charles F. is one of the 
prosperous farmers of Highland township, 
Gage county. 

Joseph Krapp was born in Germany, in 
1828, and as a young man he came to the 
United States and became a pioneer settler 
in Wabasha county. Minnesota. There he 
continued his activities as a farmer until 1872, 
when he came with his family to Nebraska and 
established his home in Gage county, where 
he found ample opportunity for expanding his 
pioneer experience. He had visited Nebraska 



650 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



several years previously and incidentally had 
formed the acquaintance of Joseph Graff, one 
of the well known pioneers of Gage county. 
On coming with his family to this state Mr. 
Krajjp made the journey from Minnesota with 
a team and a covered wagon, and he had not 
made any definite decision as to his location in 
the west. In Gage county his friend Mr. 
Graff persuaded him not to continue his 
journey further but here to make permanent 
location. Mr. Graff so effectively presented 
the claims of the county as a desirable place 
for successful enterprise that Mr. Krapp de- 
cided to establish his home within its borders. 
Accordingly he took up a homestead of eighty 
acres in Section 10 Highland township, and 
the same now constitutes a part of the fine 
landed estate of his son John, of this review. 
In his initial operations as a farmer in this 
county he received assistance and counsel from 
Mr. Graff, whose friendship he greatly valued. 
He proved successful as a farmer and re- 
mained upon his old homestead until his 
death, which occurred in 1914, and he devel- 
oped and improved one of the excellent farm 
properties of Highland township. His broth- 
er John accompanied the family to Gage coun- 
ty and he likewise took a homstead of eighty 
acres. John Krapp was a man of most kindly 
and unselfish nature and lived until his death 
in the home of his brother Joseph, whose 
children accorded to their bachelor uncle the 
deepest affection. John Krapp met a sudden 
death, as the result of organic desease of the 
heart, and was about seventy years of age at 
the time- Mrs. Mary ('\'ollert") Krapp was 
born in Germany, in 1828, and her marriage 
was solemnized in Minnesota. She preceded 
her husband to the life eternal, her death hav- 
ing occurred in 1900. 

John Krapp, immediate subject of this sketch, 
was a lad of seven years when the family 
made the long overland journey to Gage coun- 
ty, and his parents unloaded their wagons on 
the site of tlu- barn on liis present homestead. 
By hard work and good management he has 
pressed forward to the goal of success, and 
his early education was gained in the pioneer 
schools of this county. At the age of sixteen 



years he made his first investment in land, by 
purchasing eighty acres of railroad land in 
Highland township, this tract lying adjacent 
to the present village of Cortland. With 
increasing prosperity Mr. Krapp continued to 
make judicious investment in Gage county 
land, and he made each successive purchase 
carefully, waiting until he had accumulated 
sufficient capital to justify such action. His 
]jresent fine estate comprises seven hundred 
and twenty acres and includes fully six dif- 
ferent farms in Highland township. He has 
wisely ordered his farm enterprise in all de- 
partments, and has been enterprising both as 
an agriculturist and as a grower of live stock. 
He is a stockholder of the Fanners' State 
Bank of Cortland, is a Republican in politics, 
and both he and his wife are communicants 
of the Catholic church. 

On the 15th of September, 1903, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Krapp to Miss 
Clara Doyle, who was born and reared in this 
county and who is a daughter of Edward and 
Ellen (O'Neill) Doyle. Mr. Doyle was born 
in Ireland, in 1842, was a child when he came 
to the United States and was reared by a 
spinster aunt. Miss Ann Coleman, on a farm 
near Woosing, Ogle county, Illinois, he hav- 
ing been about six years old when he came 
to America in company with his okler brother, 
Michael, his mother having died when he was 
an infant. He went forth as a valiant soldier 
of the L"nion in the Civil war, August, 1861, 
having recorded his enlistment as a member 
of Company 1), Thirty-fourth Illinois \'ol- 
unteer Infantry, and he continued in active 
service until the close of the war, save for a 
period of about two weeks during which he 
was confined in the historic Libby Prison, af- 
ter his capture at the time of the battle of 
Stone's River, in which he took part. In 
January. 1867, he married Miss Ellen O'Neill, 
of Illinois, and in 1873 they came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, where he improved a farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 30 
Highland township. There he and his wife 
passed the remainder of their lives, as sterling 
pioneers of this county. They became the 
parents of eight children, of whom eight are 






HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



651 



living- Mr. and Mrs. Krapp have four chil- 
dren, — Dorothv, Leland, Neil and Alice. 



JOHN F. KRAUTER, whose attractive 
homestead farm is situated in Section 3, Cla- 
tonia township, has by his own ability achieved 
noteworthy success as a representative of 
agricultural and live-stock enterprise in his 
native county, and this is attested by his own- 
ership of a valuable estate of five hundred and 
twenty acres of the excellent land of Gage 
county. He was born on his father's farm in 
Clatonia township, February 11, 1875 and is 
a member of a family of twelve children. He 
is a son of George and Caroline (Wolf) 
Krauter, both natives of Germany, the former 
having been born in Bavaria, December 5, 
1833, and the latter a native of the province 
of Alsace : their marriage was solemnized in 
1853. In the year that recorded his marriage 
George Krauter came to America, making the 
voyage on a sailing vessel that did not arrive 
in the port of New York till after the lapse of 
about nine weeks. In Orange county, New 
York, he was employed at farm work about 
two years and thereafter he was located for 
a brief period in the vicinity of Sing Sing, 
that state. He then removed with his wife 
to Iowa and established his residence at Bur- 
lington, which was then a mere village. There 
he was identified with the lumber business 
several years, and he then engaged in farm 
enterprise in that vicinity- In 1871 he came 
with his family to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
took up a homestead of eighty acres, in Sec- 
tion 3, Clatonia township. As one of the 
sterling pioneers of that township he won 
success and independence through his activ- 
ities as a farmer, and in this township both 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives, he having been the owner of more than 
four hundred acres of land in the township at 
the time of his death, which occurred in 
November, 1914, his wife having passed away 
in 1908. He was a Republican in politics, 
liberal and influential in community affairs, 
served in various local offices of minor order, 
and both he and his wife were earnest mem- 



bers of the German Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

John F. Krauter was reared on the jjioneer 
farm and received his early education in the 
district schools of Clatonia township. He 
continued to assist his father in the work of 
the home farm until he had attained to the 
age of nineteen years and upon reaching his 
legal majority he initiated farm enterprise in 
an independent way, handicapped by a debt of 
one hundred dollars and having as virtually 
his principal ecjuipment only one horse. In 
1897 he purchased his present home farm, of 
one hundred and twenty acres, and he has not 
only made this one of the model farms of the 
township but has shown equal progressiveness 
in the developing of his other farms, his ability 
and energy having enabled him to accumulate 
a valuable landed estate of five hundred and 
twenty acres. Mr. Krauter has always shown 
loyal interest in all things tending to advance 
the welfare of his home community and na- 
tive county, is a Republican in his political 
adherency and is serving in 1917- 1918 as a 
member of the school board of his district. 
He and his wife are active members of the 
German Methodist church. 

April 17, 1902, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Krauter to Miss Anna Theasmeier, who 
was born in this county on the 28th of August, 
1878, a daughter of Henry Theasmeier, a 
well known pioneer of whom more specific 
mention is made on other pages, in the sketch 
of his son George. Mr. and Mrs. Krauter 
have four children. — Edmund S., born Jan- 
uary 19, 1903; Raymond, born December 21, 
1905; Orris, born .March 27, 1910; and Lor- 
rine, born January 31, 1916. 

PETER C. THOM was a self-reliant, am- 
bitious and sterling pioneer who contributed 
in large measure to civic and industrial ad- 
vancement in Gage county, where he estab- 
lished his home in the year 1868, within a few 
months after the admission of Nebraska to 
statehood, and he and his noble wife endured 
their full share of the vicissitudes and trials 
incidental to the development of a productive 
farm in a frontier country. They lived and 



652 



HISTORY OF GAGE COIXTV. NEBRASKA 





o 
X 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



653 



labored to goodly ends and were numbered 
among the venerable and honored pioneer citi- 
zens of the county at the time of their death, 
their beautiful old homestead farm, in Section 
20, Sherman township, being still the place of 
residence of their son, James A, who has 
kindly consented to supply the data on which 
is based this memoir to his parents. 

Peter C. Thom was born on a pioneer farm 
near Tifiin, Seneca county, Ohio, May 4, 1838, 
the eldest in a family of six sons and five 
daughters born to Charles and Mary E. 
(Weber) Thom, both natives of the Kingdom 
of Bavaria, Germany. Charles Thom was 
born March 24, 1809, and in his native land 
he received excellent educational advantages. 
In Bavaria he was employed as an expert ac- 
countant until 1837, when, as a young man 
of twenty-eight years, he came to America and 
settled in Seneca county, Ohio, where he be- 
came a prosperous farmer and where both 
he and his wife passed the residue of their 
lives. Mrs. Thom was born September 15, 
1816, a daughter of Michael and Catherine 
Weber, with whom she came from Bavaria 
to the United States in 1835, the family home 
being established in Ohio, where her marriage 
was solemnized about two years later. Peter 
C. Thom acquired his early education in the 
common schools of the Buckeye state, and at 
the age of fifteen years he began an appren- 
ticeship to the trade of blacksmith, in Union 
coimty, Ohio. He became a skilled workman 
and continued to follow this sturdy trade 
about fifteen years. 

At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Thom 
wedded Miss Delilali Dailey, who was born 
in Washington coimty, Indiana, August 24, 
1838. a daughter of James and Elizabeth 
(Feeler) Dailey. natives respectively of North 
Carolina and \'irginia. Mr. Dailey was born 
in 1808 and his wife in 1810, their marriage 
having been solemnized in 1836. Soon after- 
wards they settled in Washington county, In- 
diana, whence they later removed to Clinton 
county, that state, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. Within a few years 
after his marriage Mr. Thom left his home to 
give service as a soldier of the L'nion in the 



Civil war, and he thus subordinated all othei 
interests to answer the call of patriotism. 

On August 16, 1862, Mr. Thom enlisted as 
a private in Company H, Eighty-sixth Indiana 
V'olunteer Infantry, and with his command he 
proceeded to Kentucky, with General Burn- 
side. At Crab Orchard he was attacked with 
illness of such severity that he was incapaci- 
tated and sent to the hospital. Upon measur- 
ably recuperating he was assigned to detailed 
duty as steward of Hospital No. 6, at Bowling 
Green, Kentucky, and later he was transferred 
to similar service at Hospital No. 5, in Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. A short time prior to the 
battle of Missionary Ridge he joined his com- 
mand in that locality, and he took part in the 
historic battle at that place. In the spring 
of 1864 he was detailed to a pioneer brigade, 
and with the same he continued in active ser- 
vice until the close of the war, he having been 
mustered out June 6, 1865. It may be noted 
at this juncture that in later years Mr. Thom 
manifested his continued interest in his old 
comrades in arms by maintaining affiliation 
with the Grand .Army of the Republic, as a 
member of Scott Post, Blue Springs, Gage 
county. 

After a record of loyal service as a soldier 
of the republic Mr. Thom returned to In- 
diana and established a blacksmith shop in 
the village of Lexington. There he continued 
in the work of his trade until 1868, on the 10th 
of August of which year he set forth with his 
family for Nebraska, the entire journey hav- 
ing been made with team and wagon and the 
sojourners having arrived in Gage county 
about the 1st of September. Mr. Thom lo- 
cated a homestead of one hundred and si.xty 
acres, in Section 20, Sherman township, and 
the pioneer dug-out which he constructed on 
the pioneer farm continued to be the family 
home about nine years. Hardships and pri- 
vations were encountered by Mr. and Mrs. 
Thom, and to make provision for his family 
he did more or less work at his trade, includ- 
ing about two months of such service on the 
Otoe Indian reservation. He eked out the 
family living the first winter by trajiping mink, 
from the sale of the skins of which he was 



654 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



able to add somewhat to his available financial 
resources. For a time also he was engaged in 
freighting between Beatrice and Nebraska 
City, and in the meanwhile he was vigorously 
carrying forward the reclamation and develop- 
ment of his frontier farm. A high type of 
judgment and progressiveness was his, and 
one of his splendid achievements in the early 
days was the planting of a large number of 
forest trees on his farm and also an orchard. 
With the passing years abundant success 
crowned his earnest endeavors as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower, and at the time of 
his death he was the owner of a well improved 
and valuable landed estate of four hundred 
acres in Gage county. Mr. Thorn passed from 
the stage of life's mortal activities on the 7th 
of December, 1S94. and his widow survived 
him by seventeen years, she having been called 
to the life eternal on the 16th of December, 
1911, the names and memories of both merit- 
ing a tribute of honor in this history of the 
county in which they so long maintained their 
home and in which they commanded unquali- 
fied popular esteem. Mr. and Mrs. Thom be- 
came the parents of five children : Mary 
Elizabeth died in childhood, having succumbed 
to an attack of diphtheria while the father was 
.serving as a soldier in the Civil war. Harriet 
died in infancy. Sarah Adeline resides on her 
farm estate, in Section 32, Sherman township. 
Charles is supposed at the time of this writ- 
ing to be with the American militarj' forces 
in active service in the great European war, 
and his only son, James Dale Thom, likewise 
is in the military service of the nation, he 
being, in the spring of 1918, stationed at Camp 
Lewis, Washington, and having won the rank 
of second lieutenant. This loyal and patriotic 
young man has received exceptional educa- 
tional advantages — at Sioux City and Grin- 
nell. Iowa ; Chicago and Springfield, Illinois ; 
and in the law school of historic old Harvard 
University, where he was a student at the 
time when he volunteered for service in the 
United States army. James A., a representa- 
tive farmer of Sherman township, is indi- 
vidually mentioned on other pages. 

A man of l)road views and mature judg- 



ment. Mr. Thom was well fortified for leader- 
ship in community sentiment and action, and 
he was specially influential in public affairs in 
Sherman township, where he served as town- 
ship supervisor and township treasurer, as well 
as a member of the school board. He was a 
stalwart supporter of the principles of the Re- 
publican party and he and his wife were earn- 
est members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. He gave to his children the best of 
educational advantages, including instruction 
in the Normal School at Peru, and all three 
have given added honors to the family name. 
Miss Sarah A. Thom, who gives her personal 
supervision to the management of her fine 
farms, comprising five hundred and sixty-three 
acres, attended the public schools of Beatrice 
and was for five years a student in the Ne- 
braska Normal School at Peru. For five 
years she was an efficient and popular teacher 
in the schools of Gage county, and she is a 
gracious gentlewoman whose friends are in 
number as her acquaintances. 

WILLIAM F. LILLIE is a scion of a well 
known family that was founded in Gage coun- 
ty about three years before the Territory of 
Nebraska gained the dignity and prerogatives 
of statehood, and he has been a resident of 
the county since he was a lad of twelve years, 
so that his memory forms an indissoluble link 
between the pioneer days and the present 
period of opulent prosperity in this favored 
section of the state. He is now one of the 
prosperous agriculturists and stock-growers 
of Rockford township, where he is the owner 
of a well improved farm estate of forty acres, 
his home being in Section 14. 

William Franklin Lillie was born in the vi- 
cinity of the now inifwrtant industrial city of 
Akron, Ohio, December 14, 1852, and is a 
son of Henry D. and Susanna (Phillips) 
Lillie. the former a native of Pennsylvania 
and the latter of Ohio. In 1864 Henry D. 
Lillie came with his family to Nebraska Ter- 
ritory, the journey having been made with a 
team and wagon, and he became a pioneer 
settler in Gage county, where he took up a 
homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



655 



in Section 14. Rockford townsliip. His first 
house was constructed principally from 
his wagon-box, but in the autumn of the same 
year he constructed the walls of a substantial 
stone house, though for several years the roof 
of the building was of the sod or dirt order 
so common to the pioneer days. He reclaim- 
ed his farm and bore his full share of the 
burdens incidental to life on the frontier. He 
was fifty-nine years of age at the time of his 
death, in 1882, and his widow still resides on 
the old homestead, she having celebrated the 
eighty-second anniversary of her birth and be- 
ing one of the honored pioneer women of the 
county- She is an earnest member of the 
Church of the Brethren, as was also her hus- 
band. Of the five children the subject of this 
review is the eldest ; David Sylvester is a resi- 
dent of Fairbury ; Belinda is the widow of Jo- 
seph Benson and remains with her venerable 
mother on the old homestead ; George is a res- 
ident of Fairbury ; and of James the address is 
unknown to the other members of the family 
at the time of this writing. 

WilHani F. Lillie acquired his early educa- 
tion principally in the common schools of Ohio 
and after the family removal to Nebraska he 
attended school three terms in a little log 
school house that was established by the 
pioneers of Ro:kford township. He assisted 
his fatlier in the reclamation and general ac- 
tivities of the home farm and at the age of 
twenty-two years he initiated his independent 
operations as a farmer, though he had virtually 
no financial resources to fortify him and de- 
pended entirely upon his own energy and 
ability in gaining a start in the world. His 
first land was acquired when he bought forty 
acres of Hugh J. Dobbs, and this constituted 
the necleus around which he has developed 
his present farm property, his original pur- 
chase having been made in 1883, prior to whi:h 
year he had farmed on rented land- 
In 1874 Mr. Lillie married Miss Sarah L. 
Richards, who was born in Rock Island county, 
Illinois, and who died on the 10th of March, 
1884. Of the five children of this union only 
one is hviiig. William E.. who is a progress- 
ive farmer in Rockford township. In 1887 



Mr. LilHe contracted a second marriage, when 
Miss Eva May Leming became his wife. She 
is a daughter of John and Margaret ( Luke- 
mires) Leming, who were early settlers in 
Gage county. At this juncture is given brief 
record concerning the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Lillie: Clara is the wife of James Wil- 
son, a prosperous farmer in Franklin county ; 
Henry D. is engaged in farm enterprise in 
Rockford township ; Susan is the wife of Roy 
Graves, of Kansas City, Missouri ; Altheia is 
the wife of Harry Wenrick, a member of the 
Dempster department in the city of Beatrice ; 
Earl A., Carrie and John A. remain at the 
parental home ; and Bessie died at the age of 
fifteen months. 

Air. Lillie has had no desire for political 
preferment or public office of any kind, but 
he gives a staunch support to the cause of the 
Democratic party. His wife and their son 
John hold membership in the Church of the 
Brethren. 

CALVIN K. HIGGINS is another of the 
sterling pioneers who has achieved independ- 
ence and liberal prosperity through many years 
of active association with farm industry in 
Gage county, and his admirably improved 
farm home, in Section 33, Midland township, 
is in close proximity to the city of Beatrice, — 
a fine rural demesne that gives full evidence of 
the thrift and good management that have been 
brought to bear in its development. 

Mr- Higgins is a scion of the staunchest of 
New England stock in both the paternal and 
maternal lines and a representative of families 
early founded in the Pine Tree state, his pa- 
ternal grandfather. Epliraim Higgins, having 
been born at JMount Desert. Maine, on the 
shores of the .Atlantic, and having become one 
of the substantial farmers of his native state, 
where he passed his entire life, a number of his 
brothers having become seafaring men. Cal- 
vin K. Higgins was bom in the town of Pitts- 
field, Somerset county, Maine, on the 17th of 
June, 1844, and is a son of Heman and Betsy 
( Tibbetts) Higgins, who passed their entire 
lives in the old Pine Tree state, where the 
father was a farmer by occupation. Mr. Hig- 



656 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEP.RASKA 



gins is the eldest in a family of four children ; 
Charity, who became the wife of William 
Dyer, continued to reside in Maine until her 
death ; George is a prosperous farmer at 
Clinton, that state ; and Mary, the widow of 
Henry Lancaster, resides at Pittsfield, Elaine. 
In connection with his farm enterprise the 
father was for a number of years engaged in 
lumbering operations, felling the timber and 
running the logs down the streams to the mill. 
He was a Democrat in politics. 

Calvin K. Higgins was not denied in his 
youth a full measure of experience in connec- 
tion with the work of the somewhat austere 
New England farm, and that he made good 
use of the advantages afforded in the com- 
n-.on schools is shown by the fact that as a 
young man he became a sucressful and popular 
teacher in the rural schools of his native state. 
He taught five winter terms, and during the 
intervening seasons continued his association 
with farm work. In 1872 he went to Lowell, 
Massachusetts, where for one year he was 
employed as a watchman in a large cotton 
mill, and in 1875 he came to Nebraska and 
numbered himself among the ambitious young 
pioneers of Gage county. His resources were 
such that he was able to purchase forty acres 
of unimproved land, in Midland township. In 
the primitive little shanty which he built on 
his farm he maintained "bachelor's hall," and 
success attended his activities. He finally .sold 
this place and purchased his present fine farm 
estate, which comprises one hundred and 
eighty-four acres and which he had improved 
with excellent buildings and accessories that 
mark it as one of the most attractive home- 
steads of the township, the land being now 
exceptionally valuable. On his first farm, 
near Holmesvil'.e, he continued to maintain 
sway as a bachelor for six years and he then 
took unto himself a companion and helpmeet 
who has been his earnest coadjutor during the 
long intervening period and who has shared 
with hiiu in the joys and sorrows that are the 
common lot of humanity. 

On the 7th of June, 1881, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Higgins to Miss Rebec- 
ca Murgatroyd. who was born in the state of 



Wisconsin. April 3, 1857, and who is a daugh- 
ter of Enianuel and Ellen (Newson) Murga- 
troyd. Her parents were born and reared in 
England, where their marriage was solemnized. 
They became pioneer settlers in Gage county, 
Nebraska, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives- Of their ten children only four 
are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins have 
six children : May is the wife of Harvey 
Essam and they reside in Logan township; 
Charles, a graduate of the Beatrice high school, 
remains at the parental home and has active 
management of the farm ; Pansy likewise con- 
tinues a member of the home circle ; Edith 
was graduated in the University of Nebraska, 
was for two terms a teacher in the schools of 
her native .state and is now in the employ of 
the government, at Washington, D. C. en- 
gaged in the scientific testing of seeds : Grace 
remains at the parental home : and Julia was 
graduated in the Nebraska Agricultural Col- 
lege as a member of the class of l')18. 

.\ man of strong mentality and well forti- 
fied opinions, Mr. Higgins has been well 
fortified for leadership in community sentiment 
and action and has been known as one of the 
progressive and public-spirited citizens of Gage 
county. He has not been ambitious for public 
office but has rendered efficient service as a 
member of the school board of his district and 
is a Republican in his political allegiance. In 
connection with his general operations as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower he has devel- 
oped a fine dairy herd of Jersey cows, and the 
milk from the same is sold to appreciative 
customers in the city of Beatrice. 

CHARLES P. HORN, general manager of 
the well ordered and prosperous lumber busi- 
ness conducted by the S. .V. Fo.ster Company 
in the village of Pickrell, was born at Wood 
River, Hall county. Nebraska, October 25, 
1881, a son of Charles M. and Elizabeth 
(Schultz) Horn. Of the other children the 
following brief data are available : Margaret 
is the wife of O. H. .Abraham, of Sterling, 
Colorado: Anna remains with her widowed 
mother at Wood River ; Henry W. is a resi- 
dent of Gering, Scotts Bluflf countv ; and Otto 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



657 



continues his residence at Wood River, tlie 
subject of this review having been the second 
in order of birth. 

Charles 'SI. Horn was born in Germany, 
November 28, 1840, was there reared and 
educated and was about nineteen years old 
when he came to America and landed in New 
York city, in 1859- There he remained until 
he was moved to manifest his loyalty to the 
land of his adoption by tendering his services 
as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. He 
enlisted, in 1862. in the Sixty-eighth New 
York \'olunteer Infantry, and with this com- 
mand he served until the close of the war. — 
a participant in many important battles be- 
sides numerous engagements of minor order. 
In the early 70s he made his way to Arizona 
Territory, after having previously worked at 
his trade, that of shoemaker, in a boot and 
shoe establishment at St. Joseph, Missouri. 
About the year 1879, Mr. Horn came to Ne- 
braska and established himself in the work of 
his trade at Wood River. He became one of 
the successful business men and honored citi- 
zens of that place and there remained imtil his 
death, which occurred in 1913.' His widow 
still resides at Wood River and through her 
has been gained the information here recorded 
concerning his career. He was a man whose 
intrinsic modesty caused him to say but little 
concerning his career or the family history, 
and thus more ample data could not be given 
for the preparation of this review. }ilrs. 
Horn was born in Germany about 1858, came 
with her parents to America in the early '70s 
and the family home was established in Hall 
county, Nebraska, where she has since resided, 
her marriage having there been solenmized in 
1875. 

In the public schools of Wood River 
Charles P. Horn continued his studies until 
his graduation in the high school, as a member 
of the class of 1899. In the same year he 
found employment in a lumber yard in his 
native village, but in the autumn of the fol- 
lowing year he came to Gage county and 
entered the employ of the Foster Lumber 
Company, in the yards which it then conduct- 
ed at Cortland. In 1902 he was made the 



manager of the Pickrell lumber yards of the 
S. A. Foster Company, a position of which he 
has since continued the efficient, and popular 
incumbent. 

September 2^. 1907, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Horn to Miss Lena E. Lavvson, who 
was born at Beatrice, this county where her 
parents, William W. and Esther M. (McEl- 
roy) Lawson, still maintain their home. Mr. 
and Mrs Horn have three children, — Lois E., 
Charles Lawson, and Leon H. 

^Ir. Horn is known and valued as one of the 
most alert and progressive young business men 
of Pickrell and as a loyal and public-spirited 
citizen. He has given efficient service as a 
member of the municipal council of the village 
and also as a member of the board of educa- 
tion. He is a Republican in his political alle- 
giance and is affiliated with the ^lasonic fra- 
ternity. In the preparation of this history of 
Gage county Mr. Horn has shown much in- 
terest and as a member of the advisory board 
which has passed upon the various chapters of 
the history he has given most effective co-oper- 
ation. 

CLARENCE B. KNOX.— At this juncture 
is consistently accorded recognition to a vigor- 
ous and resourceful young business man who 
is one of the popular citizens of Beatrice and 
who claims the distinction of being a native 
son of Nebraska, where he is a scion of the 
third generation on both the paternal and 
maternal sides. His energies are well em- 
ployed in his control of a substantial and pros- 
perous business in the buying and shipping of 
horses and mules, his activities as a buyer 
covering a large area of country in this sec- 
tion of the state and the large volume of 
Ins business being indicated by the statement 
that in the fall and winter of 1917 he ship])ed 
an average of three or more carloads of 
horses and mules weekly. 

Mr. Knox was born in Seward county, 
Nebraska, on the 11th of June. 1883. and is 
a son of Charles D. and Arlepha (Hickman) 
Knox, who were young folk at the time of 
the immigration of the respective families to 
Seward county, where they were reared to 



658 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



maturity and where their inarriaijc was sol- 
emnized. They now reside in the city of 
Beatrice, where the father conckicts a pros- 
perous taxicah and transfer business. Of the 
four cliihiren the subject of this sketch is the 
eldest; Clara is the wife of Herbert Hand, a 
successful farmer in Seward county ; Fern 
remains at the parental home ; and Eva is 
the wife of Radford Shelley, proprietor of a 
well ordered business college at Beatrice. 
Charles D- Knox is recognized as one of the 
substantial and representative business men of 
Beatrice, and concerning him individual rec- 
ord is made in other ])ages of this volume. 

Clarence B. Knox was reared to the sturdy 
discipline of a pioneer farm in Seward county 
and his initial experience in independent lines 
was acquired through his continued association 
with agricultural and live-stock enterprise. 
.After being thus engaged in independent farm- 
ing in Seward county for three years he re- 
moved to the county scat, Seward, where for 
two years he was engaged in the livery busi- 
ness. The following two years found him 
again identified with farm enterprise in that 
county and he then came to Beatrice and en- 
gaged in the lni\ing and shipping of horses 
and mules, with which line of enterprise he 
has since continued his successful connection, 
his energy and jirogressive policies having 
enabled him to develop a large and important 
business in which his personal popularity and 
fair and honorable dealings constitute definite 
assets. His early education was obtained in 
the public schools of his native county and 
has been effectively supplemented by that 
gained in the jiractical school of experience. 
He is a Republican and takes loyal interest in 
public affairs, especially those of local signifi- 
cance. 

The year 1906 rect)rded the marriage of Mr. 
Knox to Miss Ada Wickersham, of Seward, 
this state, and their only child is a fine little 
son. Bayard Charles, who was born in the year 
1909. 

JOHN H. \YAYMAN.— In Clatonia town- 
ship John Henry Wayman resides upon and 
gives his able supervision to a farm of one 



hundred and twenty-five acres which he rents 
from the Stcinmeyer estate, and he is the 
owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Lincoln county, Nebraska, as well 
as of property in the village of Clatonia. 

Mr. Wayman was born at Longrun, Licking 
county, Ohio, on the 9th of May, 1872, a son 
of Henry and Sophia (Heisner) \Yayman. the 
former of whom died in Holt county, Ne- 
braska, in 1907, at the age of eighty-two years 
and eleven months, and the latter of whom 
still resides in that county, she being sixty- 
eight years of age in 1918. 

Henry Wayman was born and reared in 
Germany and was a young man when he 
came to America and settled in Ohio. In 
that state he continued his residence until 1884, 
when he came with his family to Nebraska and 
established his home at Centerville, Lincoln 
county. Later he came to Gage county and 
engaged in farming in Grant township, where 
he remained until his removal to Holt county. 
His first wife died when comparatively a 
young woman and of their children six are 
now living, namely: William, a resident of 
.Arizona; Mrs. Mary Emerich, of Sedalia, 
Missouri; Frederick, a resident of Colorado; 
Eliza, wife of John Spellman, of .Adams coun- 
ty, Nebraska; Mrs. Lizzie Pelzer, of Holt 
county, this state; and llenrv J-, who is a 
prosperous farmer of Holt county, (^f the 
children of Henry and Sophia ( Heisner) Way- 
man the eldest is Agusta, who is the wife of 
George I'ohl, of .Antelope county. Nebraska ; 
John R., subject of this review, was the next 
in order of birth ; Louis is a resident of Holt 
county; Flora died in childhood; and Charles 
is a resident of .Antelope county. The twin 
sister of .Augusta died in infancy. 

John H. Wayman was about twelve years 
of age at the time of the family removal to 
Nebraska and he was reared principally on 
his father's farm in Clatonia township. Gage 
county, where in the meanwhile he profited by 
the advantages of the district schools. He has 
exceptional mechanical ability and in earlier 
years he gave much of his attention to work 
at the carpenter's trade, though as early as 
1894 he began independent farm operations, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



659 



on rented land. In 1911 he rented his present 
farm and here he has continued his successful 
activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower, 
the while he gives also a general supervision to 
the improving and directing of the farm which 
he owns in Lincoln county. He has had no 
desire for political activity of any kind but 
gives his allegiance to the Republican party. 

November 2, 1893, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Wayman to Miss Katherine Menke, 
who was born in Ohio, and who came as a 
child to Nebraska, she being a daughter of 
Henry and Eliza ( Knapp ) Menke, the former 
of whom is deceased and the latter of whom 
lemains on the old home farm, near Clatonia, 
this county. Mr. and Mrs. Wayman became 
the parents of five children, of whom the first- 
born, August, (lied at the age of twenty 
months ; Albert, who became associated in the 
work of the home farm, is in the cantonment of 
the national army at San Antonio. Texas, in 
the spring of 1918, making ready to go to the 
battlefields of Europe ; Harvey died at the age 
of three years ; and Ellen and Henry are 
members of the gracious home circle. 

CARL H AWES.— One of the fine farm 
properties of Grant township is that to which 
Mr. Hawes is giving his careful and effiective 
supervision, the same comprising two hundred 
and forty acres, in Section 28, and constituting 
property that was inherited by his mother from 
the estate of her father. With him on the 
homestead remain his younger brothers and 
sisters and in his independent activities as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower he has definite 
classification among the successful and pro- 
gressive farmers of the younger generation 
in his native county. 

Mr. Hawes was born on his present home- 
stead farm, February 1, 1894, and is a son 
of the late John and Jane E. (Plucknett) 
Hawes, of whose ten children he was the fifth 
in order of liirth. brief data concerning the 
other children being here ofi^ered : Mary is the 
wife of Wright Truesdell, of Fort Madison. 
Iowa; Ada is the wife of Daniel Morford, of 
Omaha ; Alexander is now a resident of 
northwest Canada ; William resides at Fair- 



field, Clay county, Nebraska ; Robert is asso- 
ciated with the subject of this review in the 
work and management of the home farm, 
while their sister Ruth graciously directs the 
domestic economies of the home, with the aid 
of her younger sister, Clara : and Lloyd and 
Frank are the younger niemliers of the family 
circle- 
John Ilawes was born at Glenwood, Mills 
county. Iowa, June 18, 1853. and was a mem- 
ber of one of the sterling pioneer families 
of the Hawkeye state. He was a son of 
Thomas and Isabelle (Stevens) Hawes, the 
foriuer a native of Pennsylvania and the 
latter of Illinois, in which last mentioned state 
their marriage was solemnized. Thomas 
Hawes became one of the early settlers in 
Mills county, Iowa, where he reclaimed a farm 
from the virgin prairie, but after a number of 
years he came with his family to Nebraska 
and numbered himself among the pioneers of 
Saline county. There he entered claim to a 
homestead, southwest of Wilber, and he be- 
came one of the representative farmers of 
that locality, his wife having died at Dewitt, 
Saline county, and he having been a resident 
of Oklahoma at the time of his death, so that 
his pioneer experience had touched three of 
the now great and prosperous states of the 
L'nion. 

John Hawes was the eldest in a family of 
five children and was a lad of nine years at 
the time of the family removal to Nebraska 
Territory, in the early '60s. He was reared 
under the discipline of the pioneer farm in 
Saline county, where eventually he became 
the owner of land and engaged in independent 
farm enterprise. Later he had the manage- 
ment of the farm inherited by his wife in Gage 
county and he was one of the substantial farm- 
ers and highly esteemed citizens of Grant 
township at the time of his death, which co- 
curred June 1. 1908. He was affiliated with 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen and 
the Knights of Phythias and both he and his 
wife were active communicants of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal church, his political suppont 
having been given to the Republican party. 
Mrs. Jane E. (Plucknett) Hawes was born 



660 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, NEBRASKA 



ii) Grant townslii]). this coiinly, December 7. 
1863, and was summoned to eternal rest on 
the 29th of August, 1914. She was a daugh- 
ter of William and Caroline ( Hawlett ) 
Pkicknett. both natives of England and both 
numbered among the prominent and honored 
pioneers of Gage county, where Mr. IMucknett 
developed one of the largest and best landed 
estates in the county : he was at one time the 
owner of about two thousand acres of land, 
principally in Grant township, and was known 
and valued as one of the strong, worthy and 
influential pioneer citizens of this section of 
Nebraska, he having established his residence 
in Gage county in 1861, and both he and his 
wife having here passed the closing years of 
their lives, after having previously gained 
pioneer experience in the state of Iowa. 

Carl Hawes has been actively associated 
with farm enterprise from his early youth, 
was afforded the advantages of the public 
schools, and since the death of liis mother he 
has had the active management of the splendid 
farm of two hundred and forty acres, which 
is given over to diversified agriculture and 
stock-growing and is a part of one of the his- 
toric pioneer estates of Gage county. He is 
a Republican in politics and he and his broth- 
ers and sisters retain the ancestral religious 
faith — that represented in .\merica by the 
Protestant K])iscopal churcii. 

TIK )M.\S MAVnoRX. who is now living 
retired in the city of Beatrice, gained independ- 
ence and substantial prosperity through his as- 
sociation with farm enterprise in Gage county 
and is a citizen who commands the fullest 
measure of popular confidence and good will. 
Lasting honor shall rest upon his name by rea- 
son of the service which he gave as a gallant 
soldier of the Union in the Civil war. and he 
is one of the valued members of Rawlins Post, 
Xo. 3.^. Grand Army of the Republic, in the 
city of IVatrice. 

Mr. Mayborn was Iwrn in Dover. England, 
not far distaiU from the city of London, and 
•the date of his nativity, was Xovember 19, 
1844. He is a son of Thomas and Caroline 
(Harding) Mayborn, members of sterling old 



English families, and he was a lad of about 
four years at the time of his parents" immigra- 
tion to tile L'nited States, settlement being 
first made in Oneida county. Xew York, but 
about eighteen months later removal being 
made to Stark county. Illinois, where the father 
engaged in farm enterprise and where his 
death occurred when the subject of this review 
was but seven years of age. Doth he and his 
wife were communicants of the established 
Church of England and upon coming to the 
L'nited States naturally affiliated themselves 
with its American exponent of the same faith, 
the Protestant Episcopal church. Of the six 
children three are living. Thomas, of this re- 
view, being the eldest of the number; James is 
a substantial farmer in Washington county, 
Kansas; and Alfred is president of the Diller 
State Bank, at Diller. Jefferson county. Xe- 
braska- Thomas Mayborn. Sr., was about 
forty-five years of age at the time of his death 
and his widow passed the closing period of her 
life with her sons, in Gage county, Xel)raska, 
where she died at the vencral)le age of eighty- 
one years. 

He whose name initiates this review ac- 
quired his early education in the public schools 
of Illinois and was a mere lad when he began 
to apply himself earnestly in aiding in the sup- 
port of his widowed mother and the other 
members of the family, he having been the eld- 
est of the children. He was actively associated 
with farming operations in Illinois at the time 
of the outijreak of the Civil war and promptly 
showed his intrinsic loyalty by tendering his 
services in defence of the Union. On the 25th 
of September. 1861. while on a visit in the old 
Enipire state, he enlisted as a private in Com- 
])any A, Fourteenth Xew York \'olunteer In- 
fantry, with which command he proceeded to 
the front. At the battle of ;\lalvern Hill. \"ir- 
ginia. July 1, 1862. he was wounded in the 
right thigh, by a minie ball, and while lying 
helpless on the battlefield he was captured by 
the enemy. He was taken to Libby Prison, 
of infamous historical record, but fortunately 
was released from this bastile after he had 
there been held as a prisoner of war for twenty- 
seven (lavs. The effects of his wound inca- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



661 



pacitated him for further service in the field, 
and, much to his regret, he was compelled to 
retire from the army, an honorable discharge 
having been given to him in December, 1862. 
He then returned to Stark county, Illinois, and 
for more than a year thereafter he was unable 
to do any active work. 

Mr. Mayborn continued his residence in Il- 
linois until 1875, when he removed to Page 
county, Iowa, where he was engaged in farm- 
ing for the ensuing six years. In the spring 
of 1881 he came with his family to Gage coun- 
ty, Nebraska, where he purchased a farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, in Glenwood 
township, and instituted its improvement and 
cultivation. He developed the place into one 
of the valuable farm properties of the county 
and still owns the farm, his attention having 
been given largely to the raising of live stock, 
but diversified agriculture having not been neg- 
lected by him during the period of his resi- 
dence on the farm. He erected good buildings 
on the farm and he now rents the place to good 
effect. In 1903 he and his wife removed to 
the city of Beatrice, where they have an at- 
tractive home and where he has since lived 
practically retired, in the enjoyment of the re- 
wards of former years of earnest and worthy 
endeavor. 

In Stark county, Illinois, on the 9th of April, 
186.S. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Mayborn to Miss Rebecca Jerrems, who was 
born in Oneida county. New York, a daughter 
of James and .\nn (Carter) Jerrems, natives 
of England, whence they came to the United 
States in the early '30s. Mrs. Mayborn was 
born April 3, 1845, and her death occurred 
August 1. 1890. she having been a devout mem- 
ber of the Christian church- She is survived 
by four children : William resides in Beatrice 
and is a traveling salesman of agricultural im- 
plements and machinery : James A. is a success- 
ful farmer in Ogle county, Illinois ; George is 
associated with William Lyndes in the meat- 
market business at Beatrice; and C. H. is 
cashier in a banking institution at B)rusli. Colo- 
rado. 

On the 25th of .\pril, 1901. Mr. Mayborn 
contracted a second marriai^e. when Mrs. 



Frances Jane (Black) Hill became his wife. 
She is the widow of John L. Hill and has three 
children by her first marriage: Raymond is a 
carpenter by trade and is a successful con- 
tractor and builder at National City, Cali- 
fornia: Bessie is the wife of Lloyd Willis, -of 
Beatrice, her husband having recently been 
called to enter service with the nati< nal army 
being prepared for service in the great Euro- 
pean war ; and Laura, who remains v.ith her 
mother, is assistant librarian of th^^ Beatrice 
public library. Mrs. Mayborn is an earnest 
and zealous communicant of Christ church, 
and is the popular chatelaine of one of the 
pleasant homes of the Gage county metropolis 
and judicial center. 

Mr. Mayborn is a staunch advocate of the 
principles of the Republican party and while 
residing on his farm he served several years 
as treasurer of the school board, in Glenwood 
township. 

ISAAC B. MITTAN. — The frontier line 
has been pushed farther and farther west until 
to-day we have no frontier line, and this 
progress of civilization has been accomplished 
so slowly and imperceptibly by the pioneer 
men and women who braved the hardships of 
their crude surroundings to make homes for 
themselves and to win the wild wastes of fer- 
tility that ere we knew it there was no fron- 
tier line. For fifty years Isaac B. Mittan has 
lived on Gage county soil and has experienced 
the revelation of wild unbroken prairies being 
replaced by fertile farms and modern cities 
and industries. Instead of the slow, deliberate 
oxen wending their way across the plains, 
there now dashes through the night the fast 
nu'dnight express, and it has all come so im- 
perceptibly that it seems to be a revelation. 

Isaac B. Mittan was born in Lee county, 
Illinois, March 4, 1851, a son of Daniel C. and 
Alartha (Fuller) Mittan, who were married 
in Pennsylvania and were among the earliest 
settlers of Lee county, Illinois, where they 
were active in farm enterprise from 1849 to 
1868, in which latter year they started across 
the prairies with slow driven horse teams for 
the land of Nebraska. Thev crossed the Mis- 



662 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




cq 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



r,63 



souri river May 1st, at Brovvnville, and 
reached their destination in Gage county May 
3d. For two weeks they camped on Cedar 
creek, while the father and sons walked over 
the plains to select the best homestead. Their 
selection was one hundred and sixty acres in 
Section 28, Rockford township — the present 
fine home farm of the subject of this review. 
A small frame building was erected and this 
was the home of the parents until their death. 
Daniel C. Mittan was seventy-eight years old 
at the time of his demise and his widow passed 
away at the venerable age of eighty-seven 
years. Mr. Mittan was a Civil war veteran, 
enlisting for the one hundred days' service, 
but he followed the flag and continued in 
active service for one year. He was a staunch 
Republican and both he and his good wife 
were devoted members of the Methodist 
church. The following children were born 
to them : Elvira, deceased, was the wife of 
Harvey Howard, who was a homesteader oi 
Gage county; Phoebe, deceased, was the wife 
of James S. Pease and lived in Rockford town- 
ship; Isaac B. is the immediate subject of this 
sketch ; Horace was a resident of Cedar 
county. Nebraska, at the time of his death ; 
William, unmarried, resides in Shemian town- 
ship ; Jacob is deceased ; Asa lives in Dawes 
county, Nebraska ; and Samuel died in child- 
hood. 

Isaac B. Mittan attended the schools of 
Illinois and also of Gage county. Among his 
schoolmates in this county was Hugh J. 
Dobbs, the author of this history of the county. 

Mr. Mittan has farmed in Gage county all 
of the years of his residence with the excep- 
tion of four years spent in Missouri. By 
purchasing the interests of the other members 
of the family he has become in possession of 
the original homestead. He has improved the 
first frame house and has erected on the place 
the attractive house which is now the place 
of his abode. 

Mr. Mittan was married, in Gage county, 
to Miss Elizabeth Meyers, born in Wisconsin 
March 24, 1854. She is a daughter of Valen- 
tine and Roxana Meyers, who settled in Rock- 
ford township, Gage county, in 1870, and both 



of whom are deceased. Mrs. Mittan passed 
away in 1911, there being only ten days' lapse 
between the death of the wife and the mother 
of Mr. Mittan. Following is brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Mit- 
tan : Elmer resides in Loup county, Nebras- 
ka ; Nelson resides in Virginia, Gage county ; 
Chartes married Bertha McKinney and they 
have five children ; Clyde, unmarried, lives in 
Virginia, this county; Ada is the wife of Le- 
Roy Ayre, living in Dickinson county, Kan- 
sas ; Adra and Lester died in infancy. 

Isaac B. Mittan has retired from active 
farming and makes his home with his son 
Chartes, who is operating the farm. Mr. Mit- 
tan is a Republican in politics, and is one of 
the well known pioneer settlers of Gage 
county. 

GEORGE L. MUM FORD.— The family of 
wliich this successful and popular citizen of 
Beatrice is a scion is one that has in its 
various generations gained marked pioneer 
distinction in connection with the march of 
development and progress in the great Amer- 
ican republic- He whose name initiates this 
review has been a resident of Gage county 
from the time of his birth, is a representative 
of an influential pioneer family that was 
founded in the county in the early territorial 
period, and the name which he bears has been 
one of significant prominence in connection 
with the annals of advancement in Gage 
county. Further data attesting to this fact 
may be found not only in the department of 
this work specifically devoted to the history 
of the county but also in connection with the 
personal mention of other contemporary re- 
presentatives of the family, three brothers of 
the name having established homes in this 
favored section of the state within the decade 
of the '60s. 

On the old homestead farm of his father, 
in Logati township, this county. George L. 
Aluniford was born April 19, 1878, and he is 
a son of Jacob and Annie (Newton) Mumford, 
the former a native of Maryland and the 
latter of Pennsylvania. The first wife of 
Jacob Mumford bore the family name of Lin- 



664 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



sey. and of the children of this union two 
are hving, — Wilham B., a resident of Pickrell, 
Gage county, and Mrs. Emma Dearborn, of 
Los Angeles, California. To Jacob and .Annie 
(Newton) Mumford were born four children, 
and of the three surviving the subject of this 
review is the eldest : John is one of the pros- 
perous farmers of this county; Estella died at 
the age of twelve years; and Oliver likewise 
is numbered among the representative farm- 
ers of Gage county. 

Jacob Mumford was a son of William Mum- 
ford and was a youth at the time of- the 
family immigration from Maryland to Ohio, 
his father having died while en route to the 
new home and his remains having been laid 
to rest in the state of Pennsylvania. In 
Ohio Jacob Mumford continued his associa- 
tion with agricultural industry until he num- 
bered himself among the pioneer farmers of 
Lafayette county, Wisconsin, and in that state 
was solemnized his marriage to Miss Annie 
Newton, a daughter of John Newton, who was 
born in England and who became one of the 
early settlers of Wisconsin, where he passed 
the remainder of his life. Jacob Mumford 
continued his residence in the Badger state 
until 1865. when he came with his family to 
Nebraska and established his residence on a 
pioneer farm in Gage county, his eldest broth- 
er, Ismay Mumford, having settled here in 
1860. and having been elected the first treas- 
urer of Gage county, his son Dawson having 
been the first white child born in the county, 
lacob Mumford entered claim to government 
land and eventually became the owner of a 
fine landed estate of six hundred acres. He 
reclaimed and developed one of the fine farm 
pro])erties of the county, was a citizen of worth 
and influence, did much to further civic and 
industrial advancement and served in various 
local positions of ])ublic trust, includ-ng that 
of member of the board of county commis- 
sioners, an office of which he was the incum- 
bent for several terms. His political alle- 
giance was given to the Democratic party, bis 
religious faith was that of the ^lethodist Epis- 
copal church and his second wife was a devot- 
ed member of the Christian church. 



George L. Mumford ])assed the period of 
his childhood and early youth on the home 
farm, and in this connection gained lasting 
appreciation of the dignity and value of honest 
toil and endeavor. In the public schools he 
continued his studies until he had been gra- 
duated in the high school in the city of 
Beatrice, as a member of the class of 1897, 
and that he made good use of the advantages 
thus afforded is demonstrated by the effective 
service which he gave as a popular teacher in 
the district schools, his pedagogic endeavors 
having continued for two years. Thereafter 
he was actively concerned in farm enterprise 
in his native county for six years, at the ex- 
piration of which he was associated for eight 
years in the conducting of a general store at 
Pickrell. Nebraska. In 1915 Mr. Mumford 
engaged in the retail grocery business in the 
city of Beatrice, where he has a well equipped 
and thoroughly modern establishment and has 
developed a substantial and representative en- 
terprise, so that he has status as one of the 
progressive merchants of the city and as one 
of the vigorously loyal and iniblic-s])irited 
citizens of his native county, where his circle 
of friends is limited only by that of his 
acquaintances. His political proclivities are 
indicated in the staunch support which he gives 
the cause of the Republican party, he and his 
wife hold membership in the Christian church, 
and he is affiliated with the local lodges of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. 

The year 1900 recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Mumford to Miss Alice Smith, who like- 
wise was born and reared in this county, and 
they have three children, — Hermina. Gertrude 
and Helen. The eldest daughter was a mem- 
ber of the class of 1918 in the Beatrice h-'gh 
.school and the younger daughters are still 
students in the ]nib!ic schools of their home 
city. 

■ GEORGE B. IIJLTO.X. who is now living 
retired in the city of Beatrice, his attractive 
home being at 923 Grant street, has been a 
resident of Nebraska for more than th-rtv 
years and of Gage county since 1890. I'ntil 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



665 



his removal to the county seat he was a pro- 
gressive farmer in Riverside township, and in 
the city of Beatrice he served about two 
vears as street commissioner, from which of- 
fice he retired in 1911. 

Mr. Hilton claims the old Buckeye state as 
the |Mace of his nativity and is a scion of one of 
the early pioneer families of that common- 
wealth. He was born at Brunersburg, De- 
fiance county. Ohio, on the 20th of November, 
1847, and is a son of Benjamin and Catherine 
(Bruner) Hilton. Benjamin Hilton was born 
in Adams county, Ohio, September 20, 1820, 
his parents having immigrated to Ohio from 
Somerset county, Maine, and having first 
settled in Hamilton county. They made the 
greater part of the journey from New Eng- 
land to the pioneer west by water route, passed 
down the Ohio river and up the St. Mary's 
river in boats hewed out of logs, — primative 
vehicles of transporation commonly designated 
as pirogues. Later removal was made to the 
vicinity of Defiance, Ohio, and here the family 
occupied a little shanty for the first year, 
the meals having been cooked out of doors, 
over a fire set burning near a large log. 
Benjamin Hilton utilized the primitive shanty 
only till such time as he could complete the 
manufacturing of sufficient brick to erect a 
more pretentious domicile, both he and his 
wife having been sterling and resourceful 
pioneers of Ohio, as were also the maternal 
grandparents of the subject of this sketch — 
Daniel and Catherine Bruner. who established 
their residence in Defiance county, where the 
village of Brunersburg was named in honor 
of the family and where the mother of George 
B. Hilton was born and reared. Benjamin 
Hilton received the advantages of the common 
schools of the pioneer days in Ohio and as a 
lad he assisted in the general store conducted 
by one of his older brothers. Later he en- 
gaged in the general merchandise business at 
Brunersburg. besides being identified with 
farm enterprise, and he continued thus engaged 
until the time of his death, which occurred 
November 5, 1865, his widow having survived 
him by about seven years- The eldest of their 
eight children was Thomas, who was a resi- 



dent of Beatrice at the time of his death, in 
IMarch. 1916; George, of this review, was the 
second son; Ora died in childhood: Mary Etta 
was a resident of Brunersburg. C)hio. at the 
time of her death ; Clara is the widow of Dr. 
A. L. Elder and resides at Hebron. Thayer 
county, Nebraska ; Dora is the wife of Ira 
Payne, of Reynolds, Jetferson county ; Flor- 
ence died wdien about eight years of age ; and 
Alice is the wife of Wiley D. Fisher, of Litch- 
field, Sherman county. Nebraska. 

George B. Hilton is indebted to the com- 
mon schools of the old Buckeye state for his 
early educational discipline and from his boy- 
hood until he became a young man he assisted 
in the work of a farm of forty-seven acres 
that was owned by his father. He then went 
to the city of Defiance, Ohio, where he was 
employed in a flour mill until 1867, the ensu- 
ing period of about two years having found 
him engaged as clerk in a mercantile estab- 
lishment in that place. He then returned to 
the farm previously mentioned and he there 
continued his activities as an agriculturist until 
1885, when he came to Nebraska and purchas- 
ed a tract of railroad land in Thayer county. 
There he continued his farm operations until 
1890, when he sold the property, upon which 
he had made good improvements, and came 
to Gage county. Here he purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 
26. Riverside township, and this property he 
developed into one of the fine farms of that 
part of the county. On the homestead he 
continued his successful enterprise as an 
agriculturist and stock-raiser until 1907, since 
which time he has lived retired in the city of 
Beatrice, save that, as before stated, he gave 
about two years to eflfective service in the of- 
fice of street commissioner. He is found 
arrayed as a loyal supporter of the cause of 
the Republican party and he and his wife 
hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

.At Defiance, Ohio, on the 18th of November, 
1867. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Hilton to Miss Elizabeth Ix)rah, who was 
born and reared in Noble county, that state, 
a daughter of Samuel and Charlotte Lorah. 



666 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



In conclusion is given brief record concerning 
the children of Mr. and Mrs. Hilton: Ella M. 
died at the age of thirty-eight years and 
Curtis at the age of nineteen years ; Lottie is 
at home : LeRoy died in early childhood ; 
Mildred is the widow of the late Hugo H. 
Lueblen : she resides at Beatrice and she has 
one son, Ehvood, eight years of age in 1918. 
The eldest daughter, Ella, became the wife of 
Frederick A. Riddell, of Columbus, Platte 
county, and she is survived by three children, 
— John and Frederick (Ted), who were 
students in the University of Nebraska, the 
latter having been one of the star members of 
the university football team, known as the 
'Cornhuskcrs," and both he and his brother, 
John, are now serving loyally in the L'nited 
States Navy department, in connection with 
the nation's participation in the great Euro- 
pean war. 

ANTON BERAN.— Among the first set- 
tlers on what was formerly the Otoe Indian 
reservation was Anton Ileran. who has resided 
(in his present farm, in Glenwood township, 
since the sjjring of 1878. 

Anton r)eran is a native of the ])rovince of 
Bohemia, in the dual monarchy of .Austria- 
Hungary , where he was born March 14. 1843. 
His parents, John and .\nna Beran ])assed 
their entire lives in Bohemia and Ixith died 
prior to the time when their son .\nton start- 
ed for America. 

In 1868 Anton r>eran came to the l'nited 
States and settled in Washington county, 
Iowa, where he continued to reside until the 
Otoe Indian reservation was opened for set- 
tlement in Gage county, Nebraska, and in the 
spring of 1878 he here purchased eighty acres 
of government land, in section 35, Glenwood 
township. Not a tree or a wagon track in 
sight, nothing but prairie grass as far as the 
eye could see. Here he built a little frame 
house, and some years later his brother-in- 
law, who was also an early settler, wanted to 
sell out, so Mr. Beran bought eighty acres 
from liim, in section 36, so that to-day he 
owns a well improved farm of one hundred 
and si.xtv acres. His success has come to him 



as the result of his own efforts and those of 
his boys, who began to give valuable aid as 
soon as they were old enough to work. 

Mr. Beran owned some small lots in the old 
town of Richmond, Washington county, Iowa, 
and when he decided to locate in Nebraska he 
sold these. The modest sum of mon(?\- he 
thus obtained was all he had when he lorated 
in Gage county. After locating his land here 
he was making the trip back to Iowa, and as ■ 
he had no money he was obliged to set forth l' 
on foot. However, through the kindness of 
a trainman running east out of Omaha, he was 
given a free ride. Mr. Beran has always felt 
grateful for that kindness and delights in tell- 
ing of it when talking about the experiences 
of those early days, when he was poor. 

Mr. Beran has been twice married. His 
first wife was Pauline Shalla, who died in 
Gage county the year after he located here. 
His present wife was Josephine Beran. Of 
the first union were born three children, 
Joseph, Frank, and a baby girl who died in 
Iowa. Of the second union were born three 
children. Van, Tony and Margaret. 

Mr. Beran is a Republican in politics and 
has served as school director, but he has held 
no other public office. Though he has ])assed 
his seventy-fifth birthday he is still hale and 
hearty and can be found any day doing work 
about the farm. This place has been his 
home for forty years and he well deserves 
this recognition in the history of Gage county. 

\\'ILIJAM F. ROSZELL. who now lives 
retired in the city of Beatrice, came to Gage 
county nearly forty years ago and his career 
has been marked by productive activity during 
the intervening period, the while he is known 
and honored as a man of sterling character and 
as a loyal and progressive citizen. 

William Franklin Roszell was born in 
Miami county, Ohio, in the year 1837, and is 
a son of David and Sarah (Howell) Roszell, 
the former a native of New Jersey and the 
latter of Ohio, the closing years of their lives 
having been passed at Fletcher. Ohio. David 
Roszell was a son of David and Elizabeth 
(Brown) Roszell, and his wife was a daughter 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



667 



of Stephen B. and Polly (Hopkins) Howell. 
The subject of this review was reared and 
educated in the old Buckeye state and there 
learned in his youth the trade of harnessmaker. 
As a skilled artisan at his trade he continued 
to follow the same in Ohio until 1882, when 
he came to Nebraska and purchased one 
liundred and sixty acres of unimproved land, 
in Paddock township, Gage county. He 
initiated the reclamation and improvement of 
this farm and there continued his activities 
four years, at the expiration of which he sold 
the property and established himself in the 
harness and saddlery business in the village 
Lanham, this county. Later he conducted for 
a number of years a hotel in that village, 
besides which he served as postmaster at 
Lanham during the four years of President 
Cleveland's second term. Finally he disposed 
of his property and business at Lanham and 
purchased improved realty in the city of 
Lincoln, but within a short time thereafter he 
returned to Gage county and established his 
residence in Beatrice, where he has since main- 
tained his home, the family residence being at 
LSIO Ella street. In politics Mr. Roszell is a 
staunch supporter of the cause of the Demo- 
cratic party and for many years he and his 
wife have been active members of the 
Christian church. 

In Shelby county, Ohio, the year 187v^ 
recorded the marriage of Air- Roszell to Miss 
Olive Hageman, who was born and reared in 
that county, and of the six children of this 
union only two are living, — Ralph R., who 
owns and conducts a leading photographic art 
store and studio in the city of Beatrice, and 
Hazel B.. who is the wife of Harry Irvine, of 
this city. 

SAMUEL F. NICHOLS, a prosperous 
fanner and stock-grower of Riverside town- 
ship, was born at Osage. Iowa, November 9, 
1874. and is a son of Martin \'an Buren 
Nichols, of whom individual mention is made 
on other pages. In the prosecution of his ex- 
tensive operations as a farmer and stock 
raiser Mr. Nichols utilizes one thousand acres 
of land, an appreciable proportion of which is 



owned by him. He is one of the leading 
breeders of Holstein cattle in Gage county and 
now ships an average of eight carloads of cat- 
tle and swine each year, his activities in pre- 
vious years having involved the shipment of 
an average of forty carloads of cattle. 

Mr. Nichols was reared and educated in his 
native place and in the public schools of 
San Diego, California, where the family home 
was maintained for some time. In 1891 his 
parents established their home at Beatrice, Ne- 
braska, and here Samuel F. was graduated in 
the high school, in 1895, after which he com- 
pleted a preparatory course in Columbia Uni- 
versity, in New York city. In 1896 he was 
matriculated in the law department of the 
great University of Michigan, in which in- 
stitution he was graduated as a member of the 
class of 1898 and with the degree of Bachelor 
of Laws. In the same year he manifested his 
patriotism by enlisting for service in the 
Spanish-American war, in which he served 
six month, as a member of Company A, 
Thirty-first Michigan Volunteer Infantry. In 
1900 Mr. Nichols associated himself with the 
Albany Linen Mills, at Albany, Wisconsin, 
and for two years he held the position of man- 
ager of the business. In 1902 he returned to 
Gage county. Nebraska, where he has since 
been actively identified with farm enterprise. 
In 1906 he purchased his present fine home- 
stead ranch, and upon the place he has made 
the best of modern improvements, including 
the erection of an attractive bungalow, which 
is lighted by electricity and provided with hot 
and cold water system. 

On the 12th of November, 1907, was sol- 
enmized the marriage of Mr. Nichols to Miss 
Marie Roe, who was born at Odell, this coun- 
ty, and is a daughter of Dr. George L- and 
Ida L. (Thompson) Roe, natives respectively 
of Kentucky and \\'isconsin. Dr. Roe having 
for many years been one of the leading physi- 
cians and surgeons of Beatrice and having 
tendered, in May, 1918, his professional service 
to the government in connection with war ac~ 
tivities. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have four 
children, whose names and dates of nativity 
are here indicated : Ruth, October 20, 1908 ; 



668 



HIS-TORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



Martin \'an liuren, September 21, 1910; 
Dorothy, August 16, 1914; and Margaret, 
June 13, 1917. 

Though he has found his technical training 
of great value in connection with his business 
activities Mr. Nichols has never engaged in 
the practice of law. He is a Republican in 
his political allegiance and is essentially vital 
and public-spirited in his civic attitude. He 
i? actively affiliated with the Masonic fratern- 
ity, including Beatrice Commandery of 
Knights Templars, and he and his wife are 
communicants of the Protestant Episcopal 
church. 

AiSIJAH S. SHERWOOD, who is now 
living retired in the city of Beatrice, with a 
pleasant home at 1522 High street, is the 
owner of a well improved farm estate of two 
hundred acres, in Section 19, Filley township, 
and has been a successful exponent of agri- 
cultural and live-stock enterprise in Gage 
county, his removal from the farm to Beatrice 
having taken place in October. 1910. 

Mr. Sherwood was born in Marshall coun- 
ty, Illinois, March 17, 1856, and is the fourth 
in a family of five sons and two daughters 
born to Abijah S. and Elizabeth (McCune) 
Sherwood. For his second wife the father 
married Margaret McCord, and they became 
the parents of three daughters. After the 
death of his second wife he married Mary 
Correll, and of this union was born one son. 

Abijah S. Sherwood, Sr., was born in the 
state of New York. .April 23, 1822. and his 
death occurred June 30, 1894- He became a 
substantial farmer and extensive landholder, 
and it is to be noted that in 1876 he purchased 
land in Gage county, Nebraska, besides which 
he accumulated land also in Kansas, Iowa, 
Missouri, and Illinois, the closing years of 
his life having been passed in Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on 
the home farm and acquired his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of Illinois and the 
city of Topeka. Kansas, the family home hav- 
ing been maintained at intervals in various 
communities and Mr. Sherwood thus having 



attended school in several different localities. 
At the opening of Oklahoma to settlement Mr. 
Sherwood's father was one of those who made 
the historic "run," and he aided in the initial 
development of Oklahoma City, where he as- 
sisted also in the organization of the first 
Presbyterian church. In 1876 he whose name 
introduces this review returned to Illinois, 
where he continued to operate one of his 
father's farms until the autumn of 1883. when 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska. In the 
following year he purchased one hundred and 
twenty acres of land, and this constituted the 
nucleus around which he has developed his 
present valuable landed estate in this county. 

In politics Mr. Sherwood is a staunch Re- 
publican and while on his farm he represented 
for one term Filley township on the board of 
county supervisors. He and his wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
in which he has served as a trustee. In a 
fraternal way he is affiliated with the Royal 
Highlanders. 

October 16. 1879, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Sherwood to Miss Esther Dixon, who was 
born in La Salle county. Illinois, December 21, 
1858, a daughter of Hampton S. and Jane 
(Tullis) Dixon. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood 
have had two children: Edna, who is the wife 
of Merrill Ramsey, of Petersburg, Texas, their 
n^arriage having been solemnized in January. 
1903, and their three children being Merryl, 
Blanche and Sherwood. Mrs. Ramsey was 
graduated in the Filley high school and is a 
skilled musician, she having been a successful 
teacher of music prior to her marriage. Ralph 
H. Sherwood was a fine young man of 
twenty-nine years when he met a tragic death, 
in 1914. he having been killed by lightning- He 
was for two years a student in the law depart- 
ment of the University of Nebraska, and in 
June. 1910, he married Miss Cicely May Fen- 
ton, who survives him and who is now assis- 
tant librarian of the library of the law depart- 
ment of the I'niversity of Colorado, at 
Boulder. 

CL'RTIS C. LA FORGE. — Agricultural 
industry in Gage county has a worthy repre- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



669 



sentative in the subject of this record, and he 
is successfully engaged in farming and stock- 
raising in Section 8, Midland township, botii 
departments of his farm enterprise bringing 
him gratifying returns. 

Mr. La Forge claims the fine old Bluegrass 
state as the place of his nativity, as he was 
born in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, on 
the 20th of December, 1876. He is a son of 
Nathan P. and Demaris (Dooley) La Forge, 
both likewise natives of Kentucky, where they 
were reared and educated. The conditions 
and influences that compassed Nathan P. La 
Forge during the period of his youth were 
such that when the Civil war was precipitated 
on a divided nation his sympathies were na- 
turally with the cause of the south. Conse- 
quently he showed his loyalty by enlisting in 
the Confederate ranks, and he served as cap- 
tain of cavalry in the command of the famous 
General Morgan. He fought faithfully and 
valiantly in defense of what he believed to be 
a righteous cause, survived the shock and 
storm of conflict and lived to rejoice finally 
in the fact that the integrity of the nation had 
been preserved. He became a successful con- 
tractor after the war and continued his ac- 
tivities along this line until his death, which 
occurred April 24, 1899, at Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, where he had built up a substantial 
Inisiness as a contractor. He was sixty-three 
years of age at the time of his death and his 
widow now resides in Kansas City. Five of 
the brothers of Mrs. LaForge were soldiers 
of the Confederacy in the Civil war. 

Curtis C. LaForge acquired his preliminary 
education in the schools of his native city 
and after the family removal to Kansas City, 
Missouri, he there continued his studies in the 
public schools, besides which he supplemented 
this training by a course in the Kansas City 
Business College. Thereafter he associated 
himself with a wholesale drug house in Kansas 
City, and he continued to be thus employed 
for fifteen years. 

In 1911 Mr. La Forge came to Nebraska 
and located at Beatrice- Here, on the 21st 
of June of that year, was solemnized his mar- 
riage ot j\Iiss Daisie G. Vanlloskirk, a daugh- 



ter of Lincoln and Celia (Freer) Van Boskirk, 
a record concerning whom appears elsewhere 
in this volume. Mrs. La Forge received as a 
heritage from her father a quarter-section of 
land and soon after their marriage she and 
her husband established their home on this 
place. On the same they have erected a 
commodious modern residence, besides good 
barns and other farm buildings. Here Mr. 
LaForge is successfully carrying forward his 
operations in diversified agriculture and stock- 
growing, and he is recognized as one of the 
enterprising and wideawake farmers of Mid- 
land township. He and his wife have a fine 
little son, Curtis C, Jr., who was born July 
12, 1914. The family home is known for its 
generous hospitality and good cheer and Mr. 
and Mrs. La Forge have a host of friends, 
both being held in high esteem by all who 
know them. In politics Mr. LaForge retains 
the ancestral faith and gives his support to 
the cause of the Democratic party. 

RALPH R. ROSZELL exemplifies in his 
finely appointed studio in the city of Beatrice 
the highest types of photographic art, and he 
has long held secure prestige as one of the 
leading photographists of the west. He is 
a representative of one of the early pioneer 
families of Nebraska and was born on the old 
Otoe Indian reservation, the place of his na- 
tivity having been near the present village of 
Odell, Gage county. He was but two years 
of age when his parents removed to what is 
now Lanham, Washington county, Kansas, a 
locality at that time included in Nebraska. 
There he acquired his preliminary educational 
discipline and when he was twelve years old 
the family removed to Lincoln, Nebraska, 
where he attended the public schools and 
where he learned the art of photography while 
a mere boy. He was but sixteen years old 
when he opened his first photographic studio, 
in Lincoln, Nebraska, to which place his par- 
ents had removed, and this little studio was 
located at the corner of Fourteenth and O 
streets. Later he established a larger and 
better equipped studio at 1238 O street, and in 
connection with the same he conducted also 



670 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



studios at Ashland and Trenton. In 1905 a 
chemical explosion which occurred while he 
was working in his photographic laboratory 
so injured him as to necessitate the amputa- 
tion of his left hand, but this injury in no 
degree curbed his professional enthusiasm or 
his self-reliance. After remaining at the 
jiarental home for twelve days he resumed 
work, by opening a new studio in Beatrice, at 
509-J/2 Court street, this being known as the 
Roszell Elite Studio and being equipped with 
the most approved of modern facilities for 
the issuing of high-grade photographic work 
of all kinds. — portrait, commercial, view, land- 
scape, etc. Mr. Roszell has nearly a dozen 
handsome gold and silver medals that have 
been awarded to him for his exhibits at state 
and national photographic conventions, and 
when but seventeen years of age he had gained 
high national rating as a professional photo- 
graphist, his record for exceptional ability hav- 
ing been one of cumulative prestige since that 
time. 

In 1915 Mr. Roszell amplified his field of 
enterprise by engaging in the handling of 
photographic supplies of all kinds, as well as 
artists' materials, and he has developed a 
prosperous business which extends through 
Nebraska and Kansas and to a certain ex- 
tent outside of this territory. He continues 
to give, however, his close personal super- 
vision to his studio in lieatrice, and the same 
is now located at 616 Court street. His pat- 
ronage in all departments of his well organ- 
ized business is of representative order and he 
is one of the best known photographists in 
Nebraska. He has served three terms as 
secretary of the Nebraska Professional Photo- 
graphers' Association, and he perfected himself 
in his profession by a course of instruction in 
Washington University, in the city of St. 
Louis, besides having gained technical ex- 
perience in a number of the foremost photo- 
graphic studios in Lincoln and other cities- 
Mr. Roszell is the son of William F. and 
Olive Roszell, pioneers of Gage county, who 
first settled on the old Otoe reservation land 
east of Odell, this county. A sketch of the 



career of his father appears on other pages of 
this volume. 

In 1912 Mr. Roszell married Miss Leah A. 
Sonderegger, daughter of Carl Sonderegger, a 
well known pioneer of Gage county. They 
have two children. Richard Ralph and 
Kathryn Eulula. 

Mr. Roszell had the honor of photographing 
Mr. Hugh Dobbs, the author of this volume, 
whose portrait appears in the front of this 
book. 

C. M. SMITH is another of the sterling 
citizens who has achieved definite prosperity 
through connection with agricultural and live- 
stock industry in Gage county, and after hav- 
ing borne the trials and responsibilities of 
pioneer life in Nebraska and making his way 
through his own efforts to the goal of suc- 
cess, he is now living in well earned retire- 
ment, in the city of Beatrice. 

Mr. Smith is a scion of a family that was 
founded in New England in the colonial era 
of our national history, and is a descendant of 
Joshua Smith who came from England in 
company with his brother Edward and estab- 
lished a home in Connecticut, prior to the war 
of the Revolution. He whose name initiates 
this sketch was born in Orleans county, New 
York, on the 18th of November. 1846, and 
is a son of Beriah H. and Philena (Morton) 
Smith, the former having been born near 
Hartford. Connecticut, June 11, 1803. and the 
latter having been born in South Deerfield, 
Massachusetts, in 1811. The parents were 
wedded in Massachusetts, in January. 1829, 
and thereafter removed to the state of New 
York, where the father for many years operat- 
ed a boat on the historic old Erie canal In 
the autumn of 1847 Beriah H. Smith removed 
with his family to Illinois and became a pioneer 
farmer in Putnam county, where he took up 
government land and developed a productive 
farm, both he and his wife having passed the 
remainder of their lives in that state, where 
he died November 2. 1889, his wife having 
passed away in the preceding year and having 
been a devoted member of the Congregational 
church, his religious views having been in 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



671 



harmony with the tenents of the Universalist 
church and his pohtical support liaving- been 
given to the Whig part}' until the organiza- 
tion of the Repubhcan party, when he trans- 
ferred his allegiance to the latter. He was 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, was a 
man of superior mental endowments. He was 
called to serve in various township offices in 
Illinois and was one of the honored pioneer 
citizens of that state at the time of his death. 
Of the nine children of Beriah H. and Philena 
(Morton) Smith only three are now living, — 
Edward, who is engaged in the blacksmith 
business at Cortland, Gage county; C. M., 
who is the immediate subject of this sketch ; 
and Augusta, who resides at Pickrell, this 
county. 

C. M. Smith was reared on his father's 
pioneer farm in Illinois and in his youth made 
good use of the advantages afforded in the 
common schools of the locality and period. 
He continued his alliance with farm industry 
in Illinois until 1870, in March of which year 
he came to Nebraska and took up a home- 
stead of one hundred and sixty acres, in 
Nuckolls county. There he remained until he 
had perfected his title to the property, and !:e 
then established his home in Gage county. He 
developed a fine farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Blakely township, made the best of 
improvements on the place and there contin- 
ued his residence until 1877 when he moved 
to a farm in Logan township. This he nn- 
proved and here he resided until 1912, when 
he purchased another farm in Logan town- 
ship, — a property which he still owns. Jn 
October. 1915. he retired and with his wife 
established his home in Beatrice, where they 
are enjoying the rewards of former years 
of earnest endeavor. They are zealous mem- 
bers of the Christian church and in politics 
he gives unswerving allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party. While on his farm he served as 
township trustee and clerk for a number of 
terms each, and was for many years a mem- 
ber of the school board of his district. 

March 16, 1873, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Smith to Miss Sarah Pethoud, of Gage 
county, she being a daughter of Thomas and 



Maria Pethoud, natives of Ohio and territoiial 
pioneers in Nebraska. Mr. Pethoud came with 
his family to Gage county in 1857, nearly a 
decade prior to the admission of Nebraska to 
statehood, and he settled on his pioneer farm 
six miles north of Beatrice, where both he and 
his wife passed the residue of their lives. In 
conclusion is given brief record concerning the 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Clara is the 
wife of Gardner Berry, a prosperous farmer 
in Riverside township; Helen remains at the 
parental home; Alice is the wife of G. L. 
Mumford, of whom individual mention is 
made on other pages ; Elsie became the wife of 
William Barnard, of Beatrice, and her death 
occurred in 1914; Sarah Antoinette remains 
with her parents ; Eleanor is the wife of C. E. 
Thornburg, a farmer in Midland township; 
and Howard has the active management of his 
father's farm. 

GERHARD WIEBE. — There are many 
interesting points in the career of this repre- 
sentative citizen of Beatrice, where he devel- 
oped a substantial dry-goods business and 
where he still retains his interest in the same, 
though he has given its active management 
over to his sons and is living virtually retired, 
his attractive home being at 715 North Sixth 
street. 

Mr. Wiebe was born in the district of Dan- 
zig, Prussia, in May, 1844, and is a son of 
John and Margaret (Hamm) Wiebe, who, as 
devout members of the Mennonite church, 
were religiously opposed to warfare, so that, 
at the time of the Franco-Prussian war, they 
severed the ties that bound them to their na- 
tive land, made many sacrifices and, in 1872, 
removed to Russia, thus avoiding military 
service on the part of their sons. They passed 
the remainder of their lives in Russia — exiles 
from their home land on account of conscien- 
tious scruples. John Wiebe had accumulated 
a valuable farm estate of two hundred acres 
near the Prussian city of Dantzig, and he was 
well advanced in years when he left this fine 
home to exile himself in Russia. Of his eight 
children only three are now living and the eld- 
est of the number, John, still resides in Russia, 



672 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the youngest of the three, Herman, being a 
prosperous farmer of Gage county- 

In his native land Gerhard Wiebe received 
good educational advantages in his youth and 
he there gained valuable experience in the mer- 
cantile business, as clerk in a store in the city 
of Berlin. He was preparing to engage in 
business for himself at the time when his ven- 
erable parents manifested their earnest desire 
to immigrate to Russia. He promptly subor- 
dinated his personal plans and ambition and 
went, in 1869, to Russia, to prepare a home for 
his ])arents. At Samara he found employ- 
ment as clerk in a mercantile establishment, 
and at the beginning he received as compen- 
sation only his room and board- Within six 
weeks he had sufficiently mastered the Russian 
language to be able to do effective service as a 
salesman, and finally he learned to speak the 
language with fluency. Thus fortified, he en- 
gaged in business on a modest scale, in the 
colony where his parents resided, and he con- 
tinued his residence in Russia for more than a 
score of years and eventually built up a pros- 
perous mercantile business, though he was 
compelled to bring in his merchandise by 
wagons from the nearest city, ninety miles 
distant. 

In 1894 Mr. \\'iebe came to America and in 
that year he establisiied his permanent resi- 
dence at Beatrice, where he engaged in the 
general merchandise business and soon famil- 
iarized himself with the English language. He 
finally confined his mercantile enterprise to the 
handling of dry goods and the various supple- 
mental lines customarily found in similar es- 
tablishments. Fair and honorable dealing and 
efficient service enabled him to develop a sub- 
stantial and properous business, and he still 
retains his interest in the well equipped store, 
which is now under the active management of 
his sons. He is the owner of good business 
buildings in Beatrice and also of his pleasant 
home. He is a liberal and public-spirited cit- 
izen, loyal in all things to the land of his 
adoi^tion and is a substantial citizen who com- 
mands unqualified popular esteem. He is in- 
dependent in politics and he holds membership 
in the Mennonite church. 



In 1873. Mr. Wiebe married Miss Margaret 
Claassen, who was born in Germany and whose 
parents thence removed to Russia, where they 
passed the remainder of their lives. Mrs. 
Wiebe died at the old home in Russia, in 1890, 
and there also died four of her ten children, 
all of the other children being now residents 
of Gage county : G. C. is engaged in the cloth- 
ing business at Beatrice ; William is associat- 
ed with the dry-goods business here estab- 
lished by his father; Magdalene is a deaconess 
of the Mennonite Home and Hospital in Be- 
atrice; Agatha is the wife of H. A. Penner, 
who is connected with the Peters Trust & Loan 
Company, at Omaha ; Elizabeth presides over 
her father's home ; and Justina is the wife of 
P. Daniel Schultz, teacher of science in the 
Beatrice high school. It will thus be noted 
that the family is one of prominence and in- 
fluence in the business and social life of the 
Gage county metropolis. 

JAMES PACKER. — The seafaring life is 
vital and adventurous and it has lured the 
youth of all ages, because of its hazards and 
the opportunities it aflfords to see the world. 
James Packer, a retired farmer living in Elm 
township, spent the early years of his life as 
a sailor, and as such he sailed into nearly every 
port of the world. He went to the South Sea 
Islands, where the savages brought their 
spices to load on the ship ; he went to the 
northern countries, where the furs were loaded 
on his ship : he traded with white men, black 
men, and yellow men — men of eveni' clime 
and condition. He was only eight years old 
when he made his first voyage, on his father's 
ship, and from that time onward he spent the 
greater ])art of his time in close association 
with his father's maritime activities. In the 
cold winter months they kept to the southern 
waters, away from the treacherous ice-floes. 
In the summer months they went to the north- 
ern waters and carried the freight they were 
anxious to send to other shores. Mr. Packer 
has an interesting collection of sea shells and 
deep-sea fauna which he had collected on these 
voyages, and he loves to recount his adven- 
tures. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



673 




Mr. and Mrs. James Packer 



674 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Mr. Packer was born on famed old Broad- 
way, New York city, the date of his nativity 
having been May 10, 1841. He is the eldest 
son of James and Mary (Appleman) Packer. 
James Packer was born in Xew York, in 1S12. 
and died July 7, 1892, in a sailors' home at 
Key West, Florida. James Packer, Sr., spent 
the greater part of his life on the sea, sailing 
all over the world. The latter years of his 
life were spent in the hotel business in New 
York, where he and a brother conducted a 
hotel. In 1858 he purchased land in Clayton 
county, Iowa, where he farmed for a few 
years. His wife, Mary Ann (Appleman) 
Packer, was born in 1813, in Connecticut and 
was laid to rest in Decatur, Iowa, in 
1898. Her parents were of Swedish birth, 
and upon coming to America they settled in 
Connecticut. James Packer, of this review, 
was the firstborn in a family of six children. 

In the public schools of Mystic, Connecti- 
cut, Mr. Packer received his early education. 
He had as a classmate, the well known Judge 
Holmes, of Lincoln, Nebraska. During the 
Civil war Mr. Packer was exempted from ac- 
tual service, as he was engaged in farming and 
the farmers were needed to feed the fighting 
men. His brother Gustavus responded and 
was accepted, serving his country on the fir- 
ing line. 

The marriage of James Packer and Julia F. 
Goodrich was solemnized October 9, 1864. 
Mrs. Packer was born in Chautauqua county, 
New York, in 1844, and she passed to the life 
eternal on the 9th day of July, 1897. Her 
ancestry was of the sturdy New England type 
characteristic of that historic section, where 
it is said that they do not raise crops but raise 
men. Her paternal grandfather was a physi- 
cian and fought in the war of 1812. Mr. and 
Mrs. Packer became the parents of nine chil- 
dren, concerning whom brief record is here 
given : Charles J. resides in Riverside town- 
ship; Hiram A. lives at Culbertson, Hitchcock 
county. Nebraska; James G. resides at Diller, 
JefiFerson county ; William H. and Julius F. 
reside at Woodriver, Hall county ; Caroline C. 
is the wife of A. Frisbie, of Elm township. 
Gage county; Eda F. died in 1880; Walter C. 



was born ]May 26, 1882, and died March 18, 
1884; Margaret Ella is the wife of John 
Greider, living in Glenwood township. 

Mr. Packer has lived on his present farm 
in Elm township since 1881, when he came 
from Iowa to Nebraska. His land was wild 
and uncultivated, and he 'has won it to a high 
state of productivity, planting an orchard and 
other shade trees to beautify the former bar- 
ren prairie. In 1903 Mr. Packer married 
Nannie ShafT, who was born February 22, 
1867, in Marion county, Iowa, and who was 
a child at the time of the death of her parents. 
Mrs. Packer came to Gage county in 1901. 
One child has been boni of this marriage, and 
their son, Dewey E., was named in honor of 
the late Admiral Dewey, of Spanish-American 
war fame, who was a personal friend of Mr. 
Packer. This son is a great comfort to his 
parents in their pleasant home. Mr. Packer 
is a Republican in politics, and he has served 
as road overseer and as a member of the 
school board. Mrs. Packer holds membership 
in the Methodist Episcopal church. 

JOHN M. SHALLA was born in Wash- 
ington county, Iowa, December 2^. 1879. a 
son of Frank Shalla, mentioned elsewhere in 
this volume. John M- Shalla was a child of 
eighteen months at the time of the family re- 
moval of Gage county. He can remember 
the building of his parents' first home in Gage 
county, where the family were among the first 
to settle on the Otoe Indian reservation. He 
was reared on the farm, attended the ]niblic 
schools and for the past fourteen years he has 
been engaged in farming for himself. He 
was assisted by his father in purchasing a farm 
in Glenwood township, but later he sold this 
property to his brother William, and for the 
past six years he has owned and operated the 
present place, a well improved tract of two 
hundred and forty acres, in Paddock town- 
ship. 

He married Miss Mary Sikyta, who is a 
native of Johnson county. Nebraska, and a 
daughter of Frank and Christian Sikyta. early 
settlers of that county. Mr- and Mrs. Shalla 
have two children, — Harold and Stanlcv. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



675 



Mr. Shalla is a Democrat and is serving as 
clerk of Paddock township. While living in 
Glenwood township he was clerk of that town- 
ship for several years. 

JOHN J. GRONEWOLD has gained 
through his insistent energy and ability a se- 
cure vantage-ground as one of the substantial 
exponents of farm enterprise in Hanover town- 
ship, where he is the owner of a well improved 
farm property of two hundred acres, his at- 
tractive homestead being situated in Section 
31. Mr. Gronewold was born in East Fries- 
land, Germany, on the 9th of October, 1873, a 
son of John and Anna ( Heinrichs) Gronewold, 
the father having been born in 1847 and his 
death having occurred in 1891, his entire life 
having been passed in his native land, where 
his widow still resides, she having been born 
in 1844. Of their six children four are living: 
Soaka remains in Germany ; John J., of this 
review, is the next younger ; William is en- 
gaged in farming in Gage county ; and Galscha 
remains at the old home in Germany. The 
other two children, Dick and Weaka, sacri- 
ficed their lives in the great European war of 
the present day. The religious faith of the 
family is that of the Lutheran church and the 
father gave his entire active career to farm 
industry, in which his success was unequivo- 
cal, his old homestead farm in East Friesland 
comprising seventy acres. 

John J. Gronewold gained his youthful edu- 
cation in the excellent schools of his native 
province and was but sixteen years old when, 
in 1889, he came to the United States and es- 
tablished his residence in Gage county. Here 
for ten years thereafter he was employed as a 
farm hand, and though he never received large 
wages he carefully saved his earnings, as he 
was ambitious to establish himself independent- 
ly as a farmer. After his marriage he con- 
tinued in the employ of others until 1900, when 
his financial resources had become such as to 
enable him to make partial payment on a farm 
of eighty acres, in Hanover township. With 
characteristic energy he gave himself to the 
improving and general operations of the farm, 
which he eventually so'.d advantageously, and 



he has not only become an independent and 
successful agriculturist and stock-grower of 
the county but has also accumulated a fine 
bnded estate of two hundred acres. He keeps 
the farm in the best of condition throughout, 
has erected good buildings to supplement those 
that were already on the property, and he or- 
ders with much circumspection and attendant 
success all branches of his farm enterprise, 
which includes diversified agriculture and the 
raising of cattle, swine and chickens of the best 
type- He gives special attention also to the 
raising of beans and has made this enterprise 
notable successful. A hard worker and a man 
of good judgment, he has achieved prosperity 
through his own endeavors and is one of the 
highly esteemed citizens of Hanover township. 
In politics he is independent of strict partisan 
lines, he has served as road overseer and as a 
member of the school board, and he and his 
wife are active communicants of the German 
Lutheran church. 

In 1897 Mr. Gronewold wedded Miss Anna 
Gerdes, who was born in Germany, where her 
parents, John and Freda Gerdes, passed their 
entire lives. Mrs. Gronewold was fourteen 
years of age when she came to the United 
States in company with an uncle and her sis- 
ter Tena. Mr. and Mrs. Gronewold have four 
children, all of whom remain at the parental 
home: Anna. Jennie, John, and Freda. 

JAMES B. ZUVER, manager of the Farm- 
ers" Elevator Company at .^dams. Gage coun- 
ty, is a native of this county, his birth having 
occurred in Hooker township, on March 11, 
1871. His father, George W. Zuver, was born 
at Wooster, Ohio, December 6, 1846. ^^'hen 
ten years of age George W. Zuver accompan- 
ied his parents, Solomon and Julia Zuver, to 
Iowa, and the home was established at Mason 
City, where Solomon Zuver conducted a hotel. 
George W. Zuver crossed the plains in 1864 
and successfully engaged in mining in Idaho 
Territory. Returning to Iowa, Mr. Zuver was 
in business with his father until 1867, when 
he came to Nebraska and homesteaded one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, on Section 
15, Hooker township, Gage county- He was 



676 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



a successful farmer and one of the early set- 
tlers of Gage county, where he experienced 
the grasshopper scourge and other pioneer con- 
ditions. Mr. Zuver invested in land in Kan- 
sas and Missouri and for a time lived in each 
of these states. Returning to Gage county, 
he farmed until 1894, when he sold out and 
went to Louisiana. Ten months later he set- 
tled in Hall county, Nebraska. In 1909 Mr. 
Zuver moved to St. Paul. Nebraska, and after 
remaining there a short time he located at 
Geneva, Nebraska, where he now makes his 
home. In the year 1915 he lived at Beatrice. 

The maiden name of the mother of James B. 
Zuver was Martha J. Hillman. She was born 
in Peimsylvania, January 5. 1850, a daughter 
of John and Eliza Jane Hillman. who came 
to Nebraska Territory in 1855 and established 
their home in Gage county. Here Mrs. Zuver 
was reared and educated under the condition 
of the early pioneer era. On June 5, 1870, 
in Hooker township, was solemnized her mar- 
riage to George W. Zuver and they now main- 
tain their home at Geneva, Fillmore county, 
this state. 

James B. Zuver is the oldest in a family of 
five children: Julia Hryson lives at Grand Is- 
land, Nebraska; Mrs. L. Dye resides at Le- 
Mars, Missouri, and Sarah and Clarence are 
with their parents at Geneva, Nebraska. 

The subject of this record was reared on a 
farm in Gage county. He attended district 
school and supplemented this with a course in 
the Beatrice Business College, and the Lin- 
coln Normal School. He graduated in the 
last named institution and taught school and 
farmed in Gage county until 1908, when he 
helped to organize the Farmers" Elevator Com- 
pany at Adams, becoming president of that 
institution, and later being made manager, 
which ])osition he now holds. 

On October 18, 1894, Mr. Zuver was united 
in marriage to Miss Laura E- Jewell, a native 
of monmouth. Illinois, and a daughter of \\'\\- 
liam and Emma (Wonderly) Jewell, who set- 
tled in Gage county, Nebraska, in 1877. The 
mother now makes her home at .\dams. Mr. 
and Mrs. Zuver became the parents of nine 
children: Flovd S. is in the national armv 



and is now located at Camp Cody, New Mex- 
ico, in the spring of 1918; Fern is deceased; 
Violet, Daisy, George, Orvil, and Myrtle re- 
main at the parental home ; and Pansy is de- 
ceased. 

Mr. Zuver takes an active interest in the 
civic ati'airs of .Adams, is chairman of the 
town council, and a member of the school 
board, and he is affiliated with the Masonic 
fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica. 

THOMAS R. CALLAN is a well known 
hardware and implement dealer of Odell, Ne- 
braska. Perhaps no other man coming to Odell 
in the early days has kept in such close per- 
sonal touch with the farmers and the farming 
development of his community as has Thomas 
R. Callan. He came to Odell in the early 
'80s, when farming implements were of a dif- 
ferent character and of less help to the farmer 
than the modern labor-saving machinery of 
tc-day. The life story of a self-made man is 
always interesting, being ever an inspiration 
to the younger generation, who are by his 
example prompted to greater efforts and sacri- 
fice to make good in their chosen work. It is 
fitting we should have the life story of this 
l)ioneer merchant, who has conducted a thriv- 
ing and ever expanding hardware and imple- 
n^ent business at Odell for the past thirty-five 
years. 

Mr. Callan was born .August 21. 1856. in 
Garrett county, Maryland, and is a son of John 
and Ellen ( Hoft'man) Callan. John Callan 
was born in Ireland, received the education 
which his time and country afforded, and upon 
coming to the United States he settled in Mary- 
land. He was employed as a collector and al- 
so became the editor of a local newspaper. 
When only thirty-two years of age he was 
taken away from his wife and family, his death 
having occurred in 1860. The maiden name 
of his wife was Ellen Hoffman. Five chil- 
dren came to bless their union. Ellen ( Hoflf- 
man) Callan was born in 1838, in Maryland; 
after her husband's death she, with her family 
of small children, removed to Illinois, where 
in 1867, she became the wife of Samuel Stan- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



677 



ton. He was a farmer and was born in Mary- 
land. Four children were born to this union. 
Mrs. Ellen Stanton lived to a good old age, 
going to her reward in 1898- She was a faith- 
ful member of the Methodist church. Two 
sons. David Callan, living at Chicago. Illinois, 
and Thomas R., with whom this sketch di- 
rectly deals, are the only children of the first 
marriage who survive her. 

Thomas Callan was eleven years old, when 
he went with his mother to Illinois and located 
on his step-father's farm. He attended the 
rural schools of his district. In 1878 he en- 
tered the Northwestern College at Fulton. Illi- 
nois, and afterward he taught school for one 
term. He then worked as a farm hand for 
VYilliam Uhl, a hardware merchant. Mr. Uhl 
soon realized the aptitude of his young farm 
employe and soon had him back of his coun- 
ter, selling hardware. This incident happened 
in 1880, in Dixon, Illinois, and was the turn- 
ing point in Mr. Callan's life. He grasped 
opportunity to so great an extent that in 1883 
he came to Odell, Nebraska, and opened a 
hardware business for himself. For virtually 
thirty-five years he has remained in the present 
location and successfully conducted his bus- 
iness. 

Mr. Callan was married January 1. 1884, to 
Lillian Stitzel. Two sons and two daughters 
have come to bless this happy marriage. They 
have given their two sons, in the present na- 
tional crisis, to aid in "making the world safe 
for democracy." The first born is John S., 
who was postmaster at Odell when he entered 
the nation's military service. He was located 
at Jackson. Florida, in the quartermaster's de- 
partment of the United States Army, until he 
went with his command to France- Ruth is 
the wife of \'ern Benson, of Sioux City, Iowa, 
her husband being a railroad mail clerk. Madge 
is a teacher at Tobias. Nebraska. Richard was 
at the Jackson (Florida) cantonment until he 
went with his regiment to France. These 
children all name Odell as their birthplace and 
have all received the advantages of the public 
schools of their native place. The mother of 
this interesting family. Lillian (Stitzel) Callan, 
was born in Pennsylvania, in 1858, and is a 



daughter of John and Rose Stitzel. both de- 
ceased. 

In Paddock township Thomas Callan has a 
well improved farm of eighty acres, which he 
purchased in 1901. He has made various im- 
provements on his farm setting out trees, etc. 

In 1917 Mr. Callan erected at Odell a thor- 
oughly modern automobile garage, in which he 
is able to meet the needs of his patrons. This 
electric-lighted, steam-heated building is fifty 
by one hundred feet in dimensions, and in the 
same are all the conveniences which modern 
science can give for the efficiency of motor-car 
service. Mr. Callan is the local agent for the 
well known Ford automobile. He has taken 
a more or less active interest in Democratic 
politics, and has served in municipal offices at 
Odell, as well as a member of the school board. 
He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and 
his wife is an active member of the Christian 
church. 

:\LARTIN L. KORS first came to the state 
of Nebraska in 1883. and for more than twenty 
years he has been one of the leading merchants 
and representative citizens of the Gage county 
metropolis- He has built up a large and pros- 
perous grocery business, with an establishment 
of modern equipment and facilities, and the 
substantial and important business is now con- 
ducted under the firm title of M. L- Kors & 
Son. 

Mr. Kors was born in Cass county. Illinois, 
November 11, 1848, and is a son of Henry F. 
and Margaret (Filiner) Kors, both natives of 
Germany. Henry F. Kors was born in 
the province of Hanover, Germany, Decem- 
ber 31, 1804, his death having occurred in 
1869. In 1836 he came to America and estab- 
lished his home in Illinois, and he invested in 
property in the now prosperous and vital little 
city of Beardstown, where his marriage was 
solemnized. He was a skilled workman at the 
trade of plasterer and followed the same in Ill- 
inois until his death. His first wife became 
the mother of four children, all of whom are 
now deceased, and of the seven children of his 
second marriage only two are now living, 
Martin I,., of this review, and George E-, a 



678 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



prosperous agriculturist and stock-growet near 
Himiboldt. Richardson county, Nebraska. 

Henrj' F. Kors aligned himself as a loyal 
supporter of the cause of the Republican party, 
was a man of strong convictions and sterling 
character, and both he and his wife were earn- 
est communicants of the Lutheran church. 

Martin L. Kors acquired his early educa- 
tion in the graded schools of Illinois, and as a 
youth he there served a thorough apprentice- 
ship to the trade of tinsmith. As a skilled 
artisan he continued to follow his trade until 
1877, and 1883 engaged in the tinner's business 
at Beatrice, in which city he had established 
his home that year. He has shown marked 
discrimination and progressiveness as a mer- 
chant. Efficiency of service and personal pop- 
ularity having been the principal factors in 
insuring his success. His first store in Be- 
atrice was established on the west side of the 
city, but he soon removed to the central retail 
district and since February 10, 1898, he has 
conducted his business at the present location, 
on Thirteenth and Court streets- In 1909 he 
admitted to partnership his son, Walter H., 
and since that time the enterprise has been 
conducted under the firm name of M. L. Kors 
& Son. 

Noveml:>er 28. 1883. recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Kors to Miss Sophia M. Hackman, 
who was born and reared in Cass county. Illi- 
nois, a daughter of John F. Hackman, who 
was a natiye of Germany and became an early 
settler and prosperous farmer in Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kors have two children : Ethel M., 
who was graduated in the Beatrice high school 
in 1904. remains at the parental home and is a 
popular factor in the representative social ac- 
tivities of her home city, and Walter H., who 
is associated with his father in business, is 
more specifically mentioned in the following 
paragraph : 

Walter H. Kors, junior member of the firm 
of M. L. Kors & Son, was born at Beatrice, 
February 14, 1887, and here received his early 
education in the public schools, .^s a youth 
he began to assi.st in the work of his father's 
store, in which he continued his activities as 
an efficient and popular salesman until he was 



admitted to partnership in the business, in 
1909, since which time he has continued as his 
father's valued coadjutor in the management of 
the large and prosperous business. He is one 
of the progressive and public-spirited business 
men of the younger generation in Beatrice, 
has been a member of the city's volunteer fire 
department for fully fifteen years, is a Repub- 
lican in politics, is affiliated with the Tribe of 
Ben Hur and he is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. In 1911 Mr. Kors wedded 
Miss Mamie Wolf, who was born in Blakely 
township, this county, where her parents, Ma- 
rion F. and Lydia V. (Graves) Wolf, settled 
in the pioneer days. Mr. and Mrs. Kors have 
two children — Robert Walter, born Decem- 
ber 12, 1912, and Lois Ethel, born Xovember 
7, 1913. 

Martin L. Kors has not confined his senti- 
ment and action to mere personal advancement 
but has at all times stood sponsor for civic loy- 
alty and progressiveness. He has served three 
terms as a member of the county board of 
supervisors and for a long period of years as a 
valued member of the Beatrice board of edu- 
cation, of which he was president three terms. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party, he is affiliated with the Masonic 
fraternity and he and his family hold member- 
ship in the Methodist Episcopal church. In 
1905 Mr. Kors erected his beautiful and mod- 
ern residence, on East Court street, and the 
same is a home known for its gracious hospital- 
ity and good cheer. The son, Walter H.. like- 
wise erected an attractive home, in 1911, and 
upon his marriage he and his wife there estab- 
lished their residence. 

FRANK R. SHELLEY, who is now presi- 
dent and general manager of the Northwestern 
Business College, in the city of Beatrice, and 
whose vigorous and well ordered policies are 
greatly enhancing the usefulness of this ex- 
cedent institution, is a scion, in the third gen- 
eration, of one of the honored pioneer families 
of Gage county, where the paternal grand- 
father settled about five years prior to the ad- 
mission of Nebraska to .statehood. On other 
pages adequate review of the family history is 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



679 



given in the sketch dedicated to the late James 
W. Shelley, father of the subject of this arti- 
cle, and thus a repetition of the data is not 
here demanded. 

Frank R. Shelley was born in Rockford 
township, this county, March 7, 1891, and is a 
son of James W. and Mary (Bailey) Shelley. 
His preliminary education was acquired in the 
district schools and thereafter, depending 
largely on himself to provide the necessary 
incidental expenses, he completed a course in 
the Beatrice high school, in which he was grad- 
uated as a member of the class of 1912. Am- 
bitious and indefatigable as a student, Mr. 
Shelley later applied himself with characteristic 
diligence to regular courses of study in a 
leading correspondence school and he has car- 
ried his studies forward to the point where he 
is entitled to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
In this connection he studied both law and 
salesmanship, besides taking specific efficiency 
courses that have tended to mature his powers 
along constructive and executive lines. Mr. 
Shelley devoted one year to teaching district 
school and then became clerk in a grocery store. 
Finally he was made manager of a mercantile 
establishment at Tecumseh, Johnson county, 
and after his retirement from this position he 
became a salesman of memberships in the 
Northwestern Business College. After eigh- 
teen months of successful work in this capacity 
he purchased, in February, 1916, an interest in 
this excellent institution, which is incorporat- 
ed under the laws of Nebraska and of which 
he has been president and general manager 
since April 1, 1917. The school had fallen 
somewhat below standard in its work and man- 
agement when he assumed the management of 
its afifairs and he has successfully applied his 
energies in bringing ma.ximum efficiency into 
all departments of the school work, in making 
the institution a valuable adjunct to practical 
and effective educational work in this section 
of the state and in so exploiting the school as 
to gain to it a substantial and appreciative 
supporting patronage. In the college is re- 
tained a corps of well qualified instructors, the 
material facilities and general accessories are 
of the best standard, and Mr. Shelley has 



formulated and carried forward an advertising 
campaign that is resulting in greatly increasing 
the enrollment of students — of which depart- 
ment of the executive service he has had per- 
sonal charge. An enthusiast in his work and 
in making his school a medium for practical 
education, the development of efficiency and 
the upbuilding of character, he has been in- 
strumental in making the Northwestern Bus- 
iness College a prosperous and worthy institu- 
tion. He is president also of Fairbury Busi- 
ness College, at Fairbury, Nebraska. A young 
man of vital energy and ambition, he recog- 
nizes no such word as failure, and in his pres- 
ent field of endeavor he has found ample scope 
for achievement of high value. In politics he 
is aligned in the ranks of the Republican party, 
and both he and his wife hold membership in 
the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Shelley 
is now (spring of 1918) in the government 
employ at Waco, Texas, where he is serving 
as a clerk in the aviation corps. 

January 31, 1917, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Shelley to Miss Eva L. Knox, daughter 
of C. D. Knox, of this county, and they are 
popular figures in the representative social 
life of the Gage county metropolis. 

PETER E. BENSON. — In Greek mythol- 
ogy the Fates are three goddesses who are 
supposed to influence the destinies of men. 
One goddess draws out the threads of life, the 
second weaves the dark and light threads, and 
the third takes her shears and clips off the ends. 
There would seem to be a grain of truth in this 
superstitution as we look at the warp and woof 
in the lives of men. It looks as though fate 
rather than self had made us the individuals 
we are. But, nevertheless, we are confronted 
by the fact that we are the creatures of chance, 
in that other individual lives have influenced 
our own. Their actions have had much to do 
with ours and Mr. Peter F. Benson is con- 
fronted with the fact that his living in this 
land of opportunity is an attendant result of 
his brother, Fred Benson, having immigrated 
to this country some years previously. To 
speak in a chronological manner, Peter E. Ben- 
son was born in Denmark, .\pril 10, 1848, 



680 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



and is the son of Xeils and Mary Benson. 
Neils Benson was born January 21, 1804, and 
taught school in his native land ; iiis death oc- 
curred in -March, 1888- His wife was born 
February 24. 1819, and died in 1904. They 
were the parents of twelve children, four of 
whom make their home in their native land, 
the others are deceased with the exception of 
Peter E. Benson, of this sketch. 

In 1868 Fred Benson, the brother of Peter, 
left his native land and came to the United 
States. He worked as a laborer for some 
time and in 1878 he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and purchased land. Here he re- 
mained until his death, in 1892. As stated 
above, the coming of Mr. Benson's brother to 
the United States had much to do with his de- 
cision to come also. When he came, in 1872, 
he landed in New Jersey, where he was em- 
ployed in a brickyard; from 1874 to 1875 he 
worked in the South Manchester silk mills, in 
Connecticut, and he then went to Ohio, where 
he worked as a farm hand. 

September 2.\ 187.^. in Cleveland. Ohio. Pe- 
ter Benson married .Anna Peterson. This mar- 
riage was the culmination of a romance start- 
ed while Mr. Benson was working in New Jer- 
sey. His W'ife is a native of Denmark, born 
November 3. 18.t2. and ujion coming to this 
country she settled in New Jersey, her mother 
joining her after a few years. 

After the marriage of these young people 
they moved to Clinton county, Iowa, where 
Mr. Benson was employed in a saw mill. .Af- 
ter ten years of residence there he came to 
Gage county and rented the present farm from 
his brother Fred, .\fter his brother's death, 
the property became his own and he has con- 
tinued to do a genera! farming business. Nine 
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ben- 
son, five of whom are living: Anna M.. is a 
school teacher at Columbus, Nebraska ; she was 
educated in the high .school of Odell and the 
Peru Normal Charles E., sociological exam- 
iner in the service of United States, is located 
at Camp Greenleaf. Georgia. He was at one 
time professor of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 
schools and of the high school of Kearney, Ne- 
braska. His education was received at the Ne- 



braska State University and the Nebraska State 
Normal School at Peru. He is married to 
Miss Lulu Linder, of Upland, Nebraska. The 
next child is Rosa C, wife of John E. Hay- 
worth, living at Omaha, Nebraska. Amelia is 
the wife of Fisher Musser, living at Fairbury, 
Nebraska. Fred C, a teacher, remains at the 
parental home. Mr. Benson has given his 
children the best of educational advantages 
and they are taking their places in the world's 
work in a highly satisfactory manner. 

Mr. Benson in politics is an independent 
Republican. He has never sought any politi- 
cal honors, being content to devote his time 
to his home and family. 

ALDEN C. BRADLEY. — In the city of 
Beatrice, the attractive metropolis and judicial 
center of Gage county, a portion of which 
municipality occupies land once owned by his 
father, Mr. Bradley is giving efficient service 
as a mail carrier, and he is one of the well 
known and distinctly popular citizens of the 
county that has represented his home since he 
was a lad of tw-elve years. 

Mr. Bradley was born in LaPorte county, 
Indiana, on the 6th of January, 1860, and is a 
son of Taylor and Emily C. Bradley, the for- 
n^er of whom was born in Pennsylvania and 
the latter in Indiana, where her parents settled 
in the pioneer period of the history of the line 
old Hoosier commonwealth. In Indiana. Tay- 
lor Bradley continued to be associated with 
agricultural industry until 1864. when he came 
with his family to the west and became one of 
the early pioneer settlers of Nebraska Terri- 
tory. He established his home in the village 
of Fort Calhoun, Washington county, where 
he continued his activities as a miller until 
1873. He then removed to Gage county, where 
he obtained a tract of land and instituted the 
reclamation and development of a farm. He 
was successful in his activities during the r»ass- 
ing years and a portion of the land once owned 
by him is now included within the corporate 
limits of the city of Beatrice, as previously 
stated in this context. Both he and his wife 
continued their residence in Gage county u'ltil 
their death, and their names merit place oji the 



HISTORV OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



681 



enduring roster of the honored pioneers of 
the county. 

Alden C. Bradley was but four years of age 
at the time of the family removal to Nebraska 
Territory, and thus he early gained experience 
in connection with the conditions and influ- 
ences of the pioneer days. His youthful edu- 
cation was acquired in the schools of Wash- 
ington and Gage counties, and he continued 
his allegiance to the great fundamental in- 
dustry of agriculture until 1895, when he as- 
sumed a clerical position in the postoffice at 
Beatrice. His service in connection with the 
local postoffice administration has continued 
during the long intervening period of nearly a 
quarter of a century and since 1895 he has 
been one of the most popular members of the 
force of city mail carriers, his circle of friends 
in Gage county being coincident with that of 
his acquaintances. 

Mr. Bradley gives his political allegiance to 
the Republican party, he and his wife hold 
membership in the Congregational church, and 
he maintains active affiliation with the Royal 
Highlanders, the Improved Order of Red Men 
and the Fraternal Aid Union. Mr. Bradley 
has seen Beatrice develop from a mere frontier 
village into a progressive and attractive city 
with metropolitan facilities and beautiful 
homes. He and his wife have no children but 
their pleasant home is known for its gracious 
hospitality, which is generously extended to 
friends both old and young. 

In the year 1887 Mr. Bradley wedded Miss 
Alice Herron, who was born in Iowa, and who 
was a girl when she came with her parents to 
Gage county, where her marriage was solemn- 
ized and where she is popular in the social cir- 
cles of her home city. 

CHARLES O. GUDTNER — The vigor- 
ous and prothictive industry that is the normal 
forerunner of worthy success has been sig- 
nificantly exemplified in the career of this 
sterling citizen of Beatrice, where he conducts 
the largest and most effectively equipped bla^rk- 
smith and repair shop in the city and where 
he has brought its efficiency of service up to 
such a high standard that he receives a most 



substantial and representative supporting pat- 
ronage, his establishment having the best of 
facilities for the handling of general repair 
work on wagons, carriages, and automobiles, 
as well as those requisite to the other phases 
of expert blacksmith work. 

Mr- Gudtner was born at Elmwood, Peoria 
county, Illinois, on the 6th of July, 1863, and 
is a son of David and Sarah (Robey) Gudtner, 
the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania 
and the latter at Hagerstown, Wayne county, 
Indiana, in which state their marriage was 
solemnized. David Gudtner, a skilled black- 
smith and wagonmaker by trade, came with 
his family to Nebraska in 1870 and became one 
of the pioneer exponents of his sturdy voca- 
tion at Beatrice, which was then a small vil- 
lage. On his arrival in the future metropo- 
lis of Gage county he made provision for the 
temporary domiciling of the family by estab- 
lishing a camp on the present site of the Union 
Pacific Railroad station, and this continued to 
be the family abiding place until he could 
provide a house. For a time Mr. Gudtner was 
here employed at his trade in the shop of a 
man named Snow, and as soon as it became 
expedient he established a shop of his own. 
He developed a substantial business as a pio- 
neer blacksmith and wagonmaker in this sec- 
tion of the state, his skill insuring at aill 
times the best type of workmanship and his 
policies being such as to gain to him unquali- 
fied popular confidence and esteem. He was 
earnest and liberal as a citizen and his abiding 
human sympathy caused him to aid in chari- 
table and benevolent movements, as well as 
to assist in an individual way those who were 
less fortunate in life. He was a stalwart ad- 
vocate of the principles of the Republican par- 
ty, was long and actively affiliated with the 
Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife 
were zealous members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. He was a member of a fam- 
ily that was founded in America many gener- 
ations ago and was a scion of sturdy Holland 
Dutch stock. He and his devoted wife con- 
tinued their residence in Beatrice until their 
death, he having passed away about the year 
1905 and she in 1908, their names meriting 



682 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 




* 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



683 



a place of honor on the roll of the sterling- 
pioneers of Gage county, where they lived and 
labored to goodly ends. Of their nine chil- 
dren five are now living, namely : Mary, who 
is the widow of George Metzger and maintains 
her home at Beatrice ; Jennie, who is the wife 
of Albert Sponsler, of San Francisco, Califor- 
nia; Charles 0.,who is the immediate subject 
of this sketch ; Nellie, who is the wife of James 
McMahill, of San Fancisco, California ; and 
George, who resides at Long Beach, that state. 

Charles O. Gudtner was a boy of about 
seven years at the time of the family removal 
to Gage county, and he is indebted to the 
pioneer schools of Beatrice for his early edu- 
cational training. Here as a youth he learned 
the blacksmith trade by serving a through ap- 
prenticeship in the shop conducted by George 
Metzger, at the corner of Sixth and Court 
streets. In 1887 he went to Sheridan county, 
Kansas, where he took up a homestead claim 
of one hundred and sixty acres, established a 
modest bachelor's home on the place and in- 
stituted its reclamation and improvement. He 
remained on his Kansas claim until he had per- 
fected his title thereto, and later he sold the 
property in an advantageous way. In 1892 
Mr. Gudtner returned to Beatrice and resumed 
the work of his trade. His capitalistic in- 
vestment in opening his shop was only eighty- 
five dollars and though the city had at the time 
thirteen other blacksmith shops he had gained 
reputation for skill in his vocation and was so 
well and favorably known in the county that 
he soon developed a prosperous business. He 
now has the largest blacksmithing establish- 
ment in the city and in the same gives employ- 
ment to a corps of seven efficient assistants — 
a condition that indicates the broad scope and 
relative importance of his well ordered indus- 
trial enterprise- 

As a man of indefatigable industry and pro- 
gressive ideas, Mr. Gudtner has achieved sub- 
stantial success in business, the while he has 
exemplified the civic loyalty that denotes the 
ideal citizen, his political allegiance being given 
to the Republican party. 

In 1890 was solemnized the marriage of 
]\Ir. Gudtner to Miss Nettie Smith, who was 



born and reared in Kansas, a representative 
of one of the pioneer families of the Sunflower 
state, and they have one son, Frederick, who is 
now actively associated with his father's bus- 
iness enterprise and who is well upholding the 
family prestige for skill in the work of the 
blacksmith trade. 

SAMUEL S. PHEASANT, who is the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of four hun- 
dred acres in Gage county, as well as the old 
homestead farm upon which he was reared 
and on which he now resides, in Section 1, 
Jefiferson township, Jefferson county, is a 
representative of one of the well known terri- 
torial pioneer families of southeastern Ne- 
braska, and his association with Gage county 
is such as fully to justify his recognition in 
this history, his home farm being nine miles 
distant from Beatrice, from which city he re- 
ceives service on rural mail route No. 1. Mr. 
Pheasant was born in Benton county, Iowa, 
September 15, 1859, and was about seven years 
old when, in 1866, his parents came to Ne- 
braska territory and established their home 
on the farm which is his present place of resi- 
dence. He is a son of Edwin and Isabel (Gar- 
ton) Pheasant, the former of whom was born 
in New York city, January 10, 1820, and the 
latter of whom was born in Indiana, their mar- 
riage having been solemnized in the state of 
Illinois, in 1845. As a boy Edwin Pheasant 
found employment in the factory of his uncle, 
James Watson, who was engaged in manufac- 
turing wooden pumps in the state of New 
York, and in 1835 he accompanied his uncle 
to Illinois, where he became associated with 
the latter in farm enterprise and where he was 
reared to manhood under the conditions mark- 
ing the pioneer period of the history of that 
state. After his marriage he there engaged in 
farming in an independent way, but a few 
years later he removed with his family to 
Iowa and became one of the pioneers of Ben- 
ton county. There he continued his active 
association with farm enterprise for fourteen 
years, and on the 14th of June, 1866, he and 
his family arrived at Beatrice, Nebraska Ter- 
ritory. In the following September the fam- 



684 



HISTORY OF GAGE COrXTY. NEBRASKA 



ily removed to the tract of one hundred and 
sixty acres of land which he had secured in 
Section 1, Jefferson township. JelTerson 
county, just over the hne from Gage county. 
Later he added to this estate by the purchasing 
of eighty acres in Section 5, Lincohi township. 
Gage county, and with the passing years his 
well ordered industry was crowned with sub- 
stantial success, involving the development of 
one of the valuable farm properties of this 
section of the state. Edwin Pheasant re- 
mained on his old homestead until his death, 
which occurred October 14, 1898, his wife 
having passed away in June, 1896, and both 
having been earnest members of the Primitive 
Church of Christ. They were charter mem- 
bers of the Christian church at Beatrice. Of 
their children the subject of this review is the 
youngest, and concerning the others the fol- 
lowing brief data are available : Ellen, who 
became the wife of A. R. Francis, is deceased, 
as are also James and John : Mary is the wife 
of James McXcen, of La Junta, Colorado; 
Laura became the wife of J. G. Lawrence and 
was a resident of Beatrice, Nebraska, at the 
time of her death, which occurred October 27. 
1917. 

Samuel S. Pheasant was seven years old 
when he gained his initial experience in con- 
nection with ])ioneer farm enterprise on the 
homestead which is now his place of abode, 
and his early education was acquired in the 
pioneer schools of Jefferson county. He has 
had no inclination to sever his allegiance to 
the fundamental industries of agriculture and 
stock -growing in his mature years and through 
the medium thereof has achieved large and 
worthy success. The homestead on which he 
lives and which is modern in all of its im- 
provements, comprises one hundred and sixty 
acres, and the remainder of his large landed 
estate, of about four hundred and sixty acres, 
is in Lincoln townshi]). Gage county. Mr. 
Pheasant has exemplified the utmost progres- 
siveness as a citizen and man of affairs and 
while he has had no desire for political prefer- 
ment he gives staunch allegiance to the Re- 
publican party, both he and his wife being 



active mernbers of the Primitive Church of 
Christ, as was also his first wife. 

In January, 1884. Mr. Pheasant wedded 
Miss ICugenia Pittinger, daughter of Benjamin 
F. and .Amanda (Holeman) Pittinger, who 
established their home in Gage county in 1874 
and who here passed the residue of their lives. 
Mrs. Pheasant was summoned to the life eter- 
nal on the 30th of October, 1895, and is sur- 
vived by three children : Guy L. is one of the 
progressive young farmers of Lincoln town- 
.ship, Gage county, and on the 19th of Oc- 
tober, 1910, he wedded Miss Mary E. Mc- 
Clure. daughter of James L. and Lucy (Mc- 
Michael ) McClure, of Gage county, the one 
child of this union being Harold E. ; Mary it 
the wife of Floyd L. Marco, of Beatrice; and 
Samuel E. remains at the paternal home. 

June 18, 1897, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Pheasant to Miss Rhoda Potts, daughter 
of Jonathan J. and Elizabeth Potts, who set- 
tled in Jefferson county. Nebraska, in 1866, 
Mr. Potts having previously served as a 
valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. 
Of the second marriage of Mr. Pheasant no 
children have been boni. 

ALBERT Kl'IILMANN. — The melting 
pot of -America has been receiving immigrants 
from every country in the wcirld and is turn- 
ini.;- out a new nationality — the .American 
He is endowed with the industry of the Ger- 
man, the stolidness of the Scotch, the wit of 
the Irishman, the idealism of the Italian, the 
orientalism of the Jap and the stubborness and 
frankness of the English. Such a combination 
will conquer the world through love and jus- 
tice. .Albert Kuhlmann is a native of Ger- 
many — the great empire that has poured so 
many of its sons into the great melting pot of 
America to form a new nation. His father 
and mother, Ernest and Sophia (Jordan) 
Kuhlmann were born in Germany and immi- 
grated to this conntrv in their early married 
life, when .Albert Kuhlmann. who was born 
January 1.^. 1874. was just a tiny baby in arms. 
Ernest Kulhniann was born .Augu-st 25. 1846, 
in Hanover. Germany, and upon his arrival in 
America he settled in Illinois. Later he moved 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



685 



to Missouri, and in 1881 he came to Richard- 
son county, Nebraska, where he purchased land 
in Barada township and where he is still con- 
tinuing his farming operations. His wife, 
Mrs. Sophia Kuhlmann, was born May 19, 
1849, and passed away Dtecember 26, 1893. 
They were the parents of the following chil- 
dren, all of whom were born in this country 
with the exception of the oldest, Albert, with 
whom this sketch deals ; Emma, is the wife of 
Otto Scharinghausen of Jansen, Nebraska ; and 
Henry resides in Richardson county. Nebraska- 
Three more children were born, but are de- 
ceased. 

Albert Kuhhnann was educated in the rural 
schools of Barada township, Richardson coun- 
ty and after choosing his life vocation and 
working for himself, he continued his alle- 
giance to farm industry. He married Sophia 
Hartman, February 3, 1898. Mrs. Kuhlmann 
was born in liarada township, Richardson 
county. December 20, 1877. Her parents, Leo- 
pold and So])hia (Gretchmann) Hartman were 
of German birth and lineage. They came to 
Nebraska and the father became a prosperous 
farmer in Richardson county. Both are now 
deceased. They were the parents of eleven 
children. 

Six children have come to bless the home of 
Mr. and Mrs. Kuhlmann — Edward, Minnie, 
Emma, Amanda, Alvin, and Elsie. All are at 
the parental home and are receiving proper 
ediication to fit them to take their share in the 
world's work and enrich the civic and social 
life by their good works. 

The politics of Mr. Kuhlmann are of the in- 
dependent Republican order. He has served 
on the school board of District No. 130, for 
eleven years. 

In 1904 Mr. Kuhhnann, his wife and fam- 
ily came to Gage county, where he purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres of land, in Glen- 
wood township. He has made improvements 
on the farm buildings for the better conducting 
of his farming work. He and his family are 
members of the Lutheran church. 

PERCY J. SMETHERS, a representative 
retired farmer now residing in the city of Be- 



atrice, established his home in Gage county 
forty years ago and through his energy and 
progressiveness he developed and improved one 
of the fine farm estates of Glenwood township. 
He was born in Lee county, Illinois, on the 
30th of September, 1856, and is a son of Josiah 
and Mary (Hill) Smethers, who were born 
and reared in Pennsylvania and who came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, in 1878, the father 
taking up a tract of land on the Otoe Indian 
reservation and having reclaimed the same into 
a productive farm. Upon his retirement from 
the farm he established his home in the village 
of Lanham, this county, and there he and his 
wife passed the remainder of their lives, hon- 
ored as sterling pioneer citizens of the county. 
Of their eight children five are living: Cin- 
derella is the wife of B. C. Burkett, a retired 
farmer residing in the village of Odell. this 
county; Percy J., of this review, is the next 
younger ; Harvey M. is prominently indentified 
with mercantile enterprise in the city of 
Beatrice; James is employed as a skilled iron 
worker in the same city; and Oscar Leon 
resides in Wyoming. The father was a 
Democrat in politics and he and his wife were 
consistent members of the English Lutheran 
cluirch. Their marriage was solemnized in 
Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and in 1853 
they immigrated to Lee county, Illinois, where 
they continued to reside until their removal to 
Nebraska, as already noted. 

Percy J. Smethers acquired his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of his native county 
and was twenty-two years of age when he ac- 
companied his parents to Nebraska, in 1878, 
( )n the Otoe Indian reservation, in what is now 
Glenwood township, Gage county, he jiurchased 
one hundred and sixty acres of land, and here 
he reclaimed and developed the fine farm on 
whicli he continued to reside for thirty-one 
years. His original house was little more than 
a hut, and was built at a cost of forty-five 
dollars, and this constituted the family home 
for seven years. He then erected a substantial 
and commodious farm house, and he also erect- 
ed other good buildings on his homestead. In 
buying his original farm Mr. Smethers paid 
for the same at the rate of three and one-half 



686 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



dollars an acre. In 1909 he sold the property 
for one hundred dollars an acre. As a farmer 
l;e gave his attention to diversified agriculture 
and the raising of good live stock, besides 
developing a prosperous dairying business. 
Upon selling his old homestead he purchased 
forty a;res of land lying adjacent to the city 
of Beatrice, and in the spring of 1917 he sold 
this property for two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars an acre- He still owns a well improved 
farm of eighty acres in Glenwood township. 

In 1877 ^Ir. Smethers wedded Miss Mary 
Uhl, who was born in Lee county, Illinois, 
June 17, 1857, a daughter of the late Hiram 
and Margaret (Wilhelm) Uhl. the latter of 
whom died in 1838, and two of her four chil- 
dren are still living. Mr. Uhl ultimately con- 
tracted a second marriage, when Nancy 
Hughes became his wife, and of this union 
were born four children. Concerning the 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Smethers the follow- 
ing brief record is given : Nettie is the wife of 
W. A. Seitz and they reside in the state of 
Montana ; Elroy resides in the city of Lincoln, 
Nebraska ; Maevi became the wife of Horace 
Loeber, who passed away November 26, 1917. 

Mr. and ]\Irs. Smethers are earnest and 
zealous members of the Christian church and 
he is a valued member of the church choir. 
In politics he gives his support to the cause of 
the Democratic party and while residing on 
his farm he .served for several years as town- 
ship clerk. 

GEORGE T. STEPHENSON, who is now 
living practically retired in the thriving little 
city of Wymore, has been an influential and 
valued citizen whose varied activities along 
civic and business lines have been so wisely and 
honorably directed as to make them prolific 
in the furtherance of the general wcllbeing 
of the community. His spirit of personal 
stewardship has been exemplified in his civic 
loyalty, as well as in his large and worthy 
achievement as a man of broad and varied 
interests, and none is more essentially entitled 
to recognition in this history of Gage county. 

George F. Stephenson was born in Floyd 
•countv, Iowa, on the 22d of June, 1862, and 



is a son of. Thomas and Mary A- ( McCune) 
Stephenson, both natives of Ireland. Thomas 
Stephenson, who was born in the year 1828, 
was reared and educated in his native land, 
and the year 1840 recorded him as a resident 
of the state of New York. There was solem- 
nized his marriage to Miss Mary A. McCune, 
who had come from the fair old Emerald 
Isle to the United States in company with 
her parents, the year of her nativity having 
been 1827. Prior to the Civil war Thomas 
Stephenson and his wife numbered them- 
selves among the pioneers of Iowa, where he 
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
When the Civil war was precipitated on the 
nation he showed his intrinsic loyalty to the 
land to which he had come as a youth, for 
he tendered his services in defense of the 
Union by enlisting in the Thirteenth Iowa 
\'oIunteer Infantry. W'nh this command he 
served faithfully and gallantlv during his 
term of enlistment, and it may l)e specially 
noted that he was with General Sherman in 
the Atlanta campaign and in the subsequent 
and memorable march to the sea. .\fter the 
close of the war he continued his farming 
operations in Iowa until 1866, when he came 
to Richardson county, Nebraska, and again 
girded himself for pioneer responsibilities and 
service. In 1878 he came to Gage count*- and 
here he purchased from the government two 
hundred acres of wild and untrammeled prai- 
rie land, and to this embryonic farm, in Sicily 
township, he brought his family by means of 
a team and "prairie schooner." He developed 
a finely productive farm property, and in the 
meanwhile he and his wife endured their full 
share of the privations and vicissitudes that 
so distinctly marked the pioneer era in Gage 
county history. They lived upriglit and 
righteous lives, were true to all the respon- 
sibilities that devolved upon them and gave to 
their children the g<x)dly heritage of noble 
thoughts and noble deeds, though they had 
naught of the spirit of self-glorification or 
any desire to divert themselves from the even 
tenor of their way. They were sterling 
pioneer citizens who commanded unequivocal 
esteem, and Mr. Stephenson was sixty-six 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



687 



years of age at the time of his death in 1894. 

His widow has attained to the age of ninety- 
one years and is a resident of Lincohi, this 
state. Thomas Stephenson was ahgned in 
the ranks of the Democratic party, was affili- 
ated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows and his wife is a member of the Bap- 
tist church. Of their eight children six are 
now living: William, a retired farmer, resides 
at DuBois, Pawnee county; George T., of this 
review, was the next in order of birth ; Riley 
is engaged in ranching in Montana ; Alice is 
the widow of Albert Clayton and resides in 
tlie capital city of Nebraska ; Emma is the 
wife of John W. Cutshall, a farmer of Pawnee 
county, this state ; and Martha is the wife of 
John K. Campbell, who is, in 1918, principal 
of the public schools of Wymore, Gage coun- 
ty. 

George T. Stephenson passed the period 
of his childhood and early youth on his 
father's farm, and in the meanwhile he profited 
duly by the advantages of the district schools- 
He was a lad of four years at the time of the 
family removal to Nebraska, and he contin- 
ued his studies in the schools of Gage coun- 
U, besides which he took a course in the well 
ordered business college at Lawrence, Kansas. 
He proved and tested his scholastic acquire- 
ments by devoting his attention to teaching 
for several years, and in 1891 he established 
his residence at Wymore, where he engaged 
in the hardware and agricultural-implement 
business. He developed a substantial and 
prosperous enterprise in this important line 
of trade, and continued the business for a 
period of ten years. Thereafter he was for 
several years engaged extensively in the real- 
estate business, in which connection he devel- 
oped a large and prosperous enterprise in the 
handling of both farm and village properties. 

The progressiveness and loyalty of Mr. 
Stephenson have been demonstrated also in 
other alliances of important order. He was 
the organizer of the Wymore Building & Loan 
Association, of which he became secretary, 
and with this vital corporation he continued 
his connection until 1917, when he resigned 
his position as secretary. He is vice-presi- 



dent of the First National Bank of Wymore 
and is the owner of valuable farm property 
in Gage county. 

The political predilections of Mr. Stephen- 
son are indicated in the unswerving allegi- 
ance which he has given to the Democratic 
party, and he has given yeoman service in be- 
half of its cause. He served for a number 
of years as tax collector of Wymore township 
and also gave effiecient service in the office 
of city treasurer of Wymore. He is affiliated 
with the local lodge of the Masonic fraternity 
and has passed the various official chairs in 
the same, as has he also in the Wymore camp 
of the Modern Woodmen of America. 

In March, 1889, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Stephenson to Miss Nellie Beer, 
and they have two children : Bernice is the 
wife of Myrle C. Evans, efficiency expert in 
the employ of a Chicago electric-light corpor- 
ation ; and Doane, who was in the employ of 
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 
at Wymore, is now at Fort Logan, in the 
service of the United States. Mrs. Stephen- 
son was born in Illinois and is a daughter 
of William and Adeline Beer, who were born 
in Pennsylvania and who came from Illinois 
to Gage county, Nebraska, in 1880, the re- 
mainder of their lives having been passed in 
this county- 
is AAC W. BURCH has continuously 
maintained his home in Beatrice since 1877 
and for more than a quarter of a century he 
has been a member of the force of city mail 
carriers, a veteran in this branch of service 
and a citizen whose circle of friends is coinci- 
dent with that of his acquaintances. 

Mr. Burch was born in Cambridge, Wash- 
ington county. New York, December 11, 1848, 
and is a son of Lorenzo and Hannah M. 
(Durfee) Burch, both of whom passed their 
entire lives in that county of the old Empire 
state, where the respective families were 
founded in an early day. Mr. Burch was 
reared to the sturdy discipline of the home 
farm and acquired his youthful education in 
the common schools of his native county. Up- 
on attaining to his legal majority he engaged 



688 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. NEBRASKA 



in working on a farm by the nionlh. and he 
was twenty-four years of age when, in 1873, 
he made his first visit to Gage county, Ne- 
braska. Two months later he returned to 
New York state, but in 1877 he came again 
to Gage county and established his home at 
Beatrice, his memory thus having an indelible 
impression of the progressive movements that 
have resulted in the development of the 
frontier village into one of the attractive and 
prosperous cities of the state. On the 1st of 
Julv. 1891, Mr. Burch entered the employ of 
the government as a city mail carrier in 
Beatrice, and of this position he has since 
continued the efficient and popular incumbent, 
•few citizens of the county being better known 
or held in higher esteem. His political allegi- 
ance is given to the Republican party and he 
takes a lively interest in all things touching 
the welfare and advancement of his liome 
city. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Alary B. Hill, likewise was born and reared 
in Cambridge, Washington county. New 
York, and she has gained a wide circle of 
friends within the long period of her residence 
in Beatrice. They have no children. 

FRANK M ASEK. a retired farmer living 
in Odell. Nebraska, is the owner of two 
hundred and fifty-two acres of land, in Pad- 
dock and Glen wood townships. Mr. .Masek 
is of the true ])ioneer type. — a type exempli- 
fying both brains and brawn. It needs a 
character which can stand the hard knocks 
of privation and loneliness, and which can, 
with determined will and unswerving purpose, 
persist when others would fail Such a per- 
sonality is Frank Ma.sck, a native born 
Bohemian. He was born in the village of 
Horcic, I'il.sen, Bohemia, March 20. 1847. 
His parents. Joseph and Mary (Machasek) 
Masek, were born in Bohemia and lived all 
their lives in that Slav country. — one of little 
opportunity and few great achievements. These 
good people were the parents of twelve chil- 
dren and Joseph Masek plied his trade of 
carpenter all of his life. But of more ven- 
turesome blood were his two sons Frank and 
William, who longed for new fields of service 



and op])ortunity. June 24, 1867, the day af- 
ter Frank Masek's marriage to Josephine 
Smola, this young Bohemian couple sailed for 
the United States, a land that to them was 
one with unknown tongue, unknown customs 
and unknown opportunities, but they faltered 
not, being ready to meet their destiny as it 
came. When only six days from land, the 
ship caught fire. So great was the fire that 
men and women were kneeling all over the 
deck, praying that God would save them. Life 
belts were put on, in expectation that any 
minute the passengers would have to take to 
the open sea, but the fire was finally extin- 
guished and they were spared to reach their 
destinations. Mr. and Mrs. Masek. with the 
brother, \\'illiam Masek, who came two vears 
later, located at St. Louis. Missouri. For 
twelve years the family home was maintained 
in that city and Air. Masek worked in the 
stone quarries. 

In 1879 Mr. Masek, with his wife and three 
children, came to Nebraska to start life 
afresh on the soil. He had saved six hundred 
dollars while in St. Louis and expected to 
buy land- The first year he rented, but the 
next year, he purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of land from his brother William, 
who had purchased this land but had not 
tried to improve it. .^11 that Frank Alasek 
possessed was a pair of horses and a wagon ; 
he had no tools to work with, no spade nor 
hoe. only his strong hands and a determina- 
tion to make good. This land, which to-day 
is so well cultivated and dotted wnth farm 
homes, barns and silos and stocked with 
herds of cattle and hogs, was then one vast 
expanse of prairie. .Vs far as the eye could 
reach no human habitation could be seen. 
There was no shelter for the people who had 
brought their all to "pioneer" in Gage coun- 
ty. Very soon they had their rude snd hut 
and a shelter for their horses, and were tilling 
the soil. 

.-\s the country was being settled, the chil- 
dren needed schools in which to receive the 
rudiments of education. The countv seemed 
unable or too listless to give financial aid to 
thJs district for a school. Then Frank Masek. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



689 



with his own liand and the help of neig'hbors, 
built the first sod hut used for a school. It 
was in Section 7, Paddock township. 

The marriage of Frank ]\Tasek and Jose- 
phine Smola occurred in ISoheniia, June 23, 
1867. Mrs. Masek shared with her husband 
all of his labors of the early days and lived 
to see the fruit of all of their striving. They 
became the parents of nine children, seven of 
whom are living. The mother passed away in 
1903. Brief record concerning the children 
iz here given : William, born in St. Louis, 
Mo., in 1870, married Miss Rosa ^Murphy, 
and is now deceased ; Mary is the wife of 
Frank Hajek, living in section 5, Paddock 
township: Anna is the wife of Joseph Hajek, 
of Glenwood township; Joseph died in infan- 
cy : Carrie is the wife of John Boch and they 
live near C)keto, Kansas ; Frank resides near 
Odell, Nebraska, in Paddock township; Jo- 
seph is deceased; John is living in Glenwood 
township ; Minnie is housekeeper for her fath- 
er. 

In 1912 Mr. Masek retired from active 
farming and bought pro])erty in Odell. where 
he now lives with his daughter Minnie. In 
politics he has voted the Democratic ticket. 
He has held township offices, was road over- 
seer and on the school board in Paddock 
township. He is a member of the Catholic 
church, which receives liberally of his means. 
He is owner of two hundred and fifty-two 
acres of land at the present time, but has 
owned many more acres. He bought land as 
fast as he could and gave it to his children, 
who are fanning all through the neighboring 
townships. He is a shareholder in the State 
Bank of Odell and the Farmers" Lumber 
Yard. 

EDW.\RD F. DAVIS is one of the more 
venerable of the well known pioneer citizens 
residing in the city of E>eatrice. and his 
career has been one marked by diversified ex- 
perience as well as by the achievement of 
worthy success. With marked vigor of men- 
tal and physical faculties, though he has 
passed the eightieth milestone on the journey 
of life, Mr. Davis still gives a general super- 



vision to his various property interest, the 
w hile he keeps in full touch with current events 
and takes lively interest in all things pertain- 
ing to the county and city in which he has 
long retained his residence. Mr. Davis was 
born in Herkimer county, New York, June 
17, 1836, received in the old Empire state 
his early educational training, in the common 
schools, and as a boy and youth he there 
gained experience not only in farm work but 
also in the operation of boats on the old Erie 
c;inal. Later he was employed as inspector 
of street improvements in New York city, and 
this position he retained until a short time 
before his removal to the west. In 1876 Mr. 
Davis left the national metropolis and came 
to Gage county. After devoting about two 
years to farm enterprise in Riverside town- 
ship he removed to Beatrice and became 
owner and manager of the Davis House, 
which was for many years one of the leading 
hotels of the city, the building being still 
owned by him, at the corner of Third and Ella 
streets, and being kept in good repair as a 
rooming house. He is the owner of other 
productive real-estate in Beatrice, as well as 
his attractive home, at 901 Lincoln street. 

^Ir. Davis had the distinction of casting 
liis first presidential vote for General John 
C. Fremont, the first candidate placed in nom- 
ination by the newly organized Republican 
party, and he has voted for each presidential 
candidate of that party during the long in- 
tervening years, never wavering in his belief 
in the basic principles for which the party has 
ever stood sponsor. Mr. Davis made a re- 
markable record of efficiency during his in- 
cumbency of the office of sheriff of Gage 
county. He was elected sheriff in 1885 and 
continued in service until l^K)0. He carries 
himself with the vital erectness of a man 
many years his junior and with much of dis- 
tinction, is genial and tolerant, broad-minded 
and well fortified in his convictions, and he 
has the high regard of the community in 
which he has so long maintained his home. 

The year 1862 recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Davis to Miss Helen M. Ferguson, who 
was born in Herkimer county, New York, on 



690 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the 3d of October, 1842, and who continues 
as the gracious and popular chatelaine of their 
pleasant home. Of their four children only 
one is living, Miss Nellie, who remains at 
the parental home. 

AR.M STRONG O. BURKET, senior mem- 
ber of the firm of liurket & Feldkirchner, 
which is successfully engaged in the retail 
coal business in the city of Beatrice, came to 
Gage county thirty years ago and was for- 
merly established as one of the representative 
exponents of farm industry in Glenwood 
township. He is now one of the prominent 
business men and most insistently loyal and 
progressive citizens of Beatrice, a leader in 
movements tending to advance the civic and 
material prosperity of Gage county and its 
fine judicial center, and he is specially entitled 
to recognition in this history. 

Mr. I'.urket was born on a farm near 
Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, December 29, 
1863, and is a son of Henry and Mary Jane 
(Crawford) Burket. both natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, their marriage having been solemnized 
in 1848. Henry Burket became a pioneer 
farmer in Lee county, Illinois, where he won 
indci>endcnce and prosperity through his 
earnest and honorable endeavors and where 
both he and his wife passed the remainder of 
their lives. On the old homestead farm in 
Lee county. Illinois, .Armstrong (). Burket 
gained in his boyhood and youth the sturdy 
discipline that well matured his physical 
powers and that gave him enduring apprecia- 
tion of the dignity and value of honest toil. 
He profited duly by the advantages afforded 
in the public schools of his native county and 
there he continued his association with farm 
enterprise until 1887. when he came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and purchased a tract of 
land on that part of the Otoe Indian reserva- 
tion that is now included in Glenwood town- 
ship. There he developed a good farm and 
there he continued his successful activities as 
an agriculturist and stock-grower for a period 
of seventeen years. For the ensuing six 
years he gave his attention to effective service 
as manager of the Farmers' Elevator Com- 



pany at Odell. He established his residence in 
Beatrice, and finally, in January, 1912, after 
spending eighteen months traveling for the 
Root Grain Company in Nebraska, ^lissouri, 
Kansas and Colorado, he became associated 
with his brother-in-law, E. Feldkirchner, in 
establishing the coal business which they have 
since successfully conducted under the firm 
title of Burket & Feldkirchner, with well 
equipped headquarters at 222 Ella street. 

The political allegiance of ilr. Burket is 
given to the Democratic party, he is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity and both he and 
his wife are zealous members of the First 
Christian church of Beatrice, in which he 
holds the office of elder. 

On the 23d of December, 1886, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Burket to Miss Ora 
E. Feldkirchner, who was born and reared in 
Lee county, Illinois, and they have an inter- 
esting family of four children : Hazel is the 
wife of H. F. Graff, of Beatrice ; Neva is a 
trained nurse by profession and resides in the 
city of Lincoln ; Lulu is a successful and 
popular teacher and at the time of this writ- 
ing, in 1918, is teaching in the public schools 
of Spalding, Greeley county ; and Bessie was 
a member of the class of 1917 in Doan Col- 
lege, at Crete. Saline county. 

DANIEL ALBERT.— Few families have 
given more aggressive and successful demon- 
stration of the splendid potentiality of agri- 
cultural and live stock enterprise in Gage 
county than that of which Daniel Albert is 
a popular representative, he being a son of 
Henry .-Mbert, an honored and intlucntial 
citizen of whom specific mention is made on 
other pages. Daniel Albert rents from his fath- 
ei two hundred and forty acres of land in Sec- 
tion 26, Clatonia township, and as a vigorous 
and discriminating young farmer and liberal 
citizen he is well upholding the prestige of 
the family name. He was born on his 
father's old homestead farm, in Clatonia town- 
ship. November 18. 1884. and his early educa- 
tional advantages included those of the high 
school in the village of Clatonia, as well as a 
course in a business college in the city of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



691 



Lincoln. He has had no desire to sever his 
association with farm enterprise and in con- 
nection with the same is achieving substantial 
success. His father gave him excellent op- 
portunities for independent activities after he 
had attained to the age of twenty years, for 
it was at this juncture in his career that he 
assumed virtual control of his present large 
and well improved farm, which he maintains 
under conditions that reveal thrift and good 
judgment, the while lie has shown his pro- 
gressiveness by adding materially to the im- 
provements on the farm, which is given over 
to diversified agriculture and the raising of 
excellent types of live stock. In politics Mr. 
Albert gives his support to the Republican 
party, he is affiliated with the Modern Wood- 
men of America, and both he and his wife 
hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

On the 15th of February, 1912, Mr. Albert 
married Miss Scenta Krauter, who likewise 
was born and reared in Clatonia township and 
who is a daughter of Edward and Gezena 
(Carstens) Krauter, natives of Illinois, the 
father being still a resident of Clatonia town- 
ship and the mother being deceased. j\Ir- 
and Mrs. Albert have two children, — Henry 
K. and Zena Bernice. 

STEPHEN V. SHAW. — One of Gage 
county's pioneer settlers and one who has con- 
tributed his full share to bringing about pres- 
ent-day conditions is Stephen V. Shaw, who 
is residing on the farm, in Section 21, Adams 
township, which has been his home for fifty 
years. Mr. Shaw was born in Dutchess 
county, New York, January 4, 1844. His 
father, Stephen P. Shaw, was born in the same 
county, July 31, 1801, and he became a far- 
mer in his native state. After a short resi- 
dence in Connecticut he became a pioneer set- 
tler in Somers township, Kenosha county, 
Wisconsin. In 1857 he and his family started 
overland for Nebraska Territory in true pio- 
neer fasliion, driving ox teams. There was a 
train of six wagons, and of the twenty-one 
persons who made up the party ten are still 
living. Mr. Shaw located and maintained 



squatter's sovereignty on eighty acres of land 
in what was then known as Clay county, Ne- 
braska (now Gage county). From timber on 
the south branch of the Nemaha river he cut 
and hewed the logs with which to build the 
first house that was to be the family home. 
He helped organize the first school district in 
Adams township, and this is now District No. 
51. Until his death, which occurred April 1, 
1863, Stephen P. Shaw made his home on 
this pioneer fami. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Hannah Hicks, was likewise a na- 
tive of Dutchess county. New York, where she 
was born February 10, 1801, and she died in 
Gage county, Nebraska, February 22, 1886. 

Of their children the following record is 
given : William H. was killed, at St. Louis, 
during the Civil war; Egbert, who also was a 
soldier in the Civil war, died at Adams, Gage 
county, in 1895 ; Mrs. Margaret A. Gale is de- 
ceased; Mrs. Emily Silvernail resides at 
Adams, this county ; Mrs. Elmira Lyons is de- 
ceased, as is also Mrs. Hannah Noxon; Mrs. 
Rebecca Silvernail resides at Indianola, Ne- 
braska; James I., who was a soldier in the 
Civil war, lives at St. Cloud, Florida; and 
Stephen V. is the immediate subject of this 
sketch. 

The first childish recollections of Stephen 
V. Shaw are those of his home in the Nutmeg 
state. He also remembers the trip to Wiscon- 
sin, and he was a boy of thirteen years when 
the trip was made to Nebraska Territory. It 
was the 6th of July, 1857, when they reached 
the banks of the Nemaha river, where the 
home was established. After a trip across the 
prairies of Illinois and Iowa, the family 
crossed the Missouri river on a flat-boat. As 
a boy Mr. Shaw had received such schooling 
as circumstances would permit, and at the age 
of sixteen years he had completed his studies 
in the schools of Nebraska City. He con- 
tinued to assist in the development and im- 
provement of the home farm until he arrived 
at his majority, when he made a prospecting 
trip to Colorado, where he remained one year. 
Upon returning to Gage county he engaged in 
farming. He homesteaded a tract of land on 
Section 21, Adams township, and on this place 



692 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 





Stephen P. Shaw 



Mrs. Steihen P. Shaw 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



693 




Mr. and Mrs. SxErnEN V. Sh.wv 



694 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



he has continued to maintain his home for fifty 
years. 

On November 8, 1866, Mr. Shaw married 
Miss Minerva Hand, who was born in Niag- 
ara county, New York, May 24, 1850. and 
who passed away on December 7, 1908. Mrs. 
Shaw was a daughter of WilHam and Anna 
(Scott) Hand, natives of New York state. 
W'ilham Hand died on board a vessel while 
with the colony en route for Wisconsin and 
was buried in the lake. This was during the 
epidemic of cholera, to which he succumbed. 
Mr. and Airs. Shaw became the parents of 
nine children : Louis V. resides in Custer 
county, Nebraska ; Katie is at home with her 
father; Almira H. is the wife of J. C. Boyd, 
a farmer of Sherman township ; Mrs. Ada 
McKnight resides at Adams, this county ; Mrs. 
Alice KaufTman is a resident of Havelock, Ne- 
braska ; Mrs. Carrie E. Palmer lives at Chap- 
pell. Nebraska; May R. and Charles E. are at 
home; and Eva Rae resides in the city of Lin- 
coln, this state. 

Mr. Shaw has been an eye witness to all the 
changes that have taken place in this county, 
and has always done his share in the march of 
progress. In 18t)2-1863 he freighted out of 
Nebraska City with oxen. In December, 1864, 
he drove to Colorado, distributing goods 
along the way. When the local Presbyterian 
church was organized, in 1860, his mother was 
made superintendent of the Sunday school, 
and she continued to hold that position until 
her death. 

In both paternal and maternal lines Mr. 
Shaw's ancestors participated in the Revolu- 
tionary war. He has every reason to be proud 
of the record of the family in Gage county, 
and he is held in highest esteem by all with 
whom he has come in contact. 

HENRY KASPAREK.— Tlu- untimely 
death of Henry Kasparek called from earthly 
activities one of the younger business men of 
Odell, — one who for fifteen years had given 
his best energies to the moral, social and com- 
mercial uplift of his community. Mr. 
Kasparek was born at Chicago, Illinois, .\pril 
11, 1874. He was a son of Adolph Kasparek, 



who was a native of Bohemia and who be- 
longed to that class of foreign-born citizens 
who have done much for the development of 
Nebraska. Henry Kasparek was a child of 
two years when the family home was estab- 
lished in JefTerson county. Nebraska. Reared 
on a farm, he early learned those lessons of 
industry and enterprise which are of such 
value as to assure success in any and every 
walk of life. 

In 1900 Henry Kasparek came to Odell and 
purchased the business conducted by one of 
Odell's pioneer citizens, Frank I. Truxaw. 
Until his death, April 8, 1914. Mr. Kasparek 
gave his best efforts to make a place for him- 
self in the business affairs of Odell. Success 
had crowned his efforts, as may be seen by 
the neatly arranged place of business he had 
established. His chosen line vi'as the furni- 
ture and undertaking business, in connection 
with which he handled a full line of linoleums, 
rugs, and musical instruments. A complete 
and extensive stock of goods was carried, and 
the faith and trust reposed in him by the peo- 
ple of the community were nnbnnnded. Since 
his death his widow has continued the busi- 
ness, employing a capable manager to handle 
her affairs. 

.As a companion and helpmeet Mr- Kasparek 
chose for his wife Miss Anna Tejcka, a na- 
tive of Gage county, Nebraska, her parents 
having been early settlers in Sicily township. 
Mrs. Kasparek is a daughter of Frank and 
Josephine (Prucha) Tejcka. natives of" 
ISoheniia. The father is deceased and the 
mother still resides on the old home place, in 
Sicily township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kasparek became the parents 
of four sons, who with their mother occupy 
a beautiful home in Odell. The names of 
these boys are Frank. Clarence, \'ernon and 
Everett. Mr. Kasparek was a faithful mem- 
ber of the Christian church of Odell, having 
joined that church .April 14, 1908. He was 
also a member of the Odell lodges of the I. 
O.O.F. and the Z. C. B. A. He was a de- 
voted husband and father, an energetic busi- 
ness man and a first-class citizen, a man who- 
stootl for progress, and real friendsbip, and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



695 



one who thought more of others than of him- 
self. He Hved an unselfish life, and was one 
whom his family and the community could ill 
aflford to lose. 

PHILIP A. BINDERNAGEL.— A mem- 
ber of one of the honored pioneer families of 
Gage county, Mr. Rindernagel has here main- 
tained his home from the time of his birth 
and he is now numbered among the successful 
and representative agriculturists and stock- 
growers of his native township, his well im- 
proved and ably managed farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres being situated in Section 35, 
Blakely township, and being a part of the 
large landed estate of the family. 

Mr. Bindernagel was born in Blakely town- 
ship on the 25th of November, 1874, and is 
a son of Philip and Margaret (Marschel) 
Bindernagel, concerning whose other children 
brief mention may here be made, the subject 
of this review having been the second in 
order of birth ; Rosa now presides over the 
domestic economies of her father's pleasant 
home in the city of Beatrice, having assumed 
this responsibility after the death of her 
mother ; David M. is numbered among the 
progressive farmers of Lincoln township, this 
county ; Elizabeth is the wife of George \V. 
Stevens, of Lincoln township ; Caroline died 
in the year 1909 ; and Emma is the wife of 
L. K. Stevens, of Blakely township. 

Philip Bindernagel was born in Germany, 
on the 28th of January, 1838. and there con- 
tinued his residence until 1852, when he 
established his home in the city of London, 
England, where he found employment at his 
trade, that of baker. A few years thereaf- 
ter he came to America and engaged in the 
work of his trade in New York city, and in 
1866 he came to Nebraska Territory, and 
numbered himself among the pioneers of 
Gage county. He entered claim to a home- 
stead of one hundred and sixty acres, in Filley 
township, and here he endured the full tension 
of hardships and deprivations incidental to 
life on the virtual frontier. The passing 
years, marked by his indefatigable and earn- 
est application, brought to him independence 



and definite prosperity, as is clearly demon- 
strated by the fact that he is now the owner 
of a valuable landed estate of four hundred 
and eighty acres in Blakely township, this 
county, and an equal amount in Sherman 
county, Kansas. He gave earnestly and effect- 
ively of his energies and abilities in further- 
ing the social and industrial development and 
progress of the county, has ever commanded 
the confidence and good will of his fellow 
citizens and in his venerable years he is living 
in well earned retirement in his attractive 
home in the city of Beatrice. He has been a 
lifelong communicant of the Lutheran church, 
as was also his devoted wife, who was his 
true helpmeet in the days of their early 
struggle to make for themselves a home and 
a place of independence in Nebraska, the state 
having been admitted to the L'nion about one 
year after they had established their residence 
on the pioneer farm in Gage county. Mrs- 
Bindernagel was born in Germany on the 22d 
of C)ctober, 1850, and was summoned to the 
life eternal on the 23d of February, 1913, her 
memory being revered by those who came 
within the compass of her gentle influence. 
On other pages of this work appears a specific 
record of the career of Philip Bindernagel. 

Philip A. Bindernagel supplemented the dis- 
cipline of the district schools by attending the 
Beatrice high school, and in 1907 he rented 
of his father his present farm, which he has 
made a model of thrift and prosperity and 
upon which he has made many excellent im- 
provements, including the erection of his 
commodious modern house and a barn thirty- 
two by thirty-four feet in dimensions, with 
an eighteen-foot wing. He takes loyal in- 
terest in all things touching the walfare of his 
native county and home community, is a 
Republican in politics and both he and his 
wife are earnest communicants of the Luth- 
eran church. 

February 26. 1908, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Bindernagel to Miss Bertha Brosious, 
who was born in Northumberland county, 
Pennsylvania, where she was reared and 
educated — a daughter of Charles Brosious, 
who likewise was born in the old Keystone 



696 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



state. Mr. Bindernagel made the acquaint- 
ance of his wife while he was visiting in 
Pennsjdvania, and there their marriage was 
solemnized. They have had two children, 
Orval Philip born November 5, 1910, and 
Louise A. born November 21, 1915. 

JOSEPH KROTZ.— .\mong the citizens 
of foreign birth who have done much toward 
the upbuilding of Gage county, Nebraska, 
none deserve more credit than those sturdy 
men and women, natives of Bohemia, who 
came to Nebraska in the late 70s. and became 
instrumental in converting into productive 
farms and beautiful homes the raw prairies 
that had but recently been occupied by the 
Indians. To this class belongs Joseph Krotz. 
In the province of Bohemia, dual monarchy 
of Austria-Hungary, there lived one \'encel 
Krotz, who, having heard favorable reports 
of America from friends and neighbors who 
had found in the "land of the free" the op- 
portunities that were not obtainable in their 
native land, gathered his family and a few 
earthly goods, and crossed the ocean. He 
made his way to Washington county. Iowa, 
where many of his countrymen had settled, 
and arrived in that state in 1867. Eleven 
years later we find him again seeking a new 
home, this time where he knew land could be 
had at much cheaper price than in the more 
thickly settled region of Iowa. The fir.st 
year the family lived at the old town of 
Charleston, in Gage county, and then he 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of 
raw prairie land in what is now Glenwood 
township. The first home was a sod house 
and in this the family resided while initiating 
the work of conquering the virgin Nebraska 
soil. Mr- Krotz prosj^ered, and here he made 
his home until he was called from his earthly 
labors. 

The maiden name of the first wife of 
\'encel Krotz, was Catherine Kumbera. who 
passed away in their native land. Later 
he there married a second time. Miss .Anna 
Soper becoming his wife. She still resides on 
the old home farm in Glenwood township. 
The two children of the first marriage are 



Mary, who is the wife of Fred Hoffmeister, 
of Imperial, Chase county, Nebraska, and 
Joseph, who is the immediate subject of this 
sketch. Of the children of the second mar- 
riage it is to be recorded that John is a farmer 
of Paddock township; Anna is the wife of 
W'illiam Hohl, of Prague, Saunders county, 
Nebraska ; and Frances is the wife of Frank 
Benda, on the old home pla;e in Glenwood 
township. 

Joseph Krotz was but four years of age 
when the family home was established in the 
new world, he having been born in Bohemia, 
the land of his fathers, on the 21st of ^lay, 
1863. When the home was transferred from 
Iowa to Nebraska he was a boy of fifteen 
years. He gave valuable assistance in trans- 
forming the Indian lands to productive pro- 
I>erty. Remaining with his parents until his 
thirty-first year, Joseph Krotz was then as- 
sisted by his father in the purchase of the 
farm on which he began farming on his own 
account. I\Ir. Krotz made further preparation 
for a home of his own by his marriage, on 
May 21, 1894, to Miss Carrie Bednar, also a 
native of Bohemia, where she was born 
November 4, 1872. Her parents were among 
the early settlers of Nebraska and a record 
of them will be found elsewhere in this his- 
tory. Mr. Krotz has met with success in his 
farming operations, and to-day is the owner 
of seven hundred and twenty acres of valu- 
able land. For several years he has made 
a specialty of raising pure-bred Aberdeen 
.\ngus cattle, and in the spring of 1918 he 
had forty head of fine registered stock in his 
yards just south of Odell. 

Mr. Krotz and family occupy a beautiful 
home in Odell, and in the household are three 
hap])y children, — Marcellus, Laird and Eve- 
lyn. The family are communicants of the 
Catholic church, the faith of which was the 
religion of the parents of both Mr. and Mrs- 
Krotz. In politics Mr. Krotz is a Democrat, 
but he has never desired or held any oflfice, 
l)referring to devote his entire time to his 
business affairs, in which he has met with 
goodly success. There was no railroad in the 
vicinity when the Krotz family located on 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



697 



what had been the Otoe Indian reservation. 
Odell was not in existance. The old town of 
Charleston had been located, but in later 
years it was abandoned. The old site of 
Charleston and land on which William Le 
Gourgue founded the town now belongs to 
Mr. and Mrs. Krotz. ^Ir. Krotz has seen the 
wild, unbroken prairie develop into beautiful 
homes and farms, and in this splendid trans- 
formation he has done his full share. 



THO:\IAS REMMERS was a vigorous 
and ambitious young man of twenty-three 
years when he came to Gage county, in the 
year in which Nebraska was admitted to 
statehood. None has borne with greater 
fortitude and determination the trials and 
vicissitudes of pioneer life on the western 
frontier, and it is gratifying to record that 
the passing years have brought to him a gen- 
erous measure of prosperity. He accumulated 
and developed a line landed estate in this 
county and continued his active association 
with farm enterprise until 1906, since which 
time he and his wife have lived retired in the 
city of Beatrice, in enjoyment of good health 
and the gracious rewards of former years of 
earnest endeavor, their attractive home being 
at 1009 High street. 

Mr. Remmers was born in East Friesland, 
a district in the extreme northwestern part of 
the province of Hanover. Germany, and the 
ilate of his nativity was September 16. 1843. 
He is a son of John and Catherine ( Henrechs) 
Remmers, and his father followed farm enter- 
prise and operated a brick yard in East Fries- 
land until financial reverses overtook him, and 
in 1868 he came with his family to America. 
Near the city of Springfield. Illinois, he and 
his adult sons found employment in a harvest 
field, and while thus engaged he suffered a 
sunstroke that caused his death. In the 
autumn of the same year (1868) the bereaved 
widow came with her six children to the new 
state of Nebraska, and later she became the 
wife of John Eilers, the closing years of her 
life having been passed at Sterling. Johnson 
county, where she died in 1883, when about 



sixty-three years of age. For generations the 
earnest religious faith of the family has been 
that of the Lutheran church. 

Thomas Remmers acquired his youthful 
education in his native land and was twenty- 
two years of age when he came to America, 
the family following two years later. After 
passing a few weeks at Springfield, Illinois, 
he came to Nebraska. He arrived at Ne- 
braska City on the 4th of July. 1866. and later 
in the month he joined a freighting outfit with 
which he made the arduous overland trip to 
Fort Laramie and Denver, as driver of an ox 
team. He arrived once more in Nebraska 
City in the middle of the following November, 
and he then found employment at farm work, 
at fifty cents a day and board, he having been 
nine dollars in debt when he first arrived 
in Nebraska City. In the spring of 1867 Mr. 
Remmers came to Gage county and entered 
claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres of untrammeled prairie land, in Han- 
over township. His first house was a rude 
dug-out. which later gave place to a log house, 
and in the latter he continued to maintain 
bachelor's hall until his marriage, in 1871, to 
Mrs. Sophia Day, widow of Benjamin Day. 
Mrs. Remmers was born in Hanover Ger- 
many, in 1845. a daughter of John and Maria 
Yelkin. and she was a child of eighteen months 
when the family came to the L'nited States 
and located near Springfield, Illinois. She 
was there reared to the age of twelve years 
and then came with her parents to Nebraska 
City, the family home later having been 
established on a pioneer farm in Nemaha 
county, where she was reared to adult age 
and where she became the wife of Benjamin 
Da\-. Mr. Day died a few years later, leaving 
his widow with two children. — John, who is 
now a resident of Adams. Gage county, and 
Ida. who is the wife of Frederick Schuster, of 
l!catrice. Mr. and Mrs. Remmers have five 
children : Henry, John and William are all 
prosperous and representative farmers in Han- 
over tonship; Mary is the wife of Harms D. 
Harms and they reside on her father's old 
homestead farm, in Hanover township ; and 
Catherine is the wife of Frederick Damerow, 



698 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



a successful fanner residing a few miles south 
of Beatrice. 

In their primitive pioneer home Mr- and 
Mrs. Remmers bravely faced the hardships 
and privations of the early days when they 
were striving to make their way forward to- 
ward the goal of prosperity, and their de- 
voted companionship has continued during the 
long intervening years. In taking his young 
wife to the new home Mr. Remmers used a 
wagon and ox team. lie finally provided one 
horse, but had no buggy. He later traded 
oxen for another horse, and the harness for 
the new team consisted only of hames and 
chains. From his farm he took a quantity of 
butter to Lincoln, where he sold the same for 
a sufficient sum to enable him to Iniy a har- 
ness for his team. The little log cabin con- 
stituted the family domicile many years, and 
though humble it was the abode of happiness 
and known for its hospitality. Coffee was 
made ready for use by pounding the same 
into fragments, but eventually the household 
was provided with a coffee-mill. Indefati- 
gable industry and good management brought 
cumulative success to Mr. Remmers and even- 
tually he became the owner of a valuable farm 
property of eight hundred acres, all of which 
he has sold to his children with the exception 
of forty acres, which he still retains. 

Mr. Remmers was one of the honored and 
influential citizens of Hanover township until 
he and his wife removed to Beatrice, and he 
was called upon to serve in various positions 
of public trust. He was township assessor 
five years, tax collector three years and served 
many terms as road overseer. During the 
long period of his residence on the farm he 
only twice had to call for the ministrations of 
a physician for himself, and he and his good 
wife are now hale and hearty, and in the 
gracious twilight of their long and earnest 
lives find that their lines are cast in pleasant 
p'.aces. Both arc active members of the Ger- 
man Lutheran church ami in a fundamental 
way he gives his allegiance to the Democratic 
party. Mr. and Mrs. Remmers have been 
true apostles of social and industrial progress 
in Gage county and here their circle of friends 



is limited only by that of their acquaintances. 
Mr. Remmers related that in 1868, when his 
nearest neighbor was two miles distant, four 
Indians called at his home and demanded pro- 
visions- He supplied them and they then took 
their departure. 

JOHN E. CARSTEN.— Measured by its 
rectitude and worthy achievement, the life 
of the late John E. Carsten counted for much, 
and his character was the positive expression 
of a strong and noble nature. He established 
his home in Gage county nearly half a cen- 
tury ago, did well his part in developing the 
resources of this section of the state and in 
supporting civic progress. He reclaimed and 
improved one of the fine farms of Clatonia 
township and was one of the substantial and 
influential citizens of Clatonia township, he 
having removed from his farm to the village 
of Clatonia about three months prior to his 
death, which occurred July 15, 1908, and his 
widow still maintains her home in that vil- 
lage. — one of the gracious and revered pioneer 
women who bore her full share in the trials 
and struggles of the early days. 

Mr. Carsten was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, on the 24th of February. 
1843. He was the eldest of five children born 
to John M. and Gesche (Eschen) Carsten, 
the latter of whom died in Germany and the 
former of whom passed the closing period of 
his life in Gage county, Nebraska. The subject 
of this memoir was reared to the discipline of 
the farm and gained in the schools of his na- 
tive land his early educational training. In 
1866, as a young man of twenty-one years, he 
entered the Hanovarian army and assisted 
the Germans in their conflict with Austria and 
participated in various engagements, including 
the battle of Langensalza. He completed his 
military service before the close of 1866, and 
in the same year immigrated to America, em- 
barking in the port of Bremen and landing 
in that of New York city about three weeks 
later. Continuing his way to the west, he 
located in Schuyler county, Illinois, in which 
state he continued his association with farm 
enterprise until 1873, when he came with his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



699 



family to Nebraska and became one of the 
pioneers of Gage county. From the Burhng- 
ton & Missouri River Railroad Company he 
purchased, at seven dollars an acre, one 
hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land, 
in Section 11 Clatonia township, four and 
one-half miles northeast of Clatonia. He 
developed his farm, made the best of im- 
provements on the same, adding eventually to 
the area of his landed estate in Clatonia town- 
ship. He lived up to the full tension of 
pioneer experience and in making his way to 
the goal of independence and material suc- 
cess he ever attributed much of credit to 
the earnest cooperation of his devoted wife, 
who was a veritable helpmeet and who re- 
mained his cherished companion until the close 
of his life. Mrs- Carsten owns the attractive 
home which she occupies in the village of 
Clatonia and also an interest in the two Gage 
county farms which are now operated by her 
sons. 

At Rushville, Illinois, on the 12th of March, 
1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Carsten to Miss Mary Schmid, who was born 
in Germany, on the 1st of February, 1847, 
and whose parents, Jurgen and Etta (Golden- 
stein) Schmid, there passed their entire lives. 
Mrs. Carsten was reared and educated in her 
native land and was a young woman of eigh- 
teen vears when she came to the United 
States, in the autumn of 1866. She establish- 
ed her residence in Illinois and there she and 
her husband remained until after the birth 
of their first two children, who accompanied 
them in 1873 to Nebraska and were reared 
to maturity in Gage county, where were born 
the younger children. George J., eldest of the 
children, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, 
on the 24th of February, 1869, and is now a 
resident of Stockton. Kansas, where he fol- 
lows the vocation of farming; Lillie G.. who 
was born July 15, 1873, was an infant at the 
time of the family removal to Nebraska, and 
she is now the wife of Harry Hersema. of 
Clatonia township ; Arthur E., who was born 
August 16, 1876, is a resident of Mountain 
View, Oklahoma ; Mary Anetta, . Born .Vpril 
12, 1879, is the wife of J. H. Claussen and 



they reside in Danforth, Illinois; Theodore 
Frederick, born January 31, 1881, is engaged 
in the banking business at Hallam, Lancaster 
county, Nebraska; Alvin Benjamin, who was 
born October 27, 1882, resides upon and has 
the active management of the old homestead 
farm, in Clatonia township ; and Emma F., 
born June 29, 1885, remains with her widowed 
mother. 

John E. Carsten was progressive both in 
his individual activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower and also in his civic attitude. 
His course was guided and governed by the 
highest integrity and he commanded the un- 
qualified respect and confidence of all who 
knew him. He was zealous in giving to his 
children the best possible educational advan- 
tages and was influential in community af- 
fairs. He was a Republican in politics, and 
he was called upon to serve as assessor of 
Clatonia township, as a member of the town- 
ship election board and as a member of the 
school board of his district. He was a most 
earnest and active member of the German 
Methodist Episcopal church of Clatonia town- 
ship, of which he was one of the founders and 
of which he served many years as a trustee, 
his widow continuing an earnest member of 
the same religious organization. The name 
of Mr. Carsten merits enduring place on the 
roster of the honored pioneers of Gage coun- 
ty and his memory is cherished by those who 
came within the compass of his unassuming 
and kindly influence. 

JOHN TJADEN. — The march of civiliza- 
tion has ever been westward, and in reviewing 
the career of John Tjaden one is impressed 
with such trend of advancement as manifested 
in the individual person. Mr. Tjaden's par- 
ents. Harm and Antgie (Fah.sler) Tjaden 
were born and reared in Germany and about 
the year 1870 they left their native land and 
came west to America, first settling in Mis- 
souri and later in Richardson county. Nebras- 
ka. Here Harm Tjaden engaged in farm en- 
terprise and later he removed to Marshall 
county, Kansas, where he purchased land and 
continued his farming activities. His wife 



700 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



died in February, 1913, and since 1917 he has 
lived retired in the city of Beatrice, Nebraska. 
Of the family of ten children eight are living: 
William. George, and Flora reside in Kansas, 
where Flora makes her home with her broth- 
er William ; Henry resides at Wymore, Gage 
county. Nebraska : Margaret is the wife of J. 
J- Remers and they live in Kansas ; John is 
the subject of this sketch ; Anna, the second 
of the name, is the wife of W. C. Ehnen. a 
farmer of Barneston township: Emma is the 
wife of John Ubben. and they live in Kansas ; 
and Anna f first of the name) and Meta are 
deceased. Harm Tjaden is a Republican in 
politics. He disposed of his land in Kansas 
and Nebraska and is now retired from active 
life, to enjoy the reward of his past labor as a 
pioneer of Nebraska and Kansas. 

John Tjaden was born December 31. 1879. 
and received his education in the district 
schools of Kansas. From his boyhood he has 
been identified with agricultural pursuits — 
first in his apprenticeship, during which he 
was employed as a farm hand, and later in 
conducting operations on his own land. 

February 12, 1902. John Tjaden married 
Miss Rena Agnes Ehnen, who was born Jan- 
uary 4. 1883, in Illinois, the daughter of 
Rempt Ehnen. Mr. and Mrs. Tjaden became 
the parents of four children, of whom three are 
living: Eleanora Meta was born September 12, 
1911; Harm Wilke was born February 21, 
1916: Relma Rosella was born January 14, 
1917: and Relma .Antgie. died at the age of 
three months. 

John Tjaden owns two Inmdred and eighty 
acres of land in Gage county and eighty a:res 
in Kansas Me is a vigorous and progressive 
young farmer and is devoting all of his time 
to his successful industrial enterprise. In 
1914 he built a beautiful farm house on his 
home place, in Section 33. Barnston township, 
and he has thus provided an attractive home 
for his family, besides giving evidence of his 
progressiveness and definite prosperity. It is 
his earnest desire to give to his children good 
educational advantages and also the refining in- 
fluence of an ideal home life. In politics Mr. 
Tjaden is indejjendent. He and his wife hold 



membership in the Lutheran church. He is a 
member of the Farmers Union, an organiza- 
tion which has in its membership the best ele- 
ment of the yeomanry of the county and which 
if doing much in promoting the advancement 
and best interests of the farmers of Gage 
countv. 



ADDISON P. KELLEY. who is the effi- 
cient and popular manager of the general-de- 
livery department of the pwstoffice in the city 
of Beatrice, was born at Marengo, McHenry 
county. Illinois, April 16, 1855. and is a son of 
Henry D. and Roxcey A. (Sponable) Kelley, 
the former a native of Danby, Rutland county, 
\'erniont. and the latter of Eklen township, 
Seneca county, Ohio, their marriage having 
been solemnized in McHenry county. Illinois, 
where Mrs. Kelley 's parents settled when she 
was eight years of age. Henry D. Kelley was 
reared and educated in the old Green Moun- 
tain state and was twenty-one years of age 
when he established his residence in Illinois. 
In that state he continued his association with 
farm enterprise until 1872. when he came 
with his family to Nebraska. Later he took 
up a homestead claim in Phillips county. Kan- 
sas, where he improved a good farm and 
where he and his wife passed the remainder 
of their lives. Mr. Kelley became one of the 
]irominent and influential citizens of Phillips 
county, was a successful exponent of farm in- 
dustry, and served for a time as postmaster 
of the village of ^Vlyrtle. His political alle- 
giance was given to the Republican party and 
his wife was an earnest member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. Concerning their 
children the following brief data arc available: 
George C. is deceased, John died in infancy : 
Frank is a successful carpenter and contractor 
in the city of Beatrice : .\ddison P.. of this 
review, was the next in order of birth : Wil- 
liam D. is a prosperous farmer in Morgan 
county. Kansas : Jennie C. is the widow of 
Ray P. Foy and resides at Beatrice, her two 
children being Mrs. Taylor M. Cain of Ogden, 
L'tah. and Charles H., who is a railroad man, 
residing at. Laramie, Wyoming: May. next 
younger of the children of the Kelley family, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



701 



is the wife of \V. E. S. Kuhn, of Fort Mor- 
gan, Colorado; and Edson j\l. was killed in a 
railroad accident, when about thirty-two years 
of age. Daniel Kelley, grandfather of the 
subject of this review, was born in Rutland 
county, Yermont, and passed the closing years 
of his life at Prospect Park, Illinois. The 
maternal grandfather, Christopher Sponable, 
was born in Ohio and became a pioneer set- 
tler in Illinois, in 1832. He became a man of 
wealth and influence, accumulated an exten- 
sive farm property in Illinois and at one time 
was the owner of eleven acres of land lying 
adjacent to Wabash avenue in the city of Chi- 
cago — property now of prodigious value. 

Addison P. Kelley acquired his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of McHenry coun- 
ty, Illinois, and in 1872 he came to Gage coun- 
ty, Nebraska, where he found prompt requisi- 
tion for his services as a teacher in the dis- 
trict schools, his pedagogic career having been 
initiated when he was eighteen years of age. 
In Gage county his professional services in- 
cluded a year of successful teaching in the 
schools of Beatrice, he having taken prepara- 
tory normal study at \'inton, Iowa. His am- 
bition was to fit himself for the medical pro- 
fession but upon the death of his father he 
was thrown upon his own resources, besides 
assisting in the support of his widowed moth- 
er and the younger children. On the 1st of 
September, 1894, Mr. Kelley began his serv- 
ice in the Beatrice postoffice, with which he 
has since continued his connection without in- 
terruption and in which he now has charge of 
the general-delivery department, his advance- 
ment having been won through efficient serv- 
ice and his long experience making him an 
authority in connection with postal affairs in 
Beatrice and its various rural mail routes- 

In politics Mr. Kelley is a staunch Repub- 
lican, he holds membership in the Centenary 
Methodist Episcopal church in Beatrice, and 
is prominently affiliated with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and the ]\rasonic fra- 
ternity, in the former of which he has passed 
the official chairs not only in the lodge but 
also in the encampment body. 

In 1904 Mr. Kelley wedded Miss Mary 



Nicodemus, who was born in Bedford county, 
Pennsylvania, and whose death occurred in 
1911, no children having been born of this 
union. 

LEWIS RATHBUN was born in Henry 
county, Illinois, June 8, 1861, and is a son of 
James Rathbun, of whom mention is made 
elsewhere in this volume. Reared on a farm 
in his native state, he was a young man of 
twenty-two years when he came to Gage coun- 
ty. He has always been engaged in farming 
and is now operating one hundred and sixty 
acres belonging to his father. He is prac- 
tical in his methods and meeting with the suc- 
cess which always comes to the man who is 
industrious. 

Mr. Rathbun was married to Miss Anna 
Hebel, a native of Bohemia, Germany, and a 
daughter of Joseph and Mary Hebel, who are 
mentioned elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun 
are the parents of six children : Bertha is the 
wife of Joseph Kasparek, of Odell ; Lee is in 
the national army, at Camp Pike ; Elmer is 
married and lives at Anamosa, Iowa ; and Ar- 
thur, Jesse, and Genevieve are at the parental 
home. 

Mr. Rathbun is a Democrat. He has been 
road overseer for ten years, and a member of 
the school board for seven years. He is also 
a director of the Cemetery Association. His 
home is in the corporate limits of Odell. 

OWEN L. SAYAGE clearly manifests his 
progressivenes in his effective management of 
his well equipped meat market in the city of 
Beatrice, and the efficiency of the service has 
gained to the market a substantial and repre- 
sentative supporting patronage. This well or- 
dered business establishment is located at 513 
Ella street- 
Mr. Savage was born in Putnam county, 
Illinois, on the 25th of August, 1862, and is a 
son of Hiram and Angeline (Angle) Savage, 
both of whom were born and reared in Penn- 
sylvania, where their marriage was solem- 
nized and whence they removed to Illinois, in 
which state they maintained their residence 
until the spring of 1868, when they came to 



702 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBR.\SKA 



the newly admitted state of Nebraska and 
numbered themselves among the pioneer set- 
tlers of Gage county. They located on an 
unimproved and not large tract of land, near 
the present village of Dewitt, where they es- 
tablished their residence on the 21st of March, 
1868, and the father began the reclamation 
and improvement of this farm, on which he 
continued his operations until 1875. when he 
removed with his family to Beatrice, which 
was then a mere village. Here Hiram Sav- 
age served for many years in the office of con- 
stable and he was the incumbent of this posi- 
tion at the time of his death. He died when 
about seventy-one years of age and his wife 
passed away when she was about the same 
age, both having been members of the Meth- 
dist Episcopal church and his political support 
having been given to the Republican party. 
The father of Hiram Savage was born and 
reared in Pennsylvania, of Irish lineage, and 
he sacrificed his life while serving as a soldier 
of the Union in the Civil war, he having been 
killed in an engagement near Cottonwood 
Grove, Arkansas. Of the eight children of 
Hiram and Angeline Savage four are living: 
Milo is a resident of Seattle, Washington ; 
Owen L.. of this review, is the next younger : 
Nancy Ellen is the wife of Schuyler Jackson-, 
of Beatrice : and George W., who resides at 
EI Paso, Texas, is a passenger conductor on 
the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

The subject of this sketch was a lad of five 
years at the time of his parents' removal to 
Nebraska, and he was reared under the con- 
ditions and influences of the pioneer days, his 
early educational advantages having been 
those of the public schools- He was ten years 
old when the family home was established in 
Beatrice, and as a youth he here attended 
school during the winters, and in the summer 
seasons gave his attention to the herding of 
cattle on the prairies. In the establishment 
of Bradt Brothers he finally learned the 
butcher's trade, and he worked in the meat 
market of this firm for eighteen months, be- 
sides having been employed about one year 
on the ranch owned by the brothers. Finally 
he engaged in the meat-market business in an 



independent way and he is now one of the 
veteran representatives of this important line 
of business enterprise in Beatrice, his market 
having been conducted in the present location 
since 1910 and the establishment being defin- 
itely metropolitan in appointments and service. 
In 1886 Mr. Savage wedded Miss Emma 
Jackson, who was born in the city of Roch- 
ester. New York, and whose parents came 
to Nebraska about 1870. she being a daughter 
of the late William Jackson, a resident of 
Thayer county at the time of his death. Mr. 
and Mrs. Savage became the parents of four 
children, of whom only one is living. Pearl 
Lorene. who is the wife of William H. 
Schwartz, the latter being associated with Mr. 
Savage in the conducting of the meat market. 
Mr. Savage and his wife and daughter are 
all active members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, he is a Republican in politics, is a 
loyal citizen who takes deep interest in com- 
munity affairs, and he is affiliated with the 
Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights 
& Ladies of Honor, the Royal Neighbors and 
the Royal Highlanders. His success repre- 
sents the concrete results of his own efforts 
and he is one of the representative business 
men of the Gage county metropolis. 

HENRY RICE. — An honored soldier of 
the Civil war and an early settler of Gage 
county is the subject of this review, and by his 
own efTorts he has made the success that en- 
ables him to spend the evening of life in well 
earned rest from active labors. 

Henry Rice was born at Hagerstown, Mary- 
land, September 20, 1842, a son of Henrj- and 
Hannah (Friedly) Rice, who likewise were 
natives of Maryland, the father having died 
June 30, 1842. about three months before the 
son Henrj- was born. Henry Rice was but 
little past two years of age when he was be- 
reft also of his mother. He then fell to the 
kindly care of an aunt, Catherine Rice, by 
whom he was taken to Ogle county, Illinois, 
and there reared to manhood. He attended 
the public schools, which education was sup- 
plemented by a course in Rock River Semi- 
nary, at Mount Morris, Illinois. He was a 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



703 




Henry Rice 



704 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



student in this institution when arose the dark 
cloud that threatened to disrupt the Union. 
Having watched the course of events, his 
patriotism was aroused to responsive protest, 
and December 12, 1863, he enlisted in Com- 
pany D, Fourth Illinois Cavalry, with which 
he served in defense of the Union during the 
Civil war. His service covered a period of 
nearly three years, and he was mustered out 
at Houston, Texas, his honorable discharge 
having been given in June, 1866. 

He took part in fifty-eight engagements and 
skirmishes, the principal ones being Vicks- 
burg. Red River campaign, and Hood's cam- 
paign against Nashville. He rendered valued 
service in guarding the Memphis & Charles- 
ton, the Mississippi Central, and the Mobile 
& Ohio Railroads. He was distinguished for 
coolness and Ijravery in time of battle and re- 
turned home unhurt, though he was often in 
the thickest of the fight. When he started out 
for himself in life after returning from the 
war Mr. Rice took up the noble profession of 
teaching school, and for eight years he de- 
voted his attention to this service, readily im- 
parting to others the knowledge he had gained 
and carefully saving his earnings. In 1874 
he was thus enabled to engage in agricul- 
tural pursuits and to purchase eighty 
acres of land in Ogle county, Illinois. In 
1883 he sold out in Illinois and came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, where he purchased two 
hundred and forty acres, on which stood a 
little shanty and a small board stable. He 
immediately set to work developing and im- 
proving the farm and in due time it became 
one of the finest farms of Paddock township. 
Until fifteen years ago he was actively en- 
gaged in general farming, since which time he 
has lived retired, having placed the mantle on 
the shoulders of his sons, who operate the 
farm. 

March 25, 1874. Mr. Rice was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary J. Hitt, a native of 
New York state, where she was born Sep- 
tember 21, 1846, a daughter of Samuel and 
Janet (Campbell) Hitt, who became residents 
of Ogle county, Illinois, in 1856. August 1, 
1917, Mr. Rice was called upon to moum the 



loss of his, wife, who, for more than forty- 
four years had been a loving companion and 
helpmeet. She bore her husband three sons : 
Charles E. and Andrew are unmarried and 
operate the old home farm ; George, who mar- 
ried Hazel Brooks, operates the Brooks farm 
in Sicily township. 

Mr. Rice is a Republican in politics and 
maintains pleasant relations with his old army 
comrades by membership in Reserve Post, 
No. 148, Grand Army of the Republic, at 
Odell. Mr. Rice has contributed much to the 
growth and development of Gage county and 
in all these years of peace he has been as true 
and loyal as when he was following the stars 
and stripes on the battlefields of the South. 

FRANK H. WANDERSEE was born in 
Beatrice, Nebraska, August 4, 1879. and in the 
spring of 1880 his parents established their 
home in Sicily township. Here he was reared 
to manhood and here he has continuously 
resided in his present neighborhood. Mr. 
Wandersee is a son of Frank Wandersee, 
whose record appears elsewhere in this 
volume. 

Frank H. Wandersee was educated in the 
public schools of Gage county, and spent his 
boyhood days between the district schoolroom 
and his father's farm, early learning the best 
methods of tilling the soil and the proper care 
of crops and live stock, sc that when he ar- 
rived at young manhood he was in position to 
assume the responsible duties of a farmer on 
his own account- Mr. Wandersee is now 
farming a quarter-section of land, in Section 
8, Sicily township, and is meeting with the 
success that always comes to the man who 
is industrious and efficient. 

Mr. W'andersee made preparation for a 
home of his own when he chose for a wife and 
helpmeet Miss Susan Lewis, of Carlton. Ne- 
braska. She is a daughter of George G. 
Lewis, whose record appears elsewhere in this 
volume. Mr. and Mrs. Wandersee have two 
children. — Edna and LeRoy. 

GEORGE G. LEWIS is one of Sicily town- 
ship's successful farmers, and he owns and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



705 



resides on a valuable farm of one himdred 
and sixty acres, in Section 20. ]\Ir. Lewis 
was born in ^lills county. Iowa, September 
28, 1866, and is a son of George W. and Maria 
(Waitt) Lewis, the former of whom was born 
in Illinois and the latter in Ohio. The mar- 
riage of the parents occurred in Mills county, 
Iowa, they having been children when their 
parents there became pioneer settlers. George 
W. Lewis was a successful farmer, owning 
land in Mills county, Iowa, where both he 
and his wife remained until their death. 

On the old home farm in Mills county, 
Iowa, George G. Lewis, the subject of this 
record, was reared. At the age of nineteen 
years he became a farmer on his own account, 
but he continued to make his home under his 
father's roof until he had attained to the age 
of twenty-three years- He then came to Ne- 
braska, and for two years he operated a farm 
in Sicily township. Gage county. He then 
moved to Thayer county, Nebraska, and 
bought one hundred and twenty acres of raw 
prairie land, entirely unimproved. For four- 
teen years he lived on this farm, which he 
then sold. He then came again to Gage 
county, where he purchased his present farm. 
Here he has since been successfully engaged 
iti general farming business. 

In Gage county Mr. Lewis married Miss 
Mattie C. Heddings, who was born in Seneca 
county, Ohio. Her parents, Jacob and Mary 
( Grill ) Heddings, came to Gage county more 
than fifty years ago, when their daughter was 
one year of age, and were among the earliest 
settlers near Blue Springs. Mr. and Mrs. 
Lewis became the parents of six children : 
Susan is the wife of Frank H. Wandersee, of 
Sicily township; Ceola is the wife of J. D. 
Snyder, of Blue Springs, this county ; Howard 
is married and lives in the city of Beatrice ; 
Jessie is teaching in the schools of Gage 
county : and Mamie and Fay are at home. 

Though they lived several years outside of 
th.e county, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis began their 
domestic career within the borders of the 
townshi]5 where they now live, and they are 
here held in high esteem by a host of neigh- 
bors and other friends- 



LEE L. CHAPMAN, the efficient and pop- 
ular foreman of the freight department at the 
Beatrice station of the Chicago, Burlington 
& Ouincy Railroad, was Ixjrn at Metamore, 
Woodford county. Illinois, on the 30th of 
March, 1858, and is a son of John and Verona 
( Kellogg) Chapman, both natives of the state 
of \'ermont and both representatives of sterl- 
ing old families of New England. John 
Chapman was about seventy-eight years of 
age at the time his death and his venerable 
widow, who was born at Stowe, Lamoille 
county, Vermont, October 25, 1834, now main- 
tains her home at Beatrice, Nebraska. He 
was a son of Simon Chapman, who removed 
in an early day from the old Green Mountain 
state to Ohio, where he passed the remainder 
of his life. John Chapman removed from 
Ohio to Illinois about the year 1852, and 
though he was a shoemaker by trade, he pur- 
chased land in Woodford county, Illinois, and 
there turned his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. In 1885 he came with his family to 
Gage county, Nebraska, where he purchased 
land and where he became a substantial farm- 
er and highly esteemed citizen. About one 
year prior to his death he removed to the city 
of Beatrice. He was a man of fine mentality 
and most gracious personality. He was rear- 
ed in the faith of the L'niversalist church and 
as a splendid vocalist he sang in church choirs 
for many years. His political allegiance was 
given to the Democratic party and he was in- 
sistently loyal and public-spirited as a citizen. 
He was the owner of two hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Gage county at the time of 
his death, and the property is still owned by 
his family, his widow owning an additional 
tract of eighty acres of land in Woodford 
county, Illinois. Of their eight children 
seven attained to years of maturity and six 
are now living, the subject of this review 
having been the second in order of birth ; 
Jesse is a carpenter by trade and lives at 
Saybrook, Illinois ; Smith is a skilled mechani: 
and is employed in one of the leading indus- 
trial establishments in the city of Beatrice; 
\erna is the wife of C. B. Bell, of this city ; 
Percival J. has the active management of h's 



706 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



father's old homestead farm, in Sicily town- 
ship ; and Grace is the wife of T- J. Sample, 
of Beatrice. 

Lee L. Chapman acquired his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of Illinois and there 
supplemented this discipline by a course in 
an academy. He was reared on his father's 
farm and was twenty-seven years of age when 
he accompanied his parents to Gage county, 
Nebraska. Here he was associated with farm 
enterprise one year and then he found em- 
ployment in the Beatrice freight office of the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, he 
having been foreman of the local freight de- 
partment for somewhat more than fifteen years 
and having proved a most efficient and popular 
executive in this field of service. 

In 1883 Mr. Chapman wedded Miss 
Frances A. \'an Meter, who was born in the 
state of Indiana, and they have two ciiildren : 
Dale R., who resides in Beatrice and is in the 
employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
Railroad Company, married Miss Laura Yule, 
and they have three children. — Glenn, Helen, 
and Donald L. ; Jessie is the wife of L. J. 
Griesel, who is engaged in the banking busi- 
ness at University Place, Nebraska. 

In politics -Mr. Chapman is found aligned 
as a staunch supporter of the cause of the 
Democratic party, he is affiliated with the 
Woodmen of the World, and both he and 
his wife are most zealous members of the 
Presbyterian church in their home city, he be- 
ing a deacon in the same. 

LAMMERT W. FRERICIIS came to Gage 
county in 1882 and acquired a tract of raw 
prairie land in Logan township. His finan- 
cial resources were limited but he had the 
genius of industry and perseverance, as well as 
mature judgment, so that he proved successful 
in his farm enterprise, the successive years of 
earnest and constructive application bringing 
to him cumulative prosiierity. He is now the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of eight 
hundred acres, in Logan township, and the 
various farms included in this property are 
under the able management of his sons, he 
and his wife havina: lived retired in the citv 



of Beatrice since the spring of 1917, and their 
pleasant home being at 820 Market street. 

Mr. Frerichs was born in the province 
of Hanover, Germany, September 19, 1845, 
was there reared and educated and there 
gained his initial experience in farm enter- 
prise. In 1866, shortly after attaining to his 
legal majority, Mr. Frerichs came to America, 
proceeded to the state of Illinois and found 
employment on a farm near Mount Sterling, 
Brown county. Later he was similarly en- 
gaged in Adams county, that state. After his 
marriage he became the owner of a farm of 
forty acres, in Hancock county, Illinois, and 
there he continued his activities as an agri- 
culturist until 1882, when he came with his 
family to Gage county, Nebraska, and pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of un- 
improved land in Logan township. On the 
embryonic farm he erected a frame house, six- 
teen by twenty-six feet in dimensions, and as 
success attended his strenuous activities as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower he not only 
made the best of improvements on his home- 
stead but also gradually added to the area of 
his landed estate, which is now one of the val- 
uable properties of Logan township. 

At Carthage, Illinois, March 20, 1869, was 
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Frerichs to 
Miss Maria H. Rankin, who likewise was 
born and reared in Hanover, Germany, and 
who came to the L^nited States in 1867, their 
acquaintanceship having been formed near 
Mount Sterling, Illinois. Mrs. Frerichs has 
proved a true helpmeet to her husband and 
shares with him in the rewards that have 
crowned their years of earnest endeavor. Con- 
cerning their children the following brief 
record is properly given at this point : Polk 
and his wife reside on one of his father's 
farms in Logan township, all except one of 
the other sons being likewise in charge of 
farm properties owned by their father in that 
townshi]i: Lammert. Jr., and his wife have 
four children; Gerhard and his wife likewise 
have four children ; John is the father of three 
children ; William is a representative farmer 
in Franklin county and is the father of eight 
children; Maria became the wife of John 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



707 



Fritzeii and is now deceased, being survived by 
six cliildren ; Lena is the wife of Diedrich 
Ordman, of Logan township, and they have 
ten children ; Alice married O. Zimmerman, 
a farmer in Logan townsliip and they have five 
children ; Annie is the wife of Thomas Trau- 
ernicht. of I^gan township, and they have 
three children ; and Gracie died in childhood. 

Mr. Frerichs lived up to all civic respon- 
sibilities incidental to increasing prosperity 
and was one of the liberal and progressive 
men of Logan township while there actively 
engaged in farm industry. His political alle- 
giance is given to the Democratic party, and 
and while on the farm he served one year as 
tax collector, while for fifteen years he was 
treasurer of his school district. Both he and 
his wife are earnest communicants of the 
Lutheran church. 

\\'ILLLA.M N. FARLOW, now sole owner 
of the prosperous and important industrial 
enterprise conducted under the title of the 
Beatrice Brick Works, is essentially one of 
the progressive business men and representa- 
tive citizens of the Gage county metropolis 
and judicial center. He gained as a child his 
initial experience in connection with pioneer 
life in the west, and thus it is but natural that 
he should exemplify in his personality the 
vital spirit that has significantly characterized 
those reared under the inspiring and sturdy 
discipline of the great empire of the west- 

At Miamistown, Indiana, on the old Miami 
Indian reservation. Mr. Farlow was born on 
October 10, 1852, and he has the distinction 
of being a scion of one of the old and honored 
pioneer families of the Hoosier state, his 
grandfather, Simeon Farlow, having been 
born in North Carolina, of English ancestry, 
and having become a very early settler of 
Indiana, where the history of the state records 
that he was an earnest and self-sacrificing 
pioneer clergyman and gave much time to 
preaching to and otherwise aiding the Indians. 
He whose name introduces this article is a 
son of John and Lydia (Goodwin) Farlow, 
the former a native of A\'ayne county, Indiana, 
and the latter of the state of Ohio. The 



marriage of the parents was solemnized in 
Indiana and there they continued their resi- 
dence until 1856, when they numbered them- 
selves among the pioneers of Taylor county, 
Iowa. There for a time John Farlow clerked 
in a general store and later he turned his at- 
tention to farm enterprise in that county, 
where he achieved success and was influential 
in community affairs. He passed the closing 
years of his long and useful life at Beatrice, 
Nebraska, where he died at the age of eighty- 
two years and where his widow still resides, 
she having celebrated her eighty-fourth birth- 
day anniversary in 1917. 

William N. Farlow was about four years 
of age at the time of his parents removal to 
Iowa, where he was reared under the condi- 
tions and influences of frontier life and where 
he gained his early education in the common 
schools of the period, his more advanced 
education having been obtained in the Iowa 
Agricultural College, at Ames. For eight 
years he did successful service as a teacher 
in the schools of Taylor county, that state, 
and thereafter he held for two years the posi- 
tion of bookkeper in a leading bank at Bed- 
ford, the county seat. He then became cash- 
ier of a bank in the village of Conway, in 
the same county, and this incumbency he re- 
tained two years. In 1892 ]\Ir. Farlow came 
to Nebraska and established his residence in 
Beatrice, where he engaged in the real-estate 
and abstract business and developed a pros- 
perous enterprise. In 1909 he became one 
of the stockholders and the manager of the 
Beatrice Brick Company, and since 1912 he 
has owned the major portion of the stock in 
the business. The well equipped and effec- 
tively conducted manufacturing plant has a 
capacity for the output of thirty thousand 
brick daily, employment is given to an aver- 
age force of twenty men and the high-grade 
products find ready demand in connection with 
building operations through Gage and ad- 
joining counties, the business being one of 
substantial order. 

In Taylor county, Iowa, January 12, 1882, 
recorded the marriage of Mr. Farlow to Miss 
Jennie GriflSth, who was born and reared in 



708 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



that county, a daughter of the late David and 
AdeHne (Johnson) Griffith, natives respec- 
tively of Pennsylvania and Ohio and number- 
ed among the sterling pioneers of the Hawk- 
eye state. Mr. and Mrs Farlow have three 
children, of whom Orville W'., the eldest, is 
married and associated with his father in the 
brick business ; Dale remains at the parental 
home, and is a graduate of the Beatrice high 
school : Vera, the only daughter, is the wife 
of Guy Magee, of Fremont, this state. 

In politics IMr. Farlow is an advocate and 
supporter of the cause of the Democratic 
party, and wliile residing in Taylor county, 
Iowa, he served four years as county record- 
er. Both he and his wife hold membership 
in the Christian church, and their pleasant 
home is marked by distinctive culture and 
refinement. In 1917 Mr. Farlow erected as 
the family residence his present modern and 
attractive brick bungalow, which is situated 
at the corner of Eighth and Beaver streets, 
and is one of the beautiful homes of Beatrice. 
Mr. Farlow is a Knight-Templar Mason. 

\\'1I,IJ.\M 1. REED, a prosperous agri- 
culturist of Gage county, was born in Menard 
county, llinois, August 26, 1863, and is a 
son of Andrew Jackson Reed and Sarah Jane 
( Sheneman ) Reed. Andrew Jackson Reed 
was born in Kentucky, in 18-14, and when an 
infant was brought to Illinois by his widowed 
mother, who lost her husband when the child 
was six weeks old. He received his educa- 
tion in Illinois and later followed farming in 
that state until 1878, when he moved to Nod- 
away county, Missouri. Andrew J. Reed re- 
mained in Missouri until 1883. in which year 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska.- Here he 
remained several years, and he then returned 
to Missouri, but later he removed to Topeka, 
Kansas, where he died at the home of one of 
his sons, at an advanced age. His wife, who 
was born in Wayne county, Ohio, died at 
Pattonsburg, Missouri. Mr- and Mrs. Reed 
V. ere the parents of five children : Charles L., 
who was formerly register of deeds of Gage 
county, Nebraska, is now living in .\rkansas ; 
Laura, tlie widow of Del W'hitmarsh. resides 



at Blackwell, Oklahoma ; William lies is the 
subject of this sketch; Frank C. lives at Pat- 
tonsburg, Missouri; and Lulu is the wife of 
John Frazier, of Interior, Washington. 

William lies Reed was reared on a farm in 
Illinois and gained his early education in the 
public schools of ^lenard county, that state. 
When fifteen years old he went with his par- 
ents to Missouri, and with them he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, in 1883. Here he rent- 
ed land in Sicily township, where he continued 
farming operations several years. He later 
bought eighty acres near Odell, and there he 
lived eight years. At the expiration of this 
period he purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 22, Sicily township, where he 
now lives. At that time the farm was very 
well improved, but Mr. Reed has added to the 
improvements until he now has a home that 
is up-to-date in every particular, his house 
being lighted by electricity and heated' by 
furnace, so that he and his family enjoy the 
comforts of a city home. Mr. Reed does a 
general farming business and has been very 
successful. He is a Republican and has held 
several township offices. He is now a mem- 
ber of the school board. 

William lies Reed wedded Miss .-Kddie Clay- 
ton, daughter of Isaac R. Clayton, a record 
of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. 
Mr. and Mrs. Reed are the parents of si.v 
children — Ollie C, wife of Frank Gish, of 
Rockford township ; Fred Lee. manager of the 
Farmers' Lumber Company of Wymore. this 
county: .^da \'., wife of Christmas Roberts, 
of Wymore ; Nora E.. wife of Raymond Salis- 
bury, who has recently established himself on 
a cattle ranch near Long Pine. Brown county ; 
and Clarence M. and Ethel Lucile. at home. 
^Ir. and Mrs. Reed are members of the Bap- 
tist church. 

FRANK P. WICKHAM has built up in 
the city of Beatrice a very prosperous and 
vital enterprise in the handling of newspapers, 
magazines, stationery, etc., and his attractive- 
ly equipped establishment is located at \\6y2 
North Sixth street. He has the local agency 
for all metropolitan newspapers circulated in 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



709 



the city and keeps in stock a fine line of sta- 
tionery and various office supplies, besides pre- 
senting for the consideration of his patrons all 
of the current popular magazines and other 
periodicals. Mr. Wickham is a native son of 
Gage county and is a scion of a family that 
was founded in Nebraska in the territorial 
days. 

Mr. Wickham was born in Blakely town- 
ship, this county, on the 28th of April, 1871, 
and is a son of Horace M. and Isabelle 
(Alexander) Wickham, both natives of Ohio, 
the former having been born near Newark and 
the latter near fronton, that state. Horace 
M. Wickham gained a wealth of frontier ex- 
perience. From Ohio he removed, in 1845, 
to Holt county, Missouri, and from the latter 
state he went to Iowa in 1857. March 30, 
1859, recorded his arrival in Gage county, 
Nebraska, — nearly a decade prior to the ad- 
mission of the state to the Union. For eight 
years thereafter he was actively engaged in 
freighting operations across the plains and 
about 1866 he took up a homestead of one 
hundred and sixty acres, in Blakely town- 
ship. On this pioneer farm he erected a 
little log house, and eventually he developed 
the place into one of the valuable and well 
improved farm properties of the county. He 
was twice married, and his first marriage was 
the first ceremony of the kind to be performed 
ir Gage county, — May 8, 1859. His second 
marriage was to Mrs. Isabelle (Alexander) 
Beebe, and her first husband and their only 
son were killed in an Indian raid, in 1864. 
Of the first marriage was born also a daugh- 
ter, Rua Beebe, and her husband, Mr. Conally, 
is a prosperous farmer in York county, Ne- 
braska. Horace M. and Isabelle Wickham 
liecame the parents of two children, of whom 
the subject of this review is the younger; 
Clarissa became the wife of James Nelson and 
her death accurred at Beatrice, in April, 1907. 
The parents were active members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Wickham 
passed to the life eternal in the year 1873 
and her husband was one of the venerable and 
honored pioneer citizens of Gage county at 
the time of his death, in 1906. 



Horace M. Wickham contributed his quota 
to the civic and industrial development and 
progress of Gage county, was a man of ability 
and sterling character and was influential 
in public afifairs in the county. He was in- 
dependent in politics and he served in various 
local offices of trust, including that of county 
supervisor, of which he continued the incum- 
bent twelve years. His father, Thomas 
Wickham, was born and reared in Ohio and 
became a pioneer settler in Missouri, where 
he passed the remainder of his life. 

Frank P. Wickham found the period of his 
childhood and youth compassed by the be- 
nignant influences of the home farm and his 
early education was acquired in the public 
schools of Gage county- He continued his 
active association with farm enterprise until 
1907, when he removed to Beatrice. Here he 
conducted for the ensuing four years a billard 
and pool room, and he then sold the business 
and established his present thriving enterprise, 
to which he gives his undivided attention. He 
is the owner of his attractive residence pro- 
perty in Beatrice and also a well improved 
farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in 
Sicily township. His political allegiance is 
given to the Democratic party, he is affiliated 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
including the adjunct organization, the 
Daughters of Rebekah, and also with the 
Modern W'oodmen of America, the Fraternal 
Order of Eagles and the Royal Neighbors, he 
and his family holding membership in the 
Christian church. 

The year 1894 recorded the marriage of 
Air. Wickham to Miss Martha Howard, who 
was born in Hancock county, Illinois, a daugh- 
ter of Jasper N. Howard, who is a representa- 
tive farmer in Thayer county,' Nebraska, since 
1910. Mr. and Mrs. Wickham have one 
cliikl. Norva, who now holds a responsible 
position in the office of the Von Steen Lumber 
Compan)-, and who is one of the popular 
factors in the social life of Beatrice. 

CHARLES N. AUSTIN, who is the effici- 
ent and valued foreman of a department in 
the important manufacturing establishment of 



710 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the Dempster Company, at JJeatrice, is a mem- 
ber of an honored pioneer family that was 
founded in Gage county nearly a decade be- 
fore the admission of Nebraska to statehood, 
and adequate data concerning the family are 
given in the article dedicated, on other pages 
of this work, to his father, the late Homer B- 
Austin, who was one of the very first settlers 
in what is now the city of Beatrice. 

Charles N. Austin was born at .■\ustinburg, 
Ashtabula county, Ohio, on the 21st of May, 
1855, and his early education was received 
principally at .\ugusta and Galesburg. Illinois. 
He w-as about two years old, however, when 
his parents, Homer B. and Mary A. (Dunbar) 
A.ustin came to the Nebraska Territory, in 
1857, the father erecting a small cabin on the 
homestead claim which he entered near the 
present village of Pickrell and then turning 
his attention to breaking his land and develop- 
ing a frontier farm, he having been one of the 
earliest settlers of the county. Later he re- 
turned with his family to Ohio and for a 
number of years prior to returning to the west 
the family home was maintained in Illinois. 

Charles N- Austin has been continuously a 
resident of Gage county since 1890 and for 
six years he was here employed in a leading 
nursery. About 1895 he established his resi- 
dence in Beatrice, and for virtually a score 
of years he has here been in the employ of 
the Dempster Company, with which represen- 
tative industrial concern he now holds a re- 
sponsible department foremanshij). as previous- 
ly intimated. 

On the 7th of March, 1876. was recorded 
the marriage of Mr. Austin to Miss Stella 
Hall, who was born at Seneca, Missouri, near 
the Oklahoma line, and who is a daughter 
of William G. and Margaret R. (Roberts) 
Hall, the former of whom was born near the 
historic old city of ^'incennes, Indiana, and 
the latter of whom was born in Missouri, from 
which state they came to Nebraska in 1887, 
h^re passing the remainder of their lives. 
John .\. Hall, a brother of Mrs. .\ustin. now 
resides in the city of San Francisco and is in 
the civil service department of government 
service. He was a member of Company C. 



First Nebraska \'olunteer Infantry, in the 
Spanish-American war, thereafter served two 
years in the regular army, in Alaska and 
Hawaii, and he has been a resident of San 
Francisco since the time of the great earth- 
quake in that city. « 

Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. 
.\ustin the following brief record is consistent- 
ly entered: Harry A. is now a member of the 
American army preparing for service in the 
great world war and at the time of this writ- 
ing, in the spring of 1918, he is with his com- 
mand at Deming, New Mexico. He enlisted 
in the Nebraska National Giiard on the 28th 
of July. 1910, and in his present company 
he holds the office of first lieutenant. He was 
married January 2, 1918. to Miss Selena 
lirown. of Crab Orchard. Johnson county. 
Louis is a member of the class of 1919 in 
the Beatrice high .school ; Mary R. likewise is 
attending the public schools of Beatrice. 

In i)olitics Mr- Austin is aligned staunchly 
in the ranks of the Republican party, and he 
has been actively affiliated with the Independ- 
ent CJrder of Odd Fellows since May 28. 1876. 
He has been specially active in the affairs of 
this admirable fraternal order and is past 
grand of his lodge. He is identified also 
with the Woodmen of the World. He has 
served twenty-two years as a member of the 
volunteer fire department of Beatrice and he 
and his wife are active members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. 

JOHN SHALLA.— One of the substantial 
agriculturists of Gage county is John Shalla, 
owner of an excellent farm of four hundred 
acres in Section 3. Paddock township. A 
native of Iowa, he was born in Johnson coun- 
ty, near Iowa City, on December JO. 1864. 
His parents, \'cncil and Barbara (Yarosh) 
Shalla were born in Bohemia where their 
marriage was solemnized, and where they 
made their home until 1864. when they sought 
a home in the L'nitcd States, settling in Iowa. 
Soon afterward Mr. Shalla bought forty acres 
of land near Richmond in Washington county 
and engaged in farming, where he remained 
until 1878. when he came to Gage county, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



711 



Nebraska and took a homestead in Paddock 
township, south of the site of the present vil- 
lage of Odell. He also took one hundred and 
twenty acres as a homestead for his son John, 
who was then only fourteen years of age. 
Two years later Mr. Shalla sold his land and 
bought two hundred acres in Sections 3 and 
10, Paddock township, the land being wholly 
unimproved. To the improvement and cul- 
tivation of this land Mr. Shalla gave his full 
time and attention until he retired from the 
farm to make his home in Odell, where he 
pascd away in 1912 at the age of seventy- 
four years. His widow still resides in Odell 
and is now (1918) in her seventy-second year. 
They were among the first families on the Otoe 
Indian reservation and contributed their share 
toward transforming the wild land to the 
beautiful farms and homes we see to-day. 
Air. and Mrs. Shalla were members of the 
■Catholic church. They reared a family of 
■eight children as follows : Anna, born in 
Eohemia, is the wife of Joseph Pecka, a 
farmer in [Marshall county Kansas ; John is 
the immediate subject of this record ; Joseph 
is a farmer in Gage county ; Mary is the wife 
of Tony Hirmon, of Wymore, this county ; 
Emma is the wife of Frank Hirmon, of Odell; 
Eannie is the wife of Charles Cost el, of Odell ; 
Nettie is the wife of Henry Monsterman, of 
Gage county : Tena is the wife of Harry 
Meyer, residing near Lanham ; and two chil- 
■dren died in infancy, one in Washington coun- 
ty, Iowa, and one in Gage county. 

John Shalla, the eldest son of this pioneer 
family, was a lad of fourteen when the home 
was established in Nebraska. Reared on the 
farm and under the pioneer conditions, he 
learned the lessons of industry, and when a 
young man of twenty-one years he began 
farming for himself. The first three years he 
spent in Kansas, and he then returned to 
Paddock township and purchased an improved 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Here 
he has been successful in his farm enterprise, 
as is attested by the fact that he is now the 
owner of four hundred acres of valuable land 
in Section 3. He follows the best methods of 
planting and harvesting, and his is one of the 



best improved tracts of land in the township. 
Mr. Shalla completed the preparations for a 
home of his own by his marriage to Miss 
Fannie Hirmon, a native of Washington 
county, Iowa. They have four children : 
Mary is the wife of John Cacek, a farmer of 
Paddock township ; and John W., Emma and 
Edward remain at the parental home. 

Mr. Shalla has been a member of the dis- 
trict school board for the past eight years. 
He is a very progressive, up-to-date farmer, 
and any worthy cause always has his hearty 
endorsement. 

RICHARD ROSSITER. — In according 
recognition to the early pioneer settlers of 
Gage county mention should be made in this 
publication of Richard Rossiter, who came 
with his family to Nebraska in the early terri- 
torial days. Mr. Rossiter was born in Somer- 
setshire, England, where he married Mary 
Green and where two of their children were 
born. About 1856 he came with his family to 
America and settled in Illinois, where he ob- 
tained employment on a dairy farm. In the 
spring of 1862 he moved with his family to 
Nebraska and obtained a homestead claim of 
one hundred and sixty acres of virgin prairie 
land in Gage county, eight miles northwest of 
Beatrice, which city at that time was unmarked 
by a single building. On this land he built a 
log cabin of the true pioneer type, with a dirt 
floor, and then turned himself vigorously to 
reclaiming his land to cultivation. He was at 
the time one of the very few men in the 
county owning a team of horses, and he al- 
ways prided himself thereafter upon keeping 
good horses. A man of strong individuality, 
sterling character, and mature judgment, he 
made good use of the opportunities here pre- 
sented, and at the time of his death he was the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of more 
than seven hundred acres, comprising four 
well improved farms in Gage county. Mr. 
Rossiter had never attended school a day in 
his life, but his mental alertness enabled him 
in large measure to overcome this youthful 
handicap, and he was known as a man of 
superior business judgment and acumen. In 



712 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 





Bi 
II) 



o 



< 

X 
u 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



'13 



the early days he raised Hve stock, and his 
children assisted in herding the cattle on th^ 
plains, there having heen at the time no re- 
strictions on the use of government land. 
This strong and worthy pioneer continuea 
his residence in Gage county until his death, 
which occurred January 7, 1902, and he 
was at the time eighty-three years of age. His 
widow, who remains on the old homestead, 
celebrated the ninety-third anniversary of her 
birth in October, 1917. She is not only one 
of the revered but undoubtedly also one of 
the most venerable pioneer women of this 
■county, which she has seen developed from a 
frontier wild to its present state of prosperity. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rossiter became the parents 
of seven children, of whom the following 
brief data are given : Charles is a prospector 
and miner in British Columbia ; Frances is the 
wife of F. E. Quackenbush, of Keota, Colo- 
rado; Anna is the wife of Prather Dolan, a 
farmer living near Hoag, Gage county ; Sarah 
is the widow of George M. Morey and resides 
at Pleasanton, Iowa ; Edgar is a prosperous 
farmer in Gage county, and concerning him a 
record appears elsewhere in this volume ; and 
Hattie and Sidney reside with their widowed 
mother on the old homestead in Gage county. 
Mrs. Rossiter's maiden name was Mary Green 
and she, like her husband, was born in Som- 
ersetshire, England. 

JOHN W. EHMEN was born and reared 
on the farm which is now the stage of his 
successful activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower, and he is the fortunate owner 
of this valuable and well improved landed 
estate of two hundred acres, in Section 27. 
Hanover township. He was born February 
10, 1882. and is a son of William and Emke 
(Johnson) Ehmen, of whom specific mention 
is made on other pages, in the sketch of their 
son Henry W. In the same connection are 
given portraits of the parents, the insertion of 
the same being made as a filial tribute on the 
part of John W. Ehmen. 

John \V. Ehmen has from his boyhood been 
associated with the activities of the farm of 
which he is now the owner and his earlv edu- 



cation was acquired in the public schools of 
Hanover township. He takes loyal interest in 
all things pertaining to the communal welfare, 
has given effective service as road overseer, is 
a Republican in politics, and both he and his 
wife hold membership in the Lutheran church. 
In 1905 Mr- Ehmen wedded Miss Emke 
Busboom, who was born in the state of Kansas 
and whose father, John Busboom, is now a 
prosperous farmer of Gage county, in Filley 
township. Mr. and Mrs. Ehmen have five 
children, — William, John, Emke, Tida and 
Henry. 

EARL C. JEWELL.— True versatility, as 
well as progressive and well directed business 
policies, has been manifested by Mr. Jewell 
in his independent career as a representative 
of farm enterprise in his native county. In 
Sections 19 and 20, Grant township, he is 
now the owner of a well improved landed 
estate of two hundred acres. In 1902 he 
began raising pure-bred Duroc-Jersey swine, 
and his discrimination and good judgment 
have brought him to the front as one of the 
most successful exponents of this line of farm 
enterprise in this section of Nebraska. Fur- 
ther interest attaches to his career by reason of 
his being a scion of a family that has given 
honored and influential pioneers to Gage 
county and that was founded in America in 
the colonial period of our national history, the 
Jewell lineage tracing back to staunch English 
origin. 

On his father's old homestead farm in Grant 
township, this county, Mr. Jewell was born 
July 29. 1886, and he is the youngest of the 
four children of George W. and Martha 
(Carpenter) Jewell. William, firstborn of the 
children, died in infancy and the second, 
to whom was given the same name, William, 
now owns and resides upon the old home 
farm ; Bertha is the wife of William Mcjunk- 
in, of Dewitt, Saline county. 

George W. Jewell was born in Ohio and 
was sixty-three years of age at the time of 
his death, which occurred November 21, 1910. 
Staunchly patriotic, when the Civil war was 
precipitated upon the nation he went forth 



714 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



as a loyal young soldier of the Union, his 
service having been as a member of Com- 
pany E. Second Illinois Cavalry, with which 
gallant command he lived up to the full ten- 
sion of the conflict through which the integ- 
rity of the Union was preserved. After the 
war he continued his residence in Grundy 
county, Illinois, until 1870, when, accompanied 
by his wife and their one child, he drove over- 
land with team and wagon to Gage county, 
Nebraska. He became one of the pioneer 
settlers of Grant township and developed one 
of the fine farms of that part of the county, 
his old homestead being eligibly situated near 
the village of Dewitt. He was a Republican 
in politics and was affiliated with the Grand 
Army of the Republic- His cherished and 
devoted wife was likewise born in Ohio and 
she was about fifty-two years of age at the 
time of her death, in 1902, both having been 
earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Earl C. Jewell was reared on the old 
homestead farm and his early educational 
advantages were those afforded in the public 
schools of Grant township. He continued to 
be associated with his father in farm industry 
until the death of the latter and about two 
years later, in 1912, he purchased his present 
farm, from his uncle, Samuel V. Jewell, an- 
other of the sterling pioneers of the county. 
He has since made numerous improvements on 
the place, which is three-fourths of a mile east 
of Dewitt. Saline county, and here, in con- 
nection with diversified agriculture, he has 
become specially prominent and succesful in 
the raising of fine live stock and poultry. On 
his exhibits of Rarred Rock poultry he has 
won ribbons at poultry shows held in the Ne- 
braska cities of Lincoln. Grand Island, Hast- 
ings, Omaha and Kearney, as well as at St. 
Joseph, Missouri, and in \^17 he made a 
splendid exhibit at the great poultry show in 
the city of Chicago. .\niong the prizes he 
has won on poultry and Diiroc-Jersey swine 
may be noted five silver cups and a five-piece 
silver tea set. His interest in poultry-breed- 
ing has been unwavering since his bovhood 
days, he has made a close and careful study 



of the same, uses the best of modern facilities- 
and scientific methods in his poultry enter- 
prise, and his success in the same has been 
of unequivocal order. As a progressive and 
liberal citizen he takes active interest in pub- 
lic affairs, especially those of a local order, 
and is a staunch supporter of the cause of the 
Republican party. Both he and his wife hold 
membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Dewitt and they are popular factors 
in the social activities of the community. 

September 21, 1907, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Jewell to Miss Clara Foster, who was 
born at Dewitt, Saline county, and is a daugh- 
ter of William H. and Margaret (Reinwald) 
Foster. Mr. Foster was born and reared in 
Illinois and in the pioneer days came with 
his widowed mother and her three other 
children to Saline county. Nebraska, where he 
has since maintained his home, he and his 
wife being now residents of Dewitt. Mrs. 
Foster was born in the Province of Ontario,. 
Canada, and there her marriage was solemniz- 
ed May 24. 1882. Mrs. Jewell being the eldest 
of the three children- Mr. and Mrs. Jewell 
have two children.^ — Lucille, who was born 
June 25, 1908, and \ivian. who was born luly 
28, 1915. 

JOHN LENERS has been a resident of 
Gage county since 1878 and though his finan- 
cial resources were most limited at the time 
of his immigration from Illinois to Nebraska 
he had the most generous measure of energy, 
ambition, and self-reliance, so that he has 
achieved large and worthy success through his 
as.sociation with farm enterprise in this coun- 
ty, where he is now the owner of a valuable 
farm estate of three hundred and twenty acres, 
in Logan and Filley township, his attractive 
homestead, improved with handsome build- 
ings erected by him. being situated in Section 
1. Logan township. 

Mr. Leners was born in the Province of 
Hanover. Germany, November 21, 1853, and 
is a son of Renken and F!tta Leners. who 
came to .•\merica in 1858 and settled in .\danis- 
county. Illinois, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives and where the father 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



715 



became a prosperous farmer. Hoth were earn- 
est communicants of the Lutheran church. 

John Leners was five years of age at the 
time of the family immigration to the United 
States and was reared and educated in Adams 
county. Illinois. There he continued to be as- 
sociated with farm industry until 1878, when, 
at the age of twenty-four years, he came to 
Gage county, in company with his brother 
Renken. For a few years he here carried on 
farm activities on rented land, and the splen- 
did advancement which he has made in the 
intervening years is shown significantly in his 
ownership of one of the model farm estates of 
the county. Here he gives his attention to 
diversified agriculture and to the raising of 
excellent types of live stock. In the early 
days Mr. Leners had his full quota of struggle 
in overcoming obstacles and adverse condi- 
tions, over which he has triumphed, and in 
contradistin~tion to the high prices paid for 
food products at the present period of world 
■warfare, it is interesting to note that in the 
pioneer davs Mr. Leners sold his corn for ten 
•cents a bushel and hogs at less than two dol- 
lars per hundredweight. His political alle- 
giance is given to the Republican party and 
he and his wife are active members of the 
Lutheran church. 

In Adams county, Illinois, in 1874, Mr. 
Leners wedded Miss Marie Schuster, who 
was born in Germany, a daughters of Mene 
Schuster, her parents having been pioneers in 
Gage county, where they settled in 1865, about 
two years prior to the admission of Nebraska 
to the Union. Mr. and Mrs. Leners became 
the parents of a fine family of twelve children, 
of whom the firstborn, Etta, met a tragi: 
death, she having been killed by lighting when 
sixteen years of age; Grace is the wife of }. 
G. Carstens, of Hanover township ; Renken ]. 
is a farmer in Holt township ; Menne died at 
the age of twenty-eight years ; Henry is a 
farmer in Filley township ; .\manda died at 
the age of eight ; .\nnie is the wife of Menne 
Zimmerman, of Hanover township ; Etta 
(second of the name) is the wife of M. Ecker- 
ly. of I'.eatrice; Johanna is the wife of George 
Schmidt, of Hooker township ; and Amanda, 



Ortman and Marie remain at the parental 
home. 



JOHN SINGLETON. — No man living in 
Gage county has the honor of being an earlier 
settler on what was once the Otoe Indian 
reservation than John Singleton, who is now 
living retired in the village of Odell. He also 
has the distinction of being a son of parents 
who were among the early families in a new 
country. He was the first white child born 
in Fremont county, Iowa, where his birth oc- 
curred October 25. 1842. He is the son of 
.\ndrew Jackson Singleton and Elizabeth 
I'Hanna) Singleton, the former born in Ken- 
tucky and the latter in Tennessee. 

Andrew J. Singleton married in Indiana 
and in 1841 he and his wife moved to Fre- 
mont county, Iowa, where they were among 
the first settlers. Mr. Singleton engaged in 
farming and followed that vocation through- 
out his life. 

John Singleton spent his boyhood days on 
the Iowa farm and was married in that state. 
In 1873 he came to Nebraska and took squat- 
ter's claim to one hundred and sixty acres of 
land in the Otoe Indian reservation, this land 
being later included in what is now Glenwood 
township, Gage county. His first house was 
built of logs and was fourteen by sixteen feet 
in dimensions. Here he and his wife lived 
for more than three years. Mr. Singleton 
eventually built a good frame house, and 
he and his wife remained on the farm uiuil 
1892, when they moved to Odell. L'p to about 
ten years ago ^Ir. Singleton continued his ac- 
tive association with farm enterprise but since 
that time he has lived a retired life- Mr. .Sin- 
gleton and his brother-in-law were the first 
two settlers in Glenwood township, and at that 
time there were buf three houses between Mr. 
Singleton's place and the town of Beatrice. 
Mrs. Singleton has also a very interesting pio- 
neer record. She was Miss Sarah F. Good 
and was born May 12, 18-14. at Fort Coffey, 
on the Arkansas river, in the Indian Territory. 
Her father. Rev. W. H. Good, was a Meth- 
odist minister connected with the Indianapolis 
conference and was sent as missionary to the 



716 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Indians: he located in Indian Territory in 
184.^. Later he returned to Indiana, whence 
he was sent as a inisionary to the Indians in 
Nebraska. His last days were spent in In- 
diana. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Sarah Pearson, was born in Indiana, and she 
was a resident of her native state at the time 
of her death. 

Air. and Mrs. Singleton were married in 
Fretnont county, Iowa, and she accompanied 
her husband to Gage county, Nebraska, where 
she shared his pioneer experiences. They be- 
came the parents of five children : Maggie is the 
wife of E. T. Joy, of University Place, Ne- 
braska ; Bessie is the wife of P. B. Laird, of 
Tabor, Iowa ; Frances is the wife of T. H. 
Ellis, of Eugene, Oregon ; William resides at 
Fairbury, Nebraska; and Eleanor is the wife 
of Anton Beza, a merchant at Odell. Gage 
county. 

. Mr. Singleton and his wife are enjoying 
the evening of life in a comfortable home in 
Odell. He is a man of distinguished bearing, 
typical of the southern reared gentleman. Mr. 
Singleton's grandfather was a slave-holder in 
Missouri in the early days. Mr. Singleton 
is a Democrat, and he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



CHRIST J. MEINTS, whose well improved 
homestead farm is situated in Section 26, Han- 
over township, has by his own ability and 
energy achieved large success in connection 
with farm enterprise in this county and, now 
venerable in years, he is living virtually re- 
tired from the arduous lalwrs which so long 
marked his career- 
Mr. Meints was born in East Friesland, 
province of Hanover. Germany, on the 28th 
of December. 18.^4. and tliere he was reared 
and educated. In the same province was sol- 
emnized his marriage to Miss Rika Dom, and 
they came to .\meri:a in 1863. arriving at 
Golden. Illinois, two weeks prior to the assas- 
sination of President Lincoln. In his native 
land Mr. Meints had learned the carpenter's 
trade and this he followed after establishing 
Iii^ licime in Illinois, besides wliicii he did ex- 



pert service in brick-laying and plastering 
in that state until 1883. when he came 
to Gage county. Nebraska, which state 
he had previously visited, this action having 
been prompted by a request made to him by 
former residents of Illinois who wished him 
to do some building work for them. He final- 
ly became so favorably impressed that he 
decided to establish his home in the county — 
an action that he has never regreted. He 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of un- 
improved land in Section 26, Hanover town- 
sliip. where he has since maintained his home, 
and his ability as a carpenter is shown in the 
substantial and attractive type of the buildings 
which he has erected on his home farm. He 
brought to bear marked energ)' and business 
sagacity in his activities as a farmer and even- 
tually accumulated a valuable estate of five 
hundred and sixty acres, a considerable por- 
tion of which he retains, the remainder hav- 
ing been sold to his sons. His devoted wife 
passed to eternal rest in 1907, a devout mem- 
lier of the Lutheran church, as is he also. Of 
their children the eldest is Henry, a prosper- 
ous farmer in Logan township: Maggie is the 
wife of liroer Gronewold, of Dawson county; 
John was a resident of Holt township at the 
time of his death ; Bruno is a successful farm- 
er in Logan townshij) : Christina is the wile 
of lien .Aden, of Dawson county: Heye is a 
substantial farmer in Holt township ; .\ddie is 
the wife of Louis Stevens, of Hanover town- 
ship. 

Though he has passed the age of four score 
years Mr. Meints is hale and active and con- 
tinues to find occasion for practical service 
about his farm, as may be inferred when it 
is noted that recently he used a trowel active- 
ly and effectively in the construction of a ce- 
ment floor in one of the buildings on his farm. 
His son-in-law, Louis Stevens, has the active 
management of the farm and is more specific- 
ally mentioned in appending paragraphs. 

Louis Stevens was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, January 29, 1878, and 
has been a resident of Gage county since 189.S. 
In 1901 was solemnized his marriage to Miss 
.Xddie Meints. and thev have seven children — 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



717 



Orace, Mabel, Christ, Elmer, John, Henry, and 
Emma. 

Mr. Stevens is a progressive exponent of 
farm enterprise, is a Republican in politics 
and he and his wife are active communicants 
of the Lutheran church. 

JOHN H. ZIMMERMAN. — Eligibly 
situated in Section 22, Blakely township, is 
the excellent farm which is being successfully 
operated by jNIr. Zimmerman and that is a part 
of the estate of his honored father, the late 
John A. Zimmerman, who was one of the ster- 
ling pioneers of Gage county. 

John H. Zimmerman was born on the old 
homestead farm of his father, in Blakely town- 
ship, this county, April 3, 1883, and is the 
eldest of the children of John A. and Helen 
(Riesen) Zimmerman, brief record concern- 
ing the other children being here given : Mary 
is the wife of Henry vonSteen, of Blakely 
township; Anna is the wife of Dr. H. G. Pen- 
ner, a representative physician and surgeon 
of riymouth, Jefferson county ; John H. is 
farming the old homestead place, where also 
remain the widowed mother and the daugh- 
ters, Helen and Alice; Louis E., the youngest 
of the number, died in infancy- 
John A. Zimmerman was born near the city 
of Dantzic, western Prussia, on the 6th of 
September, 1857, and he came to the L^nited 
States in the summer of 1876. He first lo- 
cated at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, but in the fol- 
lowing year, in company with his parents, he 
became a member of the staunch Mennonite 
colony that established residence in Gage coun- 
ty, Nebraska. He and his father obtained 
land in Sections 29 and 30, Blakely township, 
and with the passing years he gained place 
as one of the substantial agriculturists and 
stock-growers of the county. He was a citi- 
zen of upright character and splendid energy, 
so that he achieved large and worthy success, 
the while he commanded the confidence of all 
who knew him. He was the owner of a val- 
uable landed estate of four hundred and twen- 
ty-five acres at the time of his death, which 
occurred July 10. 1914. and was an earnest 
member of the Mennonite church, as is also 



his widow, she likewise having been born near 
Dantzic, Germany, and the date of her na- 
tivity having been August 24, 1861. 

John H- Zimmerman acquired his earlier 
education in the district schools and supple- 
mented this by attending the public schools 
in the city of Beatrice. He has traveled 
through various states of the west and south 
but his observations have only caused him to 
be the more appreciative of his native county 
and its attractions and advantages, so that 
after his marriage, in 1907, he here initiated 
his independent career as a farmer and stock - 
grower, in which field of industrial enterprise 
he is fully upholding the high prestige of the 
family name. He is a member of the school 
board of his district, is a Republican in poli- 
tics, and is an alert and progressive citizen and 
farmer of the younger generation in his native 
county. 

November 21, 1907, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Zimmerman to Miss Marie Penner, 
who was born and reared in this county and 
is a daughter of Gerhard and Anna (Froese) 
Penner, sterling pioneer citizens who now 
maintain their home in the city of Beatrice. 
Mrs. Zimmerman was graduated in the Be- 
atrice high school and prior to her marriage 
had been a successful and popular teacher in 
the district schools of her native county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Zimmerman have three children — 
Carl H., Robert G., and Hugo J. 

ALBERT C. PFEFFERMANN, a farmer 
of Lincoln township, was born January 7, 
1873. in Livingston county, Illinois, and he 
is a son of Stormeus and Sarah T. (Thomas) 
Pfeffermann. 

Stormeus Pfeft'ermann was born in Ger- 
many, in December, 1833. He was a tailor 
by trade and before coming to America worked 
at his trade in Germany. In 1862 Mr. Pfef- 
fermann came to the United States and settled 
in Livingston county, Illinois, but within a 
short time thereafter he enlisted in the de- 
fense of the Union in the Civil war. He 
continued in service until the close of the war, 
and (ijion his return to Illinois he engaged in 
farming. He there continued his farm enter- 



718 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



prise until 1892, when he came with his family 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and bought three 
hundred and twenty acres of land in Lincoln 
township, besides which he became the owner 
of an additional tract of land near Diller, 
Jeflferson county. For this land Mr- PfefTer- 
mann paid from ten to fourteen dollars an 
acre. During the intervening years, between 
1892 and 1918, this land has increased in value 
more than ten times its cost at time of pur- 
cha.se, and Mr. Pfefifermann is still the owner 
of about six hundred and forty acres. 

Albert C. PfelTermann was educated in the 
public schools of Illinois. As a young man he 
applied himself to farm work in that state 
until 1892. when he came with his parents to 
Nebraska. In 1894 Albert C. and his brother, 
Edvvard, began farming on tlie home place, in 
Lincoln township. They were thus associated 
one year and .VIbert C. Pfefifermann then re- 
turned to Illinois. In his native state he re- 
mained only a short time, however, and he 
tlien came again to Nebraska and to the home 
place upon which he now resides. 

On March 9. 1898, Albert C. Pfeffermann 
was united in marriage to Ada Seabert. of 
Livingston coimty. Illinois, and to them have 
been born five children — Elma, Floyd, Dor- 
othy, Sadie, and Bernetta. 

Mr. I'feffermann is a Rei)ublican in politics 
and at one time he was assessor of Lincoln 
township. He was one of the organizers of 
the Ellis State Bank, in 1907, and is now vice- 
president of that institution. He is also a 
stockholder and director of the Farmers' Ele- 
vator Com]>any of Ellis. 

THOMAS C. HAGERMAN came to Gage 
county forty years ago and has here won sub- 
stantial success through Iiis I<ing and energetic 
association with agricultural and live-stock in- 
dustry, of which he has been a representative 
exponent in Filley township, where he ow'ns a 
well improved and valuable landed estate of 
eleven hundred and twenty-tive acres — one 
of the best farm properties in this part of the 
county. Since 1910 he has lived retired in 
the village of Filley, where he owns an attrac- 
tive and modern residence property, the fine 



modern house having been erected by him at 
the time when he left the farm. 

^Ir. Hagerman was born in Washington 
county, Maryland, January 7, 1851, and is a 
son of William A. and Hettie (Mickley) Ha- 
german. both natives of Pennsylvania, the lat- 
ter having been born in Adams county, near 
the city of Gettysburg. The father was a 
brickmaker by vocation in earlier years but 
eventually became one of the substantial farm- 
ers of Maryland, where both he and his wife 
passed the closing years of their lives. Thom- 
as C. Hagerman was reared on the old home 
farm in Maryland and is indebted to the public 
schools of his native county for his early edu- 
cational discipline. In 1878, as a young man 
of twenty-seven years, he came to Gage coun- 
ty, Nebraska, and purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of raw prairie land in Filley towMi- 
ship. Within a short time thereafter he re- 
turned to Maryland, but in 1883 he came again 
to Gage county, where he began the develop- 
ment and improvement of his farm. A few- 
years later he purchased an adjoining tract 
of three hundred and twenty acres, and after 
living on this place a few years lie returned 
to his original farm, in order to be in the Fil- 
ley school district and permit his children to 
attend the village schools. He continued his 
vigorous and successful operations as an agri- 
culturist and stock-grower until his retirement 
to the village of Filley, as previously noted, 
and he gave special attention to the raising of 
high-grade sw'ine. in which department of 
farm enterprise he was particularly successful. 

In the year 1872 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Hagerman to Miss Mary Hutzell, 
who likewise was born and reared in Mary- 
land, and concerning the children of this un- 
ion the following record is given. Nannie is 
the wife of J. J. Williamson and they reside 
near Merriman. South Dakota ; Alice became 
the wife of E. W. Starlin, and is now de- 
ceased: .Ada is the wife of Earl Norcross. of 
Filley : Luther resides upon and has charge of 
the old home farm, the maiden name of his 
wife having been Eva Clark; and W. C who 
married Joyce Clark, resides on one of his 
father's farms. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



719 



Mr- Hagernian, a man of sterling character 
and marked ability, has shown distinctive loy- 
alty and pnblic spirit as a citizen, is a Repub- 
lican in politics and is serying, in 1917-1918, 
as mayor of the village of Filley, besides 
which he held for twelve years the position of 
member of the school board. Both he and his 
wife are earnest members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

JOHN G. CARSTENS, whose excellent 
farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, is in 
Section 14, Hanover township, is a progres- 
sive exponent of agricultural and live-stock 
industry and is one of the representative citi- 
zens of his community. He was born in 
Adams county, Illinois, September 12. 1873, 
and is a son of George and Juliana (Bauer) 
Carstens, both of whom were born in Ger- 
many — the former in the year 1828 and the 
latter on the 22d of December, 1841. Both 
passed the closing years of their lives in Gage 
county, Nebraska, where the father's death oc- 
curred in October, 1909, and that of the moth- 
er on the 9th of February, 1917. George 
Carstens came to the United States in the 
year 1857 and settled in Illinois. After hav- 
ing there been employed for a time as a farm 
hand he purchased a small farm in Adams 
county, and he continued his residence in Illi- 
nois until 1890, when he came with his family 
to Nebraska and purchased three hundred and 
twenty acres of land in Gage county. He 
made this one of the fine farm properties of 
Hanover township and continued to be asso- 
ciated with its management until the time of 
his death. He was a Democrat in his politi- 
cal adherency and both he and his wife were 
communicants of the Lutheran church. Of 
their eight children all are living except one : 
Minnie is the wife of George Ortgiesen, a 
farmer in Franklin county, this state ; Richard 
is now a resident of Madison county ; Herman 
is engaged in farming three and one-half miles 
east of Beatrice ; John G., of this review, was 
the next in order of birth ; Christopher resides 
on his farm in Saline county ; Paul lives on 
his father's old homestead farm and his sister 
Mary remains with him. 



John G. Carstens acquired his youthful edu- 
cation in the public schools of Illinois and was 
sixteen years of age at the time of the family 
removal to Nebraska. On the old home place 
in Hanover township he continued to assist 
his father in the operation of the farm until 
he was twenty-four years of age, when he be- 
gan his independent operations as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower, a field of industrial 
enterprise in which his success has been on a 
parity with the energy and progressiveness 
that have marked his course. 

In the year 1899 Mr. Carstens wedded Miss 
Maggie Leners, who was born and reared in 
this county and whose parents still reside on 
their old home farm, in Logan township. Mrs. 
Carstens is a daughter of John Leners, who 
was born in Germany and who came to Gage 
county in the '70s, becoming one of the pio- 
neer settlers in Logan township. Mr. and 
Mrs- Carstens have seven children, all of whom 
still remain members of the gracious home cir- 
cle, namely : Juliana, Marie, George, John, 
William, Ranken, and Anna. 

A loyal supporter of measures and move- 
ments advanced for the general good of the 
community, Mr. Carstens maintains an inde- 
pendent attitude in politics, and he has been 
called upon to serve as township assessor, as 
well as a member of the school board of his 
district. He has made many excellent im- 
provements on his farm, including the erection 
of an attractive house of modern design and 
appointments, and also a barn that meets the 
requirements of an up-to-date farm, this lat- 
ter building having been erected in 1915. 

HARM M. DuBUHR. — From East Fries- 
land, a picturesque district in the extreme 
northwestern angle of the province of Han- 
over, Germany, have come an appreciable num- 
ber of well known and representative citizens 
of Gage county, both in the present and ear- 
lier generations. In that district of Germany 
Harm M. DeBuhr was born June 12, 1865, 
and he was ten years of age at the time of the 
family immigration to America. The gener- 
ous measure of his achievement is demonstrat- 
ed in his ownership of a fine landed estate of 



720 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



four hundred and twenty acres in Gage coun- 
ty, and his attractive homestead farm is situat- 
ed in Section 22, Hanover township. He is 
a son of Menne J. and Jennie (Harms) De- 
Buhr, both natives of Germany, where the 
btter passed her entire life. Menne DcBuhr 
was born December 30, 1822, and was a resi- 
dent of the state of IlHnois at the time of his 
death, in 1887. After the death of his wife 
he continued to be identified with business 
enterprise in East Friesland until 1875, when 
he came with his children to the United States 
and established a home in Champaign county, 
Illinois, in which state he passed the remainder 
of his life, he having been a wagonmaker by 
trade. Of the five children three are living, 
the subject of this sketch being the youngest ; 
Rixty is the wife of George E. Zimmerman, 
of Hanover township, who is individually men- 
tioned on other ])ages ; and Antye is the wife 
of Martin Hendricks, a farmer in Illinois. 
The parents were lifelong members of the 
Lutheran church. 

Harm M. l)eP>uhr gained his rudimentary 
education in his native land and was ten years 
old when he accompanied his father to Amer- 
ica, his educational training having been com- 
pleted in the public schools of Illinois. In 
that state he continued his association with 
farm enterprise until 1885, when he came to 
Nebraska and established his home in Gage 
county. Here he farmed on rented land for 
nine years, and he then purchased eighty acres 
in Hanover township, after having accum- 
ulated sufficient money to partially pay for 
the same- Later he sold this property and 
purchased his present homestead place, which 
then comprised one hundred and sixty acres 
and to which he has gradually added until he 
now owns a valuable farm estate of four hun- 
dred and twenty acres in Hanover township. 
Mr. DePiuhr has erected good farm buildings 
on his homestead, the small house that was on 
the place when he purchased the property 
having been supjilanted by a commodious and 
attractive modern residence, and scrupulous 
care having been given to keeping the farm 
property up to the best standard throughout. 
W'iiile thus furthering through well directed 



industry and enterprise his personal advance- 
ment, Mr. DeBuhn has at all times been mind- 
ful of his civic responsibilities and has given 
his cooperation in the furtherance of those 
things that have tended to conserve the gen- 
eral wellbeing and progress of the commun- 
ity. He is independent in politics, is now 
serving as a member of the school board of 
his district, has been road overseer in his pre- 
cinct and his high place in popular confidence 
and esteem is indicated by his being the in- 
cumbent, in 1917-1918, of the office of town- 
ship treasurer. He is a vigorous and success- 
ful exponent of agricultural and live-stock in- 
dustry and is essentially one of the represen- 
tative citizens of Hanover township. He and 
his wife are zealous communicants of the 
Lutheran church. 

in 188'> Mr. DeBuhr wedded Miss Minnie 
I'.hnian, whose father, the late William Eh- 
man, was numbered among the honored pio- 
neers of Gage county, adequate data concern- 
ing the family being given on other ])ages, in 
the record concerning Henry W. Ehman, a 
brother of Mrs. DeBuhr. In the concluding 
paragra])h of this article is given brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and .Mrs. De- 
Buhr: 

Memie, who is a prosperous farmer in Han- 
over township, married Miss Katie W'alken, 
and they have two children. Harm and Trinty ; 
William, a representative farmer of the young- 
er generation in Hanover township, wedded 
Johannah Zimmerman ; John is a farmer in 
Hanover township and the maiden name of his 
wife was Bena lluls; Henry. .\mka. Jcrgen, 
Bernhard, Trinty. and Martin roniain at the 
parental home. 

FRANK W. MUMFORD was born and 
reared on the fine old homestead farm to the 
management of which he is now giving his ef- 
fective attention, the same comprising three 
hundred and twenty acres, in Section 4, Logan 
townshiix in which township he individually 
owns al.'^o eighty acres aside from the undivid- 
ed family estate. He is a scion of a sterling 
pioneer family that was founded in Gage coun- 
ty prior to the admission of Nebraska to state- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



721 



hood, and to his father, John B. Alumford, a 
merited tribute is paid in a review on other 
pages of this work. 

Frank W. Miunford was born August 17, 
1868, and was reared under the conditions 
that marked the early pioneer era in Gage 
county history. He profited by the advantages 
of the district schools of the locahty and pe- 
riod, and he has become one of the represen- 
tative exponents of agricultural and live-stock 
industry in his native township, besides which 
he has been for a score of years successfully 
identified with the buying and shipping of live 
stock, the specific executive management of 
this enterprise being vested in his partner, 
who maintains headquarters in the village of 
Pickrell. In the early days Mr. Mumford 
herded cattle on the open prairies, his activi- 
ties in this line having been initiated when he 
was a boy and having continued about six 
years, during which he moved the cattle about 
over a radius of many miles. He has re- 
tained the deepest interest in fine live stock in 
the varied lines and he and his cousin, George 
L., are associated in the ownership of the fine 
pacing stallion, "Budweiser," nine years old 
(1918), sired by Roy Norval and the dam 
by Dr. Vincent. Mr. Mumford purchased this 
animal in 1913, from a man named Bud 
Weiser, at Pickrell, the stallion having at the 
time been in service on a rural mail route. 
The new owners put the stallion into training 
and in the first year, in turf competitions, he 
won eight out of the twelve races in which he 
was entered. In the season of 1917, at Spring- 
field, Illinois, he made a record of 2:07^4. 

Mr. Mumford is a progressive and up-to- 
date farmer, is a Democrat in politics, served 
four years as assessor of Logan township, and 
for twenty years as school director of his dis- 
trict. 

December 18. 1895, Mr. Mumford wedded 
Miss Bertha Hansbearry. who was born in 
Nemaha county, this state, and they have three 
children — Luther \\'arren, Frank Morris, and 
John \MlIiani \\'alter. The sons are attend- 
ing, in 1918, the public schools in the city of 
Beatrice. 



FRED D. VAN LIEW, who owns and 
operates a farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 13, Rockford township, was 
born in Jerseyville, Illinois, July 17, 1871. 
He is a son of Fred and Elizabeth (Stout) 
\ an Liew. His paternal grandparents were 
Jeremiah and Becky Van Liew, who became 
residents of Jerseyville, Illinois, when the 
father of our subject was about seventeen 
years of age. There he grew to manhood and 
there he was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
until 187''. when he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased two hundred acres 
of land one mile south of Beatrice, in River- 
side township. Nine years later he moved 
to lieatrice, where he resided until his death, 
at the age of seventy-two years- His wife al- 
so passed away in Beatrice, when about the 
same age as was her husband at the time of 
his death. They became the parents of seven 
children, three of whom died in childhood. 
The four surviving children are John, of 
Pawnee county. Nebraska; Mrs. J. B. Smith, 
of Platte City, Missouri ; Fred D., subject of 
this review ; and Frank, of Beatrice, this coun- 

t.V- 

Fred D. \'an Liew came to Gage county 
when a lad of seven years. Pioneer condi- 
tions were still in evidence on every hand. 
Beatrice, the county seat, was only a small 
village. He attended school in Beatrice and 
when a young man worked by the month on a 
farm. Then for four years he was employed 
in the mechanical department of the Atchison, 
Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Five years ago 
he purchased his present farm, to the improve- 
ment and cultivation of which he is devoting 
his energies with good success. 

Mr. \'an Liew chose as a wife and heljjmeet 
Miss Jennie Nemec. a native of Pawnee coun- 
ty. Nebraska, and a daughter of Mr. and Airs. 
Joseph Nemec, who still reside in that county. 
The home of Mr. and Mrs. \'an Liem has been 
blessed with two children whose names are 
Frances and William- The parents are mem- 
bers of the Baptist church. 

Mr. Van Liew has witnessed many changes 
in Gage county since he came here as a boy. 
Though he was elsewhere for a few years, he 



722 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



has returned to devote his time to farming 
and to rear his children in the county where 
his own boyhood days were passed. 

JOHN L. WILSON is an honored and rep- 
resentative citizen whose memory and ex- 
perience touch the pioneer conditions and ex- 
periences of Gage county history, and he re- 
sides on his fine homestead farm, in Section 
33, ?Ianover townshiy 

John Leander Wilson was born in Lawrence 
county, Ohio, December 24, 1846, and is a son 
of John and Elizabeth (Pethoud) Wilson, 
the former a native of Pennsylvania and the 
latter of Ohio. As a young man John Wil- 
son followed the trade of moulder but e\entu- 
ally he became associated with agricultural 
industry in Ohio, where he remained until 
1858, when he came with his family to Ne- 
braska Territory and settled in Gage county, 
as one of the earliest pioneers of what is now 
Logan township. In Section 4, that township, 
he became the owner of one hundred and sixty 
acres of land, which he obtained by buying a 
land warrant issued by the government to a 
soldier who had served in the Mexican war. 
John Wilson and his family lived up to the 
full tension of frontier life and eventually he 
effected the reclamation and improvement of 
his pioneer farm, which is now owned by the 
subject of this review. The original family 
domicile was a primitive log house, and this 
was utilized several years, a more pretentious 
dwelling being then provided. John Wilson 
here continued to reside until his death, Oc- 
tober 26, 1867, the year that marked the ad- 
mission of Nebraska to statehood, and his 
widow attained to venerable age, her death 
having occurred June 22, 1892, both having 
been earnest members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. This revered pioneer couple 
became the parents of twelve children : Mary, 
who became the wife of Frederick Hansen, 
died in 1916, her home having been in the 
state of Iowa; Eliza is the widow of Louis 
Graves and lives in Colorado: John L., im- 
mediate subject of this sketch, was the next in 
■order of birth; .Alexander is a resident of 
-Colorado and Thomas of Oregon; Sarah, 



whose death occurred in 1907, in Missouri, 
was the wife of Oliver Hansen; Maria, the 
wife of George Gates, died in 1876; Francis 
M. was a resident of Brown, Nemaha county, 
Nebraska, at the time of his death ; Andrew J. 
is a resident of Clay Center, Kansas ; James 
I. maintains his home at Goldfield, Colorado ; 
Joseph died in Gage county, in June, 1917, 
aged fifty-two years; Rebecca is the wife of 
James William Pell and they reside in the 
state of Iowa. 

John L. Wilson was a youth of eleven years 
at the time of the family removal to the wilds 
of Nebraska Territory and was reared under 
tlie conditions and influences of the pioneer 
farm in Gage county, the while he attended 
the primitive schools of Gage county when op- 
portunity offered. The years 1877 and 1878 
he passed in freighting operations in localities 
farther to the west, and upon his return to 
Gage county he purchased eighty acres of land 
in Section 33, Hanover township, where he 
has since maintained his residence and where 
he has developed one of the well improved 
farm estates of the county, as a successful 
agriculturist and stock-grower. His home 
farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres 
and he owns also the old homestead farm of 
his father, in Logan township, this place, like- 
wise having an area of one hundred and sixty 
acres. 

In the year 1883 Mr. Wilson married Miss 
Lucy ^\'ilson, who was bom in Ohio and is a 
daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Steine) 
Wilson, the former a native of Maryland and 
the latter of Virginia. From Ohio the par- 
ents of Mrs. John L. Wilson removed to 
Iowa, as pioneers of that state, and in 1881 
they came to Gage county and settled in Rock- 
ford township, where they passed the remain- 
der of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson be- 
came the parents of five children, of whom 
two died in early childhood, the surviving 
children, Lee. Glenn, and Neola, remaining 
at the parental home and being rejiresentatives 
of the third generation of the Wilson family 
in this county. 

Mr. Wilson, though he has passed the span 
of three score years and ten, is still vigorous 



m 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



723 




John L. Wilson 



724 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and in the best of health, has no desire to lay 
aside the labors and responsibilities incidental 
to the management of his farm, and continues 
to take vital interest in community atYairs. 
In politics he is an independent Democrat, and 
in the past he has given eiTective service as a 
member of the county board of supervisors, 
as well as the board of trustees of Hanover 
township. After serving forty years as a 
member of the school board of his district he 
relinquished the office, by refusing again to 
appear as a candidate for the same. There 
are few citizens of Gage county who have 
lived as great a number of years within its 
borders as has Mr. Wilson, and he has con- 
tributed his full quota to civic and industrial 
progress and prosperity in this now favored 
section of the state. He is one of verj- few 
remaining territorial pioneers of the county, 
is well known and has a host of friends. 

CHARLES W. KING. — The late Charles 
Willis King was born in Wayne county. Mich- 
igan, on the 1st of December, 1824, and was a 
son of C. F. and Harriet (Northrup) King. 
He attended the common schools of Michi- 
gan and was a boy when he accompanied his 
parents to Illinois, the family home being es- 
tablished in Rock Island. In Illinois Mr. 
King was reared to manhood, and there was 
solemnized his marriage to Miss Candace 
Stansell, a daughter of James and Catherine 
(Brittain) Stansell, natives of Michigan, 
where Mrs. King was born July 31, 1849. 

Charles Willis King farmed in Illinois until 
1876, when he came with his family to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and located on one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of wild land in Filley 
township. This property he developed into 
a productive farm and here' he and his wife 
lived for many years. They finally sold the 
farm and bought land near Beatrice, the coun- 
ty seat. There they remained until nine years 
ago, when Mr. King sold the property and 
moved to Beatrice, where he established his 
home at 1013 Market street. He was in very 
poor health at the time, as he was afflicted 
with asthma. He made several trips to Cali- 
fornia and other places in the west in search 



of health. While on one of these trips Mr- 
King purchased some land in Montana, and 
this his widow still owns. In the summer of 
1915, while attending to his affairs in Mon- 
tana, Mr. King's health became worse and 
he returned to Beatrice, where he died on De- 
cember 12th of that -year. 

In early life Mr. King was a member of the 
Methodist church, but during the latter years 
of his life he belonged to no church organiza- 
tion, though he always held family prayers in 
his home and was a great reader of his Bible. 
He was a good Christian man and was very 
highly respected in the community in which 
he lived. 

Mr. and Mrs. King became the parents of 
twelve children : Chester F. resides in Fil- 
ley, this county; Bertha died at the age of 
nine years ; Jesse J. is a farmer in Filley town- 
ship; Lemuel resides in Beatrice; Charles is 
a farmer in Filley township; Fred is in Mon- 
tana ; Hattie is the wife of Thomas Armstrong, 
of Beatrice ; Myrtle is the wife of Oscar 
Wemm, of Beatrice ; Edward is a farmer in 
Sherman township ; .'Mbert resides in Beatrice ; 
Gertrude died at the age of three years ; and 
Daisy died at the age of two years. 

Mrs. Charles W. King has continued to 
make her home in Beatrice since the death of 
her husband, and is a noble woman who is 
loved and esteemed by all who know her. She 
ic- a member of the Methodist church. 

CHARLES HENTGES is another of the 
honored pioneer citizens who, after winning 
through association with productive farm in- 
dustry a large measure of success, has found 
it his good fortune to have a pleasant home in 
the attractive city of Beatrice, where in re- 
tirement from active labors he is living in ease 
and comfort, secure in the independence that is 
justly his due. 

Mr. Hentges is a native of the historic 
Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, which has been 
at different periods been under the domination 
of Germany, Spain, France, Austria, and the 
Netherlands, and which became a Belgian 
province in 1830. In this now independent 
and interesting province of Europe Mr. Hent- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



725 



ges was born January 16, 1839, a son of 
Matthias and Anna Mary (Stutnpf) Hentges. 
who there passed their entire lives- Reared 
and educated in his native land, Mr. Hentges 
tliere continued his residence until 1869, when, 
at the age of thirty years, he immigrated to 
the United States. A stranger in a strange 
land, but well endowed with ambition and self- 
reliance, he made his way to the state of lUi- 
nois. where he found employment at farm 
work, at wages ranging from eighteen to 
twenty dollars a month. After being thus en- 
gaged four years he rented land in Livingston 
county, that state, where he continued inde- 
pendent farm enterprise until 1877, when he 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, his arrival in 
Beatrice taking place shortly before Christ- 
mas of that year. In thus preparing himself to 
assume pioneer responsibilities Mr. Hentges 
brought with him a team and wagon, a few 
liousehold goods and fifty dollars in money. 
He was accompanied by his wife and their 
two small children, and it may well be under- 
stood that without delay productive activity 
became imperative on his part. He rented a 
farm in Midland township, but as he could 
not gain possession of either the house or the 
land, he and his family installed themselves 
in an old shanty in the vicinity. This flimsy 
shelter was soon afterward subjected to the 
forces of a heavy blizzard, and the roof, cov- 
■ered merely with building paper, finally be- 
came so weighted with snow that it fell in, 
though the members of the family fortunately 
escaped more than minor injuries through the 
accident. In the bleak little building the only 
fuel obtainable was green wood, which was 
l)urned in the cook stove, and Mr. Hentges 
relates as one of his experiences at this time 
that he and his faithful wife would each take 
one of their little children on their laps and 
liold the tiny feet in the oven of the stove to 
keep the youngsters warm. Four years after 
coming to Gage county Mr. Hentges and his 
brother Nicholas each purchased one hundred 
acres of land in Hanover township, and he 
then turned his energies to breaking the raw 
prairie and bringing the land under cultiva- 
tion. His first house on the new farm was a 



board shanty of two rooms, and this continued 
to be the family domicile for si.x years. He 
then made an appreciable addition to the build- 
ing and with increasing prosperity he pur- 
chased an additional tract of one hundred 
acres. He diligently applied himself to farm 
industry on this place for ten years, at the ex- 
piration of which he sold the property and 
bought a well improved farm in Misland town- 
ship. After remaining about eight years on 
this place Mr. Hentges and his wife removed 
to the city of Beatrice, where he has since 
lived practically retired, and they own their 
attractive home property, at 1503 Court street. 
Mr. Hentges still owns a valuable farm of 
two hundred and forty acres in Midland town- 
ship, the same being in charge of his sons, 
and the family estate includes also another 
farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, in the 
same township, the same having been pur- 
chased with money which Mrs. Hartges in- 
herited from her father's estate in Illinois. 

In the year 1871, at Pontiac, Livingston 
county, Illinois, Mr. Hentges married Miss 
Anna Baumann, on whose father's farm her 
husband found his first employment upon com- 
ing to America. Mrs. Hentges likewise was 
born in Luxemburg, Germany, and she was a 
child at the time her parents came to the 
I'nited States and settled in Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hentges became the parents of five 
children, the first born, Anna, having become 
the wife of Frederick Winkle and their home 
having been at Beatrice at the time of her 
death ; Katie is the widow of Hanson Day, 
who met his death in an automobile accident, 
in the summer of 1917, and she now resides in 
Beatrice ; Charles and Theodore have the ac- 
tive management of their father's fine farm in 
^Midland township; and Emma is the wife of 
John Benton, of Midland township. Mr. and 
^Irs. Hentges ])oint with justifiable pride to 
the fact that they now (1918) have nine 
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. 
Both are devout communicants of the Catholic 
church and in politics he gives his support 
to the cause of the Democratic party. This 
venerable couple bore their full share of hard- 
shi[)s and perplexities in the pioneer days. In 



726 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



coming to Gage county from Illinois they 
brought as provisions a sack of beans and a 
quantity of ham. They extended their credit 
in securing two bushels of wheat, had the 
same ground in the old mill at Beatrice, and 
these meager provisions constituted virtually 
the entire contents of the family larder during 
the first winter and spring — until Mr. Hent- 
ges could raise some produce on the farm 
which he rented. In the early days the re- 
vered pioneer physician. Dr. Huff, attended the 
Hentges family in case of illness and as there 
was no available money to pay his moderate 
fees the doctor kindly consented to take his 
pay in wheat. Mr. Hentges retains splendid 
mental and physical vigor, but his wife is in 
impaired health, as she has endured two 
strokes of paralysis. Their home is known 
for its generous and unpretentious hospitality 
and they are always ready to extend welcome 
to their host of friends, especially those who 
with them endured the trials of the pioneer 
days- 

HENRY REMMERS is proving himself 
one of the vigorous and successful exempli- 
fiers of farm enterprise in his native county 
and township, and has made excellent im- 
provements on his farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in Section 24. Hanover township, 
the same being an integral part of the landed 
estate of his father, Thomas Remmers. 

Henry Remmers was born on his father's 
old homestead farm in Hanover township, and 
the date of his nativity was January 4. 1874. 
He gained his youthful education in the local 
schools and continued to be associated with 
the work of the home farm until he attained 
to his legal majority, when he initiated inde- 
pendent operations on his present farm, on 
which he has erected a modern house and 
more recently a large barn of the best type. 
His political support is given to the Democra- 
tic party and he and his wife hold member- 
ship in the Lutheran church. 

In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Remmers to Miss Kate Parde. who was 
born in Illinois, and whose father. Wilham 
Parde, is made the subject of individual men- 



tion on other pages of this volume. Mr. and 
Mrs. Remmers have eight children, Thomas, 
Matilda, William, John Benjamin, Henry, 
Heye, Diedrick, and Alfred. All of the chil- 
dren remain at the parental home except the 
one daughter, who is the wife of John Bus- 
boom, of Logan township. 

SAMUEL H. McKINNEY was born at 
Lanora, Kansas, on the 2d of May, 1885, and 
is a son of William and Elizabeth (Decker) 
McKinney. ^^'illiam McKinney was born at 
Sandusky. Ohio, October 14, 1840, and is 
now living retired in the city of Beatrice, Ne- 
braska. His wife, who was born at Dayton, 
Ohio, April 10, 1842, was about forty-five 
years of age at the time of her death, which- 
occurred at Lanora. Kansas. The parents of 
William McKinney were Thomas E. and 
-Mary ( .\dams) McKinney. the former having 
been of Irish and the latter of German de- 
scent. They came from their native countries 
to the United States when they were young 
folk, and eventually they settled in Buchanan, 
county, Iowa, five miles distant from the site- 
of the present fine little city of Independence. 
On his father's farm in Iowa William McKin- 
ney grew to manhood, and he was a youth of 
nineteen years at the outbreak of the Civil war. 
His youthful loyalty and patriotism were not 
long to lack definite expression, for, on the 
11th of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
II. Twenty-seventh Iowa N'olunteer Infantry,, 
with which he went forth in defense of the 
Union. After serving six months, he received 
an incidental injury, at Memphis. Tennessee, 
and was discharged for disability. On his re- 
covery he again enlisted, this time in Company 
D, Forty-seventh Iowa \^olunteer Infantry. 
.\t the expiration of his one hundred days" en- 
listment he received an honorable discharge, 
at Davenport. Iowa, and returned to his old 
home in Buchanan county. There he was en- 
gaged in farming until 1876, when he removed 
to Norton county. Kansas, remaining there 
until he came to Nebraska, about thirty vears 
ago. Ife settled in Beatrice, where he has 
since resided. His wife died before he left 
Kansas, leaving a familv of seven children, all 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



727 



but one of whom, Axie, the eldest daughter, 
are hvin<;'. William A. resides in Beatrice, 
Nebraska; Nancy Edith is the wife of Wil- 
liam Moore, of North Platte, Nebraska; Earl, 
a Methodist minister, resides at Edmonton, 
Canada ; L. L. is a farmer near Logan, Ne- 
braska ; Charles A. is a resident of Beatrice; 
and Samuel H-, subject of this review, is su- 
perintendent of the Gage county poor farm, 
Three of these sons. Earl, L. L., and Charles 
A., saw service in the Philippine war. Their 
father, who is now blind and receives a pen- 
sion of thirty-six dollars a month from the 
government, resides with his son, Charles, in 
Beatrice. 

Samuel H. McKinney spent his early years 
on a farm. His educational advantages were 
few and, added to this seeming misfortune, his 
mother died when he was only three years of 
age. Sometimes, however, by our very lack 
of those things which seem most desirable we 
are being fitted for our place in life. When 
Mr. McKinney took charge of the Gage coun- 
ty poor farm, in March, 1917, his former life 
l|id peculiarly trained him for the position. 
His sympathies had been broadened by the 
privations of his childhood, and his efficiency 
in handling the material side of his work had 
been developed by his service of seven years 
as custodian of the Beatrice National Bank 
Building, at Beatrice, this county, where his 
work was so satisfactory that no complaint 
was ever entered during the entire time of his 
service. For the two years following this, 
and immediately prior to entering upon his 
present duties, he had charge of the largest 
cell rooms in the Canyon City prison in Colo- 
rado, where he had under his care three hun- 
dred prisoners. In this wa}' he was enabled 
to know at first hand the modern methods of 
caring for a public institution. His work 
here also was so satisfactory as to be com- 
mended by Warden John Cleghorn. At the 
Gage county poor farm, which consists of one 
hundred and sixty acres, and which houses 
about fourteen inmates at the present time, 
Mr. McKinney has seen the lack of many con- 
veniences which he feels the public owes to 
those unfortunate enough to be made its 



charges. For, as he says, "The nation, state, 
and county provide quite comfortable quarters 
for those who by their own acts of wilfulness 
have been taken in charge and confined in 
prisons and jails as punishment for crimes 
committed. Why should the public not be 
willing to make comfortable the unfortunate 
ones who, not by choice, but often from cir- 
cumstances not of their own making, are 
obliged to be inmates of alms houses?" It 
is largely due to his influence that as many of 
the improvements as the community feels able 
to provide are now being made. 

On August 27, 1903, in Cheyenne, Wyom-" 
ing, Mr- McKinney wedded Miss Emma Jane 
Dillon, daughter of Zecharia and Nannie 
(Harper) Dillon who now reside at Benton 
City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. McKinney 
have four children : Harry William, Pearl 
Etta, Thomas Wallace, and Ralph Emerson. 
His wife is a member of the Baptist church, 
and Mr. McKinney is a Master Mason, a 
member of Beatrice Lodge, No. 26. It need 
not be repeated that any man capable of filling 
the position occupied by r'Ir. McKl;Miey is 
of value in any community. 

JOHN FOSSLER, JR., is the owner of a 
well improved farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 10, Logan township, and 
stands representative of the energy and pro- 
gressiveness that make for substantial success 
in connection with the basic industries of agri- 
culture and stock-growing. On other pages 
adequate record concerning the family is given 
in the sketch of the career of his father, John 
Fossler, Sr. 

Mr. Fossler was born in Germany, on the 
1st of December, 1866, and was about one 
year old at the time of the family immigration 
to the L'nited States, his mother, whose 
n^aiden name was Ehe Jansen Liiken, having 
died six weeks after the family home had been 
established in the state of Missouri, within a 
short time after arrival in this country. The 
infant son John, of this review, was taken in- 
the home which the father had established. 
.After the lapse of a few years the father con- 
tracted a second marriage and when the son 



728 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



was about seven years old lie was taken into 
the home of which the father had established. 
It was a singular condition that came into evi- 
dence at this juncture, for in thi.- mterval of 
separation the boy had learned the German 
dialect spoken by the family by which he had 
been reared to that age and the same was so 
different from that spoken by his father that 
he was not able to understand the latter"s 
conversation. He was seven years old when 
he accompanied his father to Nebraska and 
remained at the home in Nemaha county until 
he had attained to the age of seventeen years, 
when he came with his father to Gage county, 
his education in the meanwhile having been 
that afforded in the common schools. His in- 
dependent activities as a farmer in Gage coun- 
ty began by his effecting a Scully lease, and 
with success attending his well directed ener- 
gies he finally purchased his present farm, 
upon which he has made good improvements. 
In local affairs he is not restricted by partisan 
lines, as he gives his support to men and 
measures that meet the approval of his judg- 
ment, but for president he votes for the Re- 
publican candidate. He and his wife hold 
membership in the Hanover Lutheran church- 
April 11, 18W, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Fossler to Miss Gretje Leners. who was 
born in Hancock county, Illinois. August 1, 
1871, and whose parents removed to Gage 
county in 1878, she having here been reared 
and educated; of her father. Renken Leners, 
special mention is made elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. Mr. and Mrs. Fossler have five chil- 
dren : John, who is engaged in farming in 
Hooker township, married Miss Sophie Rade- 
macher; .Amanda is the wife of John Rade- 
macher, likewise a farmer in that township; 
and Renken, Ehe Emma and Etta Mary are 
the younger members of the parental home 
circle. 

GEORGE I!. RlCVNtJLDS is another of 
the venerable and revered pioneers who have 
played a worthy part in the development and 
progress of Gage county, where his activities 
have included both mercantile enterprise and 
farm industrv. and since 1900 he has lived in 



well earned retirement, his pleasant home be- 
ing at 1005 Market street in the city of Be- 
atrice. He came to Gage county in the year 
following that of the admission of Nebraska 
to statehood, and in all the long intervening 
years he has here stood exponent of the best 
type of citizenship. 

Mr. Reynolds was born in Sullivan county. 
New \'ork, August 19. 1834, his parents hav- 
ing been pioneer settlers of that section of the 
Empire state, where his father reclaimed .i 
productive farm from the forest. Mr. Rey- 
nolds is a son of Andrew and Catherine (\'an 
I'.enschoten) Reynolds, both likewise natives 
of the state of New York, the latter having 
been a daughter of Garrett \'an Benschoten. 
who was a scion of one of the sturdy Holland 
Dutch families early founded in that common- 
wealth and who was a valiant soldier of the 
Continental line in the war of the Revolution. 
The parents of Mr. Reynolds passed the clos- 
ing period of their lives on their old home- 
stead, in Fall.sburg township, Sullivan county, 
where the father died in 1876, at the age of 
eighty-four years, and the mother in the fti- 
lovving year, at the age of eighty-three years, 
both having been members of the Baptist 
church. The subject of this review is the 
youngest son in a family of five sons and 
three daughters, and is the only member of the 
family now living. Dr. H. M. Reynolds, of 
whom specific mention is made on other iiages, 
.vas a member of the townsite companv that 
founded the now vital and prosperous city of 
Beatrice. Nebraska. 

In the common schools of his native county 
Georg'e B. Reynolds acquired his earlier edu- 
cation, which was supplemented by higher 
academic study in a well ordered institution 
at P.ethany. Pennsylvania. He was an ambi- 
tious student and at the age of eighteen years 
he began teaching in the schools of his native 
state, his pedagogic service having cnntiinied 
during several winter terms of school 

( )n the i8th of December. 1858, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Reynolds to Miss 
Stella I'l. Sherwood, who likewise was a native 
of Sullivan county. New York, where she was 
born .August 22. 1837. the eldest daughter of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



729 



Bradley B. and Eliza (Burr) Sherwood, na- 
tives of Connecticut and early settlers of Sul- 
livan county. New York. Mr. and Mrs. Sher- 
wood came to Gage county, Nebraska, about 
1880, and both passed the closing years of 
their lives at Beatrice, Mrs. Sherwood having 
been past seventy years of age at the time of 
her death and her husband having lived to be 
more than eighty years of age. 

After his marriage Mr. Reynolds continued 
ills residence in his native county until the 
autumn of 1868, when, in company with his 
wife and two sons he came to Nebraska and 
numbered himself as one of the pioneer mer- 
chants of Beatrice. In the capital town of 
Gage county he built up a large and pros- 
perous general merchandise business, and this 
he conducted until 1883, having in the mean- 
while taken up a homestead of eighty acres 
and having perfected his title to the same, this 
property being that on which the thriving vil- 
lage of Cortland is now established. Upon 
retiring from the mercantile business Mr. 
Reynolds purchased an unimproved farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres in Section 15, 
Lincoln township, and he reclaimed this land, 
made the best of improvements on the place 
and there continued his activities as a progres- 
sive agriculturist and stock-grower for seven- 
teen years. He purchased the property for 
twelve and one-half dollars an acre and in 
1900 sold the same for one hundred and twenty 
dollars an acre. In the latter year he and his 
wife removed to Beatrice, where he has since 
lived retired, and the supreme loss and be- 
reavement in his life came when his devoted 
companion, who had been his true helpmeet 
for more than half a century, passed to the life 
eternal, Mrs. Reynolds' death having occurred 
February 2, 1915, and her memory resting as 
a benediction upon all who had come within 
the compass of her gentle and gracious influ- 
ence. She was a devout member of the Pres- 
byterian church, of which her husband likewise 
has been an active member for many years. 
Of their six children only one is now living, 
Stella E., who is the widow of Harry Davis 
and who now remains with her father in their 
pleasant home in Beatrice. 



In politics Mr. Reynolds was for many 
years affiliated with the Republican party, but 
in later years he has given his allegiance to 
the Democratic party. Under the old super- 
visor system he represented Lincoln township 
on the county board of supervisors, and he 
served one term as city treasurer of Beatrice. 
His earnest desire to further true democratic 
government led him to identify himself with 
the Farmers' Alliance and the People's Inde- 
pendent party during the period when these 
organizations were influential in the west. He 
has lived and labored to goodly ends and may 
look back with satisfaction upon a career 
marked by earnest and worthy endeavor. 

DORR D. BRAINARD.— One of the 
younger men of Gage county who has won a 
place in the business circles of his community 
is Dorr D. Brainard, manager of an undertak- 
ing and furniture business at Odell, Nebraska. 
A native of Seward county, Nebraska, he was 
born September 8, 1880. His parents, Everett 
and Eliza (Osborne) Brainard, were natives 
of Galesburg, Illinois, and came to Seward 
county in 1880. They cast in their lot with 
the pioneers of that county, where Mr. Brain- 
ard was a successful farmer until he retired. 
They still make their home in the county. 

Dorr D. Brainard was reared on a farm in 
his native county, and after attending the 
country school he continued his studies in 
the Tamora high school. Mr. Brainard's ini- 
tial work in the business vyorld was as a clerk 
for S. R. Anstine. with whom he remained 
three years. He then gave his attention to 
farming until 1909. when he became a clerk 
for W- W. S'cott, of Beatrice, Nebraska, where 
he was employed for five years and learned all 
the phases of the business. On .\pril 14, 1914, 
]\rr. Brainard was called to take charge of the 
business of Henry Kasparek, at Odell. Mr. 
Kasparek having passed away on the 8th day 
of that month. Mr. Brainard demonstrated 
his ability to such an extent that his services 
have since been retained as manager of the 
business. He is thoroughly familiar with 
every detail of the furniture business, and the 
concern by which he is employed, as well as 



730 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



the coinnniiiity he serves, has profited by his 
abihty in his chosen field. The finest automo- 
bile Iiearse in Gage county is the one owned 
by Mrs. Kasparek, and it is called to serve a 
wide territory in the southwest part of Gage 
county. 

Mr. JJrainard was united in marriage to 
Miss Jeanette Atherton, of Winfield. Kansas. 
She lived at Wilber, Nebraska, at the time of 
her marriage. She and her husband are mem- 
bers of the Methodist church and he is a 
member of the Modern Woodmen of America. 

Cll.VRLES HUGHES is a member of that 
sterling contingent of retired farmers living in 
the city of lieatrice and has been a resident of 
Gage county for nearly thirty years. — a state- 
ment that indicates clearly that he is entitled 
to pioneer honors. 

Mr. Hughes was burn in New Vurk city, 
September 18, 1857, a son of Henry and Isa- 
bella (Sutters) Hughes, the former a native 
of the old Empire state and the latter of the 
city of Glasgow, Scotland. Tlie subject of 
this review was a child when his parents re- 
moved to Illinois and settled in Will county, 
where he was reared to adult age and where 
he was afforded the advantages of the public 
schools. In 1879 he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in Filley township, not the 
least improvement having been made on the 
place and the survey of the township having 
not yet been completed. Applying himself 
with characteristic energy and nerve, Mr. 
Hughes made each successive year count in 
tiu' improving nf his farm property and in 
making his well ordered farm enterprise pro- 
ductive of returns. He developed one of the 
valuable farms of Filley township, and in later 
years gave much attention to stock-raising in 
connection with his agri;ultural activities- 
When he came to the county. Filley township 
was traversed by no railroad and the present 
city of Beatrice was but a small village. Mr. 
Hughes remained on iiis farm until l'>12. since 
which time he has lived jiractically retired in 
the city of Beatrice, where he and his wife 
have an attractive home, at fiOl Eleventh 



street. He is the owner of two farms, — two 
hundred acres in Logan township and two 
hundred and forty in Filley township. He is 
a slockh(3lder of the Beatrice State Bank and 
is one of the substantial citizens of the county, 
a man who has achieved success through his 
own well directed endeavors. His political 
support is given to the Republican party and 
he is affiliated with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows an<l Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks. 

In 1886 Mr. Hughes wedded Miss Ada 
Cowen, who was born in Illinois, a daughter 
of the late John and Ruth Cowan. She came 
to Gage county in 1876. with her mother, and 
settled in Filley township. The venerable 
mother now lives in Johnson county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hughes have but one child. Frank D., 
who is serving as deputy clerk of the district 
court of Gage county: he married Miss Inez 
Slonegcr and they have one child, Ruth Eliza- 
beth. 

JOHN LE I'OIDEXIN. retired farmer, of 
Odell, Nebraska, is one of the old pioneers 
of Nebraska and Gage county. The present 
generation is enjoying the fruits of the labors 
of the early men and women who came to till 
the soil and build the villages and cities. These 
men struggled and labored with nature, to 
wrest from her the treasures of wheat and 
corn and to give to their ])osterity broad and 
fertile lands to till. One of these men who 
braved the hardships of pioneer days is John 
Le Poidevin. He was born .-\pril 19, 1842, 
on the island of Guernsey, in the English 
Channel. England, and is the son of Job and 
Rachel ( Cohn) Le Poidevin. (See Thomas 
l.e Poidevin sketch in this volume for the 
family history.) 

The early years of Mr- Le Poidevin's life 
were si)ent on a farm, where he was con- 
tinuously learning the art and industry of 
agriculture, thus fortifying himself for the 
duties and responsibilities of later life. In 
1868 he came to Beatrice, Nebraska, where he 
worked as a laborer. It was here. March 19, 
1873, he married Ophelia A. Martin. After 
their marriage, these two young persons, with 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



731 



liearts full of hope and courage, took a hoine- 
steatl in Saline county and began to develop 
this tract of unbroken prairie. They remained 
on this homestead fifteen years, and then, in 
1888. they purchased from the government 
one hundred and sixty acres of land on the 
Otoe Indian reservation, later buying an ad- 
ditional forty acres and bringing the total 
area up to two hundred acres. They improv- 
ed this land, building their house, barns, fences 
and outbuildings, and soon had the pleasure of 
seeing acres of waving grain where formerly 
wide stretches of prairie had been. Mr. Le 
Poidevin specialized in Chester White hogs. 
They retired from active farming in 1913 and 
moved to Odell, where Mr. Le Poidevin owns 
a pleasant home. Mrs. Le Poidevin shared 
in all of the labors of her husband and her 
untiring energy and helpfulness at all times 
made it possible for him to be successful in his 
work. She was born in Essex, New York, 
December 3, 1855. and came to Beatrice in 
1870. Here she lived with her brother until 
she married John Le Poidevin. Her death 
occurred September 11, 1916. Ten children 
were born to this union as follows : Lillie B. 
and Alfred, both deceased ; Clem, who married 
Nellie Zugmier and lives in Glenwood town- 
ship; Mrs. Minnie M- Showers, of Odell; 
Phoebe A., wife of W. Zugmier, of Odell ; 
Etta, who died in infancy ; Bertha R., who is 
deceased ; Herbert, who is farming in Glen- 
wood township ; Job E. who married Hazel 
Edington, and is farming the old homestead 
of his father ; and Grace, who is the wife of 
O. Martin, of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

The Democratic party receives the support 
of Mr. Le Poidevin. He has sought no politi- 
cal honors, but devoted his entire time to his 
farm and family. He is a shareholder in 
grain-elevator and lumber company of Odell 
and is a citizen who has given of his life to 
the creation of a great agricultural community. 

JOSEPH SHALLA.— The farmers of our 
nation are the men who constitute the basic 
element in our industrial and commercial life. 
Jc.sci)h Shalla. a farmer of Barneston town- 
ship, owns five hundred and eighty acres of 



land, well improved and in a high state of 
cultivation, and is bearing his share of the re- 
sponsibilities incidental to providing the neces- 
sities of life. He has a farm that is well im- 
proved with a comfortable house and the vari- 
ous buildings requisite for the care of his live- 
stock and agricultural products. Mr. Shalla 
was born December 28, 1866, in Iowa county, 
Iowa, the son of Vencil and Barbara Shalla. 
For a complete history of this farmily see 
John Shalla sketch in another portion of this 
volume. 

In 1876 Joseph Shalla's parents established 
their home in Gage county and in this locality 
they reared their children. Joseph attended 
the district school and when he reached man- 
hood he continued his alliance with farm in- 
dustry. In 1890 he purchased eighty acres of 
land, and, in consonance with his means and 
opportunities, he has since added to his land 
until he is now the owner of five hundred and 
eighty acres of land in Barneston township. 

In 1888 Joseph Shalla married Miss Emma 
Roch, a daughter of John Roch, who was an 
early settler of Saline county and who later, 
in 1887, took up his residence upon a farm in 
Gage county. His daughter Emma was born 
in Saline county, and continued her education 
in Gage county, where was solemnized her 
marriage to Mr. Shalla and they are the par- 
ents of four children : Bessie, the first born, 
is now the wife of William Phlhal. who is a 
farmer in Liberty township. Next in order 
is Emma, who is the wife of Fred Wier, a 
farmer of Liberty township. Elsie and Mabel 
are still under the parental roof and doing 
their share of the home duties. 

Mr. Shalla was brought up in the Catholic 
church, in which he has been a communicant 
all these years, and his children attend the 
Baptist Sunday school. The Republican party 
receives the vote of Mr. Shalla and he is a 
progressive farmer who has won success in 
life by dint of hard labor and faithfulness to 
work. 

CHARLES C. GAFFORD, M. D.. was the 
first physician to locate in what is now the 
city of Wymore, Gage county. Dr. Gaflford 



732 



HISTORY OF GA(iH COrXTN', NEBRASKA 



was born at Des Moines, Iowa, February 23, 
1860, a son of James and Dorcas (Sherwood) 
Gafford, natives of Maryland and New York, 
respectively. The marriage of the parents 
was solemnized in Ohio, and the father there- 
after was engaged in the furniture and under- 
taking business in Des Moines, Iowa; Indian- 
apolis, Indiana: and Hiawatha, Kansas. He 
died in Kansas, at the age of eighty-four 
years, and his wife was seventy-two years of 
age when she was called to her final rest. Dr. 
Charles C. Gaflford was one of a family of 
eleven children and his boyhood days were 
spent largely at Hiawatha, Kansas, where he 
attended the public schools. He prepared 
for his profession at the Keokuk Medical Col- 
lege, Keokuk, Iowa, in which institution he 
was graduated in 188L In that year he came 
to Wymore, then a new town, and here he 
had the distinction of becoming the first physi- 
cian and surgeon of the vital little village, 
which has been developed into a fine commun- 
ity. 

Dr. Gafford has taken a keen interest in all 
civic affairs of the community and has served 
as mayor of Wymore. In 1887-1888 he repre- 
sented Gage county in the lower house of the 
state legislature, in which he served as chair- 
man of the committee on asylums. Along 
strictly ]>nifcssi(Mial lines he is a member of 
the .American .Medical .Association, the Gage 
County Medical Society and the International 
Association of Railroad Surgeons. For thir- 
ty-six years Dr. Gafford has been division 
surgeon for the liurlington Railroad, and this 
is a longer continuous service than that of any 
other Burlington surgeon west of the Missouri 
river. 

Dr. Gafford married Miss Mary Fenton, 
a native of New York. They have one child. 
Miss Gra~e. 

JACOB TAYLOR. — The late Jacob Tay- 
lor was born in Lancashire, England, Septem- 
ber 3, 1827, a son of John and Ann (Green- 
halgh) Taylor, who spent their entire lives in 
their native land, as did all of their ten chil- 
dren except their son Jacob, the honored sub- 
ject of this memoir. Jacob Taylor acquired 



his education in the schools of his native land 
and as a young man he there learned the car- 
penter's trade, vmder the instruction of his 
father. Later he became a machinist and as 
such he was employed until he came to 
America. He sailed from Liverpool on the 
15th of October, 1858, and after a voyage of 
si.x weeks he landed at New Orleans. Going 
from there to Peoria, Illinois, he stayed for a 
time with an uncle, John Greenhalgh, and then 
proceeded to Wyoming, Stark county, Illinois. 
His financial resources at the time were 
summed up in the amount of about sixty dol- 
lars. He became a successful farmer and the 
owner of a valuable Illinois farm. In 1876 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska, where he 
invested in land, his older son coming here 
and taking charge of the property. In 1882 
Mr. Taylor came with his family to this 
county and engaged in agricultural pursuits in 
Sicily township. Later he retired to Wymore. 
There he built the large house, opposite the 
old Touzalin Hotel, and in this pleasant home 
he and his wife spent the remaining years of 
their lives. 

In England was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Taylor to Miss Alice Howarth, and they 
became the parents of seven children — Mrs. 
John L. Dawson, of Wymore; Mrs. J. E. 
Kelly, of L'ni versify Place, Nebraska; Edwin, 
residing in Elk county, Kansas ; Albert, of 
Kansas City, Missouri; Sherman, of Wymore; 
John, of Lincoln, Nebraska; and James, de- 
ceased. 

Mr. Taylor possessed those sterling (piali- 
ties of character that won for him many 
friends, all of whom held him in the highest 
esteem. He displayed keen discrimination in 
business, and became a man of affluence, own- 
ing over one thousand acres of land in Gage 
county. He voted the Republican ticket and 
took an active interest in the political, social, 
and educational welfare of the county, where 
members of his family still reside and are up- 
holding the honors of the name. 

GEORGE W. REIFF.— The day of the 
unskilled farmer has passed and the day of 
the eiiucated farmer has dawned. The farm- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



733 




Jacob Taylor 



734 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



er of to-day and of the future must be familiar 
"ft'ith the latest and most improved methods 
of intensive cultivation and animal husbandry, 
besides giving a businesslike management of 
his debits and credits. Such a one, who has 
received the education necessary to carry on 
his farming operations in a businesslike man- 
ner, is George Reiff, of Section 26. Rock ford 
township. 

Mr. Rcifif was born in Woodford county. 
Illinois, December 28, 1882, and is the son of 
Andrew and Catherine (Mast) Reiff. Andrew 
ReifF was born August 4, 1853. and died June 
11, 1911. His wife was born January 1. 1860, 
and is a daughter of .\braham and Barbara 
(Apple) Mast. 

Andrew ReifY was a son of Joseph Reiff, 
who was a farmer in Illinois and Gage county, 
as well. He owned considerable land in 
Gage county and died at Beatrice. Andrew 
Reiff was married in Illinois to Catherine 
Mast anil for a number of years farmed eighty 
acres of land there. After selling this proper- 
ty, in 1884. he came to Gage county and pur- 
chased two hundred acres of land in Rockford 
township, from Esquire Alberts. From time 
to time he purchased more of the fertile land, 
until he owned one thousand acres. On the 
farm where he resided he built a beautiful 
home and it is surrounded with evergreens, 
making the cool shade in summer and break- 
ing the "northwester" of the winter. His 
widow, at the present time, lives in I'eatrice. 
They were the parents of five children, as fol- 
lows : Frank was killed December 11, 1912 by 
a tree which he was felling: his widow, Maude 
(Shock) Reiff and their two children, Eunice 
and Andrew, reside in Beatrice; George W. 
is the subject of this sketch ; William lives 
north of Holmesville ; Alice, is the wife of 
Joseph Xickey. living in Monticello. Minne- 
sota, a farmer, also a graduate of an agri- 
cultural college : Pearl is at home with her 
mother, in lieatrice. 

Andrew Reiff had started life with jirac- 
tically nothing and at his death was a man of 
wealth, gained through his industry and 
carefulness in every detail. His religious faith 



was that of the Dunkard church and in politics 
he was a Republican. 

George Reiff was educated in the education- 
al institutions of Gage county, graduating in 
the district school and also the Northwestern 
lUisiness College at Beatrice. His education 
was rounded out by his attending the Ne- 
braska Agriculutural College, at Lincoln. 

February 5, 1908. Mr. Reiff was married to 
Clara Lewis, who was born March 26, 1885, 
in Richardson county, Nebraska. She is a 
daughter of John and Anna (Williams) Lewis, 
who are farming in Blue Springs township, 
where they located after coming from Yates 
Center, Kansas. 

Mr. and ^Irs. Reiff are the parents of one 
child, Grace, born in 1912. They are mem- 
bers of the Methodist church and attend the 
services in Holmesvile. Mr. Reiff votes the 
Republican ticket. His farming operations, 
in Section 26, Rockford township, are along 
general lines with the exception of the full 
blooded Rhode Island Red poultry which he 
raises and of which he is justly proucf 

L. L. McKEE\"ER. who is engaged in 
general farming in Sicily township, was born 
in Woodford county. Illinois. May 22. 1874, 
and is a son of J. H. ami Harriet ( I'.urley) 
McKeever. 

J. H. McKeever was born in Kirkville, 
Ohio, and removed to \\'oodford county, 
Illinois, in 1866, in company with his wife and 
their two children. At the outbreak of the 
Civil war Mr. McKeever enlisted in an Ohio 
regiment of volunteers and served four years, 
leaving his wife and two children at home 
while he was thus gallantly serving in de- 
fense of the nation's integrity. After the war 
-Mr. .McKeever was engaged in farming in 
Woodford county, Illinois, until 1882, when 
he came to Nebraska with team and covered 
wagon and settled on one hundred and twenty 
acres of land which he had purchased, in what 
is now Section 33, Sicily township. This land 
he bought from a Mr. McGinnis. who had 
homesteaded it. Later he bought additional 
land, and at one time he owned four hundred 
and twenty acres in this county. In 1893 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



735 



Mr. and Mrs- McKeever retired and moved 
to Wymore, Nebraska, where they lived until 
the death of Mrs. McKeever, which occurred 
iu 1915. Afterward Mr. McKeever, not car- 
ing to live alone, went to the National military 
home at Leavenworth, Kansas, where he now 
resides. He was one of Gage county's early 
settlers and highly respected citizens. Mr. 
and Mrs. McKeever were the parents of six 
children, the first two having been born in 
Ohio and the others in Illinois: Charles is 
living in Arkansas ; Ida resides in Colorado ; 
Mary died September 2, 1894; L. L. is the 
subject of this review ; and Laura is the wife 
of Thomas Sipe, of Colorado. 

L. L. McKeever came to Nebraska with his 
parents as a child and has passed most of his 
life on the farm which is now his home. He 
received his early education in the public 
schools of Gage county and has always fol- 
lowed farming. Mr. McKeever chose as his 
wife Miss Lettie Clarridge, of Fairfield, Iowa. 
Airs. McKeever is a daughter of Mace and 
Louise Clarridge, who were born in Ohio and 
passed the closing years of their lives in Iowa, 
where the father was a successful farmer and 
honored pioneer. Mr. and Mrs- AIcKeever 
have had five children, of whom those living 
are : Helen, Lester, Ross, and Raymond. 

Eighteen years ago Mr. McKeever came 
into possession of the home farm, on which 
he has since lived. This is one of the finest 
farms in Sicily township, well improved and 
equipped with a good house and other excel- 
lent farm buildings. Mr. McKeever is a 
Republican, but holds no political office, de- 
voting his entire time to his farm, on which 
he is making a success. He is affiliated with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
both he and his wife are members of the 
adjunct organization, the Daughters of Re- 
bekah. 

LENHARD KOENIG.— One of the fine 
landed estates of Blakely township is that 
owned by Mr. Koenig. the same comprising 
two hundred acres and being eligibly situated 
in Section 15, about six miles distant from the 
citv of Beatrice. He is one of the energetic 



and successful agriculturists of Gage county 
and is a substantial and popular citizen special- 
ly entitled to recognition in this work. The 
fifth in order of birth of the nine children of 
Theodore and Margaret Koenig, Lenhard 
Koenig was born in Maryland, on the 12th 
of September, 1870. His father was born in 
Germany and came to America when fourteen 
years of age. He became a skilled workman 
at the cooper's trade and followed the .same in 
Maryland for a long term of years. In 1877 
he came with his family to Gage county and 
here he purchased a pioneer farm in Blakely 
township. He reclaimed his land to cultiva- 
tion, made good improvements on the place 
and there continued his activities until 1890, 
when he removed to Montana. There he con- 
tinued operations as a farmer until his death, 
in 1907, at the age of seventy-nine years. His 
widow still resides in Montana and is a devout 
communicant of the Lutheran church, as was 
also Mr. Koenig himself, both having aided 
in organizing the church of this denomination 
in Blakely township- 

Lenhard Koenig was a lad of about seven 
years at the time of the family removal to 
Gage county, where he was reared on the 
pioneer farm and where his early educational 
advantages were those afi'orded in the district 
schools. He gained first knowledge of all details 
of farm work and thus fortified himself well 
for his independent activities of later years. 
At the age of twenty-eight years Mr. Koenig 
married Miss Hannah Buss, who was born in 
Adams county, Illinois, and who is a daughter 
of Henry G. Buss, a sterling Gage county 
pioneer of whom mention is made elsewhere 
in this volume. Mr. Koenig purchased his 
present farm in 1905 and upon the same he has 
made extensive improvements, so that it con- 
stitutes one of the model places of Blakely 
township. He has been one of the world's 
vigorous and indefatigable workers and 
through his well directed energies has achiev- 
ed definite and well merited prosperity, the 
while he has so ordered his course as to re- 
tain the unqualified confidence and respect of 
his fellow men, his wife having been his de- 
voted helpmeet in all that this gracious scrip- 



736 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tural term implies. He is one of the leading 
stockholders of the farmers co-operative ele- 
vator company at Hoag and is serving as a 
director of the same. Though he has mani- 
fested no ambition for political office of any 
kind he gives loyal support to the cause of 
the Democratic party and as a citizen shows 
a true sense of the stewardship that personal 
success involves. He and his wife have seven 
children, all of whom remain at the parental 
home, namely: Lydia. Dora. Martha. Theo- 
dore, Albert, Lenhard, Jr., and Helen. 

EUIER E. CHAM BERLIN was born in 
New York state, February 8. 1861, and is a 
son of William and Nancy Maria (Carswell) 
Chamberlin. \Mlliam Chamberlin was born 
January 10. 1824 in New York state, his 
father, Andrew Chamberlin, having been born 
in New Jersey and having eventually settled 
in New York, where he followed agricultural 
])ursuits until his death. His son William 
was reared and educated in the old Empire 
state and took unto himself as his wife Nancy 
Maria Carswell, a daughter of David and 
Martha Carswell. natives of New York state, 
where they spent their lives, as representatives 
of agricultural enterprise. William Chamber- 
lin and his wife were well-to-do farming folk 
and gave their sons and daughters good edu- 
cational advantages. William passed away 
January 23, 1890, and his wife, born .April 21. 
1828, was laid to rest January 30, 1892. Seven 
children were born to them, five of whom are 
living, as follows: Mary is the wife of H. R- 
Cleveland, a retired farmer living in Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota ; Elmer E. is the immediate 
subject of this sketch ; James married May 
Terry and is farming in Blue Springs township : 
they have two children Marguerite and Fran- 
cis ; Francis, next in order of birth of the chil- 
dren, is unmarried and is a school teacher at 
Phoenix, Arizona ; Charles is a wealthy retired 
farmer living at Salem, New York. 

Elmer Chamberlin was reared and educated 
in New York state, attending the rural schools 
and supplementing this discipline by attending 
Washington Academy, at Salem, New York. 
In 1885 he came to Gage county, Nebraska, 



and rented land, having practically no finan- 
cial reserve but unbounded faith in himself 
and the land he was tilling. For ten years he 
continued renting and then, in 1893, he pur- 
chased the nucleus around which his further 
acquisitions of land have gathered, until he 
ir, now the owner of nine hundred and sixty 
acres in Blue Springs township, one hundred 
and sixty acres in Rockford township and a 
section of land in Canada. 

July 11, 1888. Mr. Chamberlin married Anna 
I. Tobyne, who was born in Gage county, a 
daughter of James Tobyne. 

In the years that Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin 
have been increasing their land holdings, sons 
and daughters have grown up around them 
and they have given all of them the best of 
educations. Two have graduated from Nebraska 
University and the three younger are now at- 
tending the same institution. They are as fol- 
lows: Warren E.. born in April. 1889, is farm- 
ing some of his father's land in Blue Springs 
township; William, born in 1891, is teller of 
the City National Bank, Lincoln, Nebraska ; 
Guy is athletic coach at Lexington, Nebraska ; 
Francis and Ramona (twins) and Truman are 
attending the L'niversity of Nebraska at the 
time of this writing. 

'Mr. Chamberlin has devoted his time and 
energies to farm enterprise and has never 
sought any political office. He is an independ- 
ent Republican in politics and he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist church at Blue 
Springs ; they are valued members of their 
community. 

LLOYD L. STROUGH is one of the enter- 
prising farmers of the younger generation in 
Holt township, where he is giving his atten- 
tion to agricultural and live-stock industry on 
a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, of 
which he owns eighty acres, in Section 33- 
He was born in Holt township, this county, on 
the 26th of February, 1883, and is a son of 
John and Sarah (Bowers) Strough, of whom 
mention is made on other pages of this work. 

Lloyd L. Strough was reared on the old 
homestead farm which is his present place of 
residence and progressive activities as a farm- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



737 



cr, and in addition to having received the ad- 
vantages of the district schools and the pubhc 
schools at Beatrice he also completed an ef- 
fective course in the Beatrice Business College. 
He initiated his independent career as a 
farmer shortly after attaining his legal ma- 
jority. He rented land from his father and 
in 1917 he purchased from the latter eighty 
acres of his present well improved farm. In 
addition to his successful agricultural enter- 
prise, he is proving very successful also as a 
breeder and grower of Poland-China swine. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party and he and his wife hold member- 
ship in the Methodist church. 

On the 27th of November. 1907, Air. Strough 
wedded Miss May Rhodes, who was born in 
Pawnee county, this state, a daughter of 
Julius Rhodes, who is one of the substantial 
farmers of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Strough 
have two children. — Keith and Lauren. 

GEORGE W. NICHOLAS.— Though Air. 
Nicholas is now serving as postmaster of the 
village of Dewitt, Saline county, he is entitled 
to recognition in this history, for not only 
is he a native of Gage county and a repre- 
sentative of one of its sterling pioneer families 
but is also the owner of a fine farm on Sec- 
tion 30. Grant township, his farm being about 
one and one-half miles distant from the vil- 
lage of Dewitt. where he resides and is a 
jirominent and influential citizen. 

Mr. Nicholas was born on the old home- 
stead farm of his father, in Grant township. 
Gage county, and the date of his nativitiy was 
March 29. 1870. He was the fifth in order 
of birth of the family of Robert and Mary 
Ann (Plucknett) Nicholas, of whom a record 
will be found on other pages of this volume- 
George ^^'. Nicholas gained his early educa- 
tion in the pioneer schools which his father 
aided in organizing in Grant township, and 
his independent career as a farmer was ini- 
tiated when his father gave him a farm of one 
hundred and twenty acres, a property which he 
still owns, and upon which he continued his 
successful activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower until 1905. He then removed 



to Dewitt and engaged in the buying and 
shipping of live stock, in which he continued 
for ten years. In 1915, Mr. Nicholas was ap- 
pointed postmaster of Dewitt, which position 
he still holds. He has given a most eflfective 
administration, and from the Dewitt postoffice, 
service is now given on four rural free-de- 
livery routes. In politics Mr. Nicholas is a 
stalwart advocate and supporter of the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party, and he has 
been influential in its affairs in Gage and 
Saline counties. He has served four years as 
village treasurer of Dewitt and has been spe- 
cially active and liberal in support of measur- 
es advanced for the general good of the com- 
munity. He and his wife are communicants 
of the Protestant Episcopal church, and he af- 
filiates with the Masonic fraternity, the AIo- 
dern Woodmen of America, and the Ancient 
Order of L'nited \\'orkmen. It is worthy of 
note that Mr. Nicholas had the distinction of 
killing the last deer that appeared within the 
borders of Gage county. — in 1883. 

On September 12, 1894, was solenniized the 
marriage of Air. Nicholas to Miss Ag-nes I. 
Moore, who was born in Jones county, Iowa, 
and whose parents, Thomas and Louisa (Mil- 
ligan) Moore, removed from that state to 
Gage county, Nebraska, in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. 
Nicholas became the parents of two children ; 
George \\'. and Wallace M. the latter of whom 
died in childhood; George \V., Jr., was gra- 
duated in the Beatrice high school as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1912, and was one of the 
foremost players on its football team. He is 
now assisting his father by his efficient ser- 
vices as deputy postmast at Dewitt. 

JAMES P. SAUNDERS.— The metewand 
bv which are gauged personal ability and pop- 
ularity will find no indirection or obscurity 
of application when brought to bear in the 
determining of the status of James P. Saun- 
ders, who, served from 1916 until the spring of 
1918 as mayor of the city of Beatrice. This 
former chief executive, who gave such admir- 
able administration of the municipal govern- 
n:ent of the Gage county metropolis, is a 
citizen who has here maintained his home for 



738 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



thirty-eight years and wlio has staged his var- 
ious productive activities — as a business matt 
and as a pubHc official — in such a way as to 
inure greatly and conspiciously to the further- 
ance of civic and material development and 
progress in the city and county in which he 
justly claims pioneer honors. He has held 
various local offices of ]niblic trust and as 
mayor stood exponent of those vital and pro- 
gressive policies that inevitably conserve the 
best interests of the community. 

A scion of the staunchest of colonial Xcw 
England stock, Mr. Saunders reverts with a 
due measure of pride to the fact that hv can 
claim the old Pine Tree state as the place of 
his nativity. He was born in Hancock county, 
.Maine, on the 2d of September, 1852. and is a 
son of Thaddeus S. and Eliza Jane ( Doyle) 
Saunders. Born and reared in Maine, Thad- 
deus S. Saunders there learned the trade of 
ship carpenter and became thus actively as- 
sociated with the maritime interests of his 
native commonwealth. In the little seaport city 
of Kittery, Maine, he worked at his trade in 
the United States navy yard during the clim- 
acteric period of the Civil war, and in this 
connection it is interesting to record that he 
assisted in the construction of the historic 
battleship "Kearsarge." In 1867 Mr. Saund- 
ers removed with his family to Bradford, Stark 
coimty, Illinois, and there he continued to fol- 
low the trade of carpenter until his death, at 
the age of fifty-eight years. His widow long 
survived him and about 1882 came with one 
of her daughters to join her son James P., of 
this review, in Nebraska, where she lived to 
attain to the venerable age of eighty-two years, 
her death having occurred at I.odgepole, 
Cheyenne ccmnty. ( )f the seven children five 
attained to maturity, and of this number three 
sons and one daughter are now living 

James P. Saunders is indebted to the public 
schools of his native state for bis ]ireliniinary 
educational discipline, which was then supple- 
mented by his attending a seminary at Bucks- 
port. He was a lad of about fifteen years at 
the time of the family removal to Illinois, and 
there he worked with his father at the car- 
penter's trade until he could provide ways and 



means for acquiring higher academic school- 
ing. This he achieved by entering Lombard 
College, at Galesburg, Illinois, and in this in- 
stitution he continued his studies two years. 
For the ensuing two years he found employ- 
ment in connection with the bridge department 
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 
and he devoted the major part of his time 
(luring the next four years to the reading of 
law. in the office and under the preceptorship 
of Benjamin F. Thompson, of Bradford, Il- 
linois. The ambition of the embryo lav.yer 
led him then to come to the west with the de- 
termination to apply for admission to the bar 
of Nebraska. In the year 1880 Mr. Saunders 
arrived in Beatrice, which was then little more 
than a straggling frontier village, and here he ' 
entered the law office of Bush & Rickards, 
where he continued his technical studies about 
one year. He then initiated his service in con- 
nection with public affairs in Gage county by 
accepting a position in the office of the county 
clerk and recorder, J. E. Hill being the county 
clerk at the time. A year later Mr. Saunders 
became associated with the abstract office and 
business of John Ellis, and about two years 
thereafter he identified himself with the Gage 
County Abstract Company, in which connec- 
tion he compiled an entire new and complete 
set of abstract books and made the record 
effectively and authoritatively cover the entire 
county. With this company he coiitinued his 
connection until 1893 and in the following year, 
with the best of records and facilities, he es- 
tablished himself independently in the abstract 
business, as a member of the firm of Saunders 
& Emery, in which his coadjutor was George 
E. Emery. To this successful enterprise Mr. 
Saunders continued to give his attention almost 
exclusively until 1898, when he was elected 
city treasurer, an office of which he continued 
the incumbent four years and in which he ably 
and carefully administered the fiscal affairs 
of the city. Thereafter he served four years 
as deputy county treasurer, and it is 
worthy of special note that the entire 
management and work of the office 
were reposed in him during this in- 
terval, as the regular incumbent of the office 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



739 



of treasurer gave virtually no attention to the 
executive details of the office. After his re- 
tirement from this responsible position Mr. 
Saunders resumed his activities in the abstract 
business, and to the same he gave his time 
until popular appreciation of his character and 
ability brought him again into public service, 
by his election to the office of mayor of Beat- 
rice in the year 1916. With characteristic loyal- 
ty and vigor Mr. Saunders gave effective ad- 
ministration in the position of mayor of 
Beatrice, and under his regime many improve- 
ments were effected in the public utilities and 
other departments of the municipal govern- 
ment. 

The political allegiance of Mr. Saunders has 
never swerved and he has been active and in- 
fluential in the local councils of the Republi- 
can party. He served two years as a member 
of the board of education of Beatrice and 
prior to his election to the mayoralty he had 
been for four years a progressive and valued 
member of the city council. During one year 
of his incumbency he was president of the 
council. He served for a short time also as 
city clerk, to fill a vacancy in this office. Mr. 
Saunders has taken at all times the most lively 
interest in all things pertaining to his home 
city and county antl in 1896 he executed a 
complete and reliable map of Gage county, the 
same having been authoritative and having 
continued in use until l'U6, when he again 
brought to bear his cartographic skill, by mak- 
ing a new and authoritative map which gives 
all details niirmally pertaining to such pro- 
ductions and which also covers most fully the 
platting of the city of Beatrice and the smaller 
municipalities of the county. Since 1893 Mr. 
Saunders has been in active affiliation with 
Beatrice Lodge, No. 26. Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons. 

On the 13th of March. 1882, Mr. Saunders 
married Miss Anna Coe, who was born in 
Knox county, Illinois, a daughter of Ebenezer 
and Mary (Brown) Coe, both natives of Ohio. 
In 1879 Ebenezer Coe came with his family to 
Gage county and established his residence at 
Beatrice, where he engaged in business at his 
trade, that of caliinetmaker. He was an 



honored factor in community affairs and both 
he and his wife were active in church work, 
both having attained to advanced age and 
both having been sterling pioneer citizens of 
Beatrice at the time of their death. Mrs. 
Anna (Coe) Saunders acquired her earlier 
educational discipline in Illinois and continued 
her studies in the Beatrice schools after the 
family removal to Gage county. She was 
loved by all who came within the compass 
of her personal influence and her death oc- 
curred June 17, 1909. Of the four children 
one died in infancy and the othets survive the 
loved mother : Marie is the wife of W. L- 
Lee, of Beatrice ; Thaddeus E., who was grad- 
uated in the L'niversity of Nebraska, was 
holding a responsible business position at the 
time when the L'nited States declared war 
against Germany, and he promptly evinced his 
patriotism by enlisting as a private in the na- 
tional army, in which he has won promotion to 
the rank of lieutenant, being stationed, at the 
opening of the year 1918, with his command 
at Camp Lewis, Washington ; and Helene, the 
youngest of the children, is the wife of Charles 
I^Ie, of Beatrice. 

On the 17th of June, 1915, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Saunders to Mrs. Bertha 
E. (Clemens) Cone, of Lincoln, Nebraska, she 
having been born in Pennsylvania and being 
a distant kinswoman of the late and distin- 
guished author best known as Mark Twain. 
Mrs. Saunders is the gracious and popular 
chatelaine of the attractive home, is a leader 
in the representative social activities of the 
community and is an earnest communicant of 
the Protestant Episcopal church. 

FREEMAN E. CLAYTON is a member of 
a well known pioneer family of Gage county 
and has become a successful exponent of farm 
industry in Sicily township, where he gives 
his attention to the operation of a well im- 
proved domain of three hundred and forty- 
five acres. Of the family history due record 
is given on other images, in the sketch dedicat- 
ed to Isaac R. Clayton, father of him whose 
name introduces this paragra])h. 

Freeman E. Cla\ton was born in Stark 



740 



HISTURY UF GAGE COUNTY, XEHRASKA 



county, Illinois, on the 30th of May, 1874, and 
was a child at the time when the family came 
to Nebraska and settled in Gage county. Here 
he was reared on the pioneer farm, the while 
he profited by the advantages of the district 
schools. Of the large tract of land on which 
he prosecutes his vigorous operations as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower he purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres of his father, 
the latter having developed in the early days a 
productive farm from the virgin prairie in this 
part of the county. On his home place M". 
Clayton has good buildings, including an at- 
tractive farm residence, the buildings having 
been erected by his father. 

In politics Mr. Clayton gives his support to 
the cause of the Republican party, he is affiliat- 
ed with the \\ymore cam]) of the Modern 
Woodmen of America and he and his wife 
hold membership in the Bajjtist church. 

In the year 1898 Mr. Clayton wedded Miss 
Helen E. Armstrong, who was born in Canada, 
and they have five children. — Loren Herbert, 
William Homer, Gilbert I.cRoy, Frederick 
Randolph and Paul Morris. 

FRANK MOSELEY was an honored re- 
presentative of the class of sturdy men who 
came to Gage county in the early stages of 
its history and contributed toward the develop- 
inent that has made it foremost among ^he 
agricultural sections of the state. 

Frank Moseley was born in Lee county, Illi- 
nois, October 1. 1852. a son of Joseph and 
Margaret (Moore) Moseley. natives respec- 
tively of F^ngland and Pennsylvania. Joseph 
Moseley was a farmer and spent his last days 
in Lee county, Illinois, where he was number- 
ed among the jiioneers of that section of tlic 
state. His death occurred in 1886. The 
maiden name of his wife was Margaret Clin- 
ton, and she was twice married, her first hus- 
band having been named Moore. Two of her 
sons. John Moore and William Moseley were 
soldiers in the Civil war. Mrs. Moseley 
passed the closing period of her life in Thayer 
county. Nebraska. 

Frank Moseley was reared and educated in 
his native countv. and in 1876 he became a 



resident of Page county, Iowa. There he 
married and in 1879 he became a resident 
of Thayer county, Nebraska, where he 
lived until 1883. He then came to Gage coun- 
ty and bought land in Paddock township. 
This he improved and developed and- at his 
death, which occurred May 10, 1915. he was 
one of the extensive land owners of the town- 
ship where he had lived for thirty-two years. 
In Page county. Iowa, on the 26th of 
November, 1879. Frank Moseley married Miss 
Lovisa Beer, a daughter of William Beer. The 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank ^loseley 
are as here noted: Nellie M. is the wife of 
F'red Drake, a resident of Idaho; Fred R-, 
married Jessie Long and they live in Idaho; 
Ida J. is the wife of Dr. E. L. Feese, of 
Wymore, Gage county ; Paul F. is a farmer of 
Paddock township and is individually repre- 
sented on other pages of this volume ; Maude 
M. is the wife of Dr. T. L. Cartney, of Idaho; 
and Max J- remains with his widowed mother. 
.After the death of Mr. Moseley the estate 
was divided among his children and his widow 
now resides in Idaho, where all exce])t two of 
her children have found homes. 

RAY C. HEFFELFINGER. manager of 
the Beatrice Hide Company, is to be designated 
not only as one of the re])resentative business 
n:en of the younger generation in the fair 
metroi)olis of (jage county but also has the 
distinction of being mayor of this city, an 
office which he assumed in .\pril. 1918. His 
election to this important executive position 
in connection with the nnuiicipal government 
of l'>eatri:e attests alike to his ability and his 
]>ersoml ])opularity. His administration as 
mayor is certain to be marked bv the lovalty 
and progressiveness that have signally char- 
acterized his business career. 

Mr. Heflfelfinger was born at Geneseo. Illi- 
nois, on the 27th of January. 1887, and is 
a son of Bell M. and Louisa (Wagner) HefTel- 
finger. whose marriage was solemnized at Gen- 
eseo and who became the parents of six chil- 
dren, namely: Otis R-, of Beatrice; Roy W., of 
Minneapolis. Minnesota; Harlan W., of Super- 
ior. Nebraska ; Ray C, subject of this review ; 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



741 



Flossie, wife of Pearl F. Ahlquist, of Buhl, 
Idaho; and Percy F., of Beatrice. Of Otis B. 
and Percy F. individual mention is made on 
other pages, of this volume. 

Bell M. Ileffelfinger claimed the old Buck- 
eye state as the place of his nativity and was 
there reared and educated. He was born at 
Wooster, Ohio, on the 9th of November, 1859, 
and as a young man he followed farm enter- 
prise in Ohio, as did he later in Illinois, in 
which latter state his marriage occurred, as 
previously noted in this context. In 1888 he 
came with his family to Nebraska, and there- 
after he maintained his residence at Grand 
Island, this state, until 1889, when he came to 
Gage county and established himself in the 
wholesale meat business and the buying and 
shipping of live stock. With these important 
lines of enterprise he continued to be success- 
fully identified until his death, which here oc- 
curred on the 24th of January, 1908. His 
widow still maintains her home in Beatrice. 

Ray C. HefTelfinger was educated in the 
public schools of Beatrice and in the Beatrice 
Business College. After leaving school he 
became associated with his father's wholesale 
meat and live-stock business, and with this 
enterprise he continued his connection until 
1911, when he purchased and assumed control 
of the business of the Beatrice Hide Company 
Of this business he is the general manager 
and under his vigorous direction the enterprise 
has been signally prosperous. Mr. Heffel- 
finger is the owner of a well improved farm 
of eighty acres, in Riverside township, this 
property having been purchased by him in 
the winter of 1916. 

Mayor Heflfelfinger has been unswerving in 
his' allegiance to the Republican party and has 
been active in its local ranks, as a citizen of 
distinctive loyalty and public spirit. In April, 
1918, the popular estimate placed uf)on him was 
significantly shown in his election to the of- 
fice of mayor of Beatrice, and he assumed the 
functions of this municipal post on the 9th of 
April, 1918- He holds membership in the 
Royal Highlanders and he and his wife affili- 
ate with the First Christian church of Beatrice. 

On the 27th of July, 1911, was solemnized 



the marriage of Air. Hefifelfingcr to Miss Edith 
Brandt, daughter of John and Mary Brandt, 
of Beatrice, and the two children of this union 
are Edna Louise and Clifford John. 

LLOYD H. TILTON is successfully con- 
ducting operations as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower in his native township and stages 
his activities on the old homestead farm, in 
Section 15, Filley township, which was the 
place of his birth, the date of his nativity hav- 
ing been February 5, 1877. His parents, Cur- 
tis and Olive (Burright) Tilton, were bom 
and reared in Ogle county, Illinois, where 
their marriage was solemnized and where they 
continued their residence until the Centennial 
year, 1876, when they came to Nebraska and 
established their home on a pioneer farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, which the father 
reclaimed and improved and to which he 
added until he was the owner of a vahiable 
property of two hundred and forty acres. He 
was one of the vigorous farmers and repre- 
sentative citizens of Filley township and re- 
mained on his old homestead until his death, 
which occurred September 11, 1916, his widow 
having passed away on the 11th of the follow- 
ing month. Curtis Tilton was a Republican 
in politics and the high regard in which he 
was held in his home cominunity was shown 
in his having been called upon to serve two 
terms as township clerk and one term as rep- 
resentative of Filley township on the county 
board of super\-isors. He was affiliated with 
the Masonic fraternity, was a member of the 
Christian church and his wife held member- 
ship in the Methodist Episcopal church. They 
became the parents of seven children, all of 
whom are living, and of the number Lloyd H.. 
of this review, is the eldest ; Mabel G. is the 
wife of Frederick Cornelius and they reside 
at University place, Lancaster county ; Earl is 
a resident of the city of Beatrice and Ralph of 
Lincoln ; and Frank, Andrew, and Leon W. 
continue to be associated with farm enterprise 
in Filley township. 

Lloyd H. Tilton profited duly by the ad- 
vantages aflforded in the district schools and 
at the age of twenty \ears he initiated his in- 



742 



HISTORY (U' GAGE COrXTV. XEHRASKA 




u 




u 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



743 



dependent operations as a farmer, though he 
remained at the parental home for two years 
thereafter. At the age of twenty-two years 
he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Filley township, and there he con- 
tinued his operations until after the death of 
his father, when he purchased and returned to 
the old homestead farm on which he was born 
and reared, the fine old place being endeared 
to him by many gracious memories and asso- 
ciations. He accords allegiance to the Repub- 
lican party, is affiliated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and he and his wife are members of 
the Christian church in the village of Filley. 
On the 21st of December, 1899, Mr. Tilton 
wedded Miss Grace Clark, who was born at 
Mansfield, Ohio, and whose parents, Jacob 
and Jennie Clark, are now residents of the 
state of California. ]Mr. and Mrs. Tilton have 
an interesting family of seven children — 
Cloyd, Merl, Pearl, Ruth, Clarence, Marie, 
and Thelma. 

FRANCIS A. MILLER, residing at 620 
North Sixth street, Beatrice, is an influential 
business man and citizen who is descended 
from a long line of colonial and Revolutionary 
ancestry which reaches back into the earliest 
history of our nation. The individual 
branches have entwined themselves into the 
web and woof of our nation, having taken 
active part in public afTairs of a civil nature, 
as well as in the wars which have been fought 
during the development of our country from 
its earliest colonizing period to the present. 
Mr. .Miller is of the tenth generation in de- 
scent from John Thurston, who, with his wife, 
Margaret, came to Dedham, ]\Iassachusetts, 
May 10, 1637, from W'rentham, Suffolk 
county, England, said John Thurston having 
been baptized in that town, January 13, 1601. 
Mr. Miller is a product of English, Scotch, 
and Irish descent. His grandfather, .\bijah 
Thurston Miller, eighth generation, married, 
on January 1, 1721, Betsey Lermond, daugh- 
ter of John and Nancy (Burd) Lermond. 
Nancy Burd was born in 1772, on Fox Island, 
her father having emigrated from Scotland, 
and having been killed by Indians, in 1776. 



\ ina Thurston, seventh generation, married, 
December 19, 1793, Jesse Miller, whose mother 
was Thankful Gilmore, of Irish descent. One 
of their children was .\bijah Thurston Miller, 
referred to above. 

Horace Miller, father of the subject of this 
sketch, was born (jctober 16, 1834, on a New 
England farm, near ^^'hitefield, Maine. At 
dift'erent times he followed the vocation of 
farming, learned the trade of a cooper, taught 
school, mined in California, in which, at that 
time, far remote region he was residing- dur- 
ing the progress of the Civil war. He was for 
many years a Methodist local preacher. He 
married Olive Chase Fuller, October 12, 1870, 
at McMinville, Tennessee, they having been 
schoolmates while attending Kents Hill Acad- 
emy. While living in Cumberland county, 
Tennessee, four children were born to them, 
namely: Francis A., the eldest; Edna L., 
wife of Robert Stratford, residing in Beatrice, 
and Ijeing engaged in the jewelry business; 
Julius Gilmore, who lost his life while serving 
his country as a member of Company C, First 
Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, his death oc- 
curring at Honolulu, Hawaii, while he was 
en route to the Philippines ; Howard Y.. who 
graduated from W'esleyan University, Univer- 
sity Place, Nebraska, in 1918. 

The mother of this family was born in New 
Sharon, Maine, June 2, 1835. Her great- 
grandfather, Elisha Fuller, and his son, Aaron 
Fuller (I), each served his country with 
credit during the Revolutionary war. Her 
father, Aaron Fuller II, turned out as mem- 
ber of militia during the War of 1812, doing 
guard duty at Portland, Maine. He also was 
a Methodist minister, during those early times 
when that arduous religious duty required the 
traveling of a circuit, and he was a well known 
and valuable citizen of his times. Much 
of the time when his familv of eight chil- 
dren was growing to maturity, his home was 
at North Livermore, Maine, where he com- 
bined the occupations of farmer and minister. 
Miss Fuller received her education in the pub- 
lic schools of her native state, and at Kents 
Hill Academy, Kents Hill, Maine. She was 
for a number of vears a successful teacher in 



r44 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Maine, and later in Illinois. In lier early 
years she united with the Methodist church, 
in which she retained her memhership 
throughout a long and active life. She was at 
all times an active and persistent student of 
both the religious and political affairs of the 
country, and was always able to discuss these 
affairs with a keen intelligence. She retained 
to the full this faculty until her demise, which 
occurred at Arapahoe, Nebraska. March 23, 
1915, she then being in her eightieth year. 

Francis A. Miller, named in honor of the 
first Methodist bishop, Francis Asbury, was 
born April 26, 1872, near Howard Springs, 
Cumberland county, Tennessee. His attend- 
ance at school there was limited, but fortu- 
nately his father and mother made good that 
defect, and when, at the age of ten years, he 
removed with them to Sandwich, Illinois, he 
was able to take the place in the public schools 
to which his age would entitle him. \\^hen he 
was thirteen years of age, in 1885, his par- 
ents removed to Arapahoe. Furnas county, 
Nebraska, where his schooling was finished 
by his graduation from the high school, at the 
age of sixteen years. September 30, 1890, he 
came to Beatrice, where he has since resided. 
He worked at his trade as a printer for seven 
years, clerked in a grocery store nearly four 
years, later engaging in the business success- 
fully on his own account, beginning December 
5, 1900, and continuing to the present time. 

November 20, 1895, Mr. Miller married 
Nellie Robbins, who was born at Dwight, 
Illinois, a daughter of William H. and 
Carrie (Horton) Robbins. The marriage 
of Mr. and Mrs. Robbins was solemnized Sep- 
tember 13. 1870, at Poughkeepsie, New York. 
William II. Robbins was born in Saratoga 
county. New York, January 14, 1844, a son of 
Richard Robbins, who was bom in England, 
January- 12. 1805, and Sarah (Deth) Robbins, 
who was born in England, June 7, 1809. 
Mrs. Carrie Robbins was born in Poughkeep- 
sie. New York, a daughter of Smith Horton 
and Mary (Riggs) Horton, who were married 
in Fishkill, New York, Se[)tembcr 4. 1848. 
Mr. and Mrs. Robbins made their home in 
Dwight, Illinois. later removing to Steele City, 



Nebraska, and in 1884 he engaged in business 
in Beatrice. Mr. Robbins was a territorial 
pioneer of Nebraska, having engaged in 
freighting across the plains before the rail- 
roads were across the state of Iowa. 

Four children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Miller, and they have all received their 
education in the pubUc schools of Beatrice, 
and are, as they graduate, supplementing this 
with advanced work in higher places of learn- 
ing. Dorothy Robbins, a graduate of the 
Beatrice high school, class of 1914, was gradu- 
ated in 1918 from Doane College, Crete, Ne- 
braska, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
Horace Gilmore Miller, of the class of 1917, 
Beatrice high school, is a member of the 1921 
class at Doane College. Lermond Horton 
Miller is a member of the 1920 class of the 
Beatrice high school, and Ruth Eleanor Miller 
attends the sixth grade of the Beatrice public 
schools. 

Mr. Miller has at all times taken an active 
interest in m&tters of a public nature, never, 
however, having been a candidate for public 
office, except to serve as member of the school 
board for four years, 1914-1918, during two 
years of which time he was president of the 
board. He was a member of the building com- 
mittee and served for a period of seven years 
on the board of directors of the Mary Young 
Men's Christian Association, when it was 
first organized. With his family he is a mem- 
ber of the First Congregational church, and 
he has in turn been trustee and treasurer of 
that organization. He states his politics aa 
being progressive Republican, is a member of 
Beatrice Lodge, No. 26, Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons, and the Nebraska Society 
Sons of the American Revolution. During 
the present war he is active in what has been 
termed "the third line of defense," serving on 
\arious committees, assisting in the food ad- 
ministration, being a member of the Home 
Guards, and keeping himself generally useful. 

DELL B. COLGROVE is a native son of 
Gage county and is successfully operating a 
farm of seven hundred and ten acres in Pad- 
dock township. He was bom in this township, 
March 3. 1S90, a son of James F. and Eliza- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



745 



beth (With) Colgrove, a record of whom ap- 
pears elsewhere in this volume. 

Dell B. Colgrove was reared on his father's 
farm in Paddock township, attended the pub- 
lic schools, and when old enough assisted his 
father in the operation of the farm. He came 
into possession of four hundred and seventy 
acres of the estate and has recently purchased 
the two hundred and forty acres where his 
father settled when he came to the county, in 
1878. He is one of the extensive stock far- 
mers of the county, the only son in the family 
who carries on stock farming in much the same 
jnanner as did his father. 

Mr. Colgrove married Miss Celia Etta 
Whitton, who was born in Gage county, a 
•daughter of the late Richard Whitton, an 
early settler of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Col- 
grove have two children, Eugene and Thelma. 
A third child, Beulah, is deceased. 



BENJAMIN A. BRUBAKER, who has 
prestige as one of the substantial farmers of 
Rockford township, is here the owner of a 
well improved landed estate of three hundred 
and twenty acres, in Sections 16, 21, and 22, 
and his is the further distinction of being a 
member of one of the sterling pioneer families 
■of Gage county, which has been his home 
since he was a youth of sixteen years. 

Mr. Brubaker was born in Greene county, 
Tennessee, September 2, 1863, and is a son of 
Peter and Delilah (Watenbarger) Brubaker, 
the former a native of Virginia and the latter 
of Tennessee. Peter Brubaker was ten years 
old at the time of the family removal to Ten- 
nessee, where he was reared and educated and 
where his marriage was solemnized. There 
he continued his activities as a fanner until 
1879, when he came with his family to Ne- 
braska and numbered himself among the pio- 
neers of Gage county. For the first year he 
rented land near the village of Dewitt and he 
then purchased eighty acres in Rockford town- 
ship where he developed a productive farm. 
After he had attained to advanced age he 
lived for some time in the village of Holmes- 
ville, but he passed the closing period of his 
long and useful life in the home of his son 



Benjamin, of this review. He was seventy- 
three years of age at the time of his death 
and his widow attained to the venerable age 
of eighty-two years, she having been one of 
the revered pioneer women of the county at 
the time of her demise: both were most earn- 
est members of the Brethren, or Dunkard, 
church, and Henry Brubaker, a brother of 
Peter, was the founder of the church of this 
denomination in Gage county, where he estab- 
lished his home in 1876 and where he did 
much to foster the development of the very 
appreciable and valued Dunkard colony that 
has been representative in social and indus- 
trial development in the county. The subject 
of this review is the youngest in a family oi 
seven children ; Susan is the wife of Noah 
Wrightsman, who is mentioned on other 
pages ; Marj' became the wife of William H. 
Root and was a resident of this county at the 
time of her death; Martha is the wife of 
George A. Hill and they reside in the state of 
Kansas ; Henry D. is a farmer in that state ; 
John was a resident of Gage county at the 
time of his death, which resulted from injuries 
received when he was kicked by a mule. 

Benjamin A. Brubaker passed the period of 
his childhood and youth on his father's farm 
in Tennessee, was afforded the advantages ol 
the district schools and was a lad of sixteen 
years at the time of the family removal to 
Gage county, in 1879. He here continued to 
be associated with the activities of his father's 
farm until he had attained to the age of 
twenty-one years, when he purchased a fann 
near Blue Springs. He made good improve- 
ments on this place and there continued his 
residence four years, at the expiration of 
which he purchased his father's farm, where 
he made a home for his venerable parents until 
the close of their lives, according to them the 
filial solicitude that was so essentially their 
due. He has since added to the area of his 
farm estate, which now comprises three hun- 
dred and twenty acres and gives ever\^ evi- 
dence of thrift and prosperity. 

Mr. Brubaker has given efficient service as 
a member of the school board of his district 
and has otherwise shown loval interest in com- 



746 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. XERRASKA 



munily afifairs, liis political support being 
given to the Kepuljlican party and both he and 
his wife being active members of the Church 
of the Brethren. 

In 1890, was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Brubaker to Miss Sarah McPheron, who was 
born in Tennessee and whose father, James 
M McPheron, is now a resident of Holmes- 
ville, Gage county. .Mr. and Mrs. Brtibaker 
have six children, all of whom remain at the 
parental home e.xcejjt the eldest, .\nna, who 
is the wife of David M. Frantz, a successful 
farmer in Kockford township. The children 
of the parental home circle are John, May, 
(wife of Roy Shaffer), Florence, Ray, and 
Lois. 

JAMES F. COLGROVE. — One of the 
earliest settlers on what was formerly the 
Otoe Indian reservation was James F. Col- 
grove, who came to Ciage county in 1878 and 
who for many years was one of its substantial 
farmers and stock men. He was bom in 
Steuben county, Xew York, July 31, 1833, a 
son of .Andrew and Almira (Ba.xter) Col- 
grove, natives of New York state. The par- 
ents of Mr. Colgrove lived at different time in 
Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, and 
their last daj's were spent at Marysville, Kan- 
sas. 

James F. Colgrove recei\ed his education 
in the various states where his parents lived, 
and was the third in a family of nine children. 
He came to Gage county in 1878 and pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Paddock and Sicily townships. This lantl 
was wholly unimproved, as it had been 
but recently opened for settlement and had 
been a part of the Otoe Indian reservation. 
^\'ithout ca])ital, but with that perseverance 
and ambition which always augur for success, 
Mr. Colgrove became one of the extensive 
land-owners and stock men of the ccAuitv. He 
owned more than two thousand acres in Gage 
county, besides land in Oklahoma and Texas. 
He has lived retired for several years, and is 
making his home at the present time in Okla- 
homa. 

.Xjiril 16, 1874, Mr. Colgrove married Miss 



Mary With, a daughter of John W. and Eli- 
zabeth (Clark) With. Mr. and Mrs. Col- 
grove became the parents of the following 
children: John W. married Delia Smith and 
resides at Linn, Kansas: Willie M. was killed 
in a runaway accident at Wymore, when 
eleven years of age ; James A. is a farmer near 
Barneston, Gage county: Charles H. married 
Lena Fisher and resides in Washington 
county, Kansas : Edward F. is a fanner in 
I^addock township: Elizabeth .\. <iied in in- 
fancy ; Elmer L. married Myrtle Burdette, and 
resides in Texas : Dell B. is individually men- 
tioned on other pages: and Xell J., is the wife 
of C)wen Brown, of Linn, Kansas. 

LYSANDER H. BARDWELL. — The 
record of this gentleman furnishes a forcible 
illustration of the power of industrj- and self- 
reliance, he having risen by successive steps 
from moderate circumstances to his present 
position of affluence. He was born in Onon- 
daga county, Xew York, October 7, 1844, a 
son of Orren Bardwell, who was a native of 
Massachuetts and when ten years of age was 
taken by his (parents to New York state. Here 
he was reared and became a successful farmer. 
He jjassed away in that state, at the age of 
ninety-three years. The mother of our sub- 
ject was in her maidenhood .Arvilla Bostwick, 
a native of New York. She died at the age 
of thirty-five years. The paternal grand-par- 
ents were natives of Massachuetts. They 
were Zenus and Polly Bardwell. The latter 
lived to the age of one hundred and one years. 

Lysander Holland Bardwell grew to man- 
hood in New York state, and at the age of 
twenty-four years came west and established 
a home in Molt county Missouri, where he 
farmed for seven years. In 1878 he became 
a pioneer settler of Gage county, Nebraska, 
where he i)urchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of wild land in Paddock township. This 
land had but recently been opened for settle- 
ment, having been part of the ( )toc Indian 
reservation. Mr. Bradwell built his first 
house by setting poles in the ground and fas- 
tening boards to them, with one door and one 
window. The roof was made of boards with 



HISTORY UF GAGE COL--\TV, XEl'.RASKA 



747 



strips of paper to cover the cracks. In this 
house the family Hved the first winter. The 
stable was built in much the same manner, the 
roof being thatched with grass cut from the 
prairie in the month of January. Water was 
obtained I)y cutting through the ice on the 
creek, for household use and stock. At that 
time corn was selling for fifteen cents a bushel, 
and to provide for his family Mr. Bardwell 
would go to the settlement north of him and 
husk corn, receiving as his pay every seventh 
bushel. He at one time cut and traded hall 
a cord of wood for a half-gallon of syrup, a lit- 
tle sugar and a package of soda. His nearest 
neighbor was five or six miles away, and there 
was only one or two houses between his farm 
Beatrice. 

Mr. Bardwell was united in marriage to 
Miss Clara Rice, who like himself was born 
in Onondaga county. New York. She was one 
of the pioneer women of Paddock township, 
and that first winter, while living in that primi- 
tive dwelling, she was called to her final rest. 
Mr. r.ardwell was left with four children, the 
youngest but a few weeks old. Two years 
after his wife's death he married a widow, a 
sister of L. S. Austin, one of the early settlers 
of Sicily township. She passed away some 
years ago. 

As the years passed and his financial re- 
sources increased, Mr. Bardwell added to his 
original purchase and to-day he is the owner 
of four hundred acres of valuable land, well 
improved, — a worthy monument to his un- 
faltering zeal. His children are four in num- 
ber: Leroy is married and living in Okla- 
lioma ; Frank is married and, with a family of 
four children, lives in Middleton, Idaho; Ezra, 
with his wife and three children, resides in 
Tabor, Iowa. The fourth child, bereft of its 
mother when a few weeks old, was adopted 
into the family of L. S. Austin, and is known 
as Orren Emor\- Austin ; he lives in Dakota. 

Mr. Bardwell is one of the few remaining 
real early settlers of Paddock township. He has 
done his share to bring aljout jjresent day con- 
ditions, and will soon leave the farm to enjoy 
a well earned rest, and will make his home in 
( )dell, Nebraska. 



GEORGE F. MILLER is the owner of a 
well improved farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres in Section 5 Highland township, 
and is one of the energetic and successful agri- 
culturists and stock-growers of this part of 
the county. In addition to this homestead 
farm he owns also a farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Kearney county. Mr. Miller 
was born in Lancaster county, Nebraska, July 
2, 1879, a son of Fritz and Anna (Hempke) 
Miller, he being the second eldest of the four 
surviving members of the family of child- 
ren ; Theodore is a successful farmer in 
Kearney county; Mrs. Anna Menner resides 
at Dorchester, Illinois ; and Laura maintains 
her home in Kearney countv. 

Fritz Miller was born in Germany, in 1836, 
and was a young man when he immigrated to 
the United States and found employment as 
a farm workman in Illinois. Later he gained 
pioneer experience in Iowa, where he worked 
on the farm of an Irishman and where he 
gained his first colloquial use of the English 
language, which he had previously been unable 
to speak. In Iowa he met and married Miss 
Anna Hempke, who was bom in Germany, in 
1842, and came to America when young. In 
1878 Fritz Miller numbered himself amone 

o 

the pioneers of Lancaster county, Nebraska, 
where for the ensuing seventeen years he was 
engaged in farming, his farm having been one- 
third of a mile north of Hickman. He then, 
remoxed with his family to Kearney county, 
where he improved a good farm and where his 
death occurred in 1898, his widow having sur- 
vived him by a decade and having passed away 
in 1908. 

George F. Miller early gained full fellow- 
ship with arduous toil, as he was a mere boy 
when he began to assist his father in the work 
of the home farm, the while he availed him- 
self as fully as po.s.sible of the advantages af- 
forded in the district schools. In 1905 he 
rented land from his widowed mother, in 
Kearney county, and initiated his independent 
activities as a farmer. Energy and close ap- 
plication brought tangible returns and his suc- 
cess increased from year to j;ear. On the 5th 
of March, 1914, .Mr. Miller purchased of Wil- 



748 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Ham Wagner his present farm in Gage 
county, the place having been well improved 
but having received under his control further 
improvements of substantial order, including 
the erection of an excellent modem barn that 
is fifty-two by fifty-four feet in lateral dimen- 
sions. Mr. Miller is vigorous and resourceful 
in all departments of farm enterprise, main- 
tains his land under effective cultivation and is 
a successful grower of short-horn Durham 
cattle and Duroc -Jersey swine. He has won 
advancement through his own well directed 
industry and has placed himself in secure 
status as one of the successful exponents of 
farm industry in his native state. He has 
had no desire for ])ublic office, is independent 
in politics and is liberal in support of meas- 
ures projected for the communal welfare. He 
and his wife hold membership in the Presliy- 
terian church. 

On the 18th of Febniar>', 1905, Mr. Miller 
married Miss IJzzie Scheneman, who was 
born in Germany, on the 9th of November, 
1879, and who was a child at the time when 
the family home was established in Gage 
county, Nebraska, she being a daughter of 
Gottfried and Anna Scheneman. Mr. and 
Mrs. Miller have three children, — Ernest, 
Viola and Ruby. 

W Il.LIAM RIGGE-RT is one of the suc- 
cessful and up-to-date farmers of Glenwood 
township, where he owns and operates a valu- 
able farm of one hundred and sixty acres. 
He was born in the province of Hanover, 
Germany, on the 24th of January, 1869. His 
parents, John and Dora (Maas) Riggert, were 
likewise natives of Hanover, Germany, in 
which country they passed their entire lives. 
They were the parents of six children, five of 
whom are living. William of this review and 
his sister, Mrs. Herman Dunker, of Lundell, 
Kansas, are the only representatives of the 
immediate family who are living in America. 

William Riggert was a young man of seven- 
teen years when he came to the United States, 
and for six years thereafter he found employ- 
ment as a hired man on a farm. During this 
time he carefully saved his earnings and finally 



he began fanning for himself. He rented 
land for four years, and for twenty-one years 
he has owned and cultivated his present farm, 
which is equipped with a good set of buildings, 
all of which have been put on the place by its 
present owner. 

For a companion and helpmeet, Mr. Riggert 
married Miss Mary Loemker, a native of 
Washington county, Kansas, a record of the 
family being found on other pages, in a sketch 
of Ernst Loemker, a fanner of I'addock town- 
ship. Mr. and Mrs. Riggert have one child, 
Raymond. Their religious faith is expressed 
by membership in the Lutheran church, and in 
politics ^Tr. Riggert is a Republican. Though 
he has never aspired to jjublic office he is 
sen-ing efficiently as moderator of his schoo\ 
district. 

Coming to America with no capital except a 
willingness to work and a determination to 
own a home of his own, so characteristic of 
his race, Mr. Riggert has ever)' reason to be 
proud of his record, for to-day he is one of the 
substantial men of Gage county. 

FREDERICK L. ROOT is consistently to 
be designated as one of the representative 
farmers of the younger generation in his na- 
tive county and is conducting his operations 
on a part of the old homestead on which he 
was born, in Section 36 Rock ford township, 
where he received eighty acres from his 
father's estate and has since added by the pur- 
chase of an adjoining tract of equal area. He 
was born on the 26th of September, 1881, and 
is a son of the late William H. Root, an hon- 
ored pioneer to whom a memoir is dedicated 
on other pages of this work. The subject 
of this review was reared on the farm which 
is now his home and is indebted to the public 
schools for his early education. He has never 
had desire to sever his association with farm 
enterprise and is making himself known as a 
progressive and successful agriculturist and 
stock-raiser. 

In 1906 Mr. Root married Miss Ida Falwell, 
who likewise was bom and reared in this 
county, and they have four children, — Ruth. 
Marion, .-Vddie and Gertrude. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEiiRASKA 



749 



GILBERT R. SHELLEY is one of the rep- 
resentative agriculturists and stock-growers 
of the younger generation in his native county 
and is giving his attention to the management 
of the fine old homestead farm of four hun- 
dred acres, in Section 19, Rock ford to\vnship» 
which was the place of his birth, the date of 
his nativity having been December 17, 1888. 
He is a son of James W. Shelley and a brother 
of Frank R. Shelley, owner and executive 
head of the Beatrice Business College, a sketch 
of the latter's career being oiiered on other 
pages, with due incidental record concerning 
the family history, so that a repetition of the 
data is not here demanded. Gilbert Shelley 
gained his initial experience of practical order 
in connection with the work of the farm which 
is now his home, and in the meanwhile he 
made good use of the advantages afforded in 
the public schools of his native county. He 
remained at the parental home until he had at- 
t ined to his legal majority and for seven 
years thereafter he conducted farming oper- 
ations on land which he leased. In 1916 he 
assumed control of the landed estate of his 
father and he is directing his energies spe- 
cially to making the place a thoroughly modern 
and scientific stock farm, his energy and pro- 
gressiveness offering assurance of cumulative 
success in this important field of industrial 
enterprise. His political allegiance is given 
to the Republican party and he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

In 1910 Mr. Shelley wedded Miss Bessie 
Kennedy, who likewise was born and reared 
in this county, and they have a winsome little 
daughter, Geraldine. 

FRED li. TURNER, who is engaged in 
general farm enterprise in Sicily township, is 
operating one hundred and twenty acres of 
land, this farm having been the home of the 
Turner family since pioneer days in Gage 
county. 

Mr. Turner was born in Wyandot county. 
Ohio, August 20, 1870, and is a son of the 
late Alva Turner, of whom further mention 
is made in a biography prepared for William 



R. McKinley, of Beatrice, a half-brother of 
the subject of this sketch. Fred H. Turner 
was only a boy when the family home was es- 
tablished in Gage county and amid the pio- 
neer conditions he was reared to young man- 
hood on the farm which is now his home. 
When a young man he spent four years in 
Colorado and Wyoming at a "cattle puncher." 
Returning to Gage county, he took up the 
occupation to which he had been reared and 
for several years he has successfully operated 
the home farm. 

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Turner 
married Miss Effie Floyd, a native of Gage 
county, and they have become the parents oi 
three children : Floyd. H., Fern and May. 
Airs. Turner is a member of the United 
Brethern church. 

Mr. Turner is a Republican in politics, but 
the emoluments of public office have had no at- 
traction for him, as he has preferred to de- 
vote his time and energy to his private indus- 
trial and business aflfairs. He has been an 
eye-witness of the vast changes that have 
taken place in Gage county and this, together 
with the fact that the Turner family has con- 
tributed its share to the development of the 
community, makes a publication of this order 
of especial interest to him and his family. He 
is aftiliated with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of 
America, of which latter he has been a mem- 
ber for twenty-seven years. 

JOHN SCHEIDELER was a pioneer 
farmer in Paddock township, and contributed 
his share to the upbuilding of Gage county, — 
a sterling citizen to whom a tribute should be 
given in this history. Mr. Scheideler wa.-. 
born in \^'estpha]ia. Germany, July 8. 1847, and 
as a soldier he did valiant service for his na- 
tive land in her war with France in 1866. 
Soon after this he came to the United States, 
working in New York for a time. He then 
came west and located in Waukesha county, 
\\isconsin. In 1879 he became a resident 
of Gage county, Nebraska, where he purchased 
one hundred and si.xty acres of raw ])rairie 
land in Section 14. Paddock townshi]). He 



750 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTV, XEl'.RASKA 



immediately bej;an the improvement of the 
place. His first abode, — that in which all of 
his children were born — was a rock house 
which still stands. In 1882 he returned to 
Wisconsin and was united in marriage to Miss 
Anna Eoibl. who was born at Kagle. that 
state. October v^l. 1860. She came with her 
husband to the i^ioneer home in Gage county, 
and as the years passed she assisted him in the 
development of the farm. To this worthy 
couple were born nine children, as follows : 
Catherine is the wife of Alfred Barnes, a 
railroad man residing at Norfolk, Nebraska ; 
Edward is a farmer in Gage county ; Anton 
is a business man of Wymore, this county, 
and at the present time (1918) is a member of 
the county board of supervisors ; John is a 
farmer in Gage county : 1 lerbert is in the na- 
tional amiy and is now a corporal in his com- 
pany, located at Salt Lake City, L'tah ; Henry 
is, at the time of this writing, about to enter 
the aviation school of the United States army 
at Chicago : Albert and Carl are at home : 
Mary, the youngest, is the wife of Clay Cole, 
manager of the Kritcr elevator in Paddock 
townshi]:). The father of these children, after 
a useful life, passed away January 21, 1907, 
on the farm where he had li\ed twenty-eight 
years. 

Mr. Scheideler came west in search 
of health and while he found this climate 
better than Wisconsin or Iowa, yet he was 
never a really healthy man. lie and his 
wife, by diligence and careful management, 
developed a valuable farm from the virgin 
])rairie where they cast in their lot with the 
earl\- settlers on the Indian reservation. .\ 
commodius frame house had just been com- 
pleted (in the tann when Mr. Scheideler was 
called to his final rest. His widow occupies 
the home and delights in recounting ex])eri- 
ences of the early days, intluding the hard- 
ships and pleasures incidental to rearing her 
children. Her family is one of which she 
may well be proud. The husband ;ind father 
was a loyal citizen of his native land and their 
boys have been quick to res])ond when the na- 
tion is endangered and their services are 
needed to defend the countrv. The members 



of this family are communicants of the Cath- 
olic church. John Scheildeler will always be 
remembered as a loving father, a faithful hus- 
liand. an honorable citizen and a loyal friend. 

S. E. GIDDINGS was a lad of twelve years 
when he accom])anied his parents to Nebraska, 
in 1874. and he figures as a scion of one of 
the specially well known and highly honored 
pioneer families of Gage county, where his 
father achieved large success in connection 
with farm enterprise, as will be noted in the 
memoir dedicated to him — the late llaney 
W. Giddings — on other pages of this w'ork. 
He whose name initiates this paragraph was 
long numbered among the representative agri- 
culturists and stock-growers of the county 
and is now living retired in the city of Bea- 
trice, where he has an attractive residence and 
where he finds activity and profit in the nian- 
agemeiu of his well equipped feed yard, which 
is supplied with e.Kcellent sheds and is largely 
used by farmers visiting the city, three city 
lots being owned l)y Mr. Giddings. 

Mr. Giddings was born in Warren county, 
Illinois, on the 28th of July, 1862, and is a 
son of Harvey \\'. and Rebecca Iv ( McClure) 
Giddings. both of whom passed the closing 
years of their lives in Gage county, adequate 
record concerning the family being given in 
the previously mentioned memoir, dedicated 
to Harvey W. (Tiddings. The subject of this 
review was fourteen years old when the fam- 
ily home was established in Gage county, and 
here he received the advantages of the district 
schools, as well as of the Beatrice high school. 
From his boyliood he was closely associated 
with his father's agricultural and dairying en- 
terprise, conducted on an extensive scale, and 
in Filiey township he is still the owner of a 
finely improved and valuable farm estate of 
two hundred and twenty-seven acres. Here 
he conducted a substantial and prosperous 
business as an agriculturist and stock-grower, 
with his live-stock enterprise carried on in an 
e.xtensive way, and he made excellent build- 
ing improvements on his model farm, to which 
he still gives his personal supervision, as he 
has not found it expedient to rent the prop- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



751 



erty and has placed the same in charge of a 
capable man whom he emplo)^s by the year. 
.Mr. Giddings remained on the farm nntil 
1908, when he removed with his family to 
Beatrice, where he has since maintained his 
residence, — a citizen who is well known in 
the county and whose circle of friends is coin- 
cident with that of his acquaintances. 

The year 1888 recorded the marriage of 
;.lr. Giddings to Miss jMollie Pilcher, who like- 
wise was born in the state of Illinois, and 
whose death occurred in August of the fol- 
lowing year. Alollie, the one child of this 
union, is now the wife of John Rae, a repre- 
sentative business man of Sterling, Colorado. 
In 1891 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Giddings to Miss Clara Hollingworth, who 
was born and reared in Gage county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Giddings had three children : Har- 
old is a soldier in the national army, as a mem- 
ber of Company C, Fifth United States In- 
fantry, stationed at the time of this writing 
(spring of 1918) on the Tilexican border. His 
early education included a course in a business 
college and he is twenty-four years of age. 
Katherine, who was graduated in the Beatrice 
high school and was for two years a student 
in Wesleyan University at Lincoln, Nebraska, 
passed away December 4, 1917 ; Oliver H. is a 
student in the Beatrice high school. 

In politics Mr. Giddings is a staunch Re- 
publican, and he is affiliated with the Royal 
Highlanders and the Alodern Woodmen of 
America, his wife being identified with the 
Royal Neighbors and both being active mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

JOSIAH YOUNG, who is one of the rep- 
resentative exponents of farm industry in 
Lincoln township, was born in Clinton county, 
Iowa, December 20, 1864, — a date that 
clearly indicates that he is a scion of a pio- 
neer family of the Hawkeye state. He is a 
son of Josiah and Mar>' Ann (Corbin) Young 
His father was born in Connecticut, on the 
20th of July, 1823, and as a young man he 
found employment in the woolen mills in the 
state of Rhode Island. In 1854 Josiah Young, 
Sr., numbered himself among the pioneers of 



Iowa, where he obtained land and turned his 
attention to farm enterprise. His marriage 
to Miss Mary .\nn Corbin was solemnized 
May 23, 1854, and she shared with him in 
the trials and vicissitudes of pioneer life in 
Iowa. They became the parents of six chil- 
dren, of whom four are living, — William H., 
of Prescott, Iowa; Ivmily, wife of Charles 
Smith, of Hiawatha, Kansas; Josephine, wife 
of Ransom Leonard, of Holstein, Iowa; and 
Josiah, Jr., the nnmediate subject of this re- 
view. 

Mrs. Mary Ann (Corbin) Young had three 
brothers who gave valiant service as soldiers 
of the L'nion in the Civil war. These loyal 
men were William, Royal and Charles Cor- 
bin, all of whom enlisted at the outbreak of 
the war and all of whom served until its 
close. 

He whose name initiates this article was 
reared and educated in Iowa, and there he 
eventually instituted his independent career 
as a farmer. He rented land about ten years 
and then, in 1891. he there purchased forty 
acres of land, upon wdiich he made good im- 
provements. He later sold this property at a 
distinct financial profit, and in 1905 he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska and purchased his 
present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
in Lincoln township. Llere he is meeting with 
merited success in his farm enterprise and he 
is one of the valued citizens of his com- 
munity. 

In politics ?\Ir. Young is a Democrat, but 
since coming to Nebraska he has never desired 
or held public office of any kind, as he ha.s 
preferred to give his undivided time and at- 
tention to the management of his farm and 
business afifairs. He became a member of the 
Masonic fraternity while still a resident of 
Iowa, and he now maintains his Masonic af- 
filiation in the city of Beatrice. Both he and 
his wife hold membershi]) in the Christian 
church. Since establishing his home on his 
present farm Mr. Young has shown his en- 
terprise and progressiveness by erecting on 
the same good buildings, including an attrac- 
tive residence. 

November 20, 1888, recorded the marriage 



752 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



753 



of Mr. Young to ?iliss Edith Wilson, daughter 
of W'ilham R. Wilson, of Prescott, Iowa. Of 
the children of this union Ralph H. and Marj' 
Edith died in infancy : Blanche, who was born 
October 26, 1889, is the wife of C. S. Weigle, 
of Gage county ; Josiah R. was born Decem- 
ber 22, 1891 ; Jesse O., who was born April 

14, 1896, and Charles R., who was born March 

15, 1899 are showing their patriotism under 
the present conditions of warfare by serving 
as members of the United States navy ; and 
Harry L. was born February 11, 1907. 

ANTHONY W. SNYDER. — Years of 
toil and industry enable the subject of this rec- 
ord to spend the declining years of his life in 
honorable retirement, surrounded with all the 
necessities and many of the luxuries of the 
present day. Mr. Snyder was born at Dayton, 
Ohio, August 27, 1837. He is a son of Eli 
and Barbara (Manning) Snyder, the former 
born at Baltimore, Maryland, January 4, 1808, 
and the latter at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 
1811. The father died in 1885. and the mother 
was called to her final rest in 1891. 

Anthony W. Snyder was reared on a farm 
and secured the advantages of the common 
schools. When the Civil war threatened to 
disrupt the Union he volunteered for one hun- 
dred days' service, enlisting in April, 1861, in 
Company G, Seventh Indiana Volunteer In- 
fantry. At the expiration of his term of ser- 
vice he returned home and engaged in farm- 
ing, in Miami county, Ohio. In 1870 Mr. 
Snyder came to Nebraska and located in Gage 
county. Here he leased land in Adams town- 
ship for several years. In 1891 he purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres in Section 33, 
that township, and this property he still owns. 
He is the owner also of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Sherman county, Kansas, and for 
years was engaged in farming in that state. 
Returning to Gage county, Nebraska, he suc- 
cessfully conducted his farming interests until 
1907, when he laid aside the active work of 
the fields and retired to Adams. 

Februar}' 26, 1863, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Snyder to Miss Christina Van Dusen, 
who was born in Connecticut, December 26, 



1841. her parents, Edward and Marie (Bev- 
ins) \'an Dusen, having spent their entire 
lives in Connecticut. 

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Snyder has been 
blessed with eight children : Charles and Jo- 
seph E. reside in Dewey county, Oklahoma ; 
Hattie is the wife of Daniel Dellahant, oi 
Beatrice, Nebraska ; Harry is engaged in 
agricultural pursuits in Lancaster county. 
Nebraska ; Richard operates the home farm in 
Adams township ; William F. resides in 
Dewey county, Oklahoma ; Nellie is the wife 
of W. C. Silvernail, of Phillips, Nebraska; 
and Myrtle is the wife of A. P. Wiar, of 
Adams. 

In politics Mr. Snyder is non-partisan, vot- 
ing for men and measures he considers best. 
In 1903 he was elected a member of the county 
board of supervisors, on the Democratic ti:ket, 
and in this ofifice he served one term. He 
keeps in touch with his old comrades by mem- 
bership in Sargeant Cox Post, No. 100, Grand 
Army of the Republic, at Adams. 

Forty-eight years have passed since Mr. 
Snyder cast in his lot with Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and in all those years he has always 
been faithful to every duty and trust. He 
merits most fully this recognition in the his- 
torical records of his adopted county- 

GEORGE E. HORRUM. — Fifty years 
have come and gone since the subject of this 
record came to Gage county. He was born 
October 20, 1859, at Manchester, Indiana, and 
is a son of L. R. and Elsie (Sayers) Horrum. 
L. R. Horrum was born in Dearborn county. 
Indiana, June 28, 1830. As a boy and youth 
he learned the trade of hamessmaking, and he 
followed this trade at Manchester, Indiana, 
until 1867, when he located at Sterling. Illi- 
nois. Residing there one year, he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, in 1868. the year after 
the admission of Nebraska to statehood, and 
thereafter he farmed in Adams township until 
1883. when he again took up the trade he had 
learned in his youth. In this line of business 
he continued until his death, which occurred 
September 18, 1913. Mrs. Elsie ( Sayers") 
Horrum was bom at Oxford. Ohio. March 19. 



754 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



1833, a daughter of Dr. Savers, who later re- 
moved to Mancliester, Indiana. The pater- 
nal grandfather of George E. Horrum was 
Daniel Horrum, who was a native of Ver- 
mont and who located in Dearborn county, 
Indiana at an early date, he having been a 
pioneer farmer of that county and having de- 
voted his entire active career to the basic in- 
dustry of agriculture. 

George E. Horrum came to Nebraska with 
his parents in 1868, and attended the pioneer 
district schools of Gage county in the acquire- 
ment of his youthful education. ( )n reaching 
man's estate he chose the occupation to which 
he had been reared, and he continued to fol- 
low farm enterjirise until 1892, when he es- 
taljlished his residence at Adams, this county, 
where he has since been successfully engaged 
in the harness bunsiness. 

On September 20, 1883, George E. Horrum 
was united in marriage to Miss Sarah .\. Bry- 
son, a daugliter of Silas Bryson, whose record 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and 
Mrs. 1 birruni are the ])arents of two children: 
Pet is the wife of W. H. Coleman, superin- 
tendent of schools at Crawford, Nebraska : 
and Clara is the wife of William I'ittam, of 
Savoy. Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Horrum are 
members of the .Methodist Epicopal church, 
in which they take a commendable interest. 
In jjolitics Mr. llorrum is a Republican and 
fraternally he is affiliated with the .\dams 
lodge of i\ncient Free & Accepted Masons. 
Mr. I lorrum has lived to see many changes 
in Gage county since he came here as a lad of 
ten years, and he has done his full share to 
bring ,ibout the jircsent high state of develop- 
ment. 

Wll.l.l \.\1 II. .MII.I.I'.R. - A wnniiy re])- 
resentative of the agricultural and financial 
interests of Gage coimty is the gentleman 
whose name introduces this record. A native 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Miller was horn at 
White Haven, Carbon county. May 8, 1858. 
His parents. William M, and .Martha (Stiver) 
Miller, were likewise natives of the Keystone 
slate, the former having been born September 
26, 1826, and the birth of his wife having oc- 



curred December 25, 1826. They became 
residents of Illinois in 1869 and both passed 
the remainder of their lives in that state. The 
death of the father occurred October 12, 
1901, and that of the mother in 1883. 

William H. Miller was reared on a farm 
in Illinois and acquired his education in the 
public schools. He was engaged in farming 
in the Prairie state until 1884, when he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased land 
in Nemaha township. In 1900 he removed to 
his present fine farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Linco'.n townshi]). where he has made 
good improvements and is meeting with suc- 
cess in his undertakings. 

Mr. Miller made complete the arrangements 
for a home by his marriage. May 25, 1882, to 
Miss Emma Frazier, a daughter of Louis 
and Elizabeth Frazier, of Illinois. The home 
of Mr. and Mrs. Miller has been blessed by 
the birth of si.x children : James I.eroy is a 
farmer near Ellis; Linda May is the wife of 
W. F. Walsh, of Omaha; .-Kmy is the wife of 
John Fitzgerald, of Omaha; Raymond F. lives 
in Lincoln township ; Guy G. is at the parental 
home; and ( )rin R. nms a store at Ellis. 

In 1907 Mr. Miller assisted in the organi- 
zation of the l\llis State Bank, and later he 
became president of the same, a position in 
which he served three years. He is still a 
stockholder and director of this flourishing in- 
stitution. He exercises his right of franchise 
by supporting men and measures for which 
the Republican party stands sponsor, and 
while he has had no ambition for public office 
his civic loyalty was shown in three years of 
most effective service in the position of treas- 
urer of his township. He is affiliated with 
the Modern Woodmen of .Vmerica and both 
he and his wife are members of the Royal 
Neighbors. Mr. Miller has given close at- 
tention to his various industrial and business 
interests and is one of the substantial and 
valued citizens of Lincoln townshi]>. 

GEORGE H. JONES was one of the hon- 
ored pioneers who won individual success and 
furthered industrial and civic advancement 
through his association with farm enterprise 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



in Gage county, and it is most fitting' that in 
this history be entered a tribute to his mem- 
ory. He was born near Bangor, Maine, De- 
cember 23, 1847, a son of Cyrus Jones, and in 
his character and achievement he showed forth 
the sterling traits that ha\-e so significantly 
marked the sons of New England. His father 
likewise was a native of the old Pine Tree 
state and was a scion of a family that was 
founded in New England in the colonial era, 
the lineage lieing traced to staunch Welsh 
origin. At the age of eleven years George H. 
Jones came with his widowed mother to the 
west and the home was established near Dixon, 
Illinois, where he was reared to manhood on 
a pioneer farm. As a young man he went to 
Jones county, Iowa, where he amplified his 
pioneer experience as an agriculturist, and 
where his marriage was solemnized in 1867. 
Thereafter he continued to be concerned with 
farming at intervals in Iowa and at others in 
Illinois, until 1872, when he came with his 
family to Nebraska and took up a homestead 
of eighty acres in Section 30, Highland town- 
ship. Gage county. Here he continued his 
activities as a progressive and successful 
farmer until 1888, when he removed to the 
village of Cortland and engaged in the gen- 
eral merchandise business. There he con- 
tinued successfully in this line of enterprise 
until his death, which occurred August 22, 
1910. His well improved farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres is that of which his son 
Cyrus P. now has the management and of this 
son, as well as of the elder son, Frank W'., 
specific mention is made on other pages of this 
volume. 

Mr. Jones was a man of high standing in 
the community and did well his part in fur- 
thering the general advancement of Gage 
county along both civic and material lines. His 
political support was given to the Rei)ublican 
])arty, he was affiliated with the Alodern Wood- 
men of America, and at the time of his death 
lie was a deacon of the Congregational church 
at Cortland, where his widow, likewise a de- 
voted member, still maintains her home. 

December 25, 1867, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Jones to Miss Augusta J. Whitcomb, 



who was born near Meshoppen, \Vyoming 
county, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1847, a daugh- 
ter of George P. and Christina (Kintner) 
Whitcomb. Mr. Whitcomb was born in 
Massachusetts, March 17, 1816, and was one 
of the honored pioneers and prosperous farm- 
ers of Gage county at the time of his death, 
in 1873. His wife was born in Wyoming 
county. Pennsylvania, April 22, 1826, and she 
passed the closing years of her life at Bea- 
trice, Gage county, Nebraska, where she died 
in 1901. The parents of Mrs. Jones came to 
this count)- and settled on a homestead of 
eighty acres, one and one-half miles south- 
west of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Jones be- 
came the parents of seven children, of whom 
four survive the honored father: Frank W. 
is represented on other pages; Elva is the 
wife of James E. McCormick, of Clatonia ; 
Cyrus P. has charge of the old homestead 
farm; and \'erna remains with her widowed 
mother in their attractive home at Cortland. 

CYRUS H(JUGHTON, a retired fanner, 
residing at Blue Springs, was born in Will 
county, Illinois. November 18, 1853, and is a 
son of Rudolphus and Sarah (Capron) 
Houghton, who came to Illinois when Chicago 
was only a small city, and at a very low figure 
he was offered land on which a part of the 
city now stands. This land he refused to 
purchase, as it was too marshy for farming 
purposes. Mr. Houghton then went to Will 
county, Illinois, where he engaged in farmintr 
and where he died in 1869, his wife having 
passed away several years previously. 

Cyrus Houghton was but sixteen years of 
age at the time of his father's death and was 
left with very little means. He managed to 
purchase a team of horses and began teaming, 
— first in Gilman and later in Paxton and 
other towns in Illinois. Mr. Houghton finally 
bought forty acres of land in Will county, 
where he farmed for some time. Being in 
poor health, he was advised Ijy his ])hysician 
to go west. He disposed of his interests in 
Illinois and started for Beatrice, Nebraska, 
where he spent the winter. The followino- 
spring Mr. Houghton determined to remain in 



756 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Nebraska and bought eighty acres of land on 
Section 34, Rocl<ford township, Gage county, 
on which was built a shanty twelve by four- 
teen feet in dimensions with a dirt-covered 
log addition. This he afterward replaced with 
a frame Iniilding, and in later years he built 
a still better house, as well as other good 
farm buildings. He later bought an addi- 
tional eighty acres of land, adjoining that of 
his first purchase and here he continued farm- 
ing for many years. He and his family saw 
some very hard times in the early pioneer 
days, owing to drought several years in suc- 
cession, and it took a good deal of determin- 
ation and struggle to pull through. 

In 1916 Mr. Houghton left the farm and 
after spending some time in Biloxi, Missi- 
ssippi, he returned to Gage county, in June, 
1917. Here he has since lived, making his 
home in Blue Springs, where he owns a com- 
fortable residence. 

Cyrus Houghton was united in marriage to 
Miss Hannah Jones, of Will county, Illinois, 
she Ijeing a daughter of David and Mary 
Jones. To this unoin was born three children : 
Belle is the wife of Levi Miller, of Beatrice: 
I'carl is the wife of Clarence Jones, of Holmes- 
ville, this county; and Ralph D. has the man- 
agement of the home farm, in Rockford 
township. Mr. and Mrs. Houghton are 
members of the Methodist church, and in 
politics he is a Repul)lican. He is also an 
ardent advocate of the prohibition movement. 

ERXST II. SPILKER. — The vital energy 
and good judgment which Mr. Spilker has ap- 
plied in connection with farm industry have 
made him one of the specially successful rep- 
resentatives of this important line of enter- 
prise in Gage county, and he is the owner of 
a valuable landed estate of three hundred and 
twenty acres, in Section 12, Grant township, 
eighty acres of his well improved farm prop- 
erty being situated just to the south of the 
corporate limits of the village of Dewitt, Sa- 
line county. 

Mr. Spilker was born in the tine old prov- 
ince of Westphalia, Germany, on the 11th of 
December, 1873, and is the youngest of the 



eight children bom to Henry A. and Louisa 
(Fromme) Spilker. The eldest of the chil- 
dren, Karl, died in Germany ; William is 
another of the prosperous fanners of Grant 
township; Frederick died when about fifty- 
five years of age ; Louisa is the wife of Henry 
Damkroger, of Holt township; Carolena is the 
wife of Henry Bergmyer, of Grant township; 
Henry- died when about thirty years of age; 
Christian is a resident of Holt county, this 
state. 

Henry A. Spilker, a member of a family 
established for many generations in West- 
])halia, Gemiany, was bom February 3, 1828, 
and his death occurred October 14, 1906. His 
wife was bom Februar)- 18, 1831, and passed 
to the life eternal on the 19th of May, 1910. 
In 1883 Henr}' A. Spilker, accoinpanied by his 
wife and their four children, came from Ger- 
many to America and forthwith made his way 
to Gage county, Nebraska, where he purchased, 
at the rate of thirty dollars an acre, the pres- 
ent fine homestead farm of his son Ernst H.. 
of this review. Minor improvements had 
been made on the property, and with character- 
istic thrift and discrimination he carried for- 
ward the development of the fann, upon which 
he eventually erected modern buildings, be- 
sides setting out trees, and also planted one- 
half of an acre with catalpa seeds, one hun- 
dred trees which now average fully thirty 
feet in height. Mr. Sijilker was a man of 
indomitable energj- and with the aid of his 
devoted wife and his sons and daughter he 
made his old homestead one of the model 
farms of Gage county. He achieved substan- 
tial prosperity and manifested his patemal 
loyalty and stewardship by assisting each of 
his children to gain a good start in life upon 
reaching maturity, though to compass this 
end he was at times compelled to borrow the 
requisite money. Sturdy and unassuming, he 
made his life count in productive activity, or- 
dered his course upon a high plane of integ- 
rity and commanded the respect of his fellow 
men. He was liberal in support of measures 
and agencies for the conserv-ing of the general 
welfare of the community and he continued 
his active association with fami enterprise 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



757 



until within a few years of his death. Both 
he and his wife were devout communicants of 
the Lutheran church and he aided generously 
in the organizing and support of the church 
of this denomination in Grant township. It 
is interesting to record that at the time of his 
wife's death their grandchildren numbered 
fifty-two and their great-grandchildren fifteen. 

Ernst H. Spilker acquired his rudimentary 
education in his native land and was a lad ol 
nine years at the time when the family home 
was established in Gage county. Here he 
supplemented his mental discipline by attend- 
ing the district schools and he early began to 
lend his aid in the work of the home farm, 
upon which he has remained until the present 
time, his father having given to him the old 
homestead when he was twenty-three years 
of age. In 1907 Mr. Spilker purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Scotts 
Bluff county, and this property, which he pur- 
chased for seventy-five dollars an acre, he sold 
in 1913 at the rate of one hundred and fifteen 
dollars an acre. On the old homestead he has 
erected one of the most modern and attractive 
farm residences in the county, the house hav- 
ing eleven rooms and being equipped with 
electric lights, steam heat, hot and cold run- 
ning water, and the best type of modern bath- 
room. Within the past fifteen years he has 
expended fully six thousand dollars in mak- 
ing improvements on his farm and he is known 
as one of the wide-awake and progressive agri- 
culturists and stock-growers of the county, 
with secure place in popular confidence and 
good will. 

In 1896 Mr. Spilker wedded Miss Mary 
Meier, who was born in Germany and who 
was twenty-nine years of age at the time of 
her death, (Jctober 24, 1903. She came with 
her parents to America in 1881 and her father, 
Ernst Meier, became one of the prosperous 
farmers of Gage county, where he established 
his home in Clatonia township and where he 
passed the remainder of his life, his widow, 
whose maiden name was Mary Pohlmann, be- 
ing now a resident of Jefferson county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Spilker became the parents of two 
children, Sophia and Martha, both of whom 



remain at the paternal home. On the 10th of 
February, 1905, Mr. Spilker married Miss 
Anna Tegeler, who was born in Clatonia 
township, this county, on the 18th of Feb- 
ruary, 1886, a daughter of Frederick and 
Charlotte ( Schnele) Tegeler, who came to this 
county from Germany in 1882, Mr. Tegeler 
having been one of the representative farmers 
(3f Clatonia township at the time of his death 
;aul his widow remaining on the old home- 
stead place. Mr. and Mrs. Spilker have four 
children, — Amanda, Paul, Benjamin and 
Esther. 

In politics Mr. Spilker is found staunchly 
aligned in the ranks of the Republican party 
and he served three terms as assessor of Grant 
township. He and his wife are earnest com- 
municants of the German Lutheran church in 
their home township and he has served since 
1907 as a member of its board of trustees. 
The old homestead farm which he received 
from his father comprises one hundred and 
sixty acres, and through his own ability and 
resources he has accumulated and paid for 
:he remainder of his now large and valuable 
landed estate. He is one of the shareholders 
m the farmers' co-operative grain elevator in 
the village of Dewitt, where he also assisted 
in the organization of the Fanners' & Mer- 
chants' Bank, his stock in which he later sold. 
On his fine farm he keeps the best of live 
stock, and at the time of this writing, in the 
winter of 1917-1918, he has nearly two hun- 
dred head of Hampshire swine. A man ot 
splendid energy, he has achieved large and 
worthy success, the while he has so ordered 
his course as to prove a valuable citizen and 
command the respect and confidence of those 
with whom he has come in contact in the 
varied relations of life. 

ELMER L. ROOT is a .son of the late Wil- 
liam H. Root, to whom a memorial tribute is 
given on other pages of this volume, and he is 
doing -jvell his part in upholding the prestige 
of the family name in connection with farm 
industry and civic affairs, his base of oper- 
ations being the farm of one hundred acres 
which he inherited from his father's estate, in 



/T'ii 



ITTSTORV OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Rockford and Sherman townships, and his 
home place, imi)roved with excellent buildings, 
being situated in Section 30. Sherman town- 
ship. 

Mr. Root was born in Rockford township, 
this county, March 9, 1888. was afforded the 
advantages of the public schools and has been 
actively allied with farm enterprise from the 
time of his youth to the present. He married, 
in 1910, Miss Sadie Ault, likewise a native of 
this county, and she is the popular chatelaine 
of their attractive home. 

WILLIAM CRAIG. — For thirty-six years 
William Craig has been an honored citizen of 
Gage county, residing at Blue Springs. He 
is descended from staunch Pennsylvania 
stock, his father. Thomas Craig, having been 
born in Northampton (now Carbon) county, 
that state, in 1797. As a young man he en- 
gaged in farming for a time and later, for 
nearly quarter of a century, conducted a hotel 
at Lehigh Water Gap, besides operating a 
general merchandise store at the same place. 
He was also the owner of a stage line running 
from Mauch Chunk and Easton, as well as 
being extensively engaged in boating and 
transporting lumber from his mills, on the 
upper Lehigh, over the Lehigh Coal & Navi- 
gation Company's canal, to Easton, Mauch 
Chunk and other points. He owned and op- 
erated his own boats and made considerable 
money in the cntcrjirise. He owned three 
saw mills and an immense tract of timber land 
During the memorable freshet of 1841 he lost 
heavily in boats and lumber, and his entire 
store and contents were washed away. He 
continued as a hotelkeeper until about four 
years before his death, which occurred in 
1859. The maiden name of his second wife, 
who was the mother of W'illiam Craig, was 
Catherine G. Hagenbuch. She was a native 
of Lehighton, Pennsylvania, her death occur- 
ring at Lehigh Gap, in 1871. She was the 
mother of six children, all of whom lived to 
maturitv. The maiden name of the first wife 
of Thomas Craig was Kuntz and of the two 
children of this union one died in childhood, 
the other growing to manhood. The paternal 



grandfather of our subject was Thomas 
Craig, who was a native of Northampton 
county. Pennsylvania and who served as a 
general in the Revolutionary' war; he lived to 
the ripe old age of ninety years. 

The subject of this review was born at Le- 
high Gap, Pennsylvania, April 22, 184L His 
early education was acquired in his native vil- 
lage, later he became a student at .\llentown 
Seminary and he comjileted his education in 
the agricultural college of Center county, 
Pennsylvania (now the Pennsylvania State 
College). He then began teaching, and later, 
in company with his brother. Colonel John 
Craig, he engaged in the general merchandise 
business at Lehigh Gap. To this enterprise 
he added the business of boat building and 
railroad contracting. These interests he op- 
erated extensively and successfully, and also 
dealt largely in lumber, railroad ties and coal, 
a: the same place, until the fall of 1882. The 
faiuily was widely and favorably known ; 
three of his brothers ser\-ed as members of the 
Pennsylvania legislature, two of them being 
elected to the state senate. 

Mr. Craig, in 1882. came to Nebraska and 
established himself in the stove and hardware 
business at Blue Springs, where his progres- 
siveness and reliability gained him an envi- 
able place in the community. When the 
Farmers' Elevator Company was organized, 
sixteen years ago, he assumed the position of 
manager, which executive post he has held 
continuously since. 

r)n September 26, 1866, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Craig to Miss Mattie Gish, 
who was born at Berlinsville. Pennsylvania. 
January 29, 1844, a daughter of .\bram and 
Elizabeth ( Hummel) Gish, natives of the Key- 
stone state, where the father was a man of 
prominence as a farmer and merchant. The 
])arents of Mrs. Craig both passed their entire 
lives in Pennsylvania, the death of the father 
occurring in 1878, and that of the mother in 
1884. 

Mr. ami .Mrs. Craig became the parents of 
the following named children : Annie, un- 
married, is a teacher in the Wymore schools ; 
W. A. married Miss Alice \\'elch and resides 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



739 



at Rochester, New York; F. G. married Miss 
Elsie Noah and resides in Lincohi, Nebraska ; 
Jesse V. married Miss Beatrice Fenton and 
resides in Lincohi, Nebraska ; and Martha E., 
unmarried, is a teacher in the schools of 
Omaha. The mother of these children was 
called to her final rest in 1914. 

Mr. Craig cast his first presidential vote for 
McClellan, and now supports the Democratic 
ticket. He has been called to public ofiice 
and gave efficient service as a member of the 
school board many years. In 1888 he was 
elected and served as mayor of Blue Springs. 
He has also served as treasurer of the town- 
ship and city. Mr. Craig has won and held 
the esteem of the people of the community in 
which for thirty-six years he has lived and 
labored and in which his influence and sup- 
port have always been on the side of those 
things which are best. 

It is a matter of definite record that the 
Craig family name has been worthily linked 
with the annals of .\merican history from the 
colonial period, and it is specially pleasing and 
consistent to enter in this work a record con- 
cerning a distinguished Revolutionary pa- 
triot of the ancestral line of William Craig of 
Gage county. It was General Craig, then a 
lieutenant-colonel on the staff of General 
Washington, to whom the noble Quaker 
woman of historic note, Mrs. Lydia Darragh, 
reported the intended surprise attack that 
would be attempted by the British commander, 
General Howe, upon the forces of General 
Washington that were encamped above Phila- 
delphia, the timely information resulting in 
the frustration of General Howe's plan. Oi 
this Revolutionary incident definite mention 
is made in an old histor}- which was published 
in 1827 and which is now in the possession of 
\\'illiam Craig, of this review. From this old 
history the following quotations are taken : 
"Colonel Craig was also with General Wash- 
ington encamped at White Marsh, fourteen 
miles above Philadelphia. It was through 
him Mrs. Lydia Darrah. of Philadelphia, 
conveyed to General Washington warning of 
General Howe's intended attack on December 
2, 1777, she having heard the order read for 



the attack, through the keyhole of the door in 
the chamber of her house. The British troops 
marched out of the city as planned, to attack 
by surprise, defeat and capture the army and 
take General Washington prisoner. Finding 
t'.encral Washington fully prepared, and can- 
nons mounted, the attack was not made, and 
the British marched back again, — as General 
Howe e.xpressed it, "like a parcel of fools.'" 

P. M. ANDERSON, who conducts a 
thoroughly well ordered automobile garage in 
the village of Filley, was born in Schleswig- 
Holstein, Germany, on the 15th of December, 
1867, .a son of Marcus and Marie (Rasmus- 
sen) Anderson, both likewise natives of that 
district, which was formerly a part of Den- 
mark. There they continued their residence 
until 1871, when they came to the L'^nited 
States and settled at Princeton, Illinois. Later 
they removed to the city of Chicago, where 
they remained six years. Alarcus Anderson 
then engaged in farming enterprise near 
Princeton, Illinois, where he remained until 
the spring of 1883, when he came with his 
family to Gage county, Nebraska, where he 
purchased a farm and turned his attention with 
characteristic vigor to agricultural and live- 
stock industry. Later he sold his farm and 
])urchased another, in Thayer county, but 
eventually he returned to Gage county, where 
he passed the closing years of his life. He 
had no financial resources when he came to 
.\merica but by energy and good management 
he here gained independence and a gracious 
measure of prosperity. The children of his 
first marriage were four sons : Nis is a farmer 
in Cheyenne county, this state ; Andrew An- 
derson is serving in 1918 as county treasurer 
of Gage county; P. M., of this review, was 
the next in order of birth ; and L. C. owns and 
operates a well improved farm four miles 
north of Filley, this county. For his second 
wife the father wedded Margaret Hendrick- 
son, and they became the parents of two 
children: Anna, who is the wife of George 
Ilendrickson, of Broken Bow, Custer countv ; 
and Marie, who is the wife of Henry Rem- 
mers, of Firth, Lancaster county. The father 



760 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



was a Republican in politics and his religious 
faith was that of the Lutheran church. 

P. M. Anderson acquired his youthful edu- 
cation in the public schools of Illinois and Ne- 
braska, besides completing an effective course 
in a business college in the city of Beatrice. 
His independent career has been marked in 
earlier years by close and successful associ- 
ation with farm enterprise, and he is now the 
owner of a well improved farm of eighty 
acres, north of Filley, and another, of one 
hundred and sixty acres, south of this village. 
In 1909 Mr. Anderson removed from his farm 
to the village of Filley, where he engaged in 
the buying and shipping of live stock and later 
in the agricultural implement business. He 
now has a well equipped automobile garage 
and as local agent for the popular Overland 
automobiles he has developed a prosperous 
business. He still continues to handle agricul- 
tural implements and is one of the substantial 
and representative business men of this at- 
tractive Gage county village. In politics Mr. 
Anderson is a staunch Republican, and he has 
served as treasurer of Filley township, as well 
as township assessor. He is an active com- 
municant of the German Lutheran church, as 
was also his wife, whose death occurred June 
2, 1911. 

In October, 1.S95, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Anderson to Miss Christina Jen- 
sen, who was born in Denmark, and who is 
survived by one child, Blanche, the latter be- 
ing now the wife of Edward Protsman, a rep- 
resentative farmer of Filley township, and 
their only child being a son, Harold. 

JULIUS NEUMANN. — The enduring 
satisfaction of successful achievement right- 
fuliv belongs to Julius Neumann, for along 
well defined lines of enterprise he has ad- 
vanced until he now holds a prominent posi- 
tion in the commercial circles of Gage county. 

Mr. Neumami was born at Longenglons- 
lieini, Bingcn on the Rhine, July 7, II^S. His 
father, Gottlieb Neumann, was born July 26, 
1790, and as a voung man served in the Ger- 
man armv. Later he held a government posi- 
tion until he was sixty-eight years of age. In 



1857 he immigrated to America and settled on 
a farm near Cambridge, Henry county, Illi- 
nois, and there his death occurred December 
25, 1861. His wife, who bore the name of 
Catherine Kehl, was born at Meisenheim, Ger- 
many, March 18, 1805, and died August 4, 
1880. the last years of her life being spent in 
the home of her son Julius. Of the family of 
twelve children, nine sons and three daughters. 
all grew to maturity. Four of the sons each 
served full three years in the Civil war. 
Frederick and \'alentine were in the Forty- 
second Illinois Infantry, Charles in the Sev- 
enth Illinois Cavalry, and Jacob in the Forty- 
eighth Illinois Cavalr\-. All of the sons are 
li\ing except X'alentine. who died in May, 
1917. The oldest lives in the city of Omaha, 
at the age of eighty-five years. Julius was the 
second youngest. 

Julius Neumann acquired his education in 
the public schools of Cambridge. Illinois, and 
when a young man of twenty-one he found 
employment in a mercantile establishment in 
Henry county, that state. He was in business 
in several places in that state and finally es- 
tablished himself in business in San Jose, 
Illinois. March 19. 1882, he came to Wy- 
more. Gage county, Nebraska. Here he built 
a fine brick block, on Niagara avenue, and 
here he has been engaged successfully in busi- 
ness since that time. Seventeen years ago he 
erected his present business block, a two-story 
building with one hundred foot frontage, the 
main floor being occupied by his business es- 
tablishment, in which is the largest stock of 
general merchandise in the city. The uppei 
story is used as offices by professional men, 
licsides ])roviding headquarters for the local 
Masonic bodies. 

June 3, 1874, recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Neumann to Miss .\melia Wellmeyer, who 
was born at \\"ape!lo. Iowa, September 1. 
1854. a daushter of W. H. and Elizabeth Well- 
meyer. natives of C-ermany. Mr. and Mrs. 
Neumann are the parents of seven children: 
B. W. is married and resides in Philadeli)hia. 
where he is engaged in the laundrj' business ; 
Clarice is the wife of Fred J. Kelly, Chan- 
cellor iif the Universitv of Kansas, at Law- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



761 



rence ; Mahlon T., who married Aliss Bertha 
Pirie, is associated with his father in business ; 
Gertrude is the wife of Harry W. Hinman, an 
instructor in the Case technical school at De- 
troit, ^lichigan; Wilhelmina is the wife of 
Dr. D. M. Ausmus. of Nashville, Tennessee; 
Cecil H. married Miss Edith Kruger, and he 
is associated with his father's business ; War- 
ren R. is a student in the University of Kan- 
sas. 

The religious views of Mr. Neumann coin- 
cide with the teachings of the Methodist 
church, in which he and his wife are active 
workers and liberal supporters. In politics he 
is a "dyed-in-the-wool" Democrat, and he has 
served efficiently as mayor of Wymore for 
three temis, besides having been a member of 
the municipal council and the school board 
for many years. He is affiliated with the 
blue lodge, the chapter, and the council of 
the Masonic fraternity. 

Mr. Neumann has always upheld those 
things which he thought were best for his city 
and state, and for thirty-six years he worked 
in implacable opposition to the saloon and 
liquor traffic. While he has made a signal 
success of his own business, he has not been 
remiss in any duty incidental to the religious, 
educational, and general civic uplift of his 
community, and he is held in the highest es- 
teem by all who know him. Mr. Neumann is 
proud to have been born in Germany, the land 
of his fathers, but is as loyal an American as 
were his brothers who served three years for 
the preservation of the Union during the Civil 
war. 

JOHN C. EMERY, who holds the position 
of bookkeeper for the well known firm of Kil- 
patrick Brothers, of Beatrice, gained in his 
youth a wide and varied experience in con- 
nection with pioneer activities in the west, and 
he is a scion of the staunchest of .\merican 
stock of English strain. Mr. Emery was bom 
at Lawrence, Kansas, December 23, 1861, and 
this date indicates conclusively that his par- 
ents, Charles N. and Mary (Benson) Emery, 
v.-ere numbered among the pioneers of the 
Sunflower state, the father having been a 



native of Augu.sta, Maine, and the mother of 
the city of Dublin, Ireland. The father of 
Charles N. Emery was of English ancestry 
and became a pioneer representative of lum- 
bering enterprise in the old Pine Tree state, 
besides which he went forth as a loyal soldier 
in the war of 1812. 

Charles N. Emery immigrated to Kansas 
in 1853, and in the years that followed he 
lived up to the full tension of frontier and 
pioneer life. He engaged in overland freight- 
ing to Denver and to the mountain regions of 
the west, and on the 4th of May, 1858, at 
Lawrence, Kansas, was solemnized his mar- 
riage to Miss Mary Benson, who had come 
with two of her brothers to the United States 
and who had lived in Brooklyn, New York, 
and Chicago, Illinois, prior to her removal to 
Kansas. In 1864 Charles N, Emery and his 
family removed to Liberty Farm, Kansas, and 
on the 9th of August of that year their little 
home was burned by a band of marauding 
Indians. Removal was then made to Kear- 
ney, Nebraska, and in July, 1867, the family 
home was established at Beatrice, Gage 
county — in the year that marked the admis- 
sion of Nebraska to statehood. Here Charles 
N. Emery and his wife passed the remainder 
of their lives, as sterling pioneers of the 
county, and his death occurred in 1897, his 
widow having died in 1907. In a recapitu 
latory way and as incidental to the stirring 
frontier experiences of these honored pio- 
neers, it may be stated that from March, 1862, 
until the spring of 1864, Mr. Emery was in 
charge of the Thirty-two Mile Creek station 
on the eastern, or Fort Kearney, division of 
the great stage line, and in the latter year he 
took the management of the Liberty Farm 
station, on the north hank of the Little Blue 
river. As before stated, this station was 
burned by the Indians during their historic 
raid in August, 1864, and several other sta- 
tions on the stage line likewise were destroyed 
at this period. In the spring of 1865, after 
new stations had been built by the stage com- 
pany, Mr. Emery was placed in charge of the 
station at Fort Kearney, where he remained 
until the eastern division of the line was 



762 



HISTORY OF v.AGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



abandoned by tbe stage operators — after the 
completion of the Union Pacific Railroad from 
f )niaha to Fort Kearney. Mr. Kmery proved 
a most valuable and resourceful employe of 
the stage company, as he was a fine judge of 
horses and when occasion required could 
mount the box of a stage and ably drive a 
four or si.K horsi; team. He and his wife kept 
an eating station that became famed for its 
eftective service and was much appreciated 
by the travelers who passed over the stage 
route in those early days. Mrs. Kmery was 
an excellent cook and the provender which she 
set forth cheered many a weary sojourner. 
Incidentally the historic frontier character. 
Ben Holliday, one of the best of the early 
stage operators, stopped at the Emery station 
on Two Mile Creek for breakfast one morn- 
ing, while on one of his stage tri])s from Cali- 
fornia eastward. This hardy pioneer, who 
had l)een reared on the frontier, had an in- 
ordinate fondness for the old-time "corn 
dodgers," and after Mrs. Emerj' had set forth 
for his delectation a goodly supply of his 
favorite frontier delicacies he threw on the 
table a twenty-dollar gold piece as his per- 
sonal tribute to Mrs. F-mery and her culinarv 
skill. 

John C. l-'.mcry acc|uired the most of his 
early education in a Catholic school at Atchi- 
son, Kansas, and as a boy and youth he ac- 
com])anied his father on the latter"s freighting 
expeditions over the plains and prairies, the 
experience having been one to which he re- 
verts with marked satisfaction in this later 
era of opulent prosperity. In coming to Gage 
county the family journeyed more than two 
hundred miles in a covered wagon, and after 
the home had been established in Beatrice h;~ 
was enabled to supplement his education by 
attending the high school. In 1879 he became 
deputy county clerk, under the regime of Cap- 
tain Hill, and for a number of years he held 
a position in the office of the county recorder 
of Gage county. A skilled bookkeeper and 
accountant, he has for several years past held 
a position in the representative business house 
of Kilpatrick Brothers. 

In 1S81 Mr. Emerv wedded Miss Helen 



faynes. who was born at Oshkosh, W'isconsin, 
on the 3d of January, 1861, a daughter of the 
late Henry C. Jayncs. who came to Gage 
county in 1871 and became a pioneer settler 
in W'ymore township, he having been a gradu- 
ate of the University of Wisconsin. Mr. and 
Mrs. Emery have two children. MoUie is 
the wife of ICdward W. Clack, of Edgar, Clay 
county, where he is engaged in the real-estate 
business. Mr. and Mrs. Clack reside within 
seven miles of the place where her paternal 
grandfather's stage station was burned by the 
Indians, in 1864, as noted in a preceding para- 
graph. Robert J. Emery, the only son, is now 
(.spring of 1918) first lieutenant of Company 
C. One Hundred and Thirty- fourth United 
States Infantrj'. and has been assigned to 
duty as instructor at the officers' training 
school at Camp Cody, New Mexico. In this 
connection it is interesting to record that out 
of a total of five hundred and twenty-five men 
he was one of three who successfully passed 
the examination that determined his eligibility 
for this post of instructor, all three of the suc- 
cessful aspirants having been Gage county 
boys. Robert J. Emery married Miss Mabel 
Willis, of Beatrice, and they have one son, 
Robert J., Jr. 

Mrs. Emery is an earnest communicant of 
the Protestant Episcopal church, and he is af- 
filiated with the Royal Arcanum and the Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America. 

ERWIN W. SCHAEFER has distinct 
vantage-ground as one of the vigorous and 
representative business men in the city of 
Beatrice, where he is treasurer and general 
manager of the Sanitary Dairy, a corporation 
that has developed a substantial and impor 
tant industrial enterprise. 

-Mr. Schaefer w^as born in the fair little re- 
public of Switzerland, and the date of his 
nativity was .May 28, 1873. He is a son of 
Joseph and Mary ( Schlup) Schaefer, the 
father having been a farmer and also having 
developed in Switzerland a prosperous busi- 
ness in the handling of such waste materials 
as copper, iron. etc. The mother served for 
twenty-six years as postmistress at Ammann- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



763 




Erwin W. Schaefer 



7M 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NHFIRASKA 



segg, Switzerland, a picturesque village among 
the snow-capped mountains. The subject of 
this review is a member of a family of eight 
children, all of whom are living, and he is the 
only one of the number in the United States, 
the others all remaining in Switzerland. 

Erwin W. Schaefer was afforded the ad- 
vantages of the notably excellent schools of 
his native land, where he completed a course 
in the high school at Solothurumswitz and 
abso gave special attention to the study of 
French. He is thus conversant with the Ger- 
man, French, and English languages. After 
leaving school Mr. Schaefer found employ- 
ment in a mercantile establishment, and he 
was an ambitious young man of twenty-five 
years when he severed the home ties and set 
forth to make for himself a place of inde- 
pendence in America. He came to the United 
States in the year 1S98 and established his 
residence in the city of Milwaukee, Wiscon- 
sin, where for three years he was employed 
in connection with the brewery industry. He 
then established in that city a creamery busi- 
ness and after conducting the same several 
years he engaged in the same line of enter- 
prise at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. There he 
continued his activities in a successful way 
until 1912, when he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and became head butter and ice- 
cream maker for the Beatrice Poultry & Cold 
Storage Company, of which Henry Fishbach 
is the executive head. This alliance he con- 
tinued until 1917, on the 1st of January of 
which year was effected the organization of 
the Sanitarj- Dairy, which was incorporated 
with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand 
dollars and of which he has been treasurer and 
general manager from the beginning. The 
capital stock is now one hundred thousand 
dollars. He has a thorough and comprehen- 
sive knowledge of the dairy business and his 
executive ability and progressive policies have 
l)rought about the substantial development of 
the business of the company with which he is 
now identified. Mr. Schaefer is distinctly 
loyal and appreciative in his civic attitude 
and in his i^olitical allegiance he is aligned in 
the ranks of the Republican party. He is 



afiiliated with the Beatrice lodge of the 
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and 
he and his wife are communicants of Christ 
church, Protestant Episcopal, in their home 
city. 

November 4, 1899, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Schaefer to Miss Emma Schiltnicht, 
who likewise is a native of Switzerland and 
who established her residence in Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, upon coming to America, one of 
her brothers being now pastor of the German 
Reformed church at Jackson, that state. Mr. 
and Mrs. Schaefer have two children, Her- 
bert and Eleanor. Herbert is one of the gal- 
lant young sons of Gage county who has en- 
tered the nation's service in connection with 
the great European war. He is a sergeant in 
the signal corps of the United States army 
and at the time of this writing, in the spring 
of 191S, he is with his command "somewhere 
in France." Miss Eleanor Schaefer is a 
student in the Beatrice high school. 

JOSEPH J. WILL is one of the substan- 
tial farmers of Rockford township, where he 
owns his home place of eighty acres, in Sec- 
tion 16, and also utilizes an adjoining tract of 
eighty acres, which he rents. He is a son of 
the late Frank M. Will, to whom a memoir is 
dedicated on other pages of this volume, so 
that further review of the family history is 
not demanded in the present article. 

Joseph J. Will was born in Woodford 
county, Illinois, on the 13th of September, 
1S70, and he was twenty-one years of age 
when he came with his parents to Gage 
county. His principal educational advantages 
in his youth were those afforded by the dis- 
trict schools and at the age of twenty-three 
years he engaged in independent farming ac- 
tivities on land which he rented in Rockford 
township. In the spring of 1917 he purchased 
his present farm home, and those familiar 
with his eiiergy and progressiveness can give 
assurance that cumulative success will be his 
and that the same will be manifested in the 
judicious improvements which he will make 
from time to time upon his farm property — 
given over to diversified agriculture and stock- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



?(•,:-> 



raising. He is known for his unremitting in- 
dustry and expresses himself in deeds rather 
than words, both in the handling of his busi- 
ness atlairs and as a loyal citizen. Office- 
seeking proclivities have never been his but he 
gives his political support to the Democratic 
party. 

In 1896 Mr. Will married Miss Helen Beam, 
who was born and reared in this county, and 
their five children are Harry, Frank, Roy, 
Ra}'mond, and \'ivian. 

CHARLES A. MILLER. — One of the 
younger men of Gage county who is meeting 
with success in his chosen calling is Charles 
A. Miller, who owns and operates a fann of 
two hundred and six acres, in Section 35, 
Sicily township. 

Mr. Miller was born in Stephenson county, 
Illinois, April 21, 1873, a son of Eli and Eliza- 
beth (Sheetz) Miller, who are now residents 
of Wymore, Gage county, and whose record 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Charles A. 
Miller was ten years old when the home was 
established in Gage comity. Here he was 
reared on his father's farm and educated in 
the public schools. On reaching man's estate 
he became a farmer, and for thirteen years he 
has owned his present place, which is devoted 
to general farming. His farm is well im- 
jiroved and he is progressive in his methods, 
is industrious, and is meeting with success. 

Mr. Miller completed arrangements for a 
home of his own by his marriage to Miss 
Cora Pyle, a native of Illinois, and a daughter 
of Samuel L. I'yle, who is represented on 
other pages of this volume. 

Mr. Miller is a Democrat in politics and 
served four years as clerk of Sicily township. 
Fraternally he is associated with the Royal 
Highlanders, and he is one of the substantial 
men of his township. 

FRED A. WRIGHT. — As a scion of one 
of the honored and influential pioneer families 
of his native county and as one who has here 
achieved a place of precedence in connection 
with banking enterprise, Mr. Wright is entitled 
to special recognition in this historv. He is 



associated with his father in the ownership 
and conducting of the Citizens' State Bank of 
\'irginia, of which he is cashier, and he is 
numbered among the popular and representa- 
tive business men of the yoimger generation 
in the vital little town of Virginia. 

Mr. Wright was born on his father's old 
homestead fami near Hoag, this county, on 
the 2d of April, 1880, and is a son of Amos 
L. and Clara (Wickham) Wright, who now 
maintain their home in the village of Vir- 
ginia, this county, the subject of this review 
being their youngest child and only son ; Fran- 
ces A., elder of the two daughters, is the 
widow of Joseph E. Penry, and resides at Bos- 
tonia, California, she having three sons; Bes- 
sie, the younger daughter, is the wUe of 
William Holm, a merchant at A'irginia, this 
county, and they have two daughters. 

Amos L. Wright was born in Menard 
county, Illinois, February' 27, 1844, and was 
there continuously identified with farm enter- 
prise from his boyhood until 1866, when he 
came to Nebraska Territory and entered claim 
to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres 
in Section 10, Blakely township, Gage county. 
He developed one of the well improved farms 
of that township and remained on this old 
homestead until 1886, when he purchased an 
entire section of land to the south of the vil- 
lage of Virginia, this county, this estate com- 
prising the south half of Section 14 and the 
north half of Section 23, Sherman township. 
He made the best of improvements on this 
extensive tract and became one of the leading 
exponents of agricultural and live-stock in- 
dustry in that section of the county. In 1890 
he retired from the farm and he and his wife 
have since resided at Virginia. Mrs. Wright 
was born in Holt county, Missouri, July 27, 
1848, and her marriage was solemnized in 
Gage county, Nebraska. She is a zealous 
member of the Christian church and her hus- 
band is a Republican in politics. 

Fred A. \\'right has never regretted the 
sturdy discipline which he gained in connec- 
tion with the activities of the home farm and 
has retained full appreciation of the dignity 
and value of honest toil. In addition to profit- 



766 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XlV. XEHRASKA 



ing by the advantages of the piibhc schools he 
completed a course in a business college at 
Davenport. Iowa, and in 1899 he became as- 
sociated with his father in the grain and lum- 
ber business at Virginia. Shortly after his 
marriage, in 190.3, he assumed the active man- 
agement of his father's farm, where he con- 
tinued his productive enterprise as an agri- 
culturist and stock-grower until the autumn 
of 1912. when, as a medium of ex])erience, he 
assumed a clerical position in the Union State 
Bank of Beatrice. With this institution he 
continued his service until April. 1914. when 
he jjurchased the bank at Sjjring Ranch, Clav 
county. < 'f this Ijank he had the active man- 
agement until March. 1915. when he formed 
a partnershi]) with Roliin A. Xickell and pur- 
chased the }?ank of Cortland, and in Novem- 
ber. 1917, he severed his connections there 
and became cashier of the Citizens' State 
Bank of N'irginia. Me is the owner of a well 
improved farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 22, Sherman township, and is 
one of the vigorous and resourceful business 
men of his native county. He takes deep in- 
terest in all things ])ertaining to his home vil- 
lage and served as mayor at Cortland in 1916. 
his political allegiance being given to the Re- 
publican party and he and his wife being 
members of the Christian church in the vil- 
lage of X'irginia. At X'irginia he is a popular 
member of the cam]) of the Modern \\'ood- 
men of .America. 

January 6, 1903, recorded the ni.irriage oi 
Air. Wright to Miss Ethel C. Edwards, who 
was born at Webb City. Missouri, a daughter 
of b)bn W. and M;ir\- (Trauber) Edwards, 
natives of Illinois and early settlers of Eu- 
reka Springs, Arkansas, where they still re- 
side. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been born 
three children : Faye was born in 1905 and 
died in 1908, and the two surviving are Dor- 
othy, born December 13, 1908, and Dale E., 
born July '». 1915. 

.\ review of the career of .\mos L. Wright, 
father of the subject of this sketch, appears 
on other pages of this volume. 



JACOB S. DAW^SOX was born in Stark 
county. Illinois, May 13, 1883, and is a son 
of John L. Dawson, of whom individual men- 
tion is made elsewhere in this volume. 

Jacob S. Dawson was brought to Nebraska 
by his parents when he was three years of age. 
and he received his early education in the 
country schools of Gage county. He re- 
mained with his father on the home farm, in 
Sicily townshi]), until eleven years ago. Then 
his father retired and removed to Wymore to 
make his home. Jacob S. Dawson remained 
on the farm and he now owns this old home 
place, of one hundred and seventy acres, in 
Section 25, Sicily township. He has made 
many improvements on this farm, building 
additions to the barns and erecting two silos. 
He now has as fine a set of farm buildings as 
can be found in the county. His home is 
modern in every particular, being lighted with 
electricity and heated by furnace. Here he 
and his family are thus able to enjoy the con- 
veniences of a city home, though residing on 
the farm. Mr. Daw.son does a general farm- 
ing business, and raises and feeds cattle and 
hogs for the market, somewhat extensively. 
He is numbered among Gage county's pros- 
perous citizens and representative farmers. 

.Mr. Dawson chose as his wife Miss Grace 
Rol)erts. daughter of J. \\'. Rolierts. of 
Barneston township. Gage county. They are 
the parents of four children. Dean. Donald. 
Marguerite, and Gerald. Mr. and Mrs. Daw- 
son are members of the Methodist church at 
W ymure. Mr. Dawson is independent in 
])olitics and gives his support to the men and 
measures meeting the ajjproval of his judg- 
ment. .\t Wymore he is affiliated with the 
lodge of .\ncient Vree & .\ccepted Masons. 

J A.MES LOXG. a successful fanner of 
Sicily township, was born December 20, 1860, 
at I'eoria. Illinois, and is a son of John and 
Mary ( Dalton ) Long, who were natives of 
Ireland and came to .America at an early date, 
settling in Illinois. John Long died when his 
son James was a small child and his widow 
thereafter moved to Mason county, Illinois, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



767 



near Forest City, where she bought eighty 
acres of land. Here James Long grew to man- 
hood, attending school when he could, and 
working on the farm. There he married Miss 
Maggie Brown, whose parents died when sh& 
was a child, she having been reared by her 
foster father, Martin Hood, of Mason county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Long came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, in the early '80s and settled on 
Sicily creek, in Sicily township. Their first 
home was a log house, and at that time Mr. 
Long's worldly goods consisted of one team of 
horses, a few farming tools, and seventy-five 
dollars in cash. He later bought one hundred 
and sixty acres of slightly improved land in 
Elm township, and he farmed this for twelve 
years. He then bought his present farm, of 
two hundred and eighty acres, in Section 29, 
Sicily township. He is a prosperous farmer 
of marked energy and progressiveness and is 
a valued citizen of Sicily township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Long became the parents of 
five children, as follows: James is a farmer in 
Elm township. Ella is the wife of Roy Car- 
penter, of Omaha, Nebraska; May is the wife 
of Milo Carpenter, of Beatrice, Nebraska; 
Earl died at the age of fourteen years ; Leo is 
associated with his father in the operation of 
the home farm. 

Mr. Long is a Democrat in politics, and is 
at present a member of the school board of his 
district. He and his family are members of 
the Catholic church. 

JOHN T. LePOIDEVIN was born in 
Gage county, Nebraska, September 9, 1872, a 
son of Thomas LePoidevin, of Beatrice, a 
record of whom appears elsewhere in this 
volume. 

John T. LePoidevin was reared on a farm 
and attended countn,- school in Gage county. 
As a young man he farmed with his father on 
the home place, and later he rented some land 
from his father and began farming for him- 
self. Li 1910 Mr. LePoidevin purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 5, 
Rock ford township, and this property he has 
since greatly improved, having remodeled the 
house and erected some new buildings, with 



the result that he now has one of the best im- 
proved farms in the county. Starting with no 
unusual advantages, Mr. LePoidevin has 
through his own efforts made a success of his 
chosen calling. 

Mr. LePoidevin was united in marriage to 
Aliss Lottie Kettering, daughter of John Ket- 
tering, of Monmouth, Illinois. To this union 
have been born five children — Hazel, Loree. 
Verna, Marjorie, and Eva. 

Mr. and Mrs. LePoidevin are members of 
the Christian church of Beatrice, and are regu- 
lar attendants. He is a Republican and has 
been a member of the school board, the cause 
of education finding in him a stalwart cham- 
pion. 

SILAS F. RICHARDS was ten years old 
at the time when his parents established their 
residence in Gage county, in 1872, and here he 
was reared to manhood on the pioneer farm 
of his father, the late George F. Richards, to 
whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages ol 
this volume. Mr. Richards has permitted no 
futilities to mark his career as one of the pro- 
gressive exponents of farm industry in Gage 
county and is to-day the owner of an excel- 
lently improved estate of two hundred and 
forty acres, in Sherman township, his at- 
tractive home being situated in Section 17, 
about seven miles distant from Holmesville, 
which is his postoffice address. 

Mr. Richards was born in Rock Island 
county, Illinois, March 2, 1863, and in his 
native county he received his rudimentary 
education, which was supplemented by his at- 
tending the schools of Gage county after the 
family home had here been established in 
Rock ford township. He continued to be asso- 
ciated with the work of his father's farm until 
he had attained to the age of twenty-two years, 
and for several years thereafter he farmed on 
rented land. His energy and good manage- 
ment brought to him cumulative success in the 
passing years, and this is significantly attested 
b}' his ownership of his present fine farm es- 
tate, which he has improved with good build- 
ings and on which he gives his attention to 
di\ ersified agriculture and the raising of good 



768 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



types of live stock. He takes loyal interest in 
community affairs and in politics is staunchly 
arrayed with the Democratic party. 

The year 1886 recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Richards to Miss Minnie Leming, who 
was twelve years of age when her j^arents 
came from Indiana to Gage county, she hav- 
ing been born in La Porte, Indiana. Januarv 
27, 1871, and being a daughter of John and 
^largaret (Lukemire) Leming, who were born 
in Ohio and whose marriage was solemnized 
in Indiana. Upon coming to Gage county Mr. 
Leming engaged in farming in Sherman town- 
ship, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. His death occurred November 6. 1903, 
and his widow now lives in the home of one 
of her sons, at Belgrade, Nance county, Ne- 
braska. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have six chil- 
dren : Ralph is married and resides in the city 
of Beatrice; Edna is the wife of Clarence 
Bryant, of Wymore, this county; Fay is mar- 
ried but remains with his parents, as his 
father's effective assistant in the work and 
management of the home farm; Blanche is 
the wife of Cecil Snyder, of ^\■ymore, this 
county; and Glenn and Forrest are the 
younger members of the parental home circle. 

H.VRLEY J. SllAW is an honored pioneer 
whose association with Nebraska was initiated 
several years prior to the admission of the 
state to the Union and his experiences in the 
early days involved specially close association 
with the Otoe Indians, whose language he 
learned to speak. His reminiscences pertinent 
to life on the frontier are most graphic and 
interesting, even as are those pertaining to 
his gallant service as a soldier of the Union 
in the Civil war. His patriotism at that 
climateric period was on a parity witli that 
shown by both his paternal and maternal 
grandfathers, each of whom was a valiant 
soldier in the earlier wars in which the na- 
tion was involved, the paternal grandfather 
having servtd in the war of 1812 and the 
maternal grandfather. Colonel Renaulds, hav- 
ing served as an officer in the command of 
General Wasliington in the war of the Revo- 
lution : he was a man of splendid vigor and 



attained to the patriarchal age of one hundreo 
and four years. 

Harley J. Shaw was born in Onondaga 
county, New York, December 25, 1844, and 
is now the only survivor in a family of five 
children, of whom he was the firstborn. He is 
a son of Samuel and Lydia (Renaulds) Shaw, 
whose marriage was solemnized in Onondaga 
county, whence, in 1847, they removed to 
Wisconsin, where they became pioneers and 
where they lived at intervals in the now pros- 
perous little cities of Waupaca, Green Bay, 
and Stevens Point. After remaining six years 
in Wisconsin they returned to the state of 
New York, and about the time of the Civil 
war's inception they came to Nebraska Ter- 
ritory and became residents of Gage county. 
Here Samuel Shaw secured a claim on Cub 
creek and instituted the reclamation of a farm. 
He went forth from his frontier farm to give 
two years of service as a soldier of the Civil 
war. He enlisted as a member of the First 
Nebraska Volunteer Infantr)', and after the 
close of the war he conducted for ten years 
the government flour mill and saw mill at 
Blue Springs, on the Otoe Indian resen-ation. 
Both he and his wife attained to the psalmist's 
span of three score years and ten and both 
were residents of Gage county at the time of 
death. 

Harley J. Shaw was three years old at the 
time of the family removal to Wisconsin, and 
thus was nine years of age when was made 
the return to New York state, where he ac- 
(luired his youthful education in the schools 
of Navrino, CJnondaga county, and where he 
was reared to manhood. He was not yet 
seventeen years old at the inception of the 
Civil war, but his youthful patriotism was 
not long to be curbed, for, in January, 1862, 
at Syracuse, he enlisted in Battery F, Third 
New York Light Artillery. He was mustered 
in at Palace Garden, New York city, and 
thence proceeded with his command to the 
city of Washington. The command was en- 
gaged with the heavy artillery forces at Fort 
Corcoran and later served under General Mc- 
Clellan in the second battle of Bull Run. The 
military career of Mr. Shaw included partici- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



769 




Harley J. Shaw 



770 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEHRASKA 



pation in General Biirnside's expedition to 
New Berne, North Carolina; in the battle of 
Kingston, where his horse was shot from 
under him in a desperate charge in which his 
command operated the first gim in holding 
the bridge : engagements at Whitehall, Golds- 
boro, and Little Washington ; and the conflict 
at Plymouth, where he gave distinguished evi- 
dence of his valor. Thereafter, under Fos- 
ter's command, Mr. Shaw was detailed as a 
sailor and started for Hilton Head, South 
Carolina, where he passed the historic naval 
vessel known as "Old Ironsides." He was 
under Gilmore at the siege of Charleston, be- 
ing under fire for a period of three months, 
and his service was further continued in 
action at Wagner, Gregg. James Island, Jack- 
sonville, Florida, and Savannah. Georgia. He 
was at Savannah when his term of enlistment 
e.xpired, but he continued in active service 
through the engagements of Honev Hill, Fort 
Telego, and Seabrook Island. In the nianv 
and spirited encounters in which he took 
part Mr. Shaw escaped without a wound, and 
besides this he was never ill or otherwise in- 
capacitated and never failed to respond to 
roll call. He was mustered out of service at 
Hilton Head, South Carolina, where also he 
received his honorable discharge, on the 14th 
of March, 1X65. He is one of the veteran 
and honored members of Rawlins Post of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, in the city of 
Beatrice, and has passed various official 
chairs in the same. 

.\fter the close of the war Mr. Shaw re- 
turned to his native county, and in the follow- 
ing autumn he joined his parents in Xebiwska 
Territory. In the winter of 1865-1866 he be- 
came associated with his father in the opera- 
tion of the government mills on the Otoe In- 
dian reservation, and it was in this winter that 
he cast his first vote, this ballot being inci- 
dentally in support of adoption of the con- 
stitution on which was based the demand of 
the territory for admission to statehood. In 
the si)ring of 1866 :\lr. Shaw took up a home- 
stead in Section 19, Rock ford townslii]), and 
on this place, wiiich he developed most ef- 
fectively, he continued his residence thirty- 



five years. Since 1908 he has resided on his 
present farm of eighty acres, in Section 19, 
Sherman township. 

In 1867 Mr. Shaw wedded Miss Flora An- 
drews, who was bom in the state of New York 
and whose death occurred in 1884. Of the 
children of this union the eldest is Lovilla, 
who is the widow of Frank Bishop, and re- 
sides at Tate, Pawnee county; Corey R. died 
in 1887, having been shot by accident ; Miles 
S. is engaged in farming in Blue Springs 
township; Addie E. is the wife of Frederick 
Sage, of Boulder, Colorado; and Ralph died 
in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Shaw 
married Miss Mary L. Berry, who was born 
in Iowa, and she passed to the life eternal in 
1910. They became the parents of the follow- 
ing named children : Clement is an electrician 
and is serving as such in the European war; 
Bernard is a resident of Tate, Pawnee county , 
Dell remains with her father, as does also 
Hazel : Lottie died in childhood ; and Harley 
is with the United States forces in the Euro- 
pean war. 

Few had broader or more varied frontier 
experience than did this sterling jiioneer. and 
few had closer association with the Indians, 
among whom he moved as a valued friend and 
whose language he acquired. He was asso- 
ciated with freighting enterprise in the early 
days, between St. Joseph, Missouri, and 
I'.rownville and Lincoln, Nebraska, and he 
grappled duly with the hardshi{)s entailed by 
drought and grasshoppers. He has always 
been a stalwart advocate of the principles of 
the Republican party, has been on many occa- 
sions a delegate to its conventions in Gage 
county, and has served in various township 
offices — an upright and loyal citizen who 
commands secure place in popular esteem and 
good will. He is an active member of the 
^fethodist Episcopal church. 

FREDERICK STEINMEYER. — This 
sterling i)ioneer, now living retired in the vil- 
lage of Clatonia, is another of those sturdy 
and industrious men who bore the full heat 
and burden of the day in connection with the 
social and industrial development and prog- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



771 



ress of Gage county in the early days and he 
is especially entitled to recognition in this 
work. 

Mr. Steinmeyer was born in the province 
of Hanover, Germany, February 25, 1841, and 
is a son of Joseph H. and Elizabeth (Fra- 
diker) Steinmeyer, who immigrated with their 
children to America in the late '50s and estab- 
lished their home in Scioto county. Ohio. Con- 
cerning the family history adequate data are 
given on other pages — in the sketch of John 
H. Steinmeyer, of Beatrice, the youngest of 
the surviving sons, as well as in mention of 
other members of this influential pioneer fam- 
ily. Frederick Steinmeyer gained his early 
education in his native land and was a youth 
of sixteen years at the time of the family im- 
migration to the United States. Thereafter he 
was associated with farm industry in Ohio 
until the precipitation of the Civil war, when 
he enlisted as a member of Company B. Fifty- 
sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was with 
his command in all of the important battles 
and minor engagements in which it was in- 
volved in Mississippi and other southern 
states, and he was at New Orleans. Louisiana, 
when he received his honorable discharge, m 
November, 1864. He then returned to Scioto 
county, Ohio, but ten months later, in the 
autumn of 1865, he came to Nebraska Terri- 
tory. He located at Nebraska City and later 
became one of the pioneers of Gage county. 
In April ,1866, he entered a homestead claim 
in Section 28, Clatonia township, one mile 
south of the present village of Clatonia. At 
Nebraska City he purchased an ox team, which 
he drove through to Gage county and utilized 
in the breaking of his land, his first house hav- 
ing been a rude dugout of the type common 
to that early period. In this primitive domi- 
cile was maintained the family home for six 
years, and then removal was made to a frame 
house which he erected on Clatonia creek, 
where he had available timber. He remained 
on his original homestead twenty-six years and 
eventi.Mlly added to his landed estate by pur- 
chasing land from the Chicago & Rock Island 
Railroad Company, the line of which passed 
through his fariu in such a way as to require 



the removal or demolishing of the farm house. 
He bought more land and removed back from 
the bottoms of the creek, made excellent im- 
provements on his property and continued his 
activities as one of the successful and repre- 
sentative farmers of the county until 1912, 
since which year he has lived retired in the at- 
tractive and modern house which he erected 
in the village of Clatonia. He is still the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of three 
hundred and seventy-five acres and is a ven- 
erable pioneer who commands the fullest mea- 
sure of popular esteem. In politics Mr. Stein- 
meyer is a loyal Republican, he is affiliated 
with the post of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public in the village of Dewitt, and he and his 
wife are earnest members of the German 
^Methodist church. 

February 15, 1867, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Steinmeyer to Miss Mary Frj'e, of Scioto 
county. Ohio, to which state he returned for 
achieving the gracious companionship which 
has continued for more than half a century. 
Mrs. Steinmeyer was born in Ohio, December 
23, 1851, and is a daughter of Henry and Ali- 
nora ( Schafifer) Frye, who likewise were bom 
and reared in that state and who became the 
parents of ten children, Mrs. Steinmeyer hav- 
ing been the second in order of birth and her 
parents having come to Gage county in 1868, 
but finally having settled at Martel, Lancaster 
county, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives. 

Of the seven children of ]\lr. and Mrs. 
Steinmeyer the first, Lena, died in infancy; 
Sarah is the wife of Philip F. Wullschleger, 
of University Place, Nebraska ; ^Martha con- 
ducts a milliner)' store at Clatonia and also 
has the active supervision of the parental 
home ; John F. is individually mentioned on 
other pages ; Agnes is the wife of Felix F. 
Noble, of Haxton, Colorado, their marriage 
having been solemnized on the golden-wedding 
anniversary of her parents, February 15, 1917; 
Frank is a prosperous farmer of Grant town- 
ship, as is also Wesley D., who likewise is 
mentioned individually in this publication. 

Mr. Steinmeyer recalls that when he and 
other members of the family came to the fron- 



772 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tier wilds of Gage county their financial re- 
sources were very limited, so that the brothers 
had to do work for others, including the saw- 
ing of wood, it having fallen to the subject of 
this review to solicit such work from the 
neighbors and his exactness in the use of Eng- 
lish having been so lacking at that time that 
his customary query was : "Have you any 
woods to saw?" He has had in his active 
career full fellowship with honest toil and en- 
deavor and well merits the gracious prosperity 
that attends the gentle evening of his life and 
that of his devoted wife, who has been his 
true helpmeet. They were the first bride and 
groom to establish a home in Clatonia town- 
ship and during the long inter\-ening period of 
half a centurj' they have here had a circle of 
friends limited only by that of their ac- 
quaintances. 

SHERMAN TAYLOR, one of the substan- 
tial citizens of Gage county, was for many 
years successfully engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, and for the past ten years he has been 
a resident of Wymore, where he has con- 
tributed in many ways toward the upbuilding 
of commercial and industrial enterprises. 

Sherman Taylor was born in Stark county, 
Illinois, September 3, 1865, and is a son of 
Jacob Taylor, mentioned elsewhere in this 
volume. Reared on a farm in Illinois, he 
there attended the public schools, and in 1882 
he came with his parents to Gage county. He 
attended the Nebraska State University, at 
Lincoln, and when twenty-one years of age he 
began his independent career as a farmer. 
For eighteen years he operated a large farm 
in Paddock and Sicily townships, where he 
was an extensive feeder of cattle — to the 
number of four or five hundred each year. 
His industry and his intelligently directed ef- 
forts were crowned with goodly success and 
in 1908 he removed to Wymore, where he oc- 
cupies a licautiful home which he erected for 
his family. Indolence and idleness being for- 
eign to his nature, he has from time to time 
identified himself with many enterprises that 
have l)enefiled the city of Wymore. 

Mr. Taylor organized the Farmers' & Mer- 



chants' Bank of Wymore and became its first 
])resident. He has continued as a member of 
its board of directors, helping to shape its pol- 
icy, and it is one of the strong financial insti- 
tutions of Gage county. Of this banking cor- 
poration he is still serving as president. He 
built several business blocks, having faith 
in the community and being desirous of aid- 
ing its growth and development by judicious 
investment of his capital. He was a member 
of the building committee and had active 
charge of the erecting of the beautiful edifice 
of the Methodist Episcopal church of Wy- 
more, of which he and his family are mem- 
bers. 

Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss 
Lena Swik, and to them have been bom five 
children : Martha is the wife of Paul F. Mose- 
ly, a prosperous young farmer of Paddock 
township, where he operates one of Mr. Tay- 
lor's farms ; Sherman, who married ^liss 
Gladys McMaken, is operating an ice plant at 
Blue Springs, this county ; Elsie and Edwin 
are still under the parental roof ; and Harold 
died at the age of two years. 

Mr. Taylor exercises his right of franchise 
by voting for men he deems best fitted to 
serve the public, and in favor of all measures 
which he believes are for the good of the 
public. The city of \\'ymore was but one 
year old when Mr. Taylor first saw it, and he 
has been a witness of the changes which have 
taken place incidental to the development and 
upbuilding of this attractive little city, besides 
which he has been a prominent factor in help- 
ing to bring about present-day conditions. In 
his own affairs he has builded wisely and well, 
and he is held in unqualified esteem by all who 
know him. 

HARVEY R. ESSAM. — The subject of 
this sketch is a native son of Gage county, 
who has elected to remain within its borders 
and who is here meeting with a good degree 
of prosperity. 

Mr. Essam was born on the farm which is 
now his home, in Logan township, his natal 
day having been February 20, 1883. He is a 
son of James Essam, of whom extended men- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



773 



tion is made on other pages of this volume. 
Reared on the farm, he attended the pubHc 
schools in the acquirement of an education, 
this being supplemented by attendance at the 
Northwestern Business College at Beatrice. 
As a young man he took up the occupation 
of farming and upon the settlement of his fath- 
er's estate, he came into possession of eighty 
acres of the old homestead. 

Mr. Essam chose as his wife Miss May 
Higgins, who likewise is a native of Gage 
county. She is a daughter of C. K. Higgins, a 
record of whom appears elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. 

Mr. and Mrs. Essam are loyal members of 
the Methodist church. Their entire lives thus 
far have been spent in the neighborhood where 
they now make their home, and both represent 
families who for many years have been active 
factors in the moral and material upbuilding 
of Gage county. 

HENRY FISHER, who is giving his vig- 
orous energies to the management of his well 
improved farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Section 25, Holt township, and who 
is a member of a sterling pioneer family of 
the county, was born on his father's old home- 
stead farm, in Section 36, Holt township, on 
the 4th of January, 1874. He is the eldest of 
six children born to Frederick and Mary E. 
(Boward) Fisher, and the second child, Re- 
becca, is now the wife of William Conklin, 
of Highland township ; Lena is the wife of 
Lewis Cornelius, of Holt township; Lydia is 
the wife of Charles Lewis, of Billings, Mon- 
tana; Bertha died in childhood; and Hattie is 
the wife of John Barnard, of Midland town- 
ship. 

Frederick Fisher was born in Germany, in 
1844, and was a youth of twenty years when 
he came to the United States and settled in 
Illinois, where he found employment at farm 
work. There his marriage was solemnized, 
his wife having been born in the state of Mary- 
land, in 1855, and in 1871 they became pioneer 
settlers in Gage county, where he purchased 
eighty acres of school land, in Section 36, 
Holt township. He developed one of the ex- 



cellent farms of the township and there con- 
tinued to reside until his death, in 1907, his 
widow still remaining on the old home place. 

Henry Fisher is indebted to the district 
schools of Holt township for his youthful edu- 
cation and has been actively concerned with 
farm enterprise from his boyhood to the pres- 
ent. His present farm, which he rents from 
his mother, is a part of the valuable landed 
estate accumulated by his father, and as a 
progressive agriculturist and stock-grower he 
is fully upholding the honors of the family 
name. He is independent in politics, is af- 
filiated with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and he served six years as road over- 
seer in Holt township. 

Februarj' 8, 1894, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Fisher to Miss Cora Langley, who was 
born at Nebraska City, this state, a daughter 
of George and Maria (Mason) Langley, who 
were natives of Illinois and who came to Ne- 
braska about 1879; in 1882 they came to Gage 
county and they passed the remainder of their 
lives on their farm in Holt township, north of 
Pickrell. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have four chil- 
dren ; Laura is the wife of James Carbough, 
a fanner of Highland township ; Clarence is a 
prosperous young farmer of Holt township, 
on the farm of his paternal grandmother; 
and Rena and Mary remain at the parental 
home. 

ELI MILLER, a retired fanner residing 
at Wymore, has been a resident of Gage 
county since pioneer times. He assisted in 
the county's development and met with the 
success that enables him to spend the evening 
of his life in the enjoyment of a well earned 
rest. 

Mr. Miller was born in Medina county, 
Ohio, August 2, 1842, a son of J. C. and Eliz- 
abeth (Claus) Miller, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. The paternal grandfather was Jonas 
Miller and the great-grandfather Miller was a 
native of Switzerland. 

When Eli Miller was three years old his 
parents moved to Illinois, becoming early set- 
tlers in Stephenson county where they were 
farming people, their last days being spent in 



774 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Gage county, Nebraska. Here they died at 
the home of their daughter ^Irs. Boyd, in 
Paddock township, the father reaching the 
advanced age of ninety-three years, while the 
age of the mother was eighty- four years at 
the time of her death. 

Eh ^Miller spent his boyhood days in Steph- 
enson county, lUinois, where he was reared on 
a farm and attended the pubhc schools. At 
the age of twenty-one years he engaged in 
fanning, and eventually he jnirchased land 
upon which he successfully carried on agricul- 
tural pursuits in that county until 1884, when 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
bought one hundred and si.xty acres in Barnes- 
ton township. The improvements on this 
place were those to be found here in those 
pioneer days, but Air. Miller industriously be- 
gan the further improvement of his place and 
brought the land to a high state of cultivation. 
He erected substantial buildings and con- 
tinued to reside on his farm until eleven years 
ago, when he removed to Wymore, where he 
has since lived in honorable retirement. 

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Miller 
wedded Miss Mary Elizabeth Sheetz, who 
was bom in Stephenson county, Illinois, March 
18, 1842, and of this union four children have 
been bom : Elsie is the wife of George Shad, 
of Wymore; Charles A. is a farmer in Sicily 
township ; Marshall M., owns and operates 
the old home farm ; and Emma remains with 
her parents, at Wymore. 

Mr. Miller exercises the right of franchise 
in support of the men and measures of the 
Democratic party but has never aspired to 
])ublic office, as he has preferred to give his 
time and attention to his own affairs, in con- 
nection with which he has won a worthy suc- 
cess. 

LOUIS RICHARDS has the distinction of 
being a native son of Gage county and a rep- 
resentative exponent of agricultural and live- 
stock industry in Shemian township, where 
he has conducted operations since 1906 on the 
Wilkinson fami, of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Section 19. Pertinent to the history 
of the Richards family adequate data are given 



on other pages, in the memoir dedicated to his 
father, the late George F. Richards. 

( Jn the old homestead farm, in Rock ford 
township, where his parents established their 
residence in 1872, Louis Ri:hards was born 
June 20. 1875, and thus he was ushered into 
the world under the conditions that marked 
this section of the state in the middle-pioneer 
era. He was afforded the advantages of the 
local schools and he was a vital and ambitious 
youth of eighteen years at the time of his 
father's death. Thereafter he remained with 
his widowed mother and gave his attention to 
the work of the home farm until his marriage, 
since which time he has been independently 
engaged in farm enterprise, with success that 
attests his energy and executive ability. He 
is always ready to give his support to those 
measures and agencies that tend to advance 
the communal welfare and is independent in 
politics. 

In the year 1896 Mr. Richards married Miss 
Mary Winrick, who likewise is a native of 
this county and whose father, Joseph Winrick, 
now a resident of the state of Washington, 
conducted for many years a barber shop in 
the city of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Richards 
have two children, — Orville and Ethel. 

HERMAN H. PENTERMAN. — Among 
the many prosperous farmers and land-own- 
ers of Gage county mention should be made 
in this history of Herman H. Penterman, 
owner of three hundred and twenty acres ot 
valuable land in Nemaha township, besides 
other land holdings outside the state of Ne- 
braska. Mr. Penterman was born Februar)^ 
19. 1863. in the province of Hanover. Ger- 
many, and is a son of Herman H. \\'ilbrand 
Penterman and .-\nna .Marie ( .Adelharit) Pen- 
terman, who became the parents of four chil- 
dren, and who passed their entire lives in 
Germany. The subject of this review left his 
native land in 1884 and soon after his arrival 
in the L'nited States he found employment as 
a farm hand in Illinois. Eventually he en- 
gaged independently in farm enterprise in 
that state, where he continued operations until 
1892. He then came to Gage county, Ne- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



//:> 




Herman H. Penterman 



■76 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



braska, and bought one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Section 15, Nemaha town- 
ship. Later he bought one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 22, and on this property he 
has made extensive improvements. 

On the 4th of December, 1890, Mr. Penter- 
man was united in marriage to Miss Marie 
Sachtleben, who was born in Germany, Oc- 
tober 14, 1867, and who came to America 
with her parents when she was but one year 
old. She was a daughter of John Sachtleben, 
further record of the family being given in 
the sketch of Henry H. Sachtleben, else- 
where in this volume. I\Irs. Penterman 
passed away on the 28th of February, 1907. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Penterman were born seven 
children : Dorothy is the wife of John Olson, 
of Lincoln, Nebraska; Edwin is at home; 
Adele is the wife of Emmit Damrow ; and 
Louis, Ella, Emma, and Louisa are at the 
paternal home. 

In politics ]\Ir. Penterman is an indepen- 
dent voter, and he and his family are members 
of the German Lutheran church. 

FRANK SHALLA is one of the early set- 
tlers of Glenwood township, and, though his 
financial condition was not ver}' flattering 
when he arrived here, forty years ago, he has 
by industr)' and good management become one 
of the wealthy men and extensive land own- 
ers of Gage county. 

Frank Shalla was born in the province of 
Bohemia, Austria-Hungar>', May 22, 1853, a 
son of John and Catherine (Skala) Shalla, 
natives of Bohemia, who, in 1856, came to 
America and settled in Johnson county, Iowa. 
There John Shalla bought forty acres of land, 
and on this was maintained the family home 
until the removal to Washington county, 
Iowa, near the town of Richmond, where Mr. 
Shalla and his wife made their home on a 
farm of forty acres during the remainder of 
their lives. 

Frank Shalla was reared on the pioneer 
farm in Iowa, and in Washington county, 
that state, he married Miss Man' Mali.sky, 
who was bom in Bohemia, August 25. 1855, a 
daughter of Vancel and Wilnia (llraby) Mal- 



isky. Her parents came from their native 
land to America in 1865 and spent the rest of 
their lives in Washington county, Iowa. 

In 1879 Mr. and Mrs. Frank Shalla came 
to Gage county and purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of wild, unimproved land in 
Glenwood township, — on what had been the 
Otoe Indian reser\'ation, which had been re- 
cently opened for settlement. 

He filed entrj' on a quarter-section, and 
agreed to pay four and one-half dollars an 
acre for the land. His cash capital was three 
hundred dollars, and after purchasing lumber 
for a home, and a cow, some tools, and feed for 
his team, his money was all gone. Some time 
later, when a payment was to be made on the 
land and other persons were about to lay 
claim to the place, Mr. Shalla went to Beatrice 
and borrowed four hundred dollars from Mr. 
I lugli J. Dobbs, the author of this history, and 
thus he was able to protect his interests and 
save his farm. 

Mr. and Mrs. Shalla were among the first 
settlers to locate in their present neighborhood, 
and neighbors were few and far between. It 
might l)e interesting to the present generation 
to know something concerning the conditions 
that existed then and something about the 
hardships of those early-day pioneers. The 
first home of Mr. and Mrs. Shalla was a rough 
board shantj', fourteen by eighteen feet in di- 
mension and ten feet high. The lath was 
split by hand from hickor}' and ask logs and 
was plastered with yellow clay, which was then 
whitewashed. A very comfortable home was 
thus provided, — one that was warm in win- 
ter and cool in summer. To get money to pro- 
vide food for his family Mr. Shalla would 
leave his wife and two children alone and go 
thirty-five miles to find work. But the thought 
of some day having a good home of their own 
helped him and his devoted wife to overcome 
all obstacles, and they have lived to see the 
country converted into beautiful farms with 
good homes, and dotted here and there with 
thriving villages and towns. In this work of 
transformation Frank Shalla and his family 
have contributed their full share. Mr. Shalla 
to-dav is the owner of three hundred and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



777 



twenty acres of splendid land, equipped with 
a good set of buildings, and he has also di- 
vided six quarter-sections of land among his 
children. 

]\lr. and Mrs. Shalla have become the par- 
ents of eleven children: John ]\I. is a suc- 
cessful farmer of Paddock township, as is 
also Frank R. ; Vance! was killed by a train, 
in 1906, leaving a Vv-idow and two children ; 
Tony is in Glenwood township and Milton at 
0<iell ; Mary is the wife of Ed. Pribyl, of 
Marshall county, Kansas ; William and Joe 
reside in Glenwood township ; and Charles 
and Christina are still at the parental home. 
One child, named Joe, died at the age of ten 
months. 

In politics Mr. Shalla is a Democrat, and, 
though he has never aspired to or held public 
office in the generally accepted meaning of 
that term, he has not been remiss in the du- 
ties of a voter and citizen, and has given effic- 
ient service as moderator of the school district, 
treasurer of the same and as road overseer. 
The success that has come to Mr. Shalla is the 
result of his own industry and intelligently 
directed efforts, and his life has been so or- 
dered that he can look upon the past without 
regret and forward to the future without fear. 

RICHARD WHITTON. — The subject of 
this memoir was one of the honored pioneers 
and public-spirited citizens of Barneston town- 
ship. He was born at Enniskerry, County 
Wicklow, Ireland, February- 17, 1846, and was 
a son of William and Hannah Ann (Buckley) 
Whitton, who immigrated to America in 1848 
and after a short stay in Philadelphia estab- 
lished their home in Watertown, Wisconsin. 
The father died when Richard was sixteen 
years old. The son remained with his wid- 
owed mother, helping her to care for a family 
of five children until he was 27 years old. 
He then left home and went to Illinois, where 
he worked on a farm. He told his mother 
that if she ever needed help to let him know. 
She called on him just once and he sent her 
fifteen dollars, the sum she asked for. 

In 1878 Mr. Whitton came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased eighty acres of land 



in Barneston township. This section of the 
county had but recently opened for settlement 
and was a part of the Otoe Indian reservation. 
He bought forty acres more when he was able, 
made good improvements on his land and con- 
tinued to be engaged in farming until his death, 
June 3, 1915. He was a charter member of the 
Protestant Episcopal church at W^ymore, and 
a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, vv ith which he became affiliated when 
he was twenty-one years of age. 

August 13, 1884. recorded the marriage, at 
Wymore, of Mr. Whitton to Miss Lucinda 
Alathews, who was bom in Warren county, 
Pennsylvania, December 22, 1860, a daughter 
of Ansel K. and Barbara (Dias) Mathews, 
who were natives of Pennsylvania, and who, 
in 1868, became residents of Fremont county, 
Iowa : in 1882 they settled in Barneston town- 
ship, Gage county, Nebraska. They were 
residents of Wymore, this county, at the time 
of their death. 

Mr. and Mrs. Whitton became the parents 
of six children : Richard Ansel Harrison 
married Sadie Bucy, and they reside in Colo- 
rado ; Celia Etta, is the wife of Dell B. Col- 
grove, of Paddock township ; Hannah Bar- 
bara, is the wife of Willard Fowler, of Atch- 
ison, Kansas; Misses Julia Fern, Ruth Eliza- 
beth and ■ Laura Rose Estelle are with their 
mother on the old farm. 

Richard \\'hitton was a very public-spirited 
citizen, always ready to serve his community 
when dutv called him. He was school treas- 
urer for twenty-one years, and a moderator 
for over thirty-one years. He was township 
treasurer several years ,and active in the pub- 
lic affairs of the county. 

GEORGE F. RICHARDS. — In the spring 
of the year 1872 it was no stately caravan that 
made its appearance in Gage county to herald 
the arrival of the late George F. Richards, for, 
with his wife and children, he had made the 
overland trip from Rock Island county, Illi- 
nois, with the then familiar transportation 
equipment of team and covered wagon, — 
virtually the old-time "prairie schooner" out- 
fit. Mr. Richards here purchased of his 



778 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



brother-in-law, Noyes Elliott, an embyonic 
farm of eighty acres, in Rock ford township. 
After making plans for the reclamation and 
improvement of this property Mr. Richards 
returned with his family to Illinois, and the 
little itinerant group transported by the same 
team and wagon arrived at Oskaloosa, Iowa, 
in time to celebrate at that point the 4th of 
July. The journey was thence continued 
back to the old home in Illinois, and in the 
following autumn the journey to Gage county 
was again made and the home was established 
on the pioneer farm. Mr. Richards utilized 
characteristic energj' and circumspection in the 
development of his farm, and the little one- 
room house which he erected as the family 
domicile is now an integral part of the com- 
modious and attractive house which marks 
his old homestead and which is still occupied 
by the venerable widow of Mr. Richards, she 
having here maintained her residence for the 
long period of more than forty-five years. Mr. 
Richards continued as one of the representa- 
tive farmers and valued citizens of Rockford 
township until his death, which occurred No- 
vember 27, 1893, and he is entitled to this 
tribute for the effective part which he played 
ill connection with the civic and industrial ad- 
vancement of Gage county. His political al- 
legiance was given to the Democratic party 
and he was a man whose character and ability 
gained to him unqualified popular esteem. 

In Rock Island county, Illinois, Mr. Rich- 
ards settled when he was a young man. He 
was born in Clermont county, Ohio, May 31, 
1837, a son of James and Rachel (Disney) 
Richards, who were natives of 2klaryland and 
who became pioneers in the Buckeye state, 
where they passed the residue of their lives. 
In Rock Island county, Illinois, Mr. Richards 
continued his association with agricultural en- 
terprise until his removal to Nebraska, and 
there, on the 12th of August, 1858. he wedded 
Miss Hannah Elliott, who was born in Al- 
leghany county. New York, February 17. 1841, 
and who was but three years old when her 
parents removed to Illinois, in 1844, and set- 
tled on a farm in Rock Island county, near 
the Mercer countv line. Thev made tiie long 



overland trijj wiih team and wagon and while 
en route over the Illinois prairies, when in 
the vicinity of La Salle, they gained news of 
the capture of the murderers of Colonel Dav- 
enport, who had been killed on July 4th of that 
year. ^Irs. Richards was reared under the 
influences of the pioneer fami in Illinois and 
thus was the better fortified when, in later 
years, she was called upon to meet the trials 
and vicissitudes of pioneer life in Nebraska, 
where she bravely took up her duties as chate- 
laine of the modest little home and cared for 
her family with unceasing devotion. This 
venerable pioneer woman recalls many inter- 
esting incidents relative to the pioneer days in 
Gage county, and not the least of these was 
that the first crop which her husband raised 
on the new farm was entirely destroyed by 
grasshoppers. She has lived to enjoy the 
opulent prosperity that now marks this favored 
section of the state and in the tranquil evening 
of her life finds that her "lines are cast in 
|)leasant places." In this concluding para- 
graph is given brief record concerning her 
children: Sarah, who became the wife of 
Frank \\'. Lillie, is deceased ; Silas F. is a 
prosperous farmer in Sherman township and 
is individually mentioned on other pages ; 
Clarence is a resident of the city of Omaha; 
Nellie died at the age of sixteen years; Jennie 
is the wife of John Leming, of Belgrade, 
Nebraska : Louis is a representative farmer in 
Sherman township and is the subject of a per- 
sonal sketch elsewhere in this volume : and 
the seventh child died in infancy. 

LOUIS KLOEPPER. — In Clatonia town- 
ship Mr. Kloepper is the owner of a well im- 
])roved farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
and he has long been numbered among the 
substantial farmers of the county that has been 
his home from childhood and to which he 
came with his parents prior to the admission 
of Nebraska to statehood. In later years he 
has given special attention to the breeding of 
red polled Durham cattle and Duroc-Jersey 
swine, and in this department of farm enter- 
prise he has been notably successful. 

Mr. Kloepper was born near Portmouth, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



779 



Ohio, on the 31st of March, 1862, and is a son 
of Henry and Mary (Reller) Kloepper, con- 
cerning whose nine children the following 
brief record may be given : Henry is a resi- 
dent of Holt county, this state; John is de- 
ceased ; William is living retired in the city 
of Lincoln, Nebraska ; Mrs. Lena Gutzmer 
and her husband reside in Lincoln, Nebraska ; 
Herman is a resident of Clatonia township ; 
Charles is deceased; Louis, of this review. Was 
the next in order of birth ; Frank is deceased ; 
and Mrs. Anna Sable is a resident of the state 
of Kansas. The father was born and reared 
in Hanover, Germany, the year of liis birth 
having been 1835, and he was a young man 
when he came to America and established his 
residence in Ohio. There he followed various 
lines of work until 1866, when he set forth 
with his family for Nebraska Territory. Pro- 
ceeding to St. Louis, the family came by steam- 
boat up the Missouri river to Nebraska City, 
and from that point the journey was continued 
by team and wagon to Martel, Lancaster 
county. There the family remained one year 
and the father then took up a homestead of one 
hundred and sixty acres in what is now Clato- 
nia township, Gage county. This land, consti- 
tuting the southeast quarter of Section 33, he 
broke up by means of ox teams, and the orig- 
inal family home was a primitive dugout of the 
type used by many of the other pioneer set- 
tlers, Nebraska City at that time being the 
nearest market, and a week or more being re- 
quired to make the trip to and from that trad- 
ing point with the ox team. Henrj- Kloepper 
and his brave and devoted wife passed through 
the hardships and trials incidental to droughts 
and grasshopper scourges in the early days, 
but looked with hope and confidence to the 
future and finally found their efforts crowned 
with peace and prosperity. Mr. Kloepper 
continued as one of the honored pioneer farm- 
ers of the county until his death, in 1895, and 
both he and his wife were earnest members 
of the German Methodist church. Mrs. Kloep- 
per was born in Germany and was a young 
girl when she made the voyage to America and 
joined her brother in Ohio, where her mar- 
riage was later solemnized. She was nearly 



seventy years of age at the time of her death, 
in 1901.' 

Louis Kloepper was about four years old 
at the time of the family removal to Nebraska 
and was reared to maturity on the pioneer 
farm in Clatonia township, his early education 
having been gained in the primitive log-cabin 
school house and by instruction received in 
the home of John Henry Steinmeyer. As a 
boy he assisted in keeping the oxen in the fur- 
row while his father was plowing and with 
increasing capacity he assumed his full share 
of the labors of the farm. In 1887, after hav- 
ing previously farmed on land rented from his 
father, he purchased from the latter his pres- 
ent well improved farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, and thus he has continued a resi- 
dent of Clatonia township since his boyhood, 
the while he has won success and independ- 
ence through his well directed industry. He 
is a Republican in politics, is affiliated with 
the Modem Woodmen of America and he and 
his wife are active members of the German 
Methodist church in Clatonia township, he 
being a trustee of the same. 

In August, 1887, Mr. Kloepper wedded Miss 
Carrie Menke, daughter of the late Henry 
Menke, to whom a memoir is dedicated on 
other pages of this volume. Mrs. Kloepper 
was born near Portsmouth, Ohio, February 9, 
1866, and was a child at the time of her par- 
ents' removal to Gage county, Nebraska. 
Arthur, firstborn of the four children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Kloepper, died at the age of twenty 
years ; Lulu remains at the parental home, as 
does also Norma ; and Jennie died at the age 
of two years. In 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Kloep- 
per adopted two children, Henry and Grace, 
whom they are rearing as their own and who 
accord to them true filial affection. 

RAYMOND LANCASTER. — The fam- 
ily tree of Raymond Lancaster is rooted in the 
mother countr\' of England, from which the 
grandparents migrated to America and set- 
tled in Macoupin county, Illinois. The fam- 
ily tree has spread out amongst the American 
born to such an extent that it is now more 
American than English in its branches. Ray- 



780 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



111011(1 Lancaster is a son of William and Marj' 
(Hovey) Lancaster. William Lancaster was 
a son of Frank and Harriet Lancaster, and 
was a lad of six years when his parents came 
from England to this country. The parents 
used their talents and energies in winning to 
fertility the willing soil of Macoupin county, 
Illinois, in which state they passed the remain- 
der of their lives. They left their sons and 
daughters to play equally useful parts on the 
stage of life's activities. Their son William 
married Mary Hovey, who was born in Massa- 
chusetts and came to Illinois with her par- 
ents. William and Marj' (Hovey) Lancaster 
became the parents of seven children, five of 
whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster 
continued their residence in Illinois until their 
death. 

Raymond Lancaster was born June 21, 1865, 
in Macoupin county, Illinois. There he attended 
the district schools, and early began to assist 
his father in the work of buying and feeding 
large herds of cattle for the inarket. When 
he started out from the parental home he fol- 
lowed the same line of enterprise in an inde- 
pendent way. In 1887 he came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, where, in company with hi;* 
brother Edward, he engaged in feeding cat- 
tle, near Holmesville. In 1900 he purchased 
two hundred acres of land, in Section 20, 
Rock ford township, and here he has since 
successfully given his time and attention to 
genenil farming. 

In Gage county, in 1890, was solemnized the 
marriage of Raymond Lancaster to Miss Net- 
lie Cripe. who was bom April 6, 1868, in Ma- 
coupin county, Illinois. She is a daughter of 
Adam and Susan (Trover) Cripe. who arc 
residents of Rockford township. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lancaster have four children : William 
A. is married and has two children. Dean and 
Everett; Ruth is at the parental home; Leta 
is the wife of George L. Harris, farmer of 
Rockford township; and Arless is at home. 

Mr. Lancaster and family are members of 
the Brethern church, and Mr. Lancaster votes 
the Democratic ticket. He has never sought 
political honors, his time being devoted en- 
tirely to his farming operations. 



S. E. AYRES, a veteran and popular loco- 
motive engineer on the line of the Union Pa- 
cific Railroad, maintains his home in the city 
of Beatrice and is familiarly known to his 
host of friends as "Curly" Ayres. He has 
the distinction at the present time of being 
the only living witness of the historic Indian 
massacre at Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and his 
reminiscences relative to other incidents of the 
pioneer days are specially graphic and inter- 
esting. 

Mr. Ayres was born in Wyoming county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 4th of August, 1848, 
and is a son of J. L. and Patience M. (Vin- 
cent) Ayres, both natives of the state of New 
York and both of staunch Scottish lineage, 
both families having been founded in New 
England in the early colonial period of our 
national history. After their marriage the 
parents of the subject of this review removed 
from the old Empire state to Pennsylvania, 
where they remained until coming to the west 
as pioneers, the father having attained to the 
patriarchal age of ninety-three years and the 
mother having been eighty-six years of age 
at the time of her death. T. L. Ayres became 
one of the verj- early settlers of Gage county, 
Nebraska, where he established his residence 
in 1857 and where he obtained one hundred 
and sixty acres of land in recognition of his 
gallant service as a soldier in the Mexican 
war. He remained on his frontier farm about 
eighteen years and then removed to Beatrice, 
where he and his wife passed the remainder 
of their long and worthy lives, both having 
been members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and he having been first a Whig and 
later a Democrat in politics. Of the seven 
children four are living: A. W. is a pros- 
]>erous rancher and cattle-grower near Doug- 
las, Wyoming ; George is a hardware merchant 
at Deadwood, South Dakota ; S. B. is the im- 
mediate subject of this sketch ; and Mrs. 
Amanda Reed is the one sur\'ing daughter. 

S. B. Ayres was a lad of nine j'ears when 
the family home was established in Gage 
county, and in the pioneer schools he obtained 
his educational discipline thereafter, it having 
been his privilege to walk a distance of foui 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



781 



and one-half miles from his home to attend 
school at Blue Springs. As a youth he be- 
came a driver of a stage on one of the old- 
time routes, and for some time he was in the 
employ of the quartermaster's department of 
the goveriniient service. He went farther to 
the west and for fifteen years was engaged in 
teaming and other occupations, he having been 
only sixteen years of age when he left the 
parental home to assume his independent 
activities. In 1872 Mr. Ayres identified him- 
self with railway service, by taking a position 
as locomotive firemen on the Union Pacific. 
In the following year his ability led to his ad- 
vancement to the position of engineer and dur- 
ing the long intervening years he has con- 
tinued as a locomotive engineer on the lines 
of the Union Pacific, with a record that re- 
flects honor upon him and that marks him as 
one of the veterans in the employ of this 
great railroad company. He still owns his 
father's old homestead farm, in Island Grove 
township, and in his youth he gained wide 
and varied experience in connection with fron- 
tier life. In this connection it may be noted 
that he was the second person to be engaged 
as mail carrier in this part of Nebraska, he 
having taken the mail on horseback from Ne- 
braska City to Beatrice and also between St. 
Joseph, Missouri, and Beatrice, and to White 
Cloud, Kansas. He was in close touch with 
the various Indian troubles of 1864, and with 
the Apache outbreak in Wyoming, in 1869, 
besides having been, as previously intimated, 
a witness of the Indian massacre at Fort 
Kearney. He established his residence in 
Beatrice in 1884, and in 1890 he wedded Miss 
Lucy Uter, who was born in Ripley county, 
Indiana, a daughter of Otto and Hannah 
(Clark) Uter. Mr. Uter was born and reared 
in Germany and upon coming to .'\.merica he 
settled in Indiana, having learned in his na- 
tive land the trade of harnessmaker. For a 
time he was employed at the Long View In- 
sane Asylnm, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and finally 
he came with his family to the west and be- 
came a pioneer farmer in Marshall county, 
Kansas, where he and his wife passed the rest 
of their lives. Thomas Clark, father of Mrs. 



Uter, was born on the island of St. Helena, 
and became well acquainted with the great 
Napoleon when that historic man was held in 
captivity at St. Helena. Mr. and Mrs. Ayres 
have two children : Vern Uter Ayres, who was 
born l\Iay 24. 1891, was graduated in the Beat- 
rice high school, attended the University of 
Nebraska one year and at the time of this 
writing he is in one of the training camps in 
which the flower of young American manhood 
is being prepared for service in the great 
European war. He is now at Talliaferro 
Field, No. 1, Fort Worth, Texas. He has 
been twice promoted, having won his com- 
mission as lieutenant at Fort Sheridan, near 
Chicago, Illinois, and he is now an aeroplane 
instructor at Talliaferro Field. Prior to en- 
tering the governrpent military service he had 
been for two years a student in the Chicago 
Medical College. Ruth was graduated in the 
Beatrice high school, as a member of the 
class of 1917, and remains at the parental 
home. Mr. and Mrs. Avres and their dausjh- 
ter are members of the Christian church. 

In politics Mr. Ayres is a Democrat, and he 
has been long afifiliated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity, his local membership being in the 
blue lodge and chapter in Beatrice and the 
chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, in 
which his wife served eight years as treasurer. 
He has been an active member of the Brother- 
hood of Locomotive Engineers since 1878 and 
has passed the various official chairs in the 
same. 

FRANK WANDERSEE. — The home 
farm of Frank Wandersee presents the ap- 
pearance of a little village, and one can hardly 
realize the changes that have taken place since 
he and his wife came here, thirty-nine years 
ago. His life record emphazises what may 
be accomplished by a willingness to work and 
a determination to succeed. 

Mr. Wandersee was born in the province 
of Pomerania, Germany, November 10, 1853. 
His father, Alartin Wandersee, passed his en- 
tire life in Germany. Mr. Wandersee does 
not remember ever having seen his mother 
nor does he know her family name. He was 



782 



HISTORY OF GAGE COrXTY. NEBRASKA 



reared and educated in his native land and 
when nineteen years of age came to the 
United States, sailing from Bremen and land- 
ing in New York city, after a voyage of eleven 
days. His wordly possessions were only a 
few dollars, and it was necessary for him to 
tind employment that would yield him a living. 
He made his way to Rochester, New York, 
and for five years thereafter he was employed 
at farm labor, in the meanwhile learning the 
language and customs of the countrj- of his 
ado])tion. In 1877 he made his way west- 
ward to Nebraska, and here for two years 
he worked at whatever he could find to do, at 
Beatrice. An old settler, John Ellis, owned 
considerable land in Gage county, and he pre- 
vailed upon Mr. Wandersee to purchase two 
hundred acres in Section 17, Sicily township. 
This Mr. Wandersee did in the fall of 1878, 
and in the spring of 1879, he established him- 
self on the farm. The only improvements at 
that time were a little upright board shanty — • 
made of native cottonvvood lumber, the logs 
having been sawed at Blue Springs — and a 
prairie stable made of poles set in the ground 
and covered with hay. Some time later he 
sold forty acres of this land, but in a few years 
he bought an additional eighty acres, so that 
to-day he is the owner of two hundred and 
forty acres of excellent land. He raises the 
cereals best adapted to the soil and climate 
and in his pastures are found a good grade of 
cattle, each branch of his business yielding 
him a substantial income. 

At Beatrice, in 1878, ^fr. Wandersee mar- 
ried Miss Caroline Wandersee, who was bom 
in the same German province as was her hus- 
band, her natal day being July 31, 1850. She 
was reared in her native land and came to 
America two years after Mr. Wandersee 
crossed the ocean. She has been with her 
husband all of these intervening years, shar- 
ing in the trials and hardships of the early 
days as well as in the hopes realized and the 
pleasures that have come to them. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wandersee have become the 
parents of eight children, as follows : Frank 
H., who married Miss Susan Lewis, is a 
farmer in Sicily township ; Henr\^ A. married 



Miss Augusta KaufTman and is a famier in 
Kansas ; Edward, Nellie, Ben and Annie all 
remain at the parental home ; Albert died at 
the age of two and one-half years ; and Emma, 
who became the wife of J. B. West, died in 
June, 1917, leaving four children, one of 
whom, a winsome little child, is in the home 
of the maternal grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wandesee were reared in the Lutheran faith 
and belong to the church of that denomination 
at Beatrice. 

In Sicily township arc left but few of the 
old settlers who were here when Mr. and Mrs. 
Wandersee settled on the new farm. The 
success that has come to this sterling pioneer 
couple was won through their own eft'orts, as 
they started out empty-handed. They are 
folk of genuine personal worth and are held 
in high esteem by all who know them. 

JOHN H. HELMKE is one of the sub- 
stantial and honored citizens of Gage county 
who has accumulated in Nebraska a large and 
valuable landed estate. In this county he is 
the owner of four hundred acres of well im- 
proved and productive land in Highland town- 
shi]i. including his attractive home place, in 
Section 29, and in Holt county he owns three 
hundred and twenty acres. On his homestead 
he has as his efficient coadjutor in agricul- 
tural and live-stock enterprise his youngest 
son, and they give each season an average of 
one hundred acres to the raising of corn. 

-Mr. Helmke was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, which has given a fine 
quota of sterling citizens to Gage county, and 
the date of his nativity was June 18, 1854. 
He received his early education in the excel- 
lent schools of his native land and there, in 
accord with governmental rules, he served a 
term in the German army as a youth. He is a 
son of Henry and Margaret (Schluter) 
Helmke. who passed their entire lives in Ger- 
many, where the father was a prosperous 
Hanovarian farmer : he was born in 1826 and 
died in 1906, his wife having been born in 
1828 and her death having occurred in 1904. 
Of the twelve children the firstborn died in 
infancy and the subject of this sketch was the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



783 




Mr. and Mrs. John H. Helmke 



784 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



next in order of birth ; Alice is the wife of 
John Freese and they remain in Germany; 
Henry is a prosperous farmer of Clatonia 
township, Gage county ; Dietrich- resides in 
his native land, as does also Herman ; William 
is a resident of Murray county, Minnesota , 
Frederick is deceased ; Mrs. Rebecca Schale 
remains in Germany ; Dora and Martha are 
deceased ; and Frederick (second of the 
name) is a resident of Murray county, Minne- 
sota. 

John H. Helmke was an ambitious and self- 
reliant young man of about twenty-nine years 
when he severed the ties that bound him to the 
fatherland and came to America, in the spring 
of 1883. He settled in Lancaster county, Ne- 
braska, and he came to Gage county in 1890. 
After having been employed the first year as 
a fann hand he rented a farm in Highland 
township, where he continued his activities 
under these conditions for the ensuing four 
years. He then purchased his present home- 
stead place of one hundred and sixty acres, 
upon which he erected good buildings and 
made other improvements that mark it as one 
of the model farms of Highland township. 
With the increasing prosperity resulting from 
his indefatigable eli'orts, Mr. Helmke contin- 
ued by degrees to make further investments 
in Gage county land, and here his now ex- 
tensive farm property is unexcelled in general 
improvements, in productiveness and in gen- 
eral evidences of thrift and prosperity. On 
his Holt county land he likewise has made 
good improvements, and the same is under the 
active management of his two sons. As a loyal 
citizen he has done his part in supporting 
movements for the general good of the com- 
numity ; he is independent in political affiliation 
and he and his wife are earnest comnumicants 
of the Lutheran church in Clatonia township. 

On the same vessel that transported Mr. 
Helmke to America in 1883 came Miss Mar- 
tha Warnke, who was born in Hanover, Ger- 
many, December 11, 18C2, and their mutual 
regard reached its climax when, on the 9th 
of March, 1884, their marriage was solem- 
nized, in Gage county. Their gracious union 
has been blessed by these children : Ella is the 



wife of Henry Messman, of Highland town- 
ship; Margaret, who became the wife of 
George Oltman, of this county, is deceased, as 
is also Henry, the next in order of birth; 
John and Richard have supervision of their 
father's farm property in Holt county; Lena 
is housekeeper for her brother John ; and 
Herman and Amelia remain at the parental 
home. In 1891 Mr. and Mrs. Helmke made 
a most pleasing visit to their native land, 
where they renewed the associations of their 
earlier years, but the experience did not in 
the least abate their appreciation of America 
and of the state and county of their adoption. 

GEORGE S. HARRIS, who resides in a 
beautiful home at Blue Springs, is one of the 
early settlers of Gage county and for many 
years was actively engaged in fanning and 
stock-raising, meeting with the success which 
enables him to lay aside active labor and live 
in honorable retirement. 

Mr. Harris is a native of Ireland, born 
.April 6, 1853. His parents, John and Mar- 
garet (Monroe) Harris, immigrated from the 
Emerald Isle to America in 1853 and after a 
residence of seven years in Ohio settled in 
LaPorte county, Indiana. John Harris be- 
came a successful farmer, and he continued 
his residence in Indiana until his death. His 
widow was killed in a cyclone, near Ilolmes- 
ville, Nebraska, in 1904. Both were members 
of the Christian church and were persons of 
sterling character. 

George S. Harris was the third in a family 
of ten children and was reared on a farm in 
Indiana, where he attended the public schools 
until he had attained to the age of seventeen 
years. He then found employment as clerk 
in a grocery and drj^-goods store, and he held 
this position seven years. In 1876 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Aminta Harpster, 
who was born in Seneca county, Ohio, a 
daughter of Frederick Harpster. 

In 1877 Mr. Harris and his young wife 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, and here he 
secured a lease on eighty acres of state land. 
In the spring of 1878 he settled on the land and 
began fanning. He later bought the property 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



785 



and there he continued operations until 1883, 
when he sold the farm and purchased one 
lunidred and sixty acres near Barneston. This 
place was the stage of his activities as a farmer 
and stock man until he retired to Blue Springs, 
in 1897. For ten years after coming to Blue 
Springs he bought and shipped stock. Mr. 
Harris is to-day the owner of two good farms, 
— one of two hundred and twenty-two acres 
in Blue Springs township, and a tract of two 
hundred and forty acres in Rockford town- 
ship. In the early days he hauled hogs to 
Alarysville, Kansas, thirty miles away and 
sold them for tw'O dollars and seventy-five 
cents a hundred weight. Rather than sell 
corn for fifteen cents a bushel he fed it to his 
live stock and no doubt reaped a better return 
than from its sale. In 1898 Mr. Harris was 
associated in the organization of the Blue 
Springs State Bank, of which he has since 
continued a stock-holder and director. 

Mr. Harris is a Republican in politics and 
efficiently served as member of the school 
board. Fraternally he holds membership in 
the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, with 
which latter fraternity ha has been affiliated 
since he was twenty-one years of age. He 
holds office in each of the lodges. With no 
unusual advantages at the beginning of his 
career, by industrj^ and good management he 
has accummulated a competence which places 
him among the men of influence in Gage 
county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Harris are the parents of two 
daughters : Ada is the wife of Homer 
Knight, head miller at Black Brothers' mills 
at Blue Springs, and they have two children, 
Elwood H., and Helen M., and the younger 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris is Mabel, 
M'ho still remains at the parental home. 

THEE T. JURGENS, who has won inde- 
pendence and prosperity through his own 
ability and well directed eft'orts, is now the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of five hun- 
dred and sixty acres in Gage county, and his 
attractive homestead farm is in Section 36, 
Hanover township. He was born in the prov- 
ince of Hanover. Germany, November 20. 



1868, the third in order of birth of the five 
children born to Thee H. and Anna ( Dutz- 
man) Jurgens, the former of whom w-as born 
in 1833 and the latter in 1830. The parents 
were in most modest financial circumstances 
in their native land and finally, about 1882, 
they came to America and established their 
home in Gage county, where the father still 
resides, the mother having passed away in 
1913. After fanning on rented land a num- 
ber of years Thee H. Jurgens purchased 
eighty acres in Hanover township, \vhere he 
reclaimed and improved a good farm, the same 
being now owned by his youngest son, John 
T., with whom he makes his home. He is 
one of the honored pioneer citizens of Gage 
county and is an earnest member of the Ger- 
man Lutheran church, as was also his wife. 

Thee T. Jurgens early began to make his 
ow'ii way in life and of the family record in 
his youth it may be said, as Abraham Lincoln 
spoke of his ow'n family, that it constituted 
"the short and simple annals of the poor." 
He was afforded in his native land but lim- 
ited educational advantages, but in the inter- 
vening years he has profited fully by the les- 
sons gained under the direction of the wise 
headmaster, experience. After the family 
home had been established in Gage county Mr. 
Jurgens herded cattle on the prairies and 
worked as a farm hand, taking no time for 
recreation but working diligently and with 
ever quickening ambition. Finally he rented 
a farm, and later he made his first purchase 
of land, — a tract of eighty acres, in Hanover 
township. This was the nucleus around which, 
with increasing prosperity, he has evolved his 
present well improved and valuable landed 
estate of five hundred and sixty acres, and on 
his homestead place he erected in 1915 his 
present commodious and attractive house, 
which is modern in design and appointments. 
The other farm buildings are of excellent 
order and the entire appearance of his farm 
property gives evidence of thrift and pros- 
perity. 

In 1895 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Jurgens to Miss Elsabe Johnson, who was 
born and reared in this countv, where her 



786 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



father, William Johnson, settled about 1872 
and where he became a substantial farmer: 
he was born in Germany and upon coming to 
America settled in Illinois, where he remained 
until his removal to Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. 
Jurgens have nine children, all of whom re- 
main at the parental home : Thee J., Anna, 
William, Henry, .Marie, Grace, Tina. Theda, 
and Elsie. 

Mr. Jurgens is a staunch supporter of the 
cause of the Republican party and has held 
various township offices, including that of 
treasurer. He and his family are active mem- 
bers of the German Lutheran church and the 
pleasant home is known for its gracious hospi- 
tality and good cheer. 

WILLIAM R. ROOT was one of those 
strong and resourceful young men who did 
well his part in connection with civic and in- 
dustrial development and progress in Gage 
county in the pioneer period of its historj-, 
and he was one of the substantial landholders 
and farmers of the county at the time of his 
death, which occurred on the 29th of Septem- 
ber, 1915. 

Mr. Root was born in the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, April 18, 1855, and was there reared 
and educated. At the age of eighteen years 
he turned his face to the west and made his 
way to Montgomery county, Iowa, where he 
found employment at farm work and where 
he later engaged in farming in an independent 
wav. There he continued his residence until 
1878, when he came to Nebraska and estab- 
lished his permanent home in Gage county. He 
purchased eighty acres of unimproved school 
land, in Section 36, Rock ford township, and 
here he developed and improved a fine farm, 
the while he bore with fortitude the discour- 
agements and trials that faced him in his ad- 
vancing course, and with determined purpose 
continued his worthy endeavors until he had 
become the owner of a well improved farm 
estate of two hundred acres. After his re- 
tirement from the arduous labors that were 
so long his portion he passed the closing years 
of his life in the home of his son Elmer L., of 
whom individual mention is made on other 
pages. 



Mr. Root was signally loyal and true in all 
the relations of life, and thus merited and com- 
manded the high regard of his fellow men. 
His first wife died when comparatively a 
young woman and left him with small chil- 
dren, and later he endured the bereavement 
of losing by death his second wife. His landed 
estate was devised to his surviving children. 
Frederick L. and Elmer L. are both represen- 
tative young fanners of this county and both 
of them are specifically represented elsew-here 
in this publication. In politics Mr. Root gave 
his allegiance to the Republican party. 

As a young man Mr. Root married Miss 
Anna Wenrick. who likewise was born in 
Pennsylvania, and she is sur\-ived by three 
sons, Frederick L., Elmer L., and Charles L. 
For his second wife Mr. Root wedded Miss 
Mar)' Brubaker, who was bom in the state 
of Tennessee and whose parents were pio- 
neers of Gage county. She passed to the life 
eternal in 1894, and the one child of this 
union. Grant L., died at the age of eleven 
years. 

FRED KLAUS.— The subject of this sketch 
is a well-to-do farmer residing on Section 33, 
Paddock township, where he owns and oper- 
ates a valuable fami of two hundred and forty 
acres. This place has been the home of the 
Klaus family for the past twenty-six years. 
The parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Loeniker) 
Klaus, were born in the province of Hanover, 
Germany and were married there. In 1880 
they came to the United States and made their 
way to Washington county, Kansas, where 
some of their relatives had established homes 
on what had been an Indian reservation. After 
a short stay Henrj' Klaus decided to try other 
means to make a living for his family, and 
went to Cleveland, Ohio, w-here for three years 
he found employment as teamster for a large 
casket manufacturer. In 1883 he again came 
to Kansas and after renting land for a time 
he there purchased eighty acres. Erecting a 
little frame house of but one room, he set 
about to develop a farm. Six years later he 
crossed the line into Gage county, Nebraska, 
and purchased one hundred and sixty acres. 
This was an improved farm, though none of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



787 



the old buildings remain at the present time, 
as they have been replaced by more modern 
and substantial structures. 

Henry Klaus, who was born December 23, 
1840, and thus is now in his seventy-eighth 
year, still makes his home on the farm. His 
wife, born August 3, 1833, passed away March 
21, 1913. In this family were four children, 
all bom in Germany. Three are still living, 
one having passed away in the old country. 
Mary is the widow of Fred Wasserman and 
resides with her son in Barneston township. 
Lizzie is the wife of Fred Schramm, residing 
in Washington county, Kansas ; Fred, the 
youngest, was born June 18, 1871. He was 
reared on a farm and has always been with 
his father. Several years ago he bought 
the old home place and he has been operating 
it since that time. 

Fred Klaus married Anna Riggert, who was 
born in Washinglon county, Kansas, and is a 
daughter of August and Minnie (Germer) 
Riggert, natives of Germany. The parents 
were among the early settlers of Washington 
county, Kansas, where the father still resides, 
but the mother has passed away. Mr. and 
Mrs. Fred Klaus are the parents of eight chil- 
dren, all under the parental roof. Their 
names are : Martin, Minnie, Anna, Herbert, 
Ernst, Martha, Sophia and Olinda. The fam- 
ily are members of the Lutheran church and 
are among the highly esteemed people of the 
community. Mr. Klaus votes the Republican 
ticket and has been a member of the school 
board many years. 

THOMAS WILLIAMS. — Coming with 
his parents to Nebraska in the year that 
marked the admission of the state to the 
Union, the late Thomas Williams was at the 
time a young man whose character, education 
and ambitious purpose well equipped him for 
assuming the duties and responsibilities of the 
pioneer. He reclaimed and developed one of 
the excellent farms of the county and since 
his death, which occurred April 29, 1913, his 
widow has remained on the old homestead, 
in Section 6, Logan township, and has proved 
efficient and successful in its management. 



Thomas Williams was born in England, 
August 13, 1841, a son of Thomas and 
Mary Williams, who came to America in 
1850 and established their residence in the 
state of New York, whence they later re- 
moved to Walworth county, Wisconsin. The 
family home was thereafter maintained in the 
Badger state until 1867, when removal was 
made to the new state of Nebraska. Thomas 
Williams, Sr., purchased three hundred acres 
of land in Gage county and, with the aid of 
his sons, began the reclaiming and improving 
of the proprety, both he and his wife having 
passed the remainder of their lives on this 
pioneer homestead. The subject of this 
memoir acquired his rudimentary education in 
his native land and was about nine years of 
age at the time of the family immigration to 
the United States. He thereafter attended 
school at Waterville, New York, and as he 
was a man of studious habits, reading wisely 
and well in later years, he rounded out a broad 
and symmentrical education. With charac- 
teristic vigor and ability he identified himself 
with progressive farm industry after coming 
to Gage county, and at the time of his death 
he was the owner of an admirably improved 
and productive farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, — the homestead on which his 
widow still resides and one that is endeared 
to her by the gracious memories and associ- 
ations of the past. Mr. Williams was a man 
of the highest principles and exemplified the 
l)est in communal citizenship. His political 
allegiance was given to the Republican party 
and while he had no ambition for public of- 
fice his civil loyalty was shown in his efficient 
service as a member of the school board of his 
district. He was reared in the faith of the 
Church of England and in America continued 
his affiliation with the United States church 
of the same faith, the Protestant Episcopal, 
his widow being an active member of the Bap- 
tist church, with which she has been identi- 
fied since her girlhood. 

On the 11th of January, 1870, was solemn- 
ized the marriage of Mr. Williams to Mis3 
Elizabeth Horton, who was bom at Burling- 
ton, Wisconsin, and whose education was re- 



788 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



ceived in the schools of Kenosha county, that 
state. She is a daughter of Richard and Jane 
(Lloyd) Horton, both natives of Wales, the 
father having been of English and the mother 
of Welsh ancestry. Upon coming to the 
United States Mr. and Mrs. Horton first es- 
tablished their home in Racine county, Wis- 
consin, but later they removed to Kenosha 
county, where he became the owner of a large 
landed estate and was a successful farmer, 
both he and his wife having continued their 
residence in Wisconsin until their death. Of 
their six children all are living except one : 
Frank resides at Union Grove, Wisconsin : 
Harvey is a resident of Racine county, that 
state ; Miss Mary maintains her home at Union 
Grove; Nellie is married and resides in the 
city of Boston, ^[assachusetts ; and Mrs. Wil- 
liams, widow of the subject of this memoir, 
is the eldest of the number. 

Mr. and Mrs. Williams became the parents 
of a fine family of three sons and five daugh- 
ters : Rose is the wife of John Day. a retired 
farmer residing in the village of Adams, this 
county; Mary Jane is the wife of John Win- 
kle, of Midland township; Frank Eugene is 
a prosperous farmer in Logan township, as is 
also Richard: Nellie is the wife of Olin Ger- 
man, of Midland township; Rebecca is the 
wife of Clarence Taylor, of the same town- 
ship; Iva is the wife of Arthur Heaston, of 
Riverside township; and Thomas remains 
with his widowed mother, he having active 
charge of the old home farm. 

JOSEPH CACEK, Jr. — When a lad six- 
teen years of age the subject of this record 
kept bachelor hall in a shanty about the size 
of a chicken coop, and with oxen broke the 
land which his father had recently purchased 
in Paddock township. This was the year fol- 
lowing the opening of the Otoe Indian resen-a- 
tion for settlement. When he was twenty- 
one years of age that shanty again served as 
his home while he was breaking the prairie 
land he had recently purchased for himself. 
Mr. Cacek is a member of one of the pio- 
neer families of Paddock township, being a 
son of Joseph Cacek, whose record appears 
elsewhere in this volume. 



Mr. Cacek was born in Bohemia, Novem- 
ber 1 1, 1862. He was but five years old when 
the family home was made in America, his 
parents becoming early settlers in Gage 
county, Nebraska. His boyhood and youth 
were spent in this count)'. When twenty-one 
years of age Mr. Cacek became the owner and 
began the improvement of a new farm in 
Paddock township, and on this place he re- 
sided nine years. To-day he is the owner of 
one hundred and twenty-one acres, having 
given his eldest son a farm of eighty acres. 
The home of our subject is one of the best in 
the township. Cement walks around the 
house, good fences and splendid buildings are 
evidences of the thrift and enterprise of the 
owner. 

j\Ir. Cacek completed arrangements for his 
home by marriage to Miss Pauline Synovec, 
also a native of Bohemia. They have four 
children, as follows : Joseph married Cather- 
ine Varuska and they have two children, 
Arthur and Agnes. Frank married Mary 
Dovrak and they have four children, Anna. 
Harry, Eugene and Rudolph. Victor and 
Anna remain at the parental home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cacek were reared in the 
faith of the Catholic church, but at the present 
time are members of none, though they now 
incline towards Protestanism. In politics he 
is a Democrat. For forty years Mr. Cecek has 
been a resident of Paddock township and he 
has contributed his full share to the march of 
progress from the days of the sod house and 
ox team to those of the beautiful homes and 
the automobiles of the present time. 

HOWARD CARPENTER, who is now a 
progressive and successful farmer and stock- 
grower in Rockford township, has been a resi- 
dent of Gage county since childhood and is a 
scion of the third generation of the family in 
this section of Nebraska. Details conceniing 
the family history appear on other pages, in 
the sketch of the career of his father, J. D. 
Carpenter. 

Howard Carpenter was born in Butler 
county, Kansas, August 27, 1883, and was 
about five years old at the time of the family 
removal to Gage county, Nebraska, where he 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASK/- 



789 



was reared on his father's farm and acquired 
his early education in the pubHc schools. He 
has had no inclination to abate his fealty to 
the basic industries of agriculture and stock- 
raising and through the medium of the same 
has achieved in his independent operations 
definite success. His well improved farm 
comprises one hundred and twenty acres and 
is situated in Section 2 Rock ford township, 
about seven and one-half miles distant from 
the city of Beatrice, which is his postoffice 
address, — rural mail route No. 5. In poli- 
tics Mr. Carpenter is found .aligned in the 
ranks of the Democratic party and his pro- 
gressiveness touches not only his activities as 
a farmer but also as a citizen. 

May 3, 1909, recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Carpenter to Miss Mabel Sallie Armstrong, 
who likewise is a native of Nebraska, her 
father, William Armstrong, having been a 
pioneer of Gage county and a prosperous 
farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have four 
children, — • Hazel, Roy, Merle and Ruth. 

ANDREW I. LAYTON. — The subject of 
this record is operating a tract of eighty acres 
belonging to his father-in-law. in Section 12, 
Glenwood township. 

Andrew I. Layton is a native of Mattoon, 
Illinois, a son of Henry and Martha Layton, 
who spent their last days at Odell, Nebraska. 
Mr. Layton married Alice Rathbun, a daughter 
of James Rathbun, who is mentioned elsewhere 
in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Layton are the 
parents of three children: Arthur, Ralph 
and Martha, all under the parental roof. 

JOHN FOSSLER was one of the vener- 
able and honored pioneer citizens of Nebraska 
at the time of his death, which occurred Oc- 
tober 13, 1906, at his pleasant farm home, in 
Section 10, Logan township. He had the 
sterling attributes of character that make for 
usefulness in connection with the productive 
activities of life and in Gage county he de- 
veloped a fine farm property. He was born 
in Friesland, Province of Hanover, Germany, 
January 20, 1838, and thus he was nearly 
seventy years of age at the time of his death. 



Air. Fossler was reared and educated in his 
native land and upon coming to America, in 
1876, he found employment at farm work 
near Brownville, ^Missouri, in which state he 
continued his residence a number of years 
and in which he was twice married, the one 
surviving child of the first marriage being 
John, who is now a prosperous farmer in 
Logan township. Gage county, there having 
been no children of the second marriage. In 
1871 J\Ir. Fossler came to Nebraska and es- 
tablished his residence in Nemaha county, 
where he engaged in farm enterprise and 
where he encountered, as did the average pio- 
neer, much loss and hardship incidental to 
droughts and grasshopper scourges. In 1883 
he came with his family to Gage county and 
his financial resources at the time were such 
that he was able to make nearly full payment 
upon purchasing one hundred and sixty acres 
of land in Logan township. Later he bought 
another farm of equal area, in Section 11, and 
he was the owner of both of these properties 
at the time of his death. His original Gage 
county farm was unbroken prairie, with a 
little shanty and log stable, when it came into 
his possession. With the passing years he re- 
claimed the place to effective cultivation and 
made excellent improvements in the way of 
buildings, the attractive house which he built 
being still the home of his widow. He gave 
his attention principally to the raising of 
grain and his energy and good management 
brought to him independence and prosperity, 
while he at all times commanded the unquali- 
fied respect and confidence of his fellow men. 

Taking loyal interest in communal affairs, 
Mr. Fossler was well fortified in his political 
convictions and was aligned in the ranks of 
the Republican party. He served in 1900 and 
1901 as road supervisor but he had no am- 
bition for public office or political preferment. 
He was an earnest communicant of the Lu- 
theran church, as is also his widow, the latter 
having shared with him in the trials and hard- 
ships of pioneer life in Nebraska. 

The third marriage of Mr. Fossler was sol- 
emnized in 1875, when Miss Anna Luppen 
became his wife. She likewise was bom in 



790 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




John Fossler 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



791 




Mrs. Axxa Fosslek 



792 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Friesland, Germany, the date of her nativity 
having been September 25, 1850. Her par- 
ents passed their entire Hves in their native 
province and her mother attained to the re- 
markably venerable age of ninety-five years. 
In conclusion of this memoir is given brief 
record concerning the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Fossler: George remains with his 
mother on the old homestead and has the 
active management of the same; Jerrj' died 
September 1, 1917, at the age of thirty-three 
years; Anna is the wife of George Folkerts. 
of Logan township; Ella remains with her 
widowed mother; Sarah is the wife of Wil- 
liam Jurgens, of Logan township; Emma is 
the wife of John Leners, of the same town- 
ship ; and Annie died at the age of seventeen 
years. 

JOHN C. :\IEL\TS was a member of 
one of the representative German pioneer 
families of Gage county, and he here won for 
himself a high place in popular esteem and as 
a citizen of ability and loyalty, his productive 
activities having been varied and having in- 
cluded close association with farm enterprise. 
He retired from the office of deputy clerk of 
Gage county within a short time prior to his 
death, which occurred October 9, 1914, and 
he was engaged in the general merchandise 
business in the village of Pickrell during the 
last two years of his life, he having been act- 
ively assisting in the store only a few days 
prior to his death, though he had not estab- 
lished his home in that village. Concerning 
the Meints family adequate record is given on 
other pages of this history. 

John C. Meints was born in the province 
of Hanover, Germany, September 6, 1862, 
and he died about one month after he had 
celebrated the fifty-second anniversary of his 
birth, he having been a son of Christian J. 
and Grace (Dom) Meints, who came to 
America when he was a child and established 
their home in Adams county, Illinois, where 
he was reared and educated. He was sixteen 
years of age when he came with his parents 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and his father lo- 
cated on a pioneer fann in Hanover township. 



About one year later he found employment as 
clerk in a mercantile establishment at Be- 
atrice, and in 1888 he established his residence 
at Filley, this county, where for two years 
he conducted a general store. Shortage of 
crops brought financial depression in that lo- 
cality and resulted in the failure of his busi- 
ness. Under these conditions Mr. Meints re- 
turned to Beatrice, and there he continued as 
a salesman in the store of Emil Lang until 
1895, when he rented land in Hanover town- 
ship and engaged in farming in an independent 
way. There he continued his activities until 
1900, when he removed to his father's farm, 
in Holt township. There he gave his atten- 
tion to diversified agriculture and stock- 
growing until 1912, when he was appointed 
deputy county clerk, under the administration 
of J. C. Penrod. In the same year he pur- 
chased a half interest in a general merchan- 
dise store at Pickrell. but he continued a resi- 
dent on the farm until his death. He was a 
man of strong mentality and well fortified 
convictions, was a Republican in politics, was 
a member of the Sons of Hermann, and was 
an earnest communicant of the German Lu- 
theran church, as is also his widow, who main- 
tains her home in the village of Pickrell. After 
the death of the subject of this memoir, his 
widow continued the mercantile business at 
Pickrell for three years, at the expiration of 
which she sold the same. 

October 19, 1884, Mr. Meints wedded Miss 
Elizabeth R. Zimmerman, who was bom in 
Hanover, Germany, October 11. 1863, a 
daughter of R. R. and Johanna E. (Bless) 
Zimmerman, and she was fourteen years of 
age when she came with her parents to 
America, further mention of the family be- 
ing made on other pages, in the sketch of the 
career of her brother, George !•-. Zimmerman. 
Of the nine children of Mr. and Mrs. Meints 
two died in infancy; Christian J. is a farmer 
in Nemaha county ; Richard is similarly en- 
gaged near \"irginia. Gage county; Henry 
and George J. likewise are exponents of fami 
enterprise in Gage county, the former in 
Hanover township, and the latter near the 
village of Adams; Johanna is the wife of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



793 



P. Heist, whose farm is west of Pickrell; 
Jolm was killed in an automobile accident, in 
1916, at the age of nineteen years; and Grace 
F. is the wife of William J- Parde, a farmer 
in Hanover township. 



FRANK LISEC — The province of Bo- 
hemia, in the dual monarchy of Austria- 
Hungary, has furnished large numbers of in- 
dustrious citizens who have in a large measure 
aided in transforming Nebraska from a pio- 
neer region to the high state of development 
of the present day. One of these is Frank 
Lisec, an industrious farmer of Section 33, 
Sicily township. He is a native of Bohemia, 
his natal day having been August 22, 1869, 
and is a son of Albert and Maria (Moravec) 
Lisec, who came to America when their son 
Frank was but fifteen months old. They set- 
tled in Washington county, Iowa, wdiere they 
resided two years. They then came to Sa- 
line county, Nebraska, and numbered them- 
selves among the early settlers of that section 
of the state. Pioneer conditions were in evi- 
dence on every hand and their first home was 
a sod house with sod roof and with no floor 
except the earth. They were honest and in- 
dustrious folk and they spent the remainder 
of their lives in that county. 

Frank Lisec was reared on the farm in Sa- 
line county, where he remained with his father 
and gave him the benefit of his services until 
he was twenty-five years of age. He then 
began his independent career as a farmer, on 
an improved tract of eighty acres which he 
purchased from his father and on which he 
made his home for nine years. Sixteen years 
ago he came to Gage coimty and purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres of his present 
farm. By industry and good management he 
has extended its area until he is now the 
owner of three hundred and twenty acres, 
the place being equipped with a good set of 
buildings, all of which have been put there by 
Mr. Lisec. Here he is engaged in general 
farming under most favorable conditions and 
his success has been excellent. 

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Lisec 
married Miss Annie Hlavac, who was born 



at Fort Dodge, Iowa, a daughter of Frank 
and Maria (Hlatky) Hlavac. The parents 
were natives of Bohemia and after coming to 
America the father worked in the iron mines 
of Missouri, later living in Wisconsin and 
Iowa and still later settling in Saline county, 
Nebraska, where he is still living, at the age 
of seventy-six, his wife having passed away 
about one year ago. The home of Mr. and 
Mrs. Lisec has been made happy by the birth 
of six children : Robert, Joseph, Stephen, 
Alice, Natalia, and Frankie, all of whom are 
still under the parental roof. 

Mr. Lisec is one of the progressive, indus- 
trious, and public-spirited citizens of Gage 
county, and is contributing his full quota to- 
ward all measures for the upbuilding of the 
community in which he lives. 

FRANK J. TRUXAW. — The gentleman 
whose name introduces this record was one 
of the pioneer merchants of Odell, and by 
good management and close application he 
achieved a success which enabled him to retire 
with a competence. 

Frank J. Truxaw is a native of Austria- 
Hungary — born in the province of Bohemia, 
December 5, 1856. His parents, Frank and 
Maria (Folda) Truxaw, were natives of the 
same province, and in 1861 came with their 
family to the United States, settling in Wash- 
ington county, Iowa, where they were farm- 
ing people and where they spent the remain- 
der of their lives. 

Frank J. was one of a family of four chil- 
dren, all of whom are still living. He was 
reared on a farm and when a young man he 
learned the butcher business, at Washington, 
Iowa. In 18S1 he came to Gage county and 
erected the fifth new building in the new town 
of Wymore, where he opened a butcher shop. 
In the fall of 1883, he established himself in 
the same line of business at Odell, and for 
many years he was one of the leading business 
men of the town. He early realized the value 
of fann lands and invested in land whenever 
the opportunity oiTered. He has owned and 
improved several tracts in Gage county, as 
well as in other parts of the country. He is 



794 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



now the owner of six hundred and forty 
acres in PhiUips county, Kansas, where he 
was the first to introduce alfalfa in the Prairie 
Dog valley, the growing of this now being a 
great source of income to the jieople of that 
county. 

Mr. Truxaw was married to Miss Anna 
Sadel, a native of Bohemia. Her parents, 
Vanccl and Mary ( Jarors ) Kredjl. were early 
settlers of Washington county, Iowa, where 
both passed the remainder of their lives. 
After coming to America they changed the 
spelling of the family name to Sadel. Mr. 
and Mrs. Truxaw are the parents of three 
children : Miss Mae remains at the parental 
home; William is married and is postmaster 
at Crosby, Texas, where he is also prominent- 
ly identified with a telephone company ; 
Emma is the wife of Ted Krueger, of Green 
Bay, Wisconsin. 

Mr. Truxaw and his wife and daughter 
occupy a beautiful home in Odell, where for 
thirty-five years he has been the leader in 
commercial and social interests of the town. 
He is a Democrat in politics and served for 
years on the town board. Mrs. Truxaw is 
a communicant of the Catholic church. 

HERMAN F. GIESMANN has been a 
resident of Nebraska since 1891 and here he 
has so availed himself of opportunities and 
so effectively applied himself that he is now 
the owner of a well improved farm estate of 
three hundred and twenty acres, eligibly sit- 
uated in Section 18, Holt township. He was 
born in East Friesland. in the extreme north- 
western part of Hanover, Germany, and the 
date of his nativity was August 6, 1866. He 
is a son of Frederick and Johanna (Jung) 
Giesmann, who passed their entire lives in 
Germany, where the father was a farmer by 
vocation. I'rederick Giesmann and his wife 
both died in the year 1895, he having been 
seventy-eight years of age and his wife hav- 
ing been about six years his junior. Of their 
eight children one is deceased and three re- 
main in Germany. Those who live in the 
United States, in addition to the subject of 
this review, are Mrs. Franz Haferman, of 



Nemaha county, Nebraska ; John, who is a 
resident of Sterling, Johnson county, this 
state ; and Enno, who maintains his home at 
Humboldt, Richardson county. 

Herman F. Giesmann acquired his early 
education in the excellent schools of his na- 
tive land, where in his youth, in accordance 
with the laws of the nation, he served three 
years in the German army. He continued to 
be identified with agricultural operations in 
Germany until 1891, when, at the age of 
twenty-four years, he came to the United States 
and established his residence in Johnson coun- 
ty, Nebraska. After there working one year on 
a farm he was similarly employed two years 
in Nemaha county, after which he there 
rented a farm for one year. I le then returned 
to Johnson county, but after having fanned 
on rented land for one year he came, in 1895, 
to Gage county. Two and one-half miles 
southeast of the village of Adams he rented 
land and engaged in independent farm enter- 
prise. In 1898 he leased a farm in Hanover 
township, where he continued operations five 
years. He then, in 1903, purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in Holt township, and 
this constitutes the nucleus around which, 
with increasing prosperity, he has evolved his 
present fine landed estate of three hundred 
and twenty acres. He has made substantial 
improvements on the property, including the 
erection of a large and modern barn, and he 
gives his attention to diversified agriculture 
and the raising of good live stock, usually 
having an average of about sixty head of 
cattle and about one hundred and twenty-five 
head of swine. He is a shareholder in the 
farmers' grain elevator company at Pickrell, 
which village is his postoffice address. His 
political affiliation is with the Republican 
party and he and his wife hold membership 
in the German Lutheran church. 

On the 16th of November. 1894, the twen- 
tieth amiiversary of the birth of his bride, 
Mr. Giesmann married Miss Adelheid 
Schmidt, who was born in Germany on the 
16th of November, 1874, and who was about 
two years old when, in 1876, her parents, 
Bnmke and Christena (Kuper) Schmidt, es- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



795 



tablished their home in Johnson county, Ne- 
braska, where they passed the rest of their 
lives and where the father became a prosper- 
ous farmer, their family having comprised 
five sons and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. 
Giesmann have ten children, all of whom re- 
main at the parental home — Johanna, Her- 
man, Frederick, Christena, Gesiena, William, 
Emma, John, Dora, and Henry. 

GEORGE I. THOMAN, a farmer of 
Sicily township, was born July 21, 1877, at 
Freeport, Illinois. He is a son of Moses and 
Susan (Snyder) Thoman. Moses Thornan 
was born and reared in Pennsylvania and 
thence moved to Greene county, Indiana, 
where he followed his trade, that of carpen- 
ter. He later went to Illinois and settled in 
Stephenson county. In 1883 he came to Ne- 
braska and settled in Gage county. He lo- 
cated on the northwest quarter of Section 24, 
Sicily township, where his son George now 
resides. This land formerly belonged to 
Jacob Thoman, a brother of Moses, and 
when the latter there established his resi- 
dence the place was improved only with a ver}' 
small frame house and a prairie stable, while 
only thirty-five acres of the land had been 
broken. Moses Thoman engaged in farming 
and had continued operations only a few 
years when he had a stroke of paralysis. As 
a result of this affliction he was an invalid 
for more than twenty years. Eleven years 
ago he removed to Blue Springs, and here his 
death occurred three years later. His widow 
still maintains her home in the town of Blue 
vSprings. Mr. and Mrs. Thoman were the 
])arents of five children, one of whom died in 
childhood ; Louisa and Elmeda reside at Blue 
Springs; George I. is the subject of this re- 
view ; and .Mvin resides in the city of Beatrice. 
George I. Thoman came to Gage county 
with his parents when he was about six years 
of age. He received his education in the 
country schools of the county and as a boy 
and young man was associated with his father 
in farm enterprise. For the past fifteen years 
he has owned and operated the farm on which 
he now lives and which for so many years 
has been the home of the Thoman familv. 



Noxember 12, 1902, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Thoman to Miss Ida Cooper, daughter 
of Benton and Sarah (Conover) Cooper, who 
are now residents of Blue Springs. Mr. and 
Mrs. Thoman have three children — Esta, 
Vera, and Glenn. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thoman are members of the 
United Brethren church, and he is affiliated 
with the lodge of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows at Blue Springs. In politics he 
is a Republican, and he is serving at the time 
of this writing as a member of the school 
board. 



JAMES M. McPHERON. — Among those 
who, with patriotic zeal and utter disregard 
of self, left all to go forth in defense of their 
country when the Civil war burst upon the 
nation, was James M. McPheron, who is now 
living retired in the village of Holmesville. 

Mr. McPheron is a native of Tennessee, 
born in Greene county, June 25, 1844. His 
parents, Robert and Malissa Frances (Ward) 
McPheron, were natives of South Carolina, 
and were of Irish and Scotch descent. They 
passed away in Greene county, Tennessee. 
James M. was reared on a farm in his native 
county, fifty miles east of Knoxville. Not 
yet twenty-one years of age when the Civil 
war broke out, he enlisted in the Union army, 
in Company I, Twenty-third Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry and for four years he valiantly 
defended the stars and stripes. He was under 
General Sheridan all through the Shenandoah 
campaign and the siege of Richmond, and his 
command captured Fort Gregg, the last Con- 
federate stronghold taken before peace was 
declared. He saw Lee and Grant shake hands 
at the surrender. He was a good soldier, al- 
ways at the post of duty, and went through 
the terrible conflict unscathed. He received 
an honorable discharge at the close of the war 
and then returned to Tennessee, where he be- 
came a farmer in Hawkins county. There 
he remained until 1885, when he came to Ne- 
braska and purchased eighty acres of land in 
Rock ford township, Gage county. This farm 
was the stage of his activities until he retired 
from active labors and moved to Holmesville, 



796 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




s 
< 



z 

< 
> 



HISTORY OF CxAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



797 



where he resides in one of the most attractive 
and comfortable homes in the village. 

In Hawkins county, Tennessee, Mr. Mc- 
Pheron was united in marriage to Miss Rachel 
Bern', a native of that county, and a daughter 
of Thomas and Sarah (Everhardt) Berry, 
both natives of Tennessee. The home of Mr. 
and Mrs. McPheron was blessed with four 
children, all of whom are still living, well es- 
tablished in homes of their own, and all liv- 
ing within a few miles of their parents. They 
are : J. H., of Rockford township ; Sarah, 
the wife of B. A. Brubaker, of Rockford town- 
ship ; Ulysses G., of Sherman township ; and 
Ellen, the wife of Miles Shaw, of Blue 
Springs township. 

Mr. and Mrs. McPheron are devoted mem- 
bers of the Church of the Brethren. Though 
past the psalmist's allotted span of three score 
years and ten, Mr. and Mrs. McPheron are 
in good health, enjoying the fruits of their 
former years of toil. 

EVAN WILLIAMS. — In the year 1867, 
which marked the admission of Nebraska to 
• the Union and its attendant emergence from 
the territorial regime, Evan Williams, then a 
youth of about nineteen years, accompanied 
his parents on their immigration to the new 
commonwealth and the family became num- 
bered among the honored and valued pioneers 
of Gage county. Here Mr. Williams has con- 
tinued his residence during the long interven- 
ing period. He is the owner of a finely im- 
proved farm property in this county, but is 
now living virtually retired in the city of 
Beatrice, where he and his wife occupy the 
attractive residence which he erected at 1211 
Market street and which is a home known 
for its generous and gracious hospitality. As 
a sterling citizen who commands unequivocal 
popular esteem and as one of the representa- 
tive pioneers of Gage county, Mr. Williams 
is eminently entitled to recognition in this 
publication. 

As both his personal and family names imply, 
Evan Williams is a scion of Welch ancestry, 
and he was the first of the children bom to 
his parents after their immigration from 



Wales to America, four children having been 
born prior to this removal from the ancestral 
country. Mr. Williams was born in Oneida 
county. New York, on the 30th of April, 1848, 
and thus the spring of 1918 recorded his 
attaining to the scriptural age of three score 
years and ten. He is a son of Thomas M. 
and Mary (James) Williams, both of whom 
were born and reared in Wales, where their 
respective parents passed their entire lives. 
Thomas M. Williams was born May 21, 1814, 
and was one of the venerable and revered 
pioneer citizens of Gage county, Nebraska, at 
the time of his death, which occurred in 1886, 
his loved and devoted wife, who was born in 
Tune, 1814, having survived him by about one 
year, she having passed to eternal rest in 
1887. In the '40s Thomas M. Williams, in 
company with his wife and their four chil- 
dren, embarked on a sailing vessel of the type 
common to that day and set forth to establish 
their new home in the United States. The 
vessel had a tempestuous voyage and was 
much delayed in reaching its destination, the 
severe storm which it encountered en route 
having swept away much of the goods stored 
on deck, including a large part of the little 
personal effects of the Williams family. Mrs. 
Williams became severely ill on the voyage 
and more than a year passed ere she regained 
her health sufficiently to leave her bed for 
any appreciable interval. Tlie family settled 
in the state of New York, where the father 
applied himself to such occupation as he could 
secure, and by day's work he thus provided 
for his family until 1856, when he removed 
with his family to the west and became a pio- 
neer in Wisconsin. There he rented land and 
continued his active association with agricul- 
tural industry until 1867, when he came with 
his family to the new state of Nebraska and 
established a home in Gage county. In Logan 
township, as now constituted, he settled on a 
pioneer farm of two hundred and forty acres, 
which property he purchased for the sum of 
eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. Soon 
afterward he entered one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Logan township for his son 
Evan and when the latter attained to his ma- 



■98 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, NEBRASKA 



jority the land was deeded to him. When Mr. 
W'ilhams came into possession of his property 
in Gage county only ten acres of the land had 
been broken, but with the passing years he 
improved the place in excellent manner and 
develojjed the same into one of the productive 
and valuable farm estates of this section of 
Nebraska. Here he and his wife passed the 
residue of their lives and, after having en- 
dured their full share of the hardships and 
vicissitudes incidental to pioneer life, they 
came into the full enjoyment of the gracious 
rewards of former toil and endeavor. In 
their native land both had become communi- 
cants of the Church of England and after 
coming to this country they allied themselves 
with the American representative of the same 
faith, the Protestant Episcopal church. In 
politics Mr. \\'illiams gave his support to the 
cause of the Republican party and as a broad- 
minded and progressive citizen he took lively 
interest in communal affairs. He served a 
number of terms as a member of the school 
board of his district, but he had no ambition 
for public office. He had but small financial 
resources when he came to Gage county but 
so effectively did he avail himself of the splen- 
did opportunities afforded in the development 
of the natural resources of the county that he 
acquired a competency, with status as one of 
the substantial citizens of the county. Of the 
ten children of these honored pioneers only 
four arc now living — Evan, who is the im- 
mediate subject of this review: Misses Mary 
A. and Rosa S., who maintain a pleasant home 
in the city of Beatrice ; and Ada, who is the 
wife of William R. Pethoud. a substantial 
farmer of Holt township. 

b'van Williams was about eight years old 
at the time of the family removal from the 
old Empire state to \\'isconsin, where he was 
reared to adult age under the conditions and 
influences of the farm and where he made 
good use of the advantages afforded in the 
schools of Walworth and Kenosha counties, 
which he attended principally during the win- 
ter terms. As a young man of about nineteen 
years he accompanied his parents to Gage 
county, Nebraska. He continued his father's 



able and valued assistant in the improving 
and cultivation of the old homestead farm, 
and ujjon the death of his father he came into 
possession of this valuable property. He is 
now the owner of a finely improved landed 
estate of six hundred and forty acres in 
Logan township and also an additional tract 
of one hundred and sixty acres in the same 
township. In addition to his extensive opera- 
tions as a general agriculturist Mr. Williams 
has also been a prominent and successful ex- 
ponent of the live-stock industry. He was 
formerly engaged extensively in the raising 
of live stock under the commission system, 
and prior to leaving his farm he there main- 
tained at times as many as eight hundred 
sheep, thirty-five head of cattle, and sixteen 
horses. He remained on the old homestead 
until the time when he established his residence 
in the city of Beatrice, where he has since 
lived retired, save that he continues to give a 
general supervision to the management and 
direction of the extensive operations of his 
valuable farm estate, which is recognized as 
one of the best in Gage county. 

.Mr. \\'illiams has ever been found arrayed 
as a stalwart and uncompromising advocate 
and supporter of the cause of the Republican 
party, and while he has not manifested any 
aiubition for public office his civic loyalty 
caused him to give characteristically effective 
service during the three years that he was a 
member of the school board of the old home 
district and the one term that he was incum- 
bent of the office of road supervisor. 

On the 17th of June, 1903, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Clara 
R. Pettegrew, who was born in the state of 
Illinois and who is a daughter of the late 
James M. and Rachel C. (Simmons) Pette- 
grew, the former a native of Indiana and the 
latter of Pennsylvania. Within a short time 
after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pettegrew 
removed from Indiana to Illinois, and there 
Mrs. Williams was born. In 1868 James Pet- 
tegrew came with his family to the new state 
of Nebraska and established the home in 
Gage county. He settled in Hanover town- 
ship, w'here he became the owner of two sec- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



799 



tions of land, a portion of which he acquired 
through the medium of college script. He re- 
claimed and developed one of the best farm 
properties in the county in his day and gen- 
eration, and here his death occurred in 1872. 
His widow long survived him and was vener- 
able in age at the time of her demise, in 1910. 
These honored pioneers became the parents 
of five children, of whom Mrs. Williams was 
the fifth in order of birth; Alice M. is the 
widow of Moru Loverige and resides in the 
state of Washington ; Frank M. is a repre- 
sentative fanner in the vicinity of Oklahoma 
City, Oklahoma ; Hattie A. is the widow of 
Stewart Lunbeck and resides at Beatrice; and 
James Frederick is engaged in the wholesale 
furniture business in the city of Omaha. Mr. 
and Airs. Williams have no children. 

FRANK M. WILL, whose death occurred 
in the year 1909, came to Gage county in the 
year 1891 and thereafter continued his suc- 
cessful association with farm enterprise in 
Rock ford township until he was called from 
the stage of life's mortal endeavors, at the age 
of seventy years. 

Mr. Will was a scion of a family earlv 
founded in the historic Old Dominion state, 
and claimed the same as the place of his na- 
tivity, his birth having occurred in Franklin 
county, Virginia, October 30, 1838. He was 
reared to manhood in \'irginia, and in Ro- 
anoke county, that state, was solemnized his 
marriage to Miss Eliza Houtz, who was born 
and reared in that county and who survived 
him by eight years, her death having occurred 
on the old homestead farm in Rock ford town- 
ship, on the 11th of November, 1917. From 
Mrginia Mr. Will removed to Woodford 
county, Illinois, where he continued his alle- 
giance with farm industry until 1891, when 
he came to Nebraska and purchased two hun- 
dred acres of land in Gage county. There- 
after he continued as one of the substantial 
farmers of Rock ford township until his death 
His political support was given to the Demo- 
cratic party and both he and his wife were 
members of the church of Brethren in Christ 
— unassuming and worthy folk who lived 



righteous lives and merited the unqualified 
esteem in which they were held. Mrs. Will 
had one son by her first marriage, and this 
son, Charles E. Colwell, is a resident of Be- 
atrice, this county. By the second marriage 
were born the following named children; 
John and William H., who reside upon the 
old home farm in Rock ford township; Joseph 
J., of whom individual mention is made on 
other pages ; Ida M., who is housekeeper for 
her brothers on the old home farm of the 
])arents; Bert, who likewise is a farmer in 
Rockford township; and ]\Iinnie, who is the 
wife of Dr. L. L. Noble, a representative 
physician engaged in practice at Holmesville, 
this county. 

JOHN T. W^HALEN is giving special at- 
tention to the feeding of cattle, and in this de- 
partment of farm enterprise he is conducting 
operations on a large scale, in connection with 
diversified agriculture. In his vigorous con- 
ducting of his industrial activities he rents 
four hundred and twenty acres of land, in 
Sections 26, 33 and 35, Highland township, 
and he is one of the county's progressive breed- 
ers of Holstein cattle. 

Air. Whalen was born in Woodford county, 
Illinois, February 6, 1863, the fourth in a 
family of ele\'en children, all of whom are liv- 
ing e.xcept three. He is a son of John and 
Margaret (HoUenhan) Whalen, who were 
born in Ireland and whose marriage was 
solemnized in the state of Massachusetts, 
whence they removed in an early day to Illi- 
nois. John Whalen served as a section fore- 
man on the line of the Illinois Central Rail- 
road for a number of years, and was thus en- 
gaged at the time the road was being con- 
structed through Woodford county. In 1884 
he came with his family to Gage county and 
rented land in Section 12, Holt township. He 
passed the closing period of his life at Cort- 
land, and was eighty-two years of age at the 
time of his death, in 1906, his wife having 
passed away in 1899, at the age of sixty-two 
years. Both were earnest communicants of 
the Catholic church, in which connection it 
should be noted that they were numbered 



800 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



among the organizers of the church of this 
denomination at Cortland. 

John T. Whalen was reared on his father's 
farm in McLean county, Ilhnois, and his early 
education was received in the public schools 
of Livingston and McLean counties. He was 
twenty-one years of age when he accompanied 
his parents to Nebraska, and in Gage county 
he assisted his father in the work of the pio- 
neer farm until he had attained to the age of 
twenty-three years, when he initiated his in- 
dependent operations as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower. During the intervening years 
he has conducted his operations on rented 
land and in 1907 he established his residence 
on his present farm, which is owned by Mrs. 
Lena F. Warren, of Omaha. In consonance 
with his progressive policies he has made 
numerous improvements on the place, includ- 
ing the construction of a,modem silo, which 
has a capacity of two ffiindred and sixteen 
tons and which is owned by him. The only 
interruption of his activities in connection 
with farm enterprise was a period of about 
ten years, during which he was engaged in 
the general merchandise business at Cortland, 
where for four years he had charge of the 
grain elevator and for four years did a suc- 
cessful business in the buying and shipping of 
live stock. Mr. Whalen was one of the prin- 
cipal organizers of the Farmers' Elevator 
Company and the Farmers' State Bank at 
Cortland, and he has been president of the 
Elevator Company from the time of its or- 
ganization. A man of energ}' and progressive- 
ness, Mr. Whalen has applied himself dili- 
gently and consecutively and has won through 
his own efforts a goodly measure of success, 
the while he has the confidence and good will 
of those with whom he has come in contact 
in either business or social relations. His 
political allegiance is given to the Democratic 
party, he is affiliated with the Knights of 
Columbus, and he and his wife are communi- 
cants of the Catholic church, as members of 
St. James parish at Cortland. 

On the 16th of Februar)-, 1888, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Whalen to Miss 
Etta Crosby, who was born in La Salle county, 



Illinois, a daughter of Thomas and Jemima 
(Morrison) Crosby, who were born and 
reared in the state of New York, where their 
marriage occurred. From Illinois Mr. Crosby 
removed with his family to Missouri, in which 
state his wife died, and later he came with his 
six children to Gage county, Nebraska, the 
remainder of his life having been passed in 
Holt township, where he became a prosperous 
farmer. Mr. and ^Irs. Whalen became the 
parents of si.x children: Mrgie T. is a clerk 
in the Klein department store in the city of 
Beatrice; Martin G. died at the age of twenty- 
seven years ; Jemima M. remains at the par- 
ental home; Francis T. is a successful farmer 
in Section 34, Highland township; and Bern- 
ard D. and Mary C. are members of the par- 
ental home circle. 

FREDERICK T. SONDEREGGER, of 
Beatrice, was born, in Jefferson county, Ne- 
braska, December 8, 1882, son of Carl Son- 
deregger, of whom mention is made on other 
pages of this volume. Frederick received his 
early education in the public schools of Jef- 
ferson county, and later went to Europe, 
where he studied in Switzerland. He re- 
mained in Europe for eight years and in the 
meanwhile took a special course in the study 
of the nursery and seed industry. Upon his 
return from Europe, Mr. Sonderegger became 
associated with his father in the nursen,- and 
seed business in Beatrice, and with this en- 
terprise he has been identified continuously 
since that time. 

On Augu.st 30. 1912. Mr. Sonderegger 
wedded Miss Harriet Sonderegger, who is 
a native of Switzerland, a daughter of Mein- 
rad Sonderegger, of that fair republic. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sonderegger are the parents of three 
children — Frederick. Arnold, and Margaret. 

Mr. Sonderegger is a Democrat in politics, 
but has never sought public office, preferring 
rather to devote all his time to the nursery 
and seed business, in connection with which he 
ii making a pronounced success and has gained 
place among the prominent young business 
men of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Sonderegger 
are members of the Lutheran church, of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



801 



faith as represented by this denomination in 
Switzerland. 



ANTON SCHEIDELER. — For the past 
seven years, J\Ir. Scheideler has been conduct- 
ing a billiard hall in the city of Wymore and 
is well known for his progressive spirit. Air. 
Scheideler was bom August 28. 1887, in Gage 
county, Nebraska, and is the son of John and 
Anna (Loibl) Scheideler. A sketch of John 
Scheideler appears elsewhere in this volume. 

Anton Scheideler was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Gage county, and after finishing 
his education farmed for some years previous- 
ly to his coming to Wymore, in 1911, and 
opening the billiard hall. He has an up-to-date 
establishment and sells tobacco, cigars, and 
confectionery in connection with his billiard 
hall. 

February 11, 1914, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Scheideler and Miss Nina Miller, 
of Blue Springs, the home and birthplace of 
the bride. Her father, Oliver Miller, resides 
in Blue Springs, and for a number of years 
has been employed by the Burlington Rail- 
road. Two children, Ruth and Ollie, have 
come to bless the home of Mr. and Airs. 
Scheideler. 

Mr. Scheideler votes the Democratic ticket, 
is serving his community as one of the county 
supervisors, and is always taking a keen in- 
terest in all civic, social, and political affairs. 
Mrs. Scheideler is a member of the Christian 
church and he is affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. 

WILLIAM A. McMICHAEL. — Among 
the many progressive farmers of Blue Springs 
township, Mr. McMichael is considered to 
have done his share in adding to the general 
prosperity of the township. 

\\'illiam A. AlcMichael was born in Ireland, 
August 12, 1849, and is the son of Andrew 
and Elizabeth (Anderson) McMichael. They 
were natives of Ireland and were tillers of the 
soil. Andrew McMichael died in the home 
country and after his death, his wife immi- 
grated to the United States. She established 



her home in Pennsylvania, where she passed 
the remainder of her life. 

It was in 1867 that William McMichael lo- 
cated in Peinisylvania, upon his arrival in 
this land of opportunity. For a short time he 
was employed as a farm hand, but within the 
year he moved to Indiana, where he remained 
umil his coming to Gage county. 

The marriage of William A. McMichael 
and Miss Nancy Jane Harris was solemnized 
September 8, 1870. She is a sister of George 
S. Harris, whose sketch appears elsewhere in 
this volume. Concerning the children of Mr. 
and Airs. A'IcAIichael the following record is 
entered: Annabelle is the wife of Pedro 
Gumaer, of Wymore township ; Alaggie Alay 
is the wife of P. R. Lewis, of Blue Springs 
township; Lizzie Jane is the wife of Elton 
Smith, of Blue Springs township. 

In 1878 Air. AIcAIichael came to Blue 
Springs township, where for nine years he 
rented land before purchasing eighty acres of 
land, at twenty dollars an acre. Eleven years 
later he sold the property for thirty dollars 
an acre. He then purchased one hundred 
acres of land in Section 16, Blue Springs 
township, later selling twenty acres of this 
farm. Here he now resides in his newly built 
home, equipped with all of the conveniences 
to make life worth living. 

The Republican party receives the political 
support of Air. AIcAIichael and he and his 
wife are members of the Presbyterian church. 

DAVID N. BURROUGHS gained place 
as one of the enterprising business men of Be- 
atrice, where his activities have been of im- 
portant scope in the buying and shipping of 
live stock, in which special field he has given 
in later years much attention to the handling 
of horses and mules, of which he purchased 
six hundred head in the winter of 1917-1918. 

Air. Burroughs was born in Alills county, 
Iowa, on the 22d of August, 1869, and is a 
son of William and Sarah (Purcell) Bur- 
roughs, who came to Nebraska in the pioneer 
days and took a homestead claim in JefTerson 
county. William Burroughs was born in the 
state of New York and his widow is a native 



802 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



of Kentucky. Mrs. Burroughs is a daughter 
of Andrew Purcell, and in 1918 she resides in 
the city of Beatrice. She is eighty-one years 
of age at the time of this writing, in the 
spring of 1918, and is held in affectionate re- 
gard in the county that has so long represent- 
ed her home. The late William Burroughs 
came with his family to Jefiferson county, Ne- 
braska, in 1878, and later he establislied his 
residence upon a farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Gage county. He developed 
this into one of the fine farms of the county 
and there he continued his activities until he 
sold the property and removed to the village 
of Fairbury. Later he established a home in 
Beatrice, and here he passed the remainder 
of his long and useful life. William and 
Sarah Burroughs became the parents of six 
children: Louise is the wife of Thomas 
Roach, who has long been in railway service 
in the city of Omaha ; May is the widow of R. 
H. Robinson and resides in the city of Be- 
atrice; Mattie is the wife of Wallace Weigel, 
yardmaster of the Union Pacific Railroad at 
Beatrice; David N. was the next in order of 
birth and is the immediate subject of this re- 
view ; Henry Brj'son is a resident of Kansas 
City, Missouri ; and Delia is the wife of Frank 
Pickner, of Omaha. 

David N. Burroughs acquired his youthful 
education in the public schools of Beatrice and 
after leaving school he was identified with the 
meat-market business four years. He then 
turned his attention to the buying of horses 
and mules, and in this specific line of enter- 
prise he has conducted a prosperous business 
for fully a quarter of a century. He has 
gained recognition as one of the most pro- 
gressive and authoritative buyers of such stock 
in this section of Nebraska, and his operations 
have reached large volume in connection with 
the national preparation for participation in 
tlie great world war. 

In 1892 was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Burroughs to Miss Rebecca A. Busey, who 
was bom in the state of Iowa, a daughter of 
John A. and Anna (Beals) Busey, natives of 
Pennsylvania: Mr. Busey was engagetl in 
farm enterprise in Iowa until 1888, when he 



came with his family to Gage county and ac- 
quired land which he reclaimed and improved 
into a productive farm, his father, who like- 
wise bore the name of John, having been a 
very early settler of this county, where he ac- 
quired many hundred acres of land, the estate 
being (Hvided among his children after his 
death. For seventeen years John A. Busey 
father of Mrs. Burroughs, served as a guard 
at the Nebraska state penitentiary-, at Lincoln, 
and he was the incumbent of this position at 
the time of his death. His wife is still living. 
Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs have three chil- 
dren — RoUand and Brj'son A. are now resi- 
dents of the state of Wyoming, and Gladys is 
attending the public schools, as a student in 
the high school. 

Mr. P.urroughs is a stalwart in the camp of 
the Republican party, and he served for short 
and varying intervals as an extra deputy sher- 
iff of Gage county. He is affiliated with the 
Fraternal Order of Eagles. 

HENRY H. FEERHUSEN. — In the 
years that have passed, many illustrious citi- 
zens have gone to their reward, but the im- 
press of their lives and the evidence of their 
labors are to be found on every liand. Among 
the number whose lives and deeds should be 
recorded in this histon,' of Gage county is he 
whose name initiates this memoir. Henry H. 
Feerhusen was born at Alton, Illinois, on 
December 12, 1861. His parents. Otto and 
Frances (Schoen) Feerhusen, were natives 
of Germany, and in 1864 they came from Illi- 
nois to Nebraska Territory. They became 
residents of Nebraska City, but were farming 
people and thus well equipped for pioneer ex- 
perience and responsibilities. They spent the 
remainder of their lives in this state. 

Henry H. Feerhusen was the oldest of a 
family of seven children. He was early 
taugiit the \alue of industr\-, and wiien quite 
young was thrown upon his own resources. 
When he left home he went in debt for a paii 
of overalls and a jacket. He was the sole 
possessor of one shoe and one boot, but was 
fortified in undaunted determination to suc- 
ceed. In 1885 Mr. Feerhusen came to Gage 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



803 




Henry H. Feerhusen 



804 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



county, Nebraska, and l)egan farming as a 
renter in Adams township. By carefully sav- 
ing liis earnings he was able to invest in one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, wholly unim- 
proved. He set to work improving and de- 
veloping a new farm, and as the years passed 
he prospered in his undertaking. At the time 
of his death he was the owner of four hundred 
acres of valuable land, with a good set of 
buildings. He dealt extensively in cattle — 
buying, feeding, and shipping — and in his 
imdertakings, by the display of good judg- 
ment, he was able to accumulate a competence. 

For a wife and helpmeet Mr. Feerhusen 
chose Miss Louisa Staack, who was born in 
I'hiladelpliia, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1869, 
a daughter of Henry and Lydia ( Cook i 
Staack, both natives of Germany. The par- 
ents came to Nebraska about fort\' years ago 
and located at Nebraska City, where they 
were residing at the time of their death. 

Mr. and Mrs. Feerhusen became the par- 
ents of seven children, as follows: Forrest 
died in 1912, at the age of twenty-three years ; 
Jesse died in 1S90, at the age of six months ; 
Victor remains at home with his mother; Ira 
died in 1912, at the age of eighteen years ; Lee 
is at home ; Harriet is attending the Adams 
schools; and Vekira is at the maternal home. 
The death of the sons Forrest and Ira, both 
of whom passed away in 1912, was a very 
severe blow to the family. They had become 
of great assistance to their father and were 
good judges of live stock as well as well 
versed in the best methods of farming. Grief 
over the loss of these two boys no doubt has- 
tened the death of Mr. Feerhusen, who passed 
away April 14, 1914. His widow still resides 
on the old home farm, which is managed by 
her two sons, Victor and Lee. She is doing 
all in her power to accomplish what was the 
ambition of her husband, and her sur\iving 
children are being given every possible ad- 
vantage. 

Mr. Feerhusen was a devoted member of 
the German Lutheran church, and in politics 
he cast his ballot for the men and measures 
of the Republican party. He rendered effi- 
cient service as a member of the school board. 



the cause of education nnding in him a stal- 
wart champion. Henry H. Feerhusen was 
one whose life measured up to the full stan- 
dards of cit'zcnship and manhood, and his 
passing called from earthly activities one 
whom his family and the community could ill 
afford to lose. 

GERD GERDES has maintained his home 
in the United States for more than half a 
century, and in Gage county he has done his 
full share of the reclamation and development 
work that has made it possible for the 
j'ounger generation to enjoy the fruits of the 
labors of the early settlers. Gerd Gerdes was 
born November 9, 1851, in East Friesland, 
Germany, and he came with his parents, Gerd 
and Trintye ( Janssan ) Gerdes, to America, 
the family having settled in I\lissouri. Con- 
cerning the family ample record is given on 
other pages of this history, in the sketch of 
John L. Gerdes. 

The section of Missouri in which the 
Gerdes family established a home upon com- 
ing to the United States was still in a wild 
and uncultivated condition, the homes of only 
a few straggling settlers dotting the rolling 
prairies. In 1882 Gerd Gerdes and his 
brother, John L. Gerdes, came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased land in section 32. 
Barneston township. In 1883 they came to 
build their homes upon their newly purchased 
land. .\ sod house, thatched barn and the 
rude implements of agriculture were the 
means by which they set to work to wrest 
from n;iiure her treasures of wheat and corn. 
As the years have passed and science has 
helped the strong arm of the farmer, the land 
has been more easily tilled and more pro- 
ductive each successive year. 

Mr. Gerdes has added to his original pur- 
chase and is now the owner of two hundred 
acres of finely cultivated land. The crude sod 
hut and barn have been replaced by a good 
modern hou.se and other excellent farm build- 
ings that show the thrift and prosperity of 
the owner. The rude farm imjjlements have 
been replaced by the modern ones, which 
make the work easier .-md more effective! 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



805 



Under President Cleveland's administra- 
tion Mr. Gerdes was postmaster of Aurich, 
Nebraska, and for many years he served as 
township treasurer. He is now a member of 
the district school board. In politics Mr. 
Gerdes is an advocate of the principles of the 
Democratic party, but he is independent in 
his views, and feels that if this party does not 
advance as good a man for candidate as the 
opposing party, he will vote for the better 
man, regardless of his party. Mr. Gerdes' 
sister, a widow, is making her home with him 
and presides over the domestic economies of 
the pleasant farm residence. 

J. D. CARPENTER is the owner of a well 
improved farm estate of two hundred and 
forty acres in Rock ford township and while 
he has lived virtually retired for the past 
decade, he has been a specially successful ex- 
ponent of agriculture and live-stock industry 
in the county that has represented his home 
for somewhat more than thirty years. He 
now resides in the city of Beatrice. 

Mr. Carpenter was born in Washington 
county, Marj'land, May 12, 1851, and is a son 
of Jeremiah and Susan (Cross) Carpenter, 
the former of whom was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1819, and who at- 
tained to the patriarchal age of ninety-eight 
years, his wife having been bom at Boones- 
boro, Maryland, in 1833, and having been 
summoned to eternal rest in 1902, he having 
survived her by about seven years. Their 
marriage was solemnized at Greencastle, 
I'ennsylvania, and in that locality they con- 
tinued to reside until they had reared their 
children to adult age. After the Civil war, in 
the early 70s, they came to the west and 
numbered themselves among the pioneers of 
Gage county. Jeremiah Carpenter purchased 
a farm near Pickrell and there continued his 
activities for a term of years, both he and his 
wife having been residents of the village of 
Ellis at the time of their death and he having 
been nearly eighty years of age when he left 
his farm and retired from the active labors 
that had long been his portion. This sterling 
pioneer couple became the parents of seven 



sons and two daughters and concerning those 
now living the following brief record is avail- 
able: Henr\-. who was for many years en- 
gaged in contracting and building and who also 
achieved success as an apiarist, is now living 
retired in Los Angeles, California ; Jonathan, 
a stonemason and contractor, resides at Lib- 
erty, Gage county ; Theodore is a retired 
farmer residing in Beatrice ; Levi is engaged 
in farming near Polo, Illinois ; J. D., of this 
review, was the next in order of birth ; Martin 
L. is a retired farmer residing in the city of 
Beatrice. 

In his earlier life Jeremiah Carpenter was 
a Democrat in politics, but he transferred his 
allegiance to the Republican party about the 
time of its organization and ever afterward 
supported its principles. His father, Henry 
Carpenter, was born in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, and continued a resident of the 
old Keystone state until his death. 

J. D. Carpenter gained his early education 
in the schools of Maryland and northern Illi- 
nois, and his first independent work in his 
youth was that of canvassing in the rural 
districts of Illinois. With the funds thus ac- 
quired he purchased ten acres of land in 
Noble county, that state, and after having cut 
and sold the timber on this tract he went to 
Minnesota, where he worked in the pine for- 
ests, in connection with pioneer lumber opera- 
tions. There he was thus engaged during the 
winter seasons for a period of about five years, 
and in the summers he was employed on 
steamboats plying the Mississippi river. From 
Minnesota he went to Iowa, where he re- 
mained two years, and he then purchased land 
in Butler count}-, Kansas, where he continued 
his activities as a farmer for the ensuing 
thirteen years. In 1886 he came to Nebraska 
and established his permanent home in Gage 
county, where he purchased a partially im- 
proved farm of eighty acres, in Lincoln town- 
ship. Two years later he bought one hundred 
and sixty acres in Rock ford township. He 
has since added to his holdings until he now 
has a valuable estate of two hundred and 
forty acres. He now rents his farm property 
and, as before stated, is living practically re- 



806 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBRASKL\ 



tired. He erected the present buildings on his 
farm and has made it one of the attractive 
rural domains of the county. 

In 1882 Mr. Carpenter wedded Miss Eliza- 
beth H. Sutton, who was bom in .\ppanoose 
county, Iowa, a member of a sterling pioneei 
family of that commonwealth, and of the five 
children of this union three are living: How- 
ard is individually mentioned on other pages 
of this volume; Forrest is engaged extensively 
in cattle raising in Kearney county ; Walter 
met his death in an automobile accident, in 
1917; Milo is a resident of Logan township; 
and one child died in infancy. Mrs. Carpenter 
was called to the life eternal March 10, 1917, 
a gentle and gracious woman whose memory 
is cherished by all who knew her, and she 
was a devoted member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

The character and ability of Mr. Carpenter 
have made him influential in community af- 
fairs during the years of his residence in Gage 
county, and he has served as road overseer, 
besides having held for a term of years the 
office of justice of the peace, which under 
his administration was made to justify its 
name. In politics he is a staunch Republican. 

WILLIAM r. PARDE is another of those 
vigorous and honored pioneers whose achieve- 
ment of success and independence has been 
coincident with the devdopment and progress 
of Gage county, and he is to-day the owner of 
a valuable landed estate of five hundred and 
forty acres. Though he is now living practi- 
cally retired, he still remains on his fine farm, 
in Section 29, Hanover township. 

Like so many other representative citizens 
who early established residence in Hanovei 
township, Mr. Parde was born in the prov- 
ince of Hanover. Germany, the date of his 
nativity having been May 6, 1842. He was 
reared and educated in his native land and 
was an ambitious and self-reliant young man 
of twenty-five years when he came to the 
United States. He had no financial resources 
but had the sturdy courage and determination 
that make for advancement. Proceeding to 
Quincy, Illinois, he thereafter was engaged in 



railroad cpnstruction work for four years, 
within which period he accumulated sufficient 
capital to justify him in renting land in Adams 
county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming. 
In that state he continued his activities as an 
agriculturist until 1885, when he came with 
his family to Nebraska. He rented land five 
years and then purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of unimproved land in Section 32, 
Hanover township. Gage county. He ener- 
getically initiated and carried forward the de- 
velopment of his farm, to the area of which 
he added within a few years, by the purchase 
of one hundred acres, in Section 29 of the 
same township. The passing years crowned 
his earnest endeavors with constantly increas 
ing success, and he now owns, as before stated, 
a fine farm estate of five hundred and forty 
acres — all in Hanover township. 

Prior to his immigration to America Mr. 
Parde has gained a devoted companion and 
helpmeet, by his marriage to iliss Tata Dorn, 
who was born in the province of Hanover 
on the 12th of February, 1833. She shared 
with him the trials and vicissitudes of the 
years in which he was striving to win inde- 
pendence, and November 25, 1914, they had 
the pleasure of celebrating their golden wed- 
ding anniversary, the occasion having been 
made a notable one by the appreciative inter- 
position of their children and their many 
friends. Both are earnest communicants of 
the German Lutheran church in their home 
township, and in politics Mr. Parde is a 
staunch Democrat. For the past thirty years 
he has been physically handicapped, as he was 
so injured while at work with a threshing ma- 
chine as to necessitate the amputation of his 
right arm. For years after this deplorable 
accident, however, he continued his active 
labors, and that with remarkable facility. His 
parents, Peter and Katie Parde, joined him a 
few years after he came to this countrj' and 
they passed the closing years of their lives at 
Golden, Illinois. In conclusion is given brief 
record concerning the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Parde : Henry died at the age of twenty- 
one years ; Peter died in childhood : John W. 
is deceased and is the subject of a memoir ap- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



807 



pearing on other pages of this work ; Theda 
is the wife of Henry W. Ehmen, of Hanover 
township ; Heye is a farmer in this township ; 
Kate is the wife of Henry Remmers, of the 
same township; Grace is the wife of Wilham 
Gronewold, of Hanover township; and Peter, 
who has the active management of the old 
homestead farm, is the youngest of the num- 
ber : lie wedded Miss Anna Diutsman and 
they have four children — William, Dena, 
John, and Grace. 

ERNST l.OEMKER. — Prominent among 
the successful farmers and business men of 
Gage county may properly be named the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who owns and operates a 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Sec- 
tion 34, Paddock township. He is identified 
also with the financial interests of the county, 
being vice-president and a member of the 
board of directors of the State Bank of Odell. 

Mr. Loemker was born in Hanover, Ger- 
many, November 9, 1869. His parents, Fred 
and Clara (Daniel) Loemker, were also na- 
tives of Hanover, were reared and married 
there and in 1871, having heard of the favor- 
able opportunities to be found in America, 
came with their family to the United States. 
They made their way to the interior of the 
countr}- and located on a tract of land in 
Marshall county, Kansas. When the Otoe 
Indian reservation was opened for settlement 
Fred Loemker there purchased a quarter- 
section of land, wholly unimproved. The fam- 
ily set about developing a new farm and amid 
the pioneer conditions of those days they 
labored and prospered. With the help of his 
sons the father accumulated over five hundred 
acres of land. He now resides on the place 
which has been the family home for many 
years, just over the line in Washington county, 
Kansas. They owned land in three counties, 
Marshall and Washington counties in Kansas 
and Gage county, Nebraska. The wife and 
mother passed away in December, 1916. 

The children of this family were seven in 
number, as follows : Henry is a farmer of 
Washington county, Kansas ; Ernst is the sub- 
ject of this sketch ; Thomas grew to maturity 



and married, but is now deceased ; Mary is the 
wife of William Riggert, of Glenwood town- 
ship; Sophia is the wife of Albert Sohl, of 
Marshall county, Kansas; Louise is the wife 
of Otto Meyer, of Washington county, Kan- 
sas ; and Caroline remains with her father. 

Ernst Loemker remained at home and as- 
sisted in the work of the farm until he was 
twenty-eight years of age, when he married 
and came into possession of his present farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres. This was 
part of the property purchased by his father. 
It was improved with a set of buildings, but 
these have given place to more commodious 
and substantial structures. 

Mr. Loemker married Miss Dora Riggert, 
who was born in \Vashington county, Kansas, 
a daughter of Henr}' and Dora (Stolte) Rig- 
gert. Her parents were born in Germany and 
came to the United States about the same time 
as the Loemker family. Mr. and Mrs. Loein- 
ker are the parents of seven children, all still 
at home. They are: Clara, Olga, Caroline, 
Elza, Walter, Winnie, and Llarold. 

Mr. Loemker is one of the successful gen- 
eral farmers of his township and takes a keen 
interest in all things that have to do with the 
upbuilding of his community. The family 
are members of the German Lutheran church, 
and in politics Mr. Loemker is a Republican. 
He was one of the organizers of the Odell 
State Bank and has been vice-president since 
that time. 

GEORGE F.AXON. — One of the early 
settlers of Gage county who gave years of 
earnest labor to the development of the com- 
munity in which he lived, the late George 
Faxon merits a tribute in this work. He was 
born in Genesee, Illinois, November 20, 1853, 
a son of John W. and Acenath (Olds) Faxon, 
who settled in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where the 
father was a merchant for several years. In 
1880 the family came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and purchased a half-section of prairie 
land in Glenwood township. This was im- 
[jroved and developed into a valuable tract and 
in later years the parents moved to Beatrice, 
where both passed away. 



808 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



George Faxon came into possession of one 
hundred and twenty acres of the old farm and 
he successfully carried on agricultural pur- 
suits until his death, April 12, 1912. In 1885 
he was married, at Franklin Grove, Lee 
county, Illinois, to Miss Sarah Burket, a sis- 
ter of A. O. Burket, of Beatrice. Mr. and 
Mrs. I'axon became the parents of five chil- 
dren : Mar)^ A. is the wife of J. Lyndes, of 
Wyoming; John died at the age of two years ; 
Cheney L., George H., and Egbert R. are at 
home with their mother and are operating the 
farm of two hundred acres, just outside the 
limits of Lanham. 

(^.eorge T'axon was a loyal citizen, a good 
neighbor, a loving husband and father, and 
Gage county lost one of her best men when 
he was called to his final rest. He was a Re- 
publican in politics, and was affiliated with the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mrs. 
Faxon is an active member of the Christian 
church. 

WILLI. \.M H. RUYLE, whose death oc- 
curred on the 16th of November, 1914, was a 
resident of Gage county for more than thirty 
years and became one of the prominent and 
successful representatives of agricultural and 
live-stock industry in this section of Ne- 
braska. He gave special attention for many 
years to the raising of excellent types of live 
stock and made large shipments of the same 
annually, his finely improved homestead farm 
having been situated in Section 35, Logan 
township, and comprising three hundred and 
twenty acres, besides which he was the owner of 
fully five hundred acres in Sherman township. 
A man of sterling character and marked 
energy, he did well his part in furthering the 
advancement of farm enterprise in the county, 
the while he stood exponent of loval and pro- 
gressive citizenship. 

The father of Mr. Ruyle was born at Knox- 
ville, Tennessee, in the year 1824, and was 
about eight years old when his parents re- 
moved to Illinois, in 1832, and numbered 
themselves among the pioneers of Scott 
county. The father of the subject of this me- 
moir was reared and educated in Illinois, was 



one of the historic California argonauts of 
1849, and after his return to Illinois he be- 
came the owner of a very large and valuable 
landed estate, in Jersey comity, where he 
raised fine horses and cattle on an extensive 
scale and where he was influential in commun- 
ity atTairs. He served as county commis- 
sioner and was a Democrat in politics. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Mary J. El- 
liott, was born in 1836, on Chamteau island, 
in the Mississippi river, above St. Louis, and 
both continued their residence in Illinois until 
their death. They became the parents of eight 
children — William IL. Elizaljeth, Annie, 
Laura. Louis, Edward, and Oliver. 

William H. Ruyle was born in Jersey 
county, Illinois, on the 14th of .April, 1856, 
and was there reared and educated. He re- 
mained on his father's farm until he had at- 
tained to his legal majority, and in 1877 he 
visited ^\'yoming. Colorado, and New Mexico. 
In New Mexico he became the owner of a 
pioneer ranch, but he soon returned to Illi- 
nois, where he continued his association with 
farm industry tmtil 1880, when he came to 
Gage county and settled in Logan township, 
where he developed one of the fine farm es- 
tates of the county, besides becoming specially 
successful as a buyer and shipper of live 
stock. In politics he held to the faith of the 
Democratic party and he consented to ser\'e 
in minor ofiices in his township, including 
those of tax collector and school director. 

On the 10th of October, 1878, Mr. Ruyle 
wedded Miss Nettie Bateman, who was born 
in Jersey county, Illinois, on the 26ih of Oc- 
tober, 1858, a daughter of William and Julia 
(Cowan) Bateman. who caiue to (jagc county, 
Nebraska, in 1880 and settled in Logan town- 
ship, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives, their children having been nine in 
number. Mr. and Mrs. Ruyle became the par- 
ents of seven children, all of whom are living, 
namely: Eva J., Clarence L.. William L.. 
Herbert R.. George W., Lloyd O., and .\rthur. 
Of Herbert R. individual mention is made on 
other pages of this volume. Mrs. Ruyle 
passed to the life eternal on the 10th of June, 
1896, and eventually Mr. Ruyle contracted a 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



809 



second marriage, when Miss Minnie Girl be- 
came his wife, she still remaining on the old 
homestead farm in Logan township. Of this 
union were born seven children, all of whom 
are living except one — Carl, Lulu, Minnie, 
Julia, Thomas (deceased). Etta, and Helen. 

ROBERT G. GILMORE, who is now liv- 
ing in well earned retirement and generous 
prosperity in the city of Beatrice, is one of 
the most venerable and honored of the early 
pioneer settlers of Gage county and is entitled 
to special recognition in this history, for he 
has done well his part in the development of 
the resources of the county and in aiding in 
civic and industrial progress. 

Mr. Gilmore was born in Venango county, 
Pennsylvania, July 28, 1839, a son of William 
and Jane (Dickeye) Gilmore, both likewise 
natives of the old Keystone state, the formei 
being of Irish ancestry and the latter of Ger- 
man lineage. William Gilmore, who was born 
in 1803, became a successful farmer in Ve- 
nango county, and there his death occurred 
in 1861. His widow survived him by nearly 
"forty years and continued her residence in 
Pennsylvania until her death, February 15, 
1897, her birth having occurred in February, 
1817. They became the parents of eight chil- 
dren : Adam C. was a resident of Kansas at 
the time of his death, in 1875; Robert G., of 
this review, was the next in order of birth ; 
Ira B., who was born in 1841, resides in 
Chicora, Butler county, Pennsylvania ; Quin- 
ton B., who was bom in 1843, died in Penn- 
sylvania, in 1911 ; Sarah Jane is the widow of 
J. R. Adams and resides at Utica, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Agnes Imelda is the widow of S. P. 
McCracken and she likewise maintains her 
home at Utica ; W' illiam Walker Gilmore is a 
carpenter by trade and is identified with the 
■oil industry in Pennsylvania ; Ann Eliza is 
the wife of William Whitman, of Plum, Ve- 
nango county, Pennsylvania. The father was 
. originally a Whig and later a Republican in 
politics, and he and his wife were earnest 
members of, the Presbyterian church. He re- 
claimed a good farm in a heavily timbered sec- 
tion of Venango county and was in the prime 



of life at the time of his death. He is a son 
of Bruce Gilmore, and the ancestral line is 
traced back from Ireland to staunch Scotch 
origin. 

Robert G. Gilmore early gained full fellow- 
ship with the arduous work of the pioneer 
farm in Pennsylvania and his youthful educa- 
tion was acquired principally in a primitive 
log school house. He continued his associa- 
tion with agricultural industry in his native 
county until the outbreak of the Civil war, 
when he subordinated all personal interests to 
tender his aid in defense of the Union. In 
August, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany D, Eighty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer 
Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of 
the Potomac and with which he participated 
in many important battles, as well as minor 
engagements. Lie was with his regiment at 
the siege of Yorktown, the engagement at 
Hanover Court House, the seven days' fight 
before Richmond, the second battle of Bull 
Run, and the battles of Antietam, Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Rappa- 
hannock Station, the Wilderness, and Spott- 
sylvania, in which last mentioned conflict he 
received two severe wounds. Here also he 
was captured by the enemy, and it was there- 
after his portion to endure for three and one- 
half months the horrors and privations that 
have made the name of Libby Prison odious 
in he history of the war between the North 
and the South. His exchange was finally ef- 
fected and his service as a gallant soldier of 
the Union covered a period of three years and 
one month, with honorable discharge granted 
to him September 20, 1864. 

After the close of a military career that 
shall ever reflect honor on his name, Mr. Gil- 
more returned to his native county and re- 
sumed his active association with farm enter- 
prise. In 1875 he came to Nebraska and in 
Highland township, Gage county, entered 
claim to a homestead of eighty acres, in Sec- 
tion 28. \\'ith characteristic energy and re- 
sourcefulness he applied himself to the de- 
veloping and improving of his pioneer farm, 
and eventually he figured as the owner of a 
fine farm estate of one hundred and sixty 



810 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ar^'^^^^^'^^mP^Hl^^^^^^^^l 


1 


^^^^P^^fl 


1 




^1 




^^^H 




■ 




^ i|^^^H 




m 


^^^^^^^^jL^JH 


m 


^^^^^^^^^^^^B i?^^ ?? 


-'^^^^1 




smM 



KOIIERT G. Gll.MORi: 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



811 




Mrs. Roi;ert G. Gilmorf. 



812 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



acres, the excellent buildings which he erected 
showing that cumulative prosperity had at- 
tended his earnest elYorts. He remained on 
his old homestead until 1892, since which time 
he and his wife having maintained their resi- 
dence in the attractive home which he pro- 
vided in the city of Beatrice. 

September 24, 1867, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Gilmore to Miss Lucy M. Clough, who 
was bom and reared in Pennsylvania and is a 
daughter of Horace P. and Ann (Brown) 
Clough, natives respectively of New York and 
Pennsylvania, in which latter state the father 
became a prosperous fanner. He finally re- 
moved with his family to Illinois, where his 
wife died, and in 1875 he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased the pioneer farm on 
which he passed the remainder of his life. 
He was bom in July, 1815, and died in Au- 
gust, 1891. His wife was born in June, 1813. 
and died in 1867, both having been members 
of the Free Will Baptist church: of their ten 
children only four are now living, their daugh- 
ter Lucy M., wife of the subject of this re- 
view, having been bom July 21, 1841, and she 
and her husl)and having celebrated on the 24th 
of September, 1917, their golden-wedding an- 
niversar)', which was made notable by their 
entertaining a company of about forty of their 
kinsfolk and other friends and marked a 
pleasing event in the social calendar of Gage 
county for that year. Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore 
became the parents of five children: Marietta 
A., who was born November 4, 1868, died in 
May, 1873 : \\'illiam B., who was born June 
4, 1870, is now successfully engaged in the 
live-stock business at Loveland, Colorado ; 
Flora, who was bom November 18, 1872, is 
the wife of O. L. Stewart, engaged in the 
mercantile business in Beatrice ; Leonard B., 
who was born June 18, 1875, lives upon and 
has the active management of his father's old 
homestead farm; and Horace Clinton, born 
January 5, 1880, holds the position of foreman 
with the Independent Lumber Company at 
Montrose, Colorado. 

Mr. Gilmore has continued his unfaltering 
allegiance to the Republican party from the 
time when he cast his first presidential vote. 



for Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. While on his 
farm he served in various township offices, 
as well as a member of the school board of 
his district, and in the spring of 1884 he was 
ajjpointed postmaster at Barkey. a position of 
which he continued the incumbent eight years. 
He was formerly affiliated with the Grand 
Army Post at Cortland and passed the various 
official chairs in the same, as has he also in 
Rawlins Post, No. 35, Grand Army of the 
Republic, with which he has been affiliated 
since removing to Beatrice and of which he is 
past commander. He attends and supports 
the First Baptist church, of which his wife is 
an active member, and both are honored and 
venerable pioneer citizens of the county that 
has represented their home for more than two 
score years. 

JOHN C.\CE!K. — A man who has made 
good use of his opportunities and by intelli- 
gently directed efforts has become one of the 
substantial men of his community is John 
Cacek, a farmer and stock-raiser, residing in 
Section 6, Paddock township. He was born 
in the province of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, 
November 17, 1865. He was less than two 
years of age when the family immigrated to 
America and was a boy of nine when the home 
was established in Gage county, Nebraska. 
Reared on his father's fami, amid the pioneer 
conditions that existed in those times, he 
early learned the lessons of thrift and indus- 
trv- which have been so valuable to him in 
later life. At the age of twenty-five years he 
came into possession of one hundred and 
twenty acres of land, a part of his father's 
estate, and he is to-day the owner of five hun- 
dred and twenty acres in Gage county, and 
rive hundred and sixty acres in Jefferson 
county. Nebraska. His home farm is in Sec- 
tion 6, Paddock township, and consists of one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, improved 
with a nice home for the family and with good 
barns and outbuildings for the shelter of his 
stock and machinery. 

For a helpmeet Mr. Cacek chose Miss Mary 
Hebel. She was born in Saline county, Ne- 
braska, November 14. 1872, a daughter of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



813 



Joseph and Marj- (Alahajek) Hebel, whose 
record appears elsewhere in this volume. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cacek are the parents of 
eight children : John, Jr., married Mary 
Shalla and operates one of his father's farms, 
in Paddock township, and Charles, Emma, 
Albert, Joseph, Mary, Ralph, and Alvin are 
still under the parental roof. The family are 
communicants of the Catholic church and Mr. 
Cacek votes the Democratic ticket. He is serv- 
ing his third year as a member of the school 
board of his district, the cause of education 
finding in him a stalwart champion. 

Air. Cacek and his family have worked 
hard and by carefully saving his earnings, and 
by judicious investments in farm lands, he is 
to-day one of the substantial men of Gage 
county. 



HENRY DAMKROGER is one of the 
progressive and substantial farmers and stock- 
men of Holt township and is a popular and in- 
fluential citizen who is well entitled to recog- 
nition in this history. In Gage county he is 
the owner of a valuable landed estate of eight 
hundred and forty acres, besides which he has 
one hundred acres in Jefferson county and a 
farm of two hundred acres in Saline county. 
He is one of Gage county's most extensive and 
successful stock-growers, and each successive 
year he feeds on his farm estate an average 
of about thirty-five head of cattle and three 
hundred head of swine. His homestead place 
is attractively situated in Section 7, Holt town- 
ship, about seven and one-half miles distant 
from the village of Dewitt, which is his post- 
oflice address. In 1908 Mr. Damkroger erect- 
ed on this model homestead a modern house of 
fourteen rooms, and the same is one of the 
most attractive rural homes of the county, the 
house being equipped with its own electric- 
lighting system — that known as the Delco — 
and other facilities and appointments being 
likewise of the most approved and modern 
type. Air. Damkroger has served as township 
treasurer, township assessor, and as a member 
of the school board of his district. He is a 
stalwart Republican in politics and he and his 
\yife are zealous communicants of the Luth- 



eran churcii. He was one of the organizers 
of the church of this denomination in Grant 
township, having been one of its eight charter 
members and having served many terms as a 
member of its board of trustees. He is presi- 
dent of the Farmers' & Merchants' State Bank 
at Dewitt, Saline county, a position which he 
has held for several years, besides which he is 
a stockholder in the farmers' elevator com- 
panies at Dewitt and Pickrell, and secretary 
of the German Alutual Fire Insurance Asso- 
ciation of Clatonia. 

Air. Damkroger was born in the province o! 
Westphalia, Germany, April 30, 1858, and is 
a son of William and Louisa ( Schlake) Dam- 
kroger, of whose nine children he was the 
sixth in order of birth; Airs. Mary Dorfler 
resides at Beatrice, this county, being the wife 
of John Dorfler; Louisa is the wife of Carl 
Weber, of Holt township; Charlotte is the 
wife of John Schuermann, a farmer near De- 
witt, Saline county; Anna is the wife of Wil- 
liam Schuermann, of the same county ; Fred- 
erick is a retired farmer residing at Clatonia, 
Gage county ; John F. is a representative 
farmer of Grant township ; Frank resides at 
Wakefield, Kansas ; and William was killed 
by accident when on a hunting expedition. 
The father was born in the year 1833 and 
continued his residence in Germany until 
1879, when he came with his family to America 
and mmibered himself among the pioneers of 
Ga.ge county. In Grant township he pur- 
chased railroad land, at eight dollars an acre, 
ami he reclaimed and improved one of the ex- 
cellent farms of that township, where he con- 
tinued to reside until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1907, his wife having survived him 
by about two years and having been sum- 
moned to eternal rest August 2, 1909, at the 
age of seventy-three years, both having been 
devout communicants of the Lutheran church, 
and their names meriting enduring place on 
the roll of honored pioneers of Gage county. 

Henry Damkroger was reared and educated 
in his native land and was a youth of seven- 
teen years when he came to the United States, 
in 1874, his brother Frederick having come in 
the preceding year. Landing in the port of 



814 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



New York city, he forthwith set forth for Ne- 
braska. When he arrived in the city of Lin- 
coln he found his financial resources entirely 
exhausted, and from a cousin residing in that 
city he horrowed the sum of five dollars, 
which enabled him to continue his journey to 
Dewitt, Saline county. After coming to Ne- 
braska Mr. Damkroger worked one year as a 
farm hand, and thereafter he was employed 
three years as clerk in a general store at De- 
witt. Between the years 1874 and 1878 he 
saved from his earnings the sum of six hun- 
dred dollars, and of this he expended two 
hundred dollars in making the trip to Ger- 
many and inducing his parents to join him. 
With the remaining four hundred dollars he 
purchased cattle, and he grazed his herd over 
the prairies in Gage and Saline counties, be- 
sides taking additional cattle to feed and herd 
on contract. The late William Steinmeyer 
lent him money to purchase his first team 
of horses, and he then engaged independently 
in general farming and stock-growing in Gage 
county. It was a modest beginning, but 
energy, ambition, and good management 
brought returns, the while in his career suc- 
cess has been synonymous with honor. To the 
earnest co-operation and wise counsel of his 
devoted wife he attributes in large measure 
the success that has attended his productive 
activities as a member of the world's great 
armv of workers. Ilis paternal devotion has 
been shown in his having aided all of .his 
children to get a start in life, besides having 
given them excellent educational advantages. 
Of his financial status an idea is conveyed in 
the statement that for the year 1916 he paid 
an income taxc of one hundred and two dol- 
lars. 

In September, 1882, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Damkroger to Miss Louisa 
Spilker. who was born April 5, 1854, and who 
is a daughter of Henry Spilker, detailed men- 
tion of the family appearing on other pages, in 
the sketch of the career of her brother. Ernest 
H. Spilker. Of the eleven children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Damkroger two died in infancy; 
Sophia is the wife of Herman F. Siems, of 
Grant township: I,ouisa is the wife of H. O. 



Waldo, of Dewitt, Saline county; Lena is the 
wife of J. J. Kruescher, a merchant at Dewitt ; 
Charlotte is the wMte of George Pohlman, of 
Grant township; Catherine remains at the 
parental home; Henry W. has entered the na- 
tional army in preparation for service in the 
great European war and at the time of this 
writing, in the winter of 1917-1918, is sta- 
tioned at the army cantonment of Camp 
Funston. Kansas ; and Herman, Frederick, 
and Lavina are the younger members of the 
gracious home circle. 

CHARLES ARMSTRONG was born in 
County Tyrone, Ireland, October 20, 1858, a 
son of Andrew and Elizabeth .Vrmstrong, who 
passed their entire lives in Ireland. Four 
children of this family came to America, their 
first home being in Linn county, Iowa, and 
later they all became residents of Gage county, 
Nebraska. Kate became the wife of William 
Hommersham and they lived in Gage county 
for several years. They now are residents 
of ^Missouri. 

The subject of this record was eighteen 
years of age when he came to the United 
States and joined his brothers, who were liv- 
ing in Linn county, Iowa. In 1880, he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and located on 
eighty acres of land which he purchased and 
upon which his home has been maintained 
ever since that time ; but little improvement 
had been made on the place and Mr. Arm- 
strong has provided a comfortable home for 
his family besides which he has recently 
erected a new barn and provided other good 
buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. 
He is progressive and up-to-date in his meth- 
ods and has added to his original jiurchase 
until to-day he is the owner of two hundred 
acres of valuable land. 

At \'inton, Iowa, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Charles .Armstrong and Miss Agnes 
\\'helan. who is, like her husband, a native of 
the Emerald Isle and who came to the United 
States when a young lady of eighteen years 
She supplemented the education she received 
in her native land by attendance at Coe Col- 
lege. Cedar Rapids. Iowa, and thereafter she 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



815 



was engaged in teaching, being tlius employed 
at the time of her marriage. 

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong has 
been blessed with eight children : Kate is still 
under the parental roof ; Minnie died in in- 
fancy ; Andrew, married Flo Wilson and is 
engaged in farming in Gage county ; Bessie 
Viola, Alex George, Joseph, William F., and 
Charles Edward all remain at the parental 
home. 

The religious faith of the family is that of 
the Methodist Epicopal church, and Mr. Arm- 
strong exercises his right of franchise in sup- 
port of men and measures advanced by the 
Democratic party. While not an aspirant for 
public office, he has rendered efficient service 
as a member of the school board of his dis- 
trict. 

R.\LPH A. DUIS. — Germany has fur- 
nished some most valuable citizens to Ne- 
braska and one of the number is Ralph A. 
Duis, who is one of the substantial farmers of 
Glenwood township. 

Mr. Duis was born in the province of Han- 
over, Germany, April 24, 1867. His parents, 
Pabe and Engel Duis, spent their entire lives 
in their native land, the father passing away 
at the age of eighty-five years and the mother 
being seventy-five years of age when she was 
called to the home beyond. 

Reared and educated in his native land, Mr. 
Duis was twenty-two years old when he sought 
a home in America. The first year he worked 
as a hired man on a farm in Atchison county, 
Missouri, after which he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, where for five years he operated a 
rented farm near Wyniore. He carefully 
saved his earnings until he was able to pur- 
chase a farm of eighty acres near Wymore. 
Five years were spent in developing this place, 
which he then sold. He thereupon purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres in Glenwood 
township, where he has resided and success- 
fully carried on agricultural pursuits for the 
past seventeen years. 

In Atchison county, Missouri, was cele- 
brated the marriage of Mr. Duis to Miss 
Johanna Luben, who is also a native of Ger- 



many, and who came to America the same 
year as did her husband. They have become 
the parents of fourteen children, and the fam- 
ily circle has been untouched by the hand oi 
death. Pabe is married and is farming in 
Washington county, Kansas ; Minnie is the 
wife of .\ugust .A.dani, of Glenwood town- 
ship ; Tina is now Mrs. Nienober, of Wash- 
ington county, Kansas ; John is at home ; Han- 
nah is now Mrs. Wieters, of Glenwood town- 
ship; and Tiilie, Anna, Dora, Rosa, Rudolph, 
Alfred, William, Harold and Elmer are still 
under the parental roof. 

Tile family are members of the Lutheran 
church and the father votes the Democratic 
ticket. Aside from two thousand dollars 
which Mr. Duis inherited from his parents, 
his success is the result of his own efforts. 
His prosperity is attested by the fact that he 
has two hundred acres of valuable land, equip- 
ped with a good house and other requisite 
farm buildings. Mr. Duis and his family are 
among the highly respected residents of Gage 
count v. 



WILLIAM H. JEWELL. — In Section 20 
of Grant township. Gage county, is the home 
of William H. Jewell, who is one of Gage 
county's many prosperous farmers and stock- 
growers, and a native son of the county. Mr. 
Jewell was bom on the old homestead of his 
father in Clatonia township, January 25, 1872, 
and is the eldest of the three surviving chil- 
dren of George W. and Martha ( Carpenter) 
Jewell; Bertha, the only daughter, is the wife 
of W. E. Mcjunken, of Dewitt, Saline county ; 
and Earl C. is individually mentioned on other 
pages of this volume. 

George W. Jewell was born in (Jhio, on the 
25th of April. 1845, and thence removed with 
his parents to Illinois when a youth. The 
Jewell family is of Scotch-Irish origin, having 
been founded in America in colonial days. 
George W. Jewell, as a valiant soldier, served 
in the Second Illinois Cavalry in the Civil 
war, and thereafter he continued his residence 
in Illinois until 1870, when he came to Ne- 
braska and numbered himself among the pio- 
neers of Gage county. He reclaimed a home- 



816 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



stead in Clatonia township, and later bought 
the southeast quarter of Section 20, on which 
the subject of this review now resides. Here 
he made his home until his death, which oc- 
curred November 21, 1910. his wife having 
passed away in 1902. Mr. Jewell was a citi- 
zen who did his part well in the furtherance 
of civic and industrial progress, and was one 
of the honored pioneers of the county at the 
time of his death. He was a Republican in 
politics and was affiliated with the Grand 
Army of the Republic. 

William H. Jewell recalls among the varied 
experiences of his boyhood and youth the 
herding of cattle on the open prairies of this 
part of the state, and he has more than once 
expressed in later years a wish that he might 
once more look upon the untrammeled plains 
and the native prairie grass. As a boy he 
remembers that the Indians were still much 
in evidence in this part of Nebraska, and that 
three Indian trails traversed the old home 
farm. Mr. Jewell acquired his early educa- 
tion in the pioneer schools, which were well 
conducted, and upon attaining his legal ma- 
jority he rented from his father the old home 
|)lace. which was sold in 1875. It was at this 
time that his father bought the farm on which 
.Mr. Jewell now Ii\es, and which he has greatly 
improved. Here he continues to conduct his 
energetic and successful activities as a farmer 
and a breeder and raiser of pure-blood Duroc- 
Jersey swine. 

March 16, 1898, recorded the marriage ol 
.Mr. Jewell to Miss Mildred L. Brown, who 
was born in Essex county. New York, and 
who came with her parents to Nebraska in 
18<S7, the family home having been established 
in Saline county, where her father died in 
1902, at the age of sixty-five years. Mrs. 
Jewell is a daughter of Ezra and Mar>- 
(Thompson) Brown, who were born and 
reared in the old Empire state, and since the 
death of the honored father the now venerable 
mother has lived in the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Jewell, who accord her filial solicitude. Con- 
cerning the three children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Jewell the following data are available: 
George E. was born October 28. 1902: Lucille 



was born October 15, 1904, and died on the 23d 
of the following January: and Kenneth \\"\\- 
liam was born July 25, 1910. 

In politics Mr. Jewell is unfaltering in his 
allegience to the Republican party, and in a 
fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern 
Woodmen of America, the Royal Highlanders, 
and the Royal Neighbors, his wife likewise 
being identified with the two last mentioned 
organizations, and they are active members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

1R.\ BOYD. — The cost of production of 
those commodities raised on a farm, due to 
the price of land, cost of labor and machinery, 
etc., requires that the successful farmer of to- 
day must possess business ability as definitely 
as must the merchant or banker. The farmer 
who makes use of the best methods of tilling 
the soil or who seeks to improve the grade 
of live stock raised on his farm, not only as- 
sures himself better returns for his own time 
and investment but becomes a public bene- 
factor in his community. 

One of the younger farmers and stockmen 
of Gage county who is demonstrating his abil- 
ity as a business man is Ira Boyd, owning 
and operating a tract of one hundred acres in 
section 21, Sherman township. 

He is a native of Iowa, born in Linn county, 
October 19, 1880, a son of Otho Boyd, who is 
mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Re- 
maining on the home farm, he assisted in its 
o])eration, and was assisted by his father in 
purchasing the one hundred and twenty acres 
which he has operated for several years. He 
has erected a splendid set of buildings on the 
place, making it one of the best in the town- 
ship. Aside from the cultivation of those 
crops best adapted to the soil and climate he 
makes a specialty of raising pure-blooded Red 
Polled cattle, Percheron horses and Duroc- 
Jersey hogs, from the sale of which he adds 
materially to his income. He is deserving of 
much credit for the effort displayed to raise 
the standard of live stock in his county. 

Mr. Boyd completed arrangements for a 
home of his own by his marriage, in 1910, 
to Miss Bertha Ilorst. of Kansas. Thev are 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



817 



the parents of five children : Ruth, Dehnar. 
^Valter, Elva and Allen. The family are 
members of the Dunkard church and in poli- 
tics Mr. Boyd is a Republican. 

JOHN E. REMMERS. — There have been 
many who have achieved substantial success 
in connection with farm industry in Gage 
county, but few have won more noteworthy 
success through this basic medium than has 
John E. Remmers, who is still the owner of 
nine hundred acres of well improved and valu- 
able land in the county, though he is now living 
practically retired and in the enjoyment of 
the gracious rewards that have attended his 
earnest and well directed endeavors in the 
past. Since the spring of 1918 he has main- 
tained his residence in Lincoln, the beatitiful 
capital city of Nebraska, where his home is at 
No. 2054 South Seventeenth street. 

Mr. Remmers was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, on the 6th of November, 
1850, and is a son of John and Katherine 
Remmers, of whom specific mention is made 
on other pages of this work, in the sketch 
dedicated to Thomas Remmers, of Beatrice. 
John E. Remmers acquired his early educa- 
tion in his native land and was about seven- 
teen years of age when, in 1868, he accom- 
panied his parents on their immigration to 
America. After remaining a few months in 
Illinois the family came to Nebraska, before 
the close of the year 1868, and in the new state 
John Remmers established himself as a pio- 
neer of Gage county. He became one of the 
representative farmers of Hanover township, 
and on the old home farm John E. Reminers 
gave vigorous aid in the work of reclamation 
and development, besides which he attended 
for a time a pioneer school conducted in a 
ru(;2 dug-out structure in Logan township. 
He remained at the parental home until the 
autumn of 1871, when he filed cliim to a 
homestead of eighty acres in Nemaha town- 
ship. ( >n this property he made the best of 
improvements and after developing the place 
into a productive farm he finally exchanged 
the property for a tract of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Section 12 of the same township. 



In 1890 he removed to section 11 of that 
township, where he erected a commodious and 
modern house, a good barn and other farm 
buildings. Here he continued to give his per-' 
sonal attention to his extensive farm enter- 
prise until 1911, when he laid aside to a large 
degree the labors that has long been his por- 
tion, and shifted the responsibilities -upon 
younger shoulders. Lie was distinctly success- 
ful in his activities as a vital exponent of 
agricultural and live-stock industry and, as 
previously noted, he is to-day the owner of a 
valuable landed estate of nine hundred acres 
in the county which claims him as one of its 
sterling pioneers. He was loyal and progres- 
sive as a citizen during the entire period of 
his residence in Gage comity, served three 
years as assessor of Nemaha township, and 
was always ready to give his support to meas- 
ures and enterprises tending to advance the 
communal welfare. His political allegiance 
is given to the Republican party and he and 
his family are earnest communicants of the 
Lutheran church. 

September 18, 1878, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Remmers to Miss Rena Steinmann, 
who was born in the state of Illinois, on tfie 
10th of February, 1859. Her parents, Henry 
and Rachel (Yelken) Steinmann, were na- 
tives of Germany but their marriage was 
solemnized in the state of Illinois. Henry 
Steinmann immigrated to America about the 
year 1845 and established his residence in Illi- 
nois. There he remained until 1864, when 
he came with his family to Nebraska Terri- 
torj' and became one of the early settlers of 
Nemaha county. He was a man of superior 
education and marked progressiveness, so that 
he became influential in civic affairs in the 
pioneer period of Nebraska history. He as- 
sisted in the organization and initial develop- 
ment of the city of Lincoln, and there aided 
in selecting the site of the state's capitol build- 
ing. He and his wife became the parents ol 
nine children, of whom seven are living, and 
l)y a previous marriage Mrs. Steinmann was 
the mother of three children. 'Mr. Steinmann 
died in the year 1890, at the age of seventy- 
two years, and his venerable widow, who 



818 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTV. NEBRASKA 



celebrated in 1917 the eighty-fifth anniversary 
of her hirth. now resides in the home of her 
daughter Rena, wife of the subject of this 
review. Mr. and Mrs. Remmers are the par- 
ents of three children : Catherine remains at 
the parental home ; I lenry is a prosperous 
farmer in Section 12, Nemaha township, Gage 
county; and Mary L. is the wife of Frank F. 
Pape. a farmer in Section 7. Nemaha town- 
ship, this county. 

GEORGE T. MITCHELL. — A resident 
of Gage county for thirty-nine years, George 
T. Mitchell now lives retired in a comfortable 
home in Wymore. He was born at Leslie, 
Michigan, June 30, 1855. His parents, Elisha 
and Elizabeth (Roberts) Mitchell, were na- 
tives of New York and England respectively. 
They were married in ]\Iichigan, where the 
father had gone when a young man, and to 
that state the mother was brought by her par- 
ents when she was a little girl. In the Wol- 
verine state they made their home until 1876, 
when they became residents of Adair county, 
Iowa, and there they both passed away, he 
having reached the age of eighty-two years 
and his wife having been ninety-five years of 
age when she was called to her final rest. 

In the common schools of Michigan and 
Iowa George T. Mitchell received his youthful 
education and he was reared to the sturdy dis- 
cipline of the fann. When he reached man- 
hood he became a farmer on his own account, 
in .Adams county, Iowa. In 1881 he came, in a 
"prairie schooner," to Nebraska, with Gage 
county as his destination. He purchased one 
hundred and twenty acres of land in Sec- 
tion 33, Bameston township, this tract being 
in the Otoe Indian reservation, which had been 
opened up for settlement only a few years be- 
fore. His first home was a sod house, in which 
he lived for two years, and during the first year 
he kept "bachelor's hall." He later added forty 
acres to his holdings, and for fourteen years 
he was successfully engaged in developing and 
cultivating this farm. He then sold the prop- 
erty and purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 1 of the same township. Here 
for twenty years he devoted his time and 



energies to general farming and stock-raising. 
For the past nine years he has lived retired, 
although he states that he would like to be 
back on the farm and be "one of the boys." 

In Gage county was celebrated the marriage 
of Mr. .Mitchell and Miss Martha With, a na- 
tive of Maryland and a daughter of John and 
Sarah ( Clark) With. The parents of Mrs. 
Mitchell were natives of Maryland and be- 
came early settlers of Bureau county, Illinois. 
In the fall of 1880 they came to Gage county. 
Nebraska, and settled in Paddock township, 
where they passed the remainder of their 
lives. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell became the parents 
of nine children, seven of whom are living, 
as follows : Bert, who married Mabel Con- 
over, is a farmer in Bameston township ; 
George, who married Maggie Noe, likewise 
is a farmer in Barneston township ; Ora, who 
married Ida Yaney, is farming in the state of 
Kansas; Lizzie is the wife of Elza Hollings- 
worth, of Wymore, Nebraska : Walter, who 
married Zula Yaney, is a farmer in Kansas ; 
Maude, is the wife of Will Jones, a merchant 
of Wymore; and Miss Myrtle is still at the 
parental home. 

Mr. Mitchell exercises his right of fran- 
chise in support of men and measures of the 
Republican party. While on the farm he ren- 
dered efficient service as a member of the 
school board and also as treasurer of his 
township. Fraternally he is affiliated with 
Barneston Lodge No. 165, A. F. & A. M. As 
an early settler and one who has contributed 
his full share to the development and progress 
of Gage county, Mr. Mitchell is entitled to 
much credit, the while he deserves the success 
that has come to him. 

DANIEL GOODMAN. — On the rolls of 
noble citizens of Gage county, Nebraska, and 
honored veterans of the Civil war, mention 
must be made of Daniel Goodman. 

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Goodman 
was born in Northumberland county, on the 
1st of April, 1847. His parents, Daniel and 
Catherine (Wagner) Goodman, likewise were 
natives of Pennsylvania, and they spent their 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



819 




Daniel Goodman and Family 



820 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'-XTY, NEBRASKA 



entire lives in the old Keystone state. They 
reared a family of fourteen children — ten 
sons and four daughters. Daniel Goodman 
spent his boyhood days on a farm in his native 
county, and though he was only a boy when 
the storm of civil war burst upon the nation, 
his patriotism was aroused and he displayed 
his loyalty by enlisting, in Febrviary, 1863, in 
Company I, Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volun- 
teer Infantr>'. His regiment participated in 
the battles of Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania 
Court House, Winchester, and other engage- 
ments, the last days of his service being around 
Petersburg. \\'hen success crowned the Union 
arms he was one of those who marched in the 
Grand Review at Washington, the greatest 
military pageant ever witnessed on the wes- 
tern licmisphere. When his nation no longer 
needed his services, Mr. Goodman went to 
Stephenson county, Illinois, and turned his 
energies to the more peaceful occupation of 
farming. Seeking better opportunities, he 
came to Nebraska in 1874, and settled in Otoe 
county. Here the grasshoppers took his crop, 
and he returned to Illinois, where he lived for 
several years. In 1891, Mr. Goodman again 
came to Nebraska, and at this time he settled 
in Adams township. Gage county. Five years 
later he moved to another farm, in Section 3, 
that township, and here he successfully carried 
on farm enterprise until his death, which oc- 
curred February 22, 1911. 

On February 1, 1881, at Freeport, Illinois, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Goodman 
to Miss Emma Reed, who was born in Schuyl- 
kill county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Dan- 
iel and Mary (Henry) Reed, likewise natives 
of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Goodman's parents 
spent their last davs in Otoe county, Ne- 
braska. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman became the 
parents of one daughter, Essie, wife of O. W. 
\'anderpool, who resides on the Goodman 
farm. They are the parents of four children : 
Emma Goldie, Maude Annette, Nada Irene, 
and Russell Oyd. 

Mr. Goodman was always a staunch Repub- 
lican, and he was a member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, belonging to Sergeant 
Cox Post, No. 100, at Adams, this countv. 



He was a good citizen, a loving husband and 
father, and was always as faithful in the days 
of peace as vvhen he loyally served his coun- 
try on the battlefields of the South. 

R.WMOND ^^'EINER. — Among the 
many Bohemian farmers who have settled ii> 
Gage county and have become successful 
farmers, Raymond Weiner must be mentioned. 
Bohemia, the land of his birth, is one of the 
prominent Slavonic countries of Europe, and 
had a university, at Prague, as early as 1348. 
While its civilization is old and mature, its in- 
ternal and external strife for liberty has kept 
the common people from enjoying the ad- 
vantages which are given to the people of the 
United States. It is, perhaps, because of 
these reasons that so many of Bohemia's sons 
have immigrated to this countr\-. Raymond 
\\'einer was born in 1857, a son of William 
and Frances (Bartershesky) Weiner. who 
were well-to-do farmers of their native Bo- 
hemia. Their three sturdy sons were born 
in Bohemia and received their education 
there. William \\'einer immigrated with his 
family to this country in 1875. and thev set- 
tled at Wilber, Saline county, Nebraska. Two 
years later they came to Sicily township. Gage 
county, and their earnings which thev brought 
with them they invested in four hundred and 
eighty acres of land. After the death of Wil- 
liam Weiner. in 1907. this land was divided 
between his three sons, — William. Jr., who- 
died in December, 1917, was at the time a re- 
tired farmer: Raymond is the subject of this 
sketch; and Edward died in 1915. 

Raymond Weiner. with his original one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land as a nucleus 
around which to acquire more land, has added 
to his holdings until he now owns six hundred 
and forty acres of land. His three oldest sons 
each has one hundred and twenty acres and is 
farming the same. 

In 18S5 Raymond Weiner and .\nna Cack 
were joined in holy wedlock. Mrs. Weiner 
was born in Michigan, and is a daughter oi 
Bohemian parents, Joseph and Anna (Jepla) 
Cack. Joseph Cack was a native of Bohemia 
and was farming in Michigan before his ar- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



821 



rival in Gage count)', in 1873. In his earlj. 
manhood he served in the Bohemian navy and 
in after years, when prosperity had smiled 
upon him, the longing to visit to his old home 
was so insistent that he returned to Bohemia. 
There he was called to his last home, never 
returning to the land of his adoption. He was 
ninety-one years of age. 

Nine children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Raymond Weiner: Raymond, Jr., Joe 
and John are each farming one hundred and 
twenty acres of land in Sicily township, these 
farms having been received from their father ; 
and Frank, Willie, Mary, Anna, Bessie and 
Francis are still under the parental roof and 
enjoying educational privileges that shall fit 
them for their future work. 

For forty years Mr. Weiner has dealt ex- 
tensively in cattle, feeding and raising them in 
great lots, and he has been very successful in 
his farm enterprise. His home and the build- 
ings that adorn his land, radiate the prosperity 
and taste of their owner, not alone in an orna- 
mental but also in a useful way. All this 
shows the long years of hard labor expended 
in accumulating this property, which is a mon- 
ument to Mr. W'einer's thorough devotion to 
his work. 

FRANCIS M. CHAMP.— The late Francis 
Clarion Champ, who became one of the sub- 
stantial framers and highly esteemed citizens 
of Gage county, was born in Pickaway county, 
C)hio, on the 26th of August, 1849, and was 
one of the seven children of John and Sarah 
Ann (Hobbs) Champ. He was seven years 
of age at the time of his parents' removal to 
Champaign county, Illinois, where his father 
engaged in farm enterprise. In that county 
Francis M. Champ was reared and educated 
and there he continued to be associated in the 
work of the home farm until the time of his 
marriage, in 1X73. It was during the '80s 
that Nebraska lands were fast being settled 
by men coming from Illinois and other states, 
and a most valuable contribution to the settle- 
ment of the state in that period was that 
given by Illinois. In 1885 Mr. Champ came 
with his familv to Gage countv and rented 



land in Paddock township, where the passing 
years brought prosperity to him in connection 
with his well ordered farm enterprise. In 
1901 he purchased eighty-three acres of land 
in that township, and here he continued to re- 
side until his death, which occurred March 
27, 1917. At the time when Mr. Champ pur- 
chased this farm only a portion of the same 
was available for cultivation and no definite 
improvements had been made in the matter of 
buildings. With characteristic energy and 
good judgment he brought every acre under 
effective cultivation and productiveness, be- 
sides which he made all requisite improve- 
ments on the place, the same continuing as 
the residence of his widow. 

In politics Mr. Champ customarily sup- 
ported the candidates of the Republican party, 
and for some time he served as assessor of his 
township. He was a man of sterling char- 
acter and commanded the unqualified esteem 
of all who knew him. Mr. Champ maintained 
active afiiliation with the Knights & Ladies of 
Security, and of this organization his widow- 
also is a member. 

In the year 1873 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Champ to Miss Ruth Ann Duvall, 
who was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 2d of March, 1852, and who was 
the third in order of birth of the eight children 
of Isaac and Sarah Ann (Long) Duvall. In 
1858, when Mrs. Champ was six years of age, 
her parents removed to Illinois, where the 
lather became a prosperous farmer. In the 
concluding paragraph of this memoir is en- 
tered brief record concerning the children ol 
Mr. and Mrs. Champ. 

Cora B., who became the wife of George F. 
W'ierman, is deceased and her daughter Eva 
now resides in the home of her maternal 
grandmother, Mrs. Champ; Annaretta be- 
came the wife of Charles Bell and she like- 
wise has passed to the life eternal; William 
N. remains with his widowed mother and has 
active management of the farm; George re- 
sides near Diller, this state ; Lewis is a farmer 
in Paddock township ; Grace is the wife of 
Burrell AI. Ellis, of Paddock township ; Logan 
is a resident of the state of Wyoming; and 



822 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Hattie is the wife of Wilbur Burkett, their 
home beini^ in South Dakota. 

JOHN D. SCHOCK. — One of the finest 
homes in Blue Springs is that of John D. 
Schock, who is now living in honorable retire- 
ment. Mr. Schock was bom in Seneca county, 
Ohio, September 25, 1849. His father. George 
Schock, was born in Union county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1819, and when a young man he 
learned the carpenter's trade. He became an 
early settler of Seneca county, Ohio, near the 
town of Bellevue. There he bought land and 
became a successful farmer. He continued 
his residence in S'ene:a county until 1872, when 
he sold his property there and bought a farm 
in St. Joseph county. Michigan, near Three 
Rivers. This latter farm was the stage of 
his endeavors until he retired from active 
life. In 1900 he became a resident of Blue 
Springs, Nebraska, where his last days were 
spent and where he had often visited his sons, 
the latter having lived in Gage county for a 
number of years. The grandfather of our 
.subject was John Schock, a native of Union 
county, Pennsylvania, born about 1778. In 
1815 John Schock became one of the pioneer 
settlers of Seneca county, Ohio. The maiden 
name of the mother of the subject of this re- 
view was Lucy A. Ware. She was born in 
Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and in 1814, 
when ten years of age, accompanied her par- 
ents to Seneca county, Ohio. There she was 
reared to adult age and there she met and mar- 
ried George Schock. She accompanied her 
husband on the removal to Michigan and later 
to Gage county, her death occurring at Blue 
Springs. 

John D. Schock was reared on a farm in 
Seneca county, Ohio, and when a boy of nine- 
teen he came to Nebraska for the benefit of his 
health. He here employed himself at any- 
thing he could find to do, and one of the first 
jobs he found was helping to dig the mill 
race for the first dam built on the Blue river 
at Blue Springs. He thereafter secured three 
yokes of open and engaged in breaking prairie. 
Though only a poor boy. working by day and 
month, he donated twentv-five dollars toward 



building the first Methodist church at Beatrice, 
besides which he secured the contract for haul- 
ing material used in the erecting of that 
church. He was not old enough to take a 
homestead but he purchased a land warrant 
held by a soldier of the war of 1812. On this 
land he erected a one-story frame house four- 
teen by twenty -two feet in dimensions, and 
there he engaged in farming. When the town 
of Wymore was founded he gave the undi- 
vided one-half of forty acres to start the town, 
and some of the finest residences as well as 
some of the business blocks of Wymore are on 
the land where he once carried on farming 
pursuits. In 1881 he sold the remainder of his 
one hundred and sirty acres to the Lincoln 
Land Company. In the same year he pur- 
chased a farm in Blue Springs township, and 
here he continued to be successfully engaged 
in farming until 1901, when he sold the prop- 
erty. After a year spent in traveling he 
erected his present residence in Blue Springs, 
where he now lives in the enjoyment of well 
earned rest and comfort. 

In 1873 Mr. Schock returned to Ohio and 
was united in marriage to Miss Susan B. Suave- 
ly, a native of Lebanon county. Pennsvlvania. 
The\- have become the parents of six children, 
two of whom are living: Charles W., who as 
a young man manifested unusual mechanical 
talent and who is now engaged in the manu- 
facture of special machinery, electrical instru- 
n;ents. etc., is married and resides in Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota; Hettie Maude is the widow 
of Frank RieiY, residing in Beatrice. 

In point of continuous residence few men 
in the south-central part of the county have 
been here longer than Mr. Schock. Blue 
Springs contained three log cabins when he ar- 
rived. His first home in the county is still 
doing service as a residence and the cellar he 
bricked up more than forty-five years ago is 
still in service. 

.\Ir. Schock was a Republican for many 
years, but he voted for Woodrow Wilson twice 
and hopes to do so again. He has never as- 
pired to nor held public office. He was one 
of the organizers of the Farmers' Elevator 
Company of Blue Springs, served as its treas- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



823 



urer ten years, and was the main factor in or- 
ganizing the Gage County Insurance Company, 
several years ago. Coming to Gage county 
when pioneer conditions were to be seen on 
every hand, he has contributed his full share 
toward bringing about present-day conditions, 
and in his ventures he has been successful, 
justly deserving to spend his decliuing years 
in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. 

CHRISTIANAS L. HUTCHINSON. — 
Industry and intelligently directed effort in 
past years make it possible for the subject of 
this record to live retired, surrounded by all 
the necessities and many of the comforts and 
luxuries of life. A native of Pennsylvania, 
Christianas Lupardus Hutchinson was born in 
Berks county, June 5, 1854, a son of John S. 
and Sarah (Van Hart) Hutchinson. John S. 
Hutchinson, who was a native of New York 
state and of English parentage, was left 
an orphan when a child. He grew to manhood 
in his native state and as a young man he mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Van Hart, who was born in 
New Jersey of Holland Dutch descent. In 
1856 Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson immigrated to 
Illinois and settled in Champaign county, 
where he became a successful farmer and 
where both he and his wife both passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. 

Christianas L. Hutchinson grew to manhood 
in Illinois, attended district school and under 
the instructions of his father learned the best 
methods of agriculture. In his native county 
Mr. Hutchinson married ^Miss Anna Johnston. 
who was born in Illinois and who is a daugh- 
ter of Hale and Lucy Johnston, the former 
born in New Hampshire and the latter a native 
of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston were early 
settlers in Champaign county, Illinois, and both 
have passed to the life eternal. Mr. Hutchin- 
son was engaged in farming in Illinois until 
1888, v^'hen he came with his family to Gage 
county, Nebraska. Here, in 1885, he had pur- 
chased two hundred and forty acres of land, 
in Paddock township. This land was partially 
improved and he went to building, plow- 
ing and planting, — a sturdy exponent of civic 
and industrial progress. He devoted his time 



and energy to making his one of the finely im- 
proved farms of the township, and there re- 
mained until his removal to the village of 
Odell. For the past twelve years Mr. Hutchin- 
son has lived a retired life, but had his "girls 
been boys" he would probably still be on the 
farm. The family occupy a comfortable home 
in Odell. Mr. and Mrs. Flutchinson have two 
daughters — Ella May, at home, and Anna 
Belle, wife of Howard Drake, a farmer in 
Paddock township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson attend the Meth- 
odist church, though their religious beliefs 
coincide with the teachings of the Presbyterian 
church. In politics Mr. Hutchinson is a Re- 
publican and he has served efficiently as a . 
member of the town council and the school 
board. 

With no special advantages except ambition 
and a desire to succeed, and coming to this 
county when his possessions consisted of a 
team of horses and four hundred dollars in 
money, the passing years have brought suc- 
cess to Mr. Hutchinson and for thirty years 
he has been a valuable and valued member of 
his community. 

LON \V. EPARD has been a resident of 
Gage county since he was a youth of twenty 
years and for the past twenty-two years he 
has resided on his present fine homestead farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 9, 
Logan township. He was born in Clark 
county, Ohio, December 9, 1861, and is a son 
of Simon and Thurzy Jane (Anderson) 
Epard, both of whom were born and reared in 
the old Buckeye state, whence thev came to 
Gage county in 1880, the father having for 
years thereafter been engaged in farming in 
Logan township, and having finally removed 
to the state of Kansas, both he and his wife 
being now venerable residents of Colby, that 
state, — the former having attained to the age 
of eighty-five years (1918) and his wife being 
about one year his junior. 

Lon W. Epard was reared on the old home 
farm in Ohio, where he acquired his early 
education in the public schools, and after com- 
ing with his parents to Gage county he assisted 



824 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



his father in the work and management of tin- 
latter's farm until he initiated his independent 
career as a fanner. He follows the even tenor 
of his way as a substantial farmer in Logan 
township and he and his wife are held in high 
esteem in the community. In addition to his 
home farm he is the owner of a recently ac- 
quired farm of one hundred and twenty acres. 
T^ogan township. Mr. Epard is aligned with 
the Democratic party and he served ten years 
as a member of the school board of his dis- 
trict. 

Jn 18X8 Mr. Epard married Miss Ida N. 
Mum ford, who was born and reared in Logan 
township and who is a daughter of John B. 
Mumford, of whom personal mention is made 
elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Epard 
have one son, J. 1!., who was named in honor 
of his maternal grandfather and who lacked 
but four days of being eligible for the second 
draft made in the recruiting of .\merican sol- 
diers for the great European war in which the 
nation has become involved. 

IRA N. PICKETT, M. D., is a pioneer phy- 
sician of Gage county, and one who is posses- 
sed of those reliable qualities and faithful de- 
votion to duty that make for benignant service 
to humanity. He has endeared himself to the 
people of his community and he has also es- 
tablished an enviable reputation among his 
professional confreres in the state. 

Dr. Pickett's ancestors were natives of 
France and the name was originally spelled 
Piquette. Because of religious persecutions, 
the family immigrated to England and in the 
early part of the seventeenth century repre- 
sentatives of the name came to .\merica and 
settled in North Carolina. W illiam Pickett, 
father of Dr. Ira N. Pickett, was born in 
North Carolina and there married Miss Cyrene 
Cook, also a native of that state. They later 
became residents of Haniillon county, Indi- 
ana, where Mr. Pickett engaged in farming. 

Dr. Ira N. Pickett was born in Indiana. 
June 20, 1852, and when he was but three years 
of age his father and mother both passed 
away, their deaths occurring only three months 
apart. One of the Doctor's earliest recollec- 



tions was that of his father holding him to the 
window to show him something in an apple 
tree. The dogs had treed a coon and his 
father was calling his attention to it. On a 
recent visit to the old home place the Doctor 
ate apples from this same tree, which had been 
bearing for more than sixty years. 

Dr. Pickett received a common-school educa- 
tion in Indiana and attended Whittier Acad- 
emy, at Salem, Henry county, Iowa. He be- 
gan the study of medicine at Red Oak. Iowa, 
and later returned to Indiana and entered the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Thorn- 
town, that state, from which institution he was 
graduated. Dr. Pickett went with the early 
immigration into Stafford county, Kansas, and 
established himself for the practice of medi- 
cine on that western frontier, in what was 
afterward called Stafford county, his advent 
there being before county organization was 
effected. In the fall of 1880 Dr. Pickett re- 
turned to Red Oak, Iowa, where he remained 
until the spring of 1883. when he sought a lo- 
cation in Nebraska. He went as far as Grand 
Island on the Union Pacific Railroad, but find- 
ing no suitable location he turned his course 
towarfl southeastern Nebraska. At Lincoln, 
while waiting for a train, the Doctor was ac- 
costed by a man who inquired his business, and 
upon being told he was a physician looking for 
a location, he was advised by the gentleman 
to come to Gage county and open an office in 
the new town of Filley. This gentleman was 
Elijah Filley. who had that day made the trip 
to Lincoln for the purpose of filing ])apers for 
the establishment of the town which bears his 
name. The young ])hysician accompanied his 
newly found friend home and for three years 
practiced medicine at Filley, the while he 
boarded at the home of the founder of the 
town. In the spring of 1886 Dr. Pickett es- 
tablished himself at Odell, Nebraska, where 
he has devoted himself to the practice of his 
profession, through the medium of which he 
has endeared himself to the people of the com- 
munity. Here the Doctor has for the past 
thirty years served his people with ability, loy- 
alty and untiring devotion to duty. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



825 



Dr. Pickett was united in marriage to Mrs. 
AJinnie Colby, of Ritlout, Illinois. 

Dr. Pickett was reared in the faith of the 
Society of Friends, and while no organiza- 
tion of that faith exists at Odell, he has never 
seen tit to change his affiliations. In politics 
the principles of the "Bull Moose" wing of the 
Republican party have his endorsement. Since 
its organization, ten years ago. Dr. Pickett has 
been a member of the Gage County Board of 
Health. \'arious business enterprises have 
profited by Dr. Pickett's co-operation and sup- 
port, and they have had to do with the up- 
building of the town. Among these are the 
Odell Vinegar Company, of which he was 
president for several years. He was one of 
the promoters and has been a director in the 
Odell Lumber Company. In strictly profes- 
sional lines the Doctor is affiliated with the 
American Medical Association, the Missouri 
N'alley Medical Society, the Nebraska State 
Medical Society, of which he was president 
in 1913, and at the present time (1918) he is 
serving as president of the Gage County Medi- 
cal Society. Fraternally Dr. Pickett is a Ma- 
son and at one time he was worshipful master 
of the Odell Lodge of Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons. 

In all things that have had to do with the 
moral, educational and material uplift and ad- 
vancement of Gage county. Dr. Pickett has 
given hearty support. Only three men are 
now in business in the town of Odell who were 
here at the time Dr. Pickett arrived, more 
than thirty-two years ago. All these years 
he has been popular with his townsmen, both 
as a physician and as a citizen. 

PAUL F. xMOSELEY is one who can claim 
Gage county as the place of his nativity, his 
birth having occurred in Paddock township, 
March 15, 1888. He is a son of Frank Mose- 
ley, of whom a memoir appears elsewhere in 
this volume. Reared on his father's farm, 
Paul F. Moseley spent his boyhood days be- 
tween his studies in the district school and his 
father's home, where as a boy he assisted in 
the lighter duties connected with the operation 
of a large farm. As his strength increased he 



assumed more largely the heavier duties, and 
thus when he reached young manhood he was 
so well versed in the best methods of tilling the 
soil and planting and harvesting crops that he 
was admirably fortified when he became a 
farmer on his own account. He is to-day op- 
erating a farm of four hundred acres belong- 
ing to his father-in-law, and is the owner of 
eighty acres adjoining this tract. Aside from 
planting those cereals best adapted to the soil 
and climate he also raises stock of all kinds, 
making a specialty of breeding and raising 
pure-bred Short-horn cattle, and having at the 
time of this writing thirty head of registered 
animals on the place. Both branches of his 
business are bringing him good returns. 

Mr. Mosely married Miss Martha Taylor, 
who was born in Gage county, and who is a 
daughter of Sherman Taylor, her father being 
individually represented on other pages of 
this history. Mr. and Mrs. Moseley belong to 
the younger generation of Gage county's citi- 
zens, both are natives of the county and both 
belong to pioneer families which have done 
much to bring about the county's development 
along every line of industry. Mrs. Moseley 
is a member of the Methodist church at Wy- 
more and her husband is serving the third 
year as a member of the school board of his, 
district. 

TOBE PABEN was born in Hanover, Ger- 
many, November 13, 1853. His parents were 
Henry and Mary (Gerdes) Paben. When he 
was but ten years old his father died, and the 
lad was thrown on his own resources. Later 
his mother remarried ; and after the death of 
her second husband, Wert Buss, she and hei 
son came alone to this country, settling in 
Adams county, Illinois. Here the mother died. 

Mr. Paben was only fourteen years of age 
at the time of his arrival in America, but he 
at once started to work on a farm, in which 
employment he continued until 1873. when he 
joined the United States Regular Army, serv- 
ing until 1878, in Texas and New Mexico, and 
fighting in the Indian wars. He completed 
his enlistment with credit and was given an 
honorable discharge. Having thus given his 



826 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



service to his country, he returned to his home 
in IlHnois, where he operated a rented farm 
for two years. Then, feehng that urge which 
has prompted men to leave old countries for 
new and which is the moving cause of emigra- 
tion from older settlements to newer, he came 
to Nebraska, and took up a homestead it: Chey- 
enne county. He first lived, as nearly all of 
the other settlers did, in a sod house, and this 
was later replaced by one of stone, showing 
clearly how the new country changed quickly 
from a group of crude settlements into a well 
ordered farming district. Ten years later, in 
1890, he drove with a team to Lawrence, Mis- 
souri, where he remained for three years. From 
there he drove to Bates county, Missouri, and 
after remaining there for three years he went 
to Lyons, Kansas. He lived there for seven 
years, and then returned to Nebraska, settling 
this time in Logan township. Gage county. 
Here he owns, in Section 15, a good farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres of well cultivated 
land, improved with the good buildings typi- 
cal of our best farms. He has served since 
residing here as a member of the school 
board, and for the past seven years has been 
township treasurer. 

Mr. Paben married Marie Flessner, a native 
of Hanover, Germany, and she is now de- 
ceased. Four children were born of this mar- 
riage, three of whom are living in Gage 
county. Nebraska : Henry, who is not mar- 
ried : ^laria, who is married; Frank, who is 
married and resides in Beatrice. The place 
of abode of Mennc, the other child, is not at 
present known by his father. For his second 
wife Mr. Paben married Engel (Flessner) 
Johnson, who ahhough bearing the same name 
as his former wife was in no way related to 
her. She is a native of Germany and came 
to this country when nine years of age. with 
her parents, Gerhard and Hannah Flessner. 
They too settled in .-Xdams county. Illinois: 
her father is still living, aged eighty-seven 
years. By a former marriage, with Benjamin 
Johnson, Mrs. Paben became the mother of 
three children, two of whom are living: Wert, 
who is married and resides in Gage county, 
and Lena, who is married and resides in 



Lyons, Kansas ; Hannah, is deceased. Mr. 
and Mrs. Paben have a family of six children, 
all but one of whom reside in Gage county : 
Misses Anna and Tena, are at home; Ekie. 
who is married, is also at the parental home; 
George, who is married, and Bertha, who is 
married, both reside in Gage county; and 
Sena, who is married, resides in Lancaster 
county. The family are members of the 
Lutheran church. 

It can appropriately be said of Mr. Paben 
that he is one of the great "world's vanguard," 
for he has been in many parts of the country 
when in their frontier stage, has shared with 
other pioneers the hardships which beset the 
settlers of western Nebraska in the early '80s. 
and has done his part in making Nebraska a 
better country- for those who will come aftei 
him. 

CHRISTIAN HAVERLAND. — The life 
record of Christian Haverland exemplifies 
what may be accomplished by industry and 
perseverance and will serve as an inspiration 
for those who are willing to work, to apply 
themselves industriously and to improve their 
opportunities. 

The subject of this memoir was boni in 
Germany, June 22, 1836, and there made his 
home until 1869, when he decided to seek a 
home in America. December 26, 1855, he 
married Miss Dora Brower, and, after a voy- 
age of fourteen days on the steamship "Ger- 
many" they landed in New York city on the 
10th of June. They immediately started foi 
Illinois, arriving in A\'oodford county on the 
15th of ihe same month. During the first 
year he worked on the railroad by the month 
and engaged in such other work as would se- 
cure him an honest livelihood. He then rent- 
ed land and engaged in fanning. He remained 
in that county until 1881. when he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, and rented land in 
Riverside township, where he lived five vears. 
He then removed to Sicily township where he 
had bought land three years previously and 
where he spent the remainder of his days, 
his death ha\ing occurred October 31, 1916. 
The wife he married in Germanv and who- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



827 




Christian Haverland 



828 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



accompanied him to America passed away in 
Woodford county. Illinois, in December, 1874, 
and in December, 1875, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Sherling. Of the first 
marriage two children, Emma and William, 
were born in Germany and Louis was born in 
Illinois. These three children still make their 
home on the farm in Sicily township. To the 
second marriage were born three children : 
Herman resides in Burbank-, California; Min- 
nie is a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska ; and 
Frederick died at the at^e of twenty-six years. 
When Mr. Llaveriand arrived in America 
his possessions in worldly goods consisted of 
one hundred and fifty dollars in money, but 
he was possessed of sterling integrity and a 
determination to win, with the result that he 
made a success of life. He was a good 
Christian man and loyal citizen. Pioneer con- 
ditions still existed in Gage county when he 
came here and he did his full share to help 
make it a better place in which to live. Three 
children, unmarried, still continue to make 
their home on the farm where the father 
spent so many years and they are not only ap- 
preciative of the fact that he left them a 
splendid property and home, but also cherish 
his memory and hold in loving remembrance 
the name of one who commanded the respect 
and unqualified esteem of all who knew him. 
His sons and daughters to-day occupy an en- 
viable place in the community. The two sons 
in Gage county carry on their agricultural 
pursuits and continue in the noble line of 
productive endeavor followed so earnestly and 
effectively liy their honored father. 

HENRY KRUEGER belongs to that ster- 
ling and industrious class of citizens which 
Germany has furnished to the United States, 
his birth having occurred in the Province of 
Hanover, Germany. March 10, 1853, and his 
parents. Christ and Margaret Krueger, having 
spent their entire lives in their native land. 
When a young man of eighteen years Henry 
Krueger came to the United States, and his 
first American experience v>as gained during 
si.xteen months passed on a farm at Downer"s 
(irove. near Chicago. Illinois. He then came 



to Kansas and worked on a farm near Han- 
over, in Washington county. Carefully sav- 
ing his earnings, he finally was able to pur- 
chase one hundred and seventy-tive acres in 
Glenwood township, Gage county, Nebraska, 
just outside the corporate limits of Odell. 
Here he was successfully engaged in fanning 
for several years. Six years ago he purchased 
two hundred and forty acres in the same town- 
ship, and here he now makes his home. He 
is the owner of four hundred and fifteen acres 
of land, and this statement indicates the pros- 
perity that has come to him, and that entirely 
through the earnest efiforts and careful man- 
agement of himself and his good wife. 

Mr. Krueger married Miss Caroline Shatta, 
who is a native of Marshall county, Kansas, 
and of German descent. Concerning their 
children the following record is given : Katie 
is the wife of Henry Bachhouse, of Horton, 
Kansas ; Lena, is the wife of Howard Avey, of 
Beatrice, Nebraska ; Henry is a farmer in 
Glenwood township; Lizzie, is the wife of Fay 
Phillips, a farmer in Paddock township ; and 
Dora, Fred, John, Tracy, Frank, and Jesse 
are all at home. The family attend the Chris- 
tian church. In politics Mr. Krueger is a 
Democrat. He has no reason to regret coming 
to .America, for here he has found an oppor- 
tunity the old world could not offer, and has 
been a very successful man. 

HERBERT R. RUYLE, whose pleasant 
home is at 1518 Elk street in the city of Bea- 
trice, is a re])resentative of one of the well 
known families of Gage county and on other 
pages of this publication is given adequate 
record concerning the family history, these 
(lata appearing in the memoir dedicated to .his 
father, the late William H. Ruyle. 

He whose name initiates this sketch has won 
high reputation through his ser\'ice as a public 
auctioneer, and has conducted innumerable 
auction sales throughout this section of the 
state. He was born in Logan township, this 
county, on the 2.id of March, 1885, and was 
reared to manhood on his father's farm in 
(iage county, .Vebraska, his common school 
education having been supplemented by a 



HISTORY Ol" GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



829 



course in a business college in Beatrice, and a 
course in agriculture at the University of Ne- 
braska. His independent activities as a 
farmer were initiated in this county and were 
continued four years, at the expiration of 
which he went to Franklin county, where he 
engaged in the buying and shipping of live 
stock and also in farm auctioneering. His 
facility as an e.xpert auctioneer has substantial 
l;asis, for in 1907 he was graduated in the 
Jones Auctioneering College, in the city of 
Chicago. Mr. Ruyle continued his residence 
in Franklin county until October, 1915, when 
he established his residence in the city of Be- 
atrice. 

February 16, 1907, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Ruyle to Miss Ina A. Jeffries, who was 
bom at Springfield, Illinois, on the 4th of June, 
1886, a daughter of William B. and Martha 
( Lester) Jeffries, natives respectively of 
Tennessee and Illinois, in which latter state 
their marriage was solemnized, and whence 
they came to Nebraska and settled in Gage 
county in 1886, their home at the present time 
being on a farm a few miles east of Beatrice. 
Of the children of IMr. and Mrs. Jeffries the 
eldest is Edith, who is the wife of Earl Wright, 
of Peru, this state ; Mrs. Ruyle was the next 
in order of birth; William E. is a farmer in 
Rockford township; Lillie E. is the wife of 
Thomas Dunn, of the same township; and 
Frances remains at the parental home. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ruyle have four children : Edna 
E., Everett H., Jeanette I. and Martha L. 

In politics Mr. Ruyle is numbered among the 
loyal supporters of the cause of the Demo- 
cratic party and he and his wife are members 
of the Centenary Methodist Epicopal church 
in Beatrice. In addition to his substantial 
auctioneering business Mr. Ruyle is the owner 
of a well improved farm, in Rockford town- 
ship. 



family history being given on other pages of 
this jiubhcation, — in the sketch of the career 
of G. L. Mumford. 

Oliver C. Mumford was born in Logan 
township, on the 26th of August, 1887, and 
was reared to the benignant discipline of the 
farm, the while he made proper use of the ad- 
vantages of the public schools of his home 
township. His entire adult career has been 
marked by consecutive association with farm 
enterprise on land comprising a part of the 
estate of his father, and in his progressive op- 
erations as an agriculturist and stock-grower 
he now utilizes an adequate area of land. Mr. 
IVIumford is a fancier of fine horses and is the 
owner of a standard-bred horse to which he 
has given the name of "Fred Hill," this animal 
having made a turf record of 19J4 ; the horse 
was sired by "Milton Cook," and its dam was 
"Alice Hill." Mr. Mumford takes deep inter- 
est in all things touching the wellbeing of the 
county in which he was bom and reared and 
with the history of which the family name has 
been worthily linked since the early pioneer 
days. In politics he gives his allegiance to the 
Democratic party. 

Januar}' 22. 1913, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Mumford to Miss Ginevra Nietman, who 
was born in the city of Beatrice, this county, a 
daughter of Heni"}' and Minnie (Jens) Niet- 
man, both of whom were born in Germany 
and both of whom were children at the time 
of the immigration of the respective families 
to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Neitman 
came to Gage county in the '80s and she is now 
deceased, Mr. Nietman being now retired from 
active business and still retaining his residence 
at Beatrice. Mr. and 'Sirs. Mumford have a 
winsome little daughter, Kathryn Loraine, wh,5 
was born December 23, 1914. Mr. Mumford 
is affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Eagles 
and his wife is a member of the Lutheran 
church. 



OLR'ER C. MUMFORD. whose home- 
stead farm, an integral part of the undivided STEPHEN A. SMITIL — Since the pio- 
familv estate, is situated in Section 4, Logan neer days the subject of this review has been 
township, is one of the vigorous and popular a resident of Gage county and not only has he 
voung representatives of farm enterprise in his been witness of the changes that have taken 
native county, adequate record concerning the place but has also, for forty-eight years, been 



830 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV, NEBRASKA 



an active force in bringing about our present 
day development. 

Stephen Allen Smith was born in McMinn 
county, Tennessee, March 17, 1845, and is the 
son of Elijah S. and Mary J. (Winton) Smith, 
the former a native of North Carolina and of 
English descent, the latter bom in Tennessee, 
in which state they were married April 4, 1844. 
In 1849 they moved to Illinois and became pio- 
neer settlers of McDonough county, where 
Elijah S. Smith achieved substantial success as 
a farmer. They spent the remainder of their 
lives in this county, living retired in later years 
at Goodhope. Illinois, where they both passed 
away. 

The boyhood days of Stephen A. Smith were 
spent on the Illinois farm and his early educa- 
tion was gained in the public schools of the 
neighborhood, this discipline being supple- 
mented by his attending a college at Burling- 
ton, Iowa. \^ hen a young man of twenty-one 
years he began his independent career, — 
working on a farm by the month, and in those 
days one dollar a day was considered large 
wages for the service which he thus rendered. 

In 1870 Mr. Smith came to Nebraska in 
true pioneer style. He drove overland with 
team and covered wagon and crossed the Mis- 
souri river at Nebraska City. After reaching 
the Nebraska side he started west, and the 
wind was blowing such a gale that he saw 
plows and harrows left in the fields and nearly 
covered with sand. This could not have 
proved a very encouraging sight, but he 
pressed on and arrived at Beatrice, Gage 
county on the 19th of April. He found lodg- 
ing at BIythe's bakery and hotel and the next 
morning started for Sicily township, intend- 
ing to follow the ridge south from Beatrice. 
It was snowing and blowing so badly that 
he could hardly see. and after many hours he 
came to a road. This he followed, and to- 
ward evening he could see ahead of him, signs 
of a settlement. As he drew near he found 
he had returned to Beatrice, from the west, 
as he had traveled in a circle during the storm. 
Again he stayed all night in the same place as 
the night before. The next day, under more 
favorable circumstances, he reached his des- 



tination in Sicily township, where he and his 
brothers had bought three hundred and twenty 
acres of wild, unbroken prairie. Mr. Smith 
set resolutely to work to make a home. After 
ten years he sold his one hundred and sixty 
acres there and moved to Blue Springs town- 
ship, where his wife had inherited a tract of 
land. For many years Mr. Smith conducted 
a nursery on his farm, and thus he aided and 
encouraged in no small degree the planting 
of trees, both fruit and ornamental. His 
landed possessions in Gage county were three 
hundred and twenty acres, in Blue Springs 
township, and he also owns land in Kansas 
and Canada. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith have for several years 
past made visits to Canada during the succes- 
sive summers and have there spent several 
weeks in recreation and looking after their in- 
vestments. 

On November 11, 1874, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Henrietta 
Tobyne, who was bom in Ogle county, Illi- 
nois, July 19, 1855. She is a daughter ot 
James N. and Caroline (Zeitz) Tobyne, the 
former born in Canada, the latter in Ger- 
many. Mrs. Smith's parents became resi- 
dents of Gage county. May 19, 1868: they set- 
tled in Blue Springs township, where the 
father became an extensive land owner, and in 
this township they both passed the remainder 
of their lives. Mr. Tobyne died at the age ol 
sixty-one years, and his wife was sixty-two 
years of age at the time of her death. 

Three children came to make the home 
happy for Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Leslie Allen 
died at the age of twenty-two years ; Lenley 
Elton married Miss Lizzie McMichaels and he 
is a farmer in Blue Springs township ; and 
Miss Estelle A. remains with her parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the 
Methodist church, in which they have been 
active workers for many years. In politics 
Mr. Smith was a Democrat for many years, 
but he is now inclined to vote for men and 
measures, regardless of party. In recent years 
he has given his support to the prohibition 
movement, the cause of temperance finding in 
him a stalwart champion. He served as 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



831 



treasurer of his school district while residing 
in Sicily township, as did he also after remov- 
ing to Blue Springs township and while here 
living on his farm. When the Farmers' Grain 
Company of Blue Springs was organized, six- 
teen years ago, Mr. Smith was one of its 
founders, and he has served as its president 
since that time. 

Mr. Smith and his wife and daughter oc- 
cupy a beautiful home in Blue Springs, sur- 
rounded with all the necessities and many of 
the luxuries of life, and though retired from 
the active labors of former years Mr. Smith 
still keeps in touch with aiifairs connected with 
the Grain Company and otherwise gives his 
supervision to his investments. He is one 
of Gage county's most respected citizens, and 
the success and honor that have come to him 
are justly deserved. 

FRED N. CRANGLE, an active and repre- 
sentative business man at Blue Springs, was 
born in Henry county, Illinois, January 2, 
1874. He is a son of William F. Crangle, of 
Beatrice, (a sketch of whom appears on other 
pages of this history.) 

Fred N. Crangle came to Nebraska with his 
parents when a child, and received his early 
education in the country schools of Gage 
county, after which he took a course in the 
Northwestern Business College of Beatrice. 
He followed farming rn Gage county for a 
lumiber of years. In 1910 ;\Ir. Crangle moved 
to Butler county, Kansas, where he bought a 
ranch of nine hundred and sixty acres, which 
he still owns, besides being the owner of land 
in Sedgwick county, that state. For four 
years Mr. Crangle was traveling salesman for 
the International Harvester Company, and at 
one time' he was assistant state manager in 
Kansas for that company. In 1915 he re- 
turned to Beatrice, but soon afterward he 
moved to Blue Springs and began work foi 
Black Brothers' Mill Company, in charge of 
their grain elevator. By this company he is 
still employed. 

On June 8, 1898, Mr. Crangle was united in 
marriage to Miss Nettie A. Cavett, daughter 
of Reuben and Calista Cavett. Mrs. Crangle 



was born in Illinois and came to Gage county 
with her parents in 1882. Mr. Cavett now 
makes his home with the Crangle family in 
Blue Springs. Mr. and Mrs. Crangle are the 
parents of four children : Paul, Beulah, Bes- 
sie, and Abbie. 

In politics Mr. Crangle is a Republican. He 
is a member of the Royal Highlanders at Bea- 
trice, and he and his family are members of 
the Methodist church. 

Mr. Crangle has been a very successful man 
and now owns several hundred acres of land 
in Kansas, besides a nice home in the town 
of Blue Springs. 

THEODORE BOHNSTEDT maintains 
representative status as one of the prominent 
and influential exponents of farm industry in 
Hanover township, where his attractive home- 
stead place is situated in Section 10, and as a 
substantial and honored citizen of the county 
he merits specific recognition in this publica- 
tion. 

^Ir. Bohnstedt was born in Richland 
county, Illinois, August 10, 1862, and is a son 
of Charles and Mary E. (Capel) Bohnstedt, 
the former a native of Germany and the latter 
of the state of Pennsylvania. The marriage 
of the parents was solemnized in Zanesville, 
Ohio, and within a short time thereafter they 
removed to Richland county, Illinois, where 
Charles Bohnstedt purchased a farm of eighty 
acres. He became one of the successful farm- 
ers and representative citizens of Richland 
county and there continued his residence until 
his death, which occurred June 9, 1915, his 
widow being still a resident of the county in 
which they established their home many years 
ago. Mr. Bohnstedt was a Democrat prior 
to the Civil war and thereafter transferred his 
allegiance to the Republican party. His re- 
ligious faith was that of the Evangelical 
church, his widow now being a member of the 
United Brethren church. He finally traded 
his farm for property .in the village of Olney, 
Illinois, where he passed the residue of his 
life. He was a son of Charles Bohnstedt, 
who established the family home in Pennsyl- 
vania upon coming to America, but who later 



832 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



removed to Ohio and finally to Illinois, in 
which state his death occurred. David Capel, 
maternal grandfather of the subject of this 
review, was a native of France and after com- 
ing to the United States he established his 
home in J^ennsylvania, whence he later re- 
moved to Ohio, where he passed the rest of his 
life. 

Theodore Bohnstedt was reared and edu- 
cated in Illinois and was twenty-three years of 
age when, in 1885, he came to Nebraska and 
established his home in Gage countv. For 
two years he was here employed by William 
Townsend, one of whose daughters he event- 
ually wedded, and after thus taking to him- 
self a wife he resided one year in the city 
of Beatrice. He then turned his attention to 
farm industr)-, and since 1909 he has rented 
and conducted progressive farm enterprise on 
the half section of land which he rents of 
Robert Littlejohn. lie follows a vigorous 
course in his operations as an agriculturist 
and stock-grower and makes his business en- 
terprise one of definitely successful order. 

In May, 1887, was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Bohnstedt to Miss Marj^ Townsend, a 
daughter of the late William Townsend, to 
whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of 
this volume. Of the ten children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Bohnstedt eight are living: Harry 
L. is a skilled mechanic and is employed in 
an electric-light plant at Oak, Nebraska ; and 
the other children remain at the parental home, 
— Hazel, Velma, Duane, Maude, Mabel, Mar- 
jorie and Preston. 

In politics Mr. Bohnstedt is found aligned 
as a staunch supporter of the cause of the 
Democratic party and though he has had no 
ambition for official preferment of any kind he 
has shown his civic loyalty by effective service 
as road supervisor and as a member of the 
school board of his district. 

GEORGE N. PENCE was twenty-four 
years of age when he came from the okl Buck- 
eye state to Gage county, in 1885; and his 
activities since that time have shown signifi- 
cantly that a generous measure of prosperity 
has been here possible of achievement on the 



part of the man of industry and integrity who 
will apply himself diligently along the line of 
agricultural and live-stock enterprise. He 
owns and has made e.xcellent improvements 
upon his farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
in Section 18, I.ogan township, where he is 
now living practically retired, the farm being 
rented to a good tenant. 

George Newton Pence was bom in Adams 
county, Ohio, on the 13th of August, 1861, 
and is a son of Louis and Harriet (Mowry) 
Pence, who passed their entire lives in that 
fine old commonwealth. Mr. Pence was 
reared and educated in Ohio and there con- 
tinued his association with agricultural pur- 
suits until 1885. when he came to Gage 
county and found employment at farm work, 
at a compesation of eighteen dollars a month. 
He carefully conserved his earnings during 
the eight years he was thus engaged and then 
turned his attention to independent activities 
on a rented farm. Finally he purchased his 
present homestead, in 1902, and he has de- 
veloped the same into one of the excellent 
farms of Logan township, all of the buildings 
on the place having been erected by him and 
unequivocal success having attended his ef- 
forts during his active career as a progressive 
and substantial exponent of fanii enterprise 
in Gage county. He is aligned in the ranks 
of the Democratic party, has been liberal in 
support of measures and enterprises projected 
for the general good of the community but has 
had no ambition for political activity or of- 
ficial preferemcnt. 

In 1889 Mr. Pence married Miss Clara B. 
Mumford, who was born and reared in this 
county and who is a daughter of the late John 
B. Mumford, an early settler and honored 
pioneer of the county. Mrs. Pence .passed to 
the life eternal in 1901 and is survived by one 
son, Albert, who is a successful farmer in 
Logaii township. 

WALTER V. LANCASTER, who is now 
living retired in the city of Beatrice, his pleas- 
ant home being at 625 North Eighth street, 
held for a quarter of a centun- a place of 
prominence as one of the representative farm- 






HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



833 



ers of this county, and he is still the owner 
of a valuable farm property of two hundred 
and forty acres, in Holt township. 

Walter Vivian Lancaster was bom in Ma- 
coupin county, Illinois, August 15, 1863, and 
is a son of William Lancaster, whose father, 
Frank Lancaster, was a pioneer settler in the 
state of Illinois, adequate record concerning 
the family history being given on other pages 
of this publication, in the sketch dedicated to 
Raymond Lancaster, a brother of him whose 
name introduces this article. Walter V. 
Lancaster was reared and educated in his na- 
tive county, where he attended the district 
schools and later the village schools of Girard. 
He assisted his father in farm operations and 
upon attaining to his legal majority he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased his 
present landed estate of two hundred and 
forty acres, in Holt township, the farm having 
been reclaimed and measureably improved. 
He made this one of the model farms of the 
township and there developed a most pros- 
perous enterprise along the lines of diversi- 
fied agriculture, stockgrowing and dairying, 
special success having attended his activities 
as a feeder and shipper of cattle, in which field 
of enterprise his operations were conducted on 
a somewhat extensive scale. After remaining 
on his farm for twenty-five years he removed 
to Beatrice and his younger son now has the 
active management of the farm. 

Mr. Lancaster has shown lively interest in 
the things that touch the communal welfare, is 
a staunch supporter of the principles of the 
Democratic party, and in addition to having 
served three years as clerk of Holt township 
he served many years as school director of his 
district while still residing on his farm. 

In Illinois, in 1884, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Lancaster to Miss Alice 
Barnes, who was born in Mason county, that 
state, a daughter of George and Clarissa 
(Hovey) Barnes, natives respectively of Ver- 
mont and Massachusetts and both young at 
the time of the removal of the respective fam- 
ilies to Macoupin county, Illinois. In that 
county was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Barnes and eventually they removed 



to Mason county, that state, where he en- 
gaged in farming. In that county Mrs. 
Barnes remained until her death and her hus- 
band passed the closing years of his life with 
his daughter, in Gage county, Nebraska. The 
paternal grandfather of Mrs. Lancaster was 
Nathaniel Barnes and her maternal grand- 
father, Daniel Gilbert Hovey, was a minute- 
man who gave patriotic service as a soldier in 
the war of the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. 
Lancaster are zealous members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church and they have a wide 
circle of friends in their home city and county. 
They have two children : Clark is a skilled 
mechanic and he and his wife, whose maiden 
name was May Evans, reside with his parents, 
their children being Mabel and Eunice; Oscar 
W., who has charge of his father's farm, mar- 
ried Miss Maude Ford and they have three 
children, — Eliza, Beatrice and William Wal- 
ter. 

ROBERT C. HEMPHILL. — The late 
Robert C. Hemphill was one of the gallant 
patriots who fought to save our country from 
dissolution when its integrity was menaced by 
armed rebellion, and who fought equally well 
in the great nature-conflict necessary to re- 
deem the prairies and make them blossom as 
the rose. Mr. Hemphill served in the Civil 
war for three years, in the Army of the Po- 
tomac, as a member of Company F, Thirteenth 
Pennsylvania Cavalry. He served his country 
faithfully. There were no brilliant attacks or 
high-handed captures to his credit, but he 
knew all of the hardships and privations the 
soldier had to undergo to be at hand when his 
country needed him. But with all of the hard- 
ships came the glory at the end, when his coun- 
try was united in body and spirit. He was 
honorably discharged May 2, 1865. 

Robert Hemphill was born April 24, 1841, 
in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. On the 
13th of February, 1868, he married Margaret 
T. Brown and to this union were born nin? 
children, eight of whom are living: Robert 
B. is a resident of Riverside township. Gage 
county; Ella O. is the wife of W. P. Car- 
rithers, of Beatrice; W'illiam J. resides at 



834 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




o 



o 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



835 



Lincoln, Nebraska ; Bessie died November 30, 
1899; Walter C. resides in Lincoln township, 
this county; Helen M. is the wife of C. H. 
Limbeck, living at Blue Springs, Nebraska ; 
Carrie B. is the wife of Lewis Sears, of Ball- 
ston Spa, New York; Charles V. lives in 
Lincoln township. Gage county ; and Agnes 
O. is the wife of Ralph Clark, of Riverside 
township. 

In 1883 Robert C. Hemphill came with his 
family to Beatrice, Nebraska, and purchased 
land southwest of the city, in what is now 
Elm township. He came in the days when the 
pioneer front guards had opened the way but 
when there was need for men of determined 
spirit and a willingness to make sacrifices for 
the upbuilding of a great agricultural com- 
munity. He continued his successful farm 
enterprise until 1908, when he retired and es- 
tablished his home in the city of Beatrice, 
where he remained until his death, January 
24, 1918. He was an honored member of 
Rawlins Post, No. 35, Grand Army of the 
Republic, at Beatrice, and just before his de- 
mise he was elected commander of the post, 
though he officiated at only one meeting after 
his election. 

When Mr. Hemphill and his wife came to 
this county, in 1883, they allied themselves 
with the Presbyterian church. In 1888 he 
was elected ruling elder, and for thirty years 
he filled this place with true Christian faith- 
fulness. In its support this church received 
liberally of his time and money at all times. 
He was interested also in his township and 
county, and when they needed a man to be a 
servant of the people he gave of his time and 
ability to such service. He was a member of 
the Gage county board of supervisors and was 
county assessor for five years. In this latter 
capacity he became specially well known to 
many of the residents of the county. 

Mr. Hemphill's devoted wife was born in 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1846, 
and she passed to her reward September 17, 
1909. Two sons, Walter C, and Charles V., 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land 
in Section 28, Lincoln township, in 1911. 
These two brothers are farming these acres 



jointly. They were just lads when they ar- 
rived in Gage county and have spent the 
greater part of their lives here. Walter C. 
was born Februarj' 20, 1875, and Charles V. 
was born March 1, 1881, both being natives of 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. They re- 
ceived their education in the district schools 
and have devoted their time to the tilling of 
the soil. They are successful farmers, hav- 
ing improved their farm with not only utility 
in view but beauty as well. The commodious 
house and barn well attest to their ability and 
progressiveness. On their farm they feed a 
good many cattle for the market each year 
and this business is done on a somewhat ex- 
tensive scale. 

Charles V. Hemphill married Miss Maude 
Wells, of Jefferson county, Nebraska, and 
they have four children, Neva, Ruby, Dorothy, 
and Clark — all at home with their parents. 

Walter C. Hemphill is still a bachelor and 
shares the home with his brother and family. 
These two young men are valued members of 
their community, conduct their farming op- 
erations in a strictly businesslike manner and 
they are keeping abreast of the time along 
agricultural lines. They are Republicans in 
politics. 

ANTON DVORAK. — The subject of this 
record is a prosperous farmer residing in Glen- 
wood township. He was born in Bohemia, 
Gennany, February 1, 1866. His parents, 
Frank and Frances Dvorak, also natives of 
Bohemia, came to the United States in 1876 
and settled in Richardson county, Nebraska, 
where the father became a prosperous farmer 
and extensive land owner. Both passed 
away in Richardson county, the father at the 
age of seventy years and the mother at 
seventy-five. They were the parents of four 
sons, all of whom are living: Frank, resides 
in Pawnee county, Nebraska, and Adolph in 
Missouri; Anton is the subject of this sketch; 
and John lives in Chicago. 

Anton Dvorak was ten years old when the 
home was transferred to the New World, and 
until the age of twenty-two he remained on 
his father's farm in Richardson county. He 



836 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



than began his independent career as a farmer 
on land given him by his father. He had a 
team of horses, a few tools, and with this equip- 
ment he went to work. He was the owner of 
two hundred acres in Pawnee countv when, 
twenty-two years ago. he came to Gage county 
and purchased his present farm of three hun- 
dred and twenty acres. He also helped his son 
buy a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. 
He is engaged in general farming and has one 
of the well improved properties of the town- 
ship. 

In Richardson county, he was married to 
-Aliss Antonia Svarckop. She was born in 
Bohemia, in August, 1868, a daughter of 
Hynek and Barbara Svarckop, who came from 
their native land many years ago and were 
farming people of Richardson county, where 
both i)assed the rest of their lives. 

.Mr. and Mrs. Dvorak are the parents of six 
children : Mary, is the wife of Frank Cacek ; 
Frank, a farmer of Glenwood township ; Anna,' 
Charles, Amos and Blanche are still under the 
parental roof. The family are Presbyterians 
in religious belief and Mr. Dvorak votes with 
the Democratic party in national affairs, while 
at local elections he is independent of partisan 
lines. He is a good farmer, a first-class citi- 
zen and has a host of friends. 

BRUNE C. MEINTS has been a resident 
of Nebraska since he was fourteen years of 
age and due record concerning the family his- 
tory appears on other pages, in the sketch dedi- 
cated to his father, Christ J. Meints. He 
whose name initiates this paragraph acquired 
his youthful education in the district schools 
of Nebraska and was reared under the con- 
ditions and influences of the pioneer days. He 
was born in .Kdams county, Illinois, October 
21. 1867, and he has been consecutively asso- 
ciated with farm industry in Nebraska from 
his youth to the present time. Definite suc- 
cess has crowned his activities as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower and he is now the 
owner of a well improved farm estate of two 
hundred and forty acres, in Logan townshio, 
where his attractive home is located in Sec- 
tion 16. On his homestead he has erected ex- 



cellent buildings, including a commodious farm 
residence, and he has long been known as one 
of the progressive farmers and substantial and 
public-spirited citizens of Logan township. 
He is staunchly arrayed as a supporter of the 
cause of the Republican party and while he 
has not sought political preferment his insist- 
ent interest in local affairs has been shown 
in the effective service he has given as road 
supervisor, of which position he is the incum- 
bent at the time of this writing. Both he and 
his wife are active communicants of the Han- 
over Lutheran church, as was also his first 
wife. 

In 1891 Mr. Meints wedded Miss Grace 
Ihnen, who likewise was born in Adams 
county. Illinois, and who was a daughter of 
Onke Ihnen, who was a successful merchant 
in Illinois and who died in Butler county, Ne- 
braska, where he had become a successful 
farmer. To this marriage were bom eight 
children : Christ is married and resides on a 
farm northwest of the village of Pickrell, this 
county; Onie is married and is engaged in 
farm enterprise in Logan township; and 
Henr)-, Jennie. Grace, William, John, and 
Brune remain as members of the home circle. 
The mother of these children passed away in 
1909. Mr. Meints later married Miss ]Mary 
Hattesohl, a native of Wi.sconsin, and she is 
the popular head of the domestic affairs of the 
pleasant home. 



JOSEPH CACEK. — Born in Bohemia, in 
1832, and reared to manhood in his native 
land, the late Joseph Cacek married Miss .Anna 
Tepla, who was born in Bohemia in 1840. 
Mr. Cacek's patriotism is shown by the fact 
that he served eight years in the militar)' or- 
ganization of his country, — four year's on 
land and four in the navy. In 1867 he came 
with his family to America and they resided 
in the city of Detroit, Michigan until 1874, 
when he became a pioneer settler of Gage 
county, Nebraska, locating at Clatonia. Five 
years later he bought land in Paddock town- 
ship, and etsablished a home on the northeast 
quarter of Section S. Here he built a frame 
house, and. witli the bel]) of his faniilv. began 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



837 



the development of a farm. As the years 
passed he succeeded, and he made additional 
investments in land, becoming one of the well- 
to-do men of the county. Mr. Cacek made 
three trips to the old country and on one of 
these journeys he passed away, in 1912, his 
wife having died in 1896. Mr. Cacek's suc- 
cess was due to his own and his family's ef- 
forts, as he landed in America with but 
twenty-five cents. He lived to be seventy 
years old and had the pleasure of seeing the 
members of his family all well established in 
homes of their own. 

To this worthy couple was born four chil- 
dren, as follows : Joseph and John, farmers 
in Paddock township ; Mrs. Rimund Weiner, 
of Sicily township, and Mrs. Joseph Bures, of 
Glenwood township. The parents were com- 
municants of the Catholic church, and in the 
upbuilding of Gage county they did their full 
share. 



CHARLES H. HOLLINGWORTH is a 
member of a representative Gage county fam- 
ily concerning which adequate record is given 
on other pages of this work, and he was born 
on the fine old homestead farm which is now 
his place of residence, in Section 32 Rockford 
township, the date of his nativity having been 
March 12, 1865, which signifies emphatically 
that his parents were numbered among the ter- 
ritorial pioneers of the county. He remained 
with his parents on the old home place until 
their death and then came into possession of 
ninety-two acres of the property, his fine home 
being the substantial stone house that was 
erected more than forty years ago, by his 
brother Alfred C, of whom mention is made 
elsewhere in this volume. This house is one 
of the veritable landmarks of this section of 
the state and Mr. Hollingworth takes much 
satisfaction in the fact that he is able to uphold 
the prestige of the family name in connection 
with loyal citizenship and constructive farm 
industrj' in Gage county, where he was reared 
under the influences of the pioneer days and 
where he gained his early education in the com- 
mon schools of the period. His political alle- 
giance is given to the Democratic party and 



he and his wife are members of the Christian 
church in the city of Beatrice. 

In 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Hollingworth to Aliss Anna L. DeWitt, who 
was born in Montgomery county, Illinois, and 
they have but one child. Jessie L.. who at- 
tended the Wesleyan University at Lincoln, 
this state, and who is now a successful and 
popular teacher in the public schools at 
Holmesville, not far distant from the old 
homestead. 

Mr. Hollingworth's first school teacher was 
Hugh J. Dobbs, the author of this history of 
Gage county, and he recalls with humorous 
appreciation that on one occasion Mr. Dobbs 
disciplined him for some youthful prank or 
remissness by making him stand at a knot hole 
in a log and hold his toe in the aperture, as a 
matter of punishment. 

CHARLES N. HINDS, cashier of the 
Hinds State Bank of Odell, is a native of 
Iowa, born near Postville, November 2, 1871, a 
son of Edwin B. Hinds, a record of whom ap- 
pears elsewhere in this volume. 

Charles Norton Hinds was a lad of nine 
years when the family home was transferred 
to Odell. Nebraska, where he attended the 
public schools and was a member of the first 
graduating class of Odell high school, in 1891. 
In 1895 he received the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts from the L^niversity of Nebraska, at 
Lincoln, and in 1896 the degree of Master of 
Arts was conferred upon him by the same 
institution. Thereafter he was professor of 
history at York College. York, Nebraska, for 
one year. Then, for five years, he was in 
the office of the register of deeds at Beatrice, 
after which he organized the Commercial 
State Bank at Bameston and became cashier. 
In 1903 he returned to Odell and became 
cashier of the Hinds State Bank, of which his 
father is president and principal owner. 

He was united in marriage to Miss Jessie 
A. Walker, a native of Wisconsin and they 
are the parents of these children : Clarence 
E., Lulu A., Hazel D., William ^^^alker, Ed- 
win Shaw and James Pershing. 

Both by education and tempennent Mr. 



838 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Hinds is well qualified for the executive posi- 
tion of which he is the incumbent in the Hinds 
State Bank. He has a genial disposition, 
wliich begets frien(Ishi[) and good will, and 
at the same time possesses that dignity 
and bearing whi:h inspire confidence. He 
is a personal friend of General John J. Persh- 
ing, who was commander of the Nebraska 
University Battalion for four years while he 
was a lieutenant in the United States amiy, 
and Mr. Hinds ]«ssed through the grades of 
service and attained the rank of first lieuten- 
ant of Company B. He has been solicited to 
enter the service of Uncle Sam and been ten- 
dered prominent positions in the army by his 
old friend, who now commands the United 
States forces on the battlefields of Europe. 

Mr. Hinds is a Republican in politics and 
fraternally is a member in good standing of 
the Indejjendent Order of Odd Fellows and 
the Modern Woodmen of America lodges of 
Odell. 

NOAH WRIGHTSMAN, a substantial re- 
tired farmer residing in the attractive village 
of Holmesville, has been a resident of Gage 
county since 18<S8 and has here won independ- 
ence through his active alliance with farm in- 
dustry. Jie was born in one of the eastern 
counties of Virginia, January 23, 1848. and is 
a son of Samuel and Annie (Wirtz) Wrights- 
man, who likewise were natives of the historic 
Old Dominion state. 

Noah Wrightsman acquired his youthful 
education in his native state and was seventeen 
years old when he accompanied his parents to 
Macoupin county, Illinois, where his father 
engaged in farming, the parents having passed 
the remainder of their lives in that county. 
When Noah attained to the age of twenty 
years his father "gave him his time," and for 
the ensuing six years he was employed by the 
month at farm work. He then engaged in 
farming for him.self. in Macoupin county, Illi- 
nois, where he continued his activities until 
1888, when he came to Gage county, Nebraska, 
and bought eighty acres of land in Rock ford 
township. He improved the buildings on the 
place, erected new buildings and eventuallv 



developed one of the fine farm properties of 
the township, where he still retains ownership 
of the farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
besides which he owns two residence proper- 
ties at Holmesville and a tract of land in 
Thomas county, Kansas. He retired from his 
farm in 1908 and has since maintained his 
residence in Holmesville. 

In the year 1875 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Wrightsman to Miss Susan Bru- 
baker, of Tennessee, in which state she was 
born and reared, and she is a sister of Benja- 
min A. Brubaker, a well known farmer of 
Rockford township. Mr. and Mrs. Wrights- 
man have three children: Harvey P., of 
Holmesville, is married and has two children : 
Elmer C, who is married and has six children, 
is associated with his bachelor brother, Otis 
F., in the operation of their father's farm. Mr. 
Wrightsman is a Republican in politics and he 
and his family are members of the Church of 
the Brethren, commonly designated as the 
Dunkard church. 

JOHN APPLEBEE was a youth of four- 
teen years when he came with his parents to 
Nebraska Territory and during the long inter- 
vening years he has maintained his residence 
in Gage county, where he has been an appre- 
ciative witness of the splendid march of de- 
velopment and progress, in which he himself 
has played a sturdy and worthy part. In Sec- 
tion 16, Hanover township, he is the owner 
of the farm of eighty acres upon which he re- 
sides, and which is a part of the old home 
place of his father. This he utilizes in his 
farm operations. 

Mr. iVpplebee was born in La Salle county. 
Illinois, July 20, 1851, and is a son of John 
and Ella (Denton) Apjjlebee, both natives of 
the state of New York, their marriage having 
been solemnized in Illinois. In the latter state 
John .\pplebee. Sr., continued his association 
with farm industry until 1865, when he came 
with his family to Nebraska Territory and 
became a pioneer settler of Gage county. His 
household effects were shipped bv rail and 
river to Nebraska City, from whicli point he 
transported them to Gage county by team and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



839 




John ApFLEWit; 



840 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



wagon. He settled on the farm now owned by 
his son Jo]in, girded himself vigorously for 
the arduous wori< in hand, and eventually re- 
claimed and imjjroved his land. This hon- 
ored pioneer passed the closing period of his 
life in the home of his son William, of Filley. 
this county, and attained to the patriarchal 
age of ninety-two years, his wife having 
passed away on the old homestead place, at 
the age of eighty-four years. Concerning 
their children the following brief data are 
available : William is deceased : Edward is a 
farmer in Hanover township: John, subject 
of this review, was the next in order of birth; 
Jennie is the wife of Alfred Boyer, of Vir- 
ginia, this county; Hannah became the wife 
of Frank Boyer and her death occurred sev- 
eral years ago; James is a resident of Nemaha 
township; and Jesse maintains his home in the 
city of Beatrice. 

He whose name initiates this article ac- 
quired his early education in the schools of 
Illinois and Gage county and was reared to 
manhood on the fann which he now owns 
and occupies. He was still a young man when 
he relieved his father to a large extent of the 
management of the farm and since the prop- 
erty came into his possession he has made 
numerous improvements on the same. He has 
borne his share of the heavy labors involved 
in the developing of a fann from the primi- 
tive v.'ilds, encountered his measure of hard- 
ships and reverses, but has reason to take just 
pride in the material prosjierity that has 
crowned his eft'orts. In the early days he wit- 
nessed the ravages of many prairie fires and 
was often called upon to plow around his 
stacks of grain to save them froni such con- 
flagrations. As a youth he worked at times 
for other pioneers of the county, as did also 
his father, and at times they would go to 
points twelve or more miles distant in the 
morning hours, apply themselves to work dur- 
ing the day and return to the home at night. 
He recalls the depredations and havoc 
wrouiJjht in the historic grasshopper scourge 
of 1872-1873, when the insects were so thick 
in the harvest fields as to obscure the bundles 
of grain. He followed in manv a harvest the 



old-time reaper and bound the grain by hand, 
and for three years the family home was pro- 
vided with water from what was ironically 
termed a dry-land well — three barrels on a 
wagon, by means of which water was hauled 
from a spring two miles distant. The com 
raised on the Applebee farm in the pioneer 
era was frequently sold for ten cents a bushel, 
and the great change in conditions is shown in 
the fact that in the summer of 1917 Mr. Ap- 
plebee sold a load of com, at Pickrell, for one 
hundred and thirteen dollars and forty cents, 
to realize which return in the early days it 
would have been necessary to sell fully a 
thousand bushels. Under primitive conditions 
Mr. Applebee applied himself earnestly and 
vigorously, and his attitude under the present 
conditions of opulent prosperity in the county 
has not changed, as he continued to have the 
deepest appreciation of the dignity and value 
of honest toil and endeavor. His political al- 
legiance is given to the Republican party, but 
he has never been diverted from the even 
tenor of his way by any ambition for politi- 
cal activity or public office. 

Mr. Applebee was twenty-one years of age 
at the time of his marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Griffin,- and her death occurred in 1887. Of 
their children the first two died in infancy; 
Emma is the widow of Albert Brinton, of 
Hanover township ; lUmer is a farmer in the 
same township; Walter resides in the village 
of rtckrell ; and Viola is the wife of Pearl 
Stanley, of Beatrice. The second marriage of 
-Mr. .\jiplebee was with Miss Ida Post, who 
was born in Illinois, and she presides most 
graciously over their pleasant and hospitable 
home. Of their children two died in in- 
fancy, and those surviving are Pearl ( the 
wife of Jesse Green, of Haxton, Colorado), 
Mary. Edna, Annie, Clyde, Esther, Ruby, 
Hazel, Erma, and Myrtle. 

LEWIS C. McCEUNG is consistently to be 
designated as one of the representative expon- 
ents of farm industry in Sherman township, 
where he is carrying forward his progressive 
operations as an agriculturist and stock-grower 
with a well im|)roved estate of four hundred 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



841 



acres, owned by himself and his wife, their 
pleasant home being in Section 8 of the town- 
shij) mentioned, and the same being known for 
its generous hospitality and good cheer. 

Mr. AlcClung was born in Johnson county, 
this state, on the 30th of January, 1878, and 
on other pages of this volume is given ade- 
quate record concerning the family, he being 
a son of the late Justin O. McCkmg, to whom 
a memoir is thus given. 

Mr. McClung was reared on his father's 
farm in Filley township, this county, and at- 
tended schools in the village of Filley. At 
the age of twenty-six years he married and en- 
gaged in independent farm operations in 
Sherman township, where he has since con- 
tinued his successful activities and won for 
himself secure vantage-place as an energetic 
and progressive farmer and public-spirited 
citizen. Flis wife received three hundred and 
twenty acres of land as a heritage from the 
estate of her father and Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Clung have since added to its area until they 
have one of the best farm properties in Sher- 
man township. They are active members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church and in poli- 
tics he gives a basic allegiance to the Republi- 
can party. 

In the year 1904 Mr. McClung wedded Miss 
Cora Chichester, who was born in Filley town- 
ship, this county, a daughter of Samuel and 
Martha (Forbes) Chichester, who were na- 
tives of Illinois and who became pioneer set- 
tlers in Gage county, where both died when 
Mrs. McClung was a child, she having been 
reared in the home of William Reed, another 
pioneer of the county. .Mr. and Mrs. AlcClung 
have no children. 

JOSEPH SHALLA. — Born on his fath- 
er's farm in Glenwood township, where his 
boyhood days were spent in attending the pub- 
lic schools and receiving instruction in the best 
methods of agriculture under the direction of 
liis father, the subject of this review wisely 
chose the occupation to which he had been 
reared and for the past three years has been 
operating a farm of one-hundred and si.xty 
acres in Section 16, Glenwood township. 



Joseph Shalla was bom August 3, 1893 and 
February 10, 1915, he married Miss Jennie 
Pribyl, a daughter of Milton and Mary (Bed- 
nar) Pribyl. 

Mr. Shalla, though still a young man, is 
making a success of his farming venture and 
is becoming one of the substantial citizens of 
Glenwood township, where his entire life thus 
far has been passed. 

AUGUST ADAM. — A native son of Gage 
county and a representative of one of its early 
pioneer families is August Adam, who owns 
and operates an excellent farm of two hun- 
dred acres in Glenwood township. He was 
born on his father's farm in this township, De- 
cember 4. liSS7, a son of Ernst Adam, of whom 
individual record is made on other pages. His 
boyhood days were spent on the home farm, 
where he learned the best methods of agri- 
culture under the direction of his father and 
he attended the public schools to acquire his 
education. He inherited his farm from the 
estate of his parents and has been operating 
this for the past six years. An excellent set 
of buildings has been put on the place since it 
came into his possession and he is one of the 
successful young farmers of the county. 

Mr. Adam married Miss Minnie Duis, who 
likewise was born in this county and who is a 
daughter of Ralph A. Duis. Of her father per- 
sonal record is given elsewhere in this volume. 
Two children, Martha and Walter, have come 
to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Adam. The 
family are members of the Lutheran church 
and are among the highly respected people of 
the community. 

HENRY :MENKE. — This publication ex- 
ercises one of its most important functions 
when it accords tribute to those worthy pio- 
neers who, after having contributed their full 
quota to the civic and industrial development 
and progress of Gage county, have passed from 
the stage of life's mortal endeavors and rest 
from their labors after having proved steward- 
ship that well merits the commendation of 
"Well done, good and faithful servant." 

Mr. Menke, who long held status as one of 



84: 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the representative agriculturists and stock- 
growers of Gage county, was bom in Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, December 4, 1832, and he was 
a youth at the time of the family immigration 
to America, his father having previously taken 
part in the revolutionary movement in Ger- 
many. The family home was established in 
Ohio, where the parents passed the remainder 
of their lives, as sterling pioneers of the old 
Buckeye state. Henry Menke was, given the 
advantages of the schools of his native land 
until the time of the family removal to the 
United States. About the year 1880, he came 
to Nebraska and purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in Section 33 Clatonia 
township. He developed this into one of the 
productive and well improved farms of the 
county, there passed the residue of his life, and 
there his widow still maintains her home. He 
erected good buildings on the farm, set out 
trees and in time, by his thrift and enterprise, 
made it one of the model farms of Clatonia 
township. Here his death occurred Septem- 
ber 20, 1915, and his nam& and memory are 
revered in the community that so long repre- 
sented his home. He was a man of strong 
intellectuality, well fortified in his convictions 
concerning public policies, was a Republican 
in politics, and while he had no desire for of- 
ficial preferment he consented to serve for a 
number of years in the position of road over- 
seer in his township. He was a most earnest 
and devout member of the German Methodist 
church, as is also his venerable widow, and he 
gave zealous and effective service as a local 
preacher of this denomination. Ordering his 
life upon the highest ])lane of integrity and 
honor, he was essentially one of the world's 
productive workers during the course of a 
long and vigorous career. 

As a young man Mr. Menke wedded Miss 
Mary Neimeyer, of Ohio, she having been 
born in Germany and her death having occur- 
red in Ohio, in 1861. Of the four children ot 
this union the following brief data are avail- 
able: Frederick is a merchant in the city of 
Portsmouth, Ohio ; Mrs. Lizzie Schmidt re- 
sides at Friend, Saline county, Nebraska ; 
Henry, Jr., is deceased, he having been a 



clergA'man of the Presbyterian church ; and 
Emma is the wife of William Werner, their 
home being near Portsmouth, Ohio. 

On the 1st of January, 1865, was solemn- 
ized the marriage of Mr. Menke to Miss Eliza 
Knapp, who was born in Germany, May 15, 
1843, a daughter of Henrj' and Caroline 
( Schocke) Knapp. She was but a small child 
when her parents came from Germany to 
America on a sailing vessel, and eleven weeks 
elapsed ere the family disembarked in the 
port of New York city, whence removal was 
made to Ohio, the family home having been 
established in Lawrence county, that state, 
when Mrs. Menke was a child of four years 
and her parents having there passed the re- 
mainder of their lives, her father having been 
for many years employed in connection with 
the operation of the iron furnaces in that sec- 
tion of the state. Of the ten children of Mr. 
and Mrs Menke two died in infancy, and of 
those who attained to adult age the following 
record is given in conclusion of this brief me- 
moir: Caroline is the wife of Lewis Klopper, 
of Caltonia township ; Matilda is the wife ot 
William Daubendick, of South Bend, Iowa; 
Catherine is the Avife of John H. ^^■aynlan, of 
Clatonia township, and he is individually men- 
tioned on other pages of this work ; Eliza is 
the wife of R. H. Kane, a merchant at Desh- 
ler, Thayer county, Nebraska ; Rosa is the wife 
of Lewis Wayman, of Holt county, this state; 
Edward is a resident of Hebron, Nebraska ; 
Nettie is the wife of Frank Steinmeyer, of 
Grant township ; and Albert remains with his 
widowed mother, as manager of the old home 
farm. 

GERHARD L. FRERICHS was born on 
the farm which is now the stage of his inde- 
pendent activities as one of the representative 
young exponents of agricultural and livestock 
industry, in Section 22, Logan township, the 
date of his nativity having been October 8, 
1889, and he being a son of L. W. Frerichs, 
concerning whom individual mention is made 
on other pages of this volume. The early 
educational discipline of Mr. Gerhard L. Frer- 
ichs was acquired in the district and (^.ennan 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY,, NEBRASKA 



843 



schools, and his judgment has caused him to 
pay unfaltering allegiance to farm enterprise. 
In 1910 he married and then became a part- 
ner of his father in conducting the operations 
of the well improved farm estate. In the 
spring of 1917 his father retired and removed 
to the city of Beatrice, and the subject of this 
review has since continued his successful and 
progressive activities in the control and man- 
agement of the finely improved farm of three 
hundred and twenty acres, upon which his 
father settled more than thirty-five years ago. 

Mr. Frerichs takes loyal interest in com- 
munity afifairs but has had no desire for po- 
litical activity or public office. He and his 
wife are active members of the Lutheran 
church. 

In 1910 j\Ir. Frerichs wedded Miss Gret- 
chen Meints, a member of a well known pio- 
neer family of which specific representation is 
given elsewhere in this work, she being a 
daughter of Henry Meints and a granddaugh- 
ter of Christ Meints. Mr. and Mrs. Frerichs 
have four children : Marie, Abbie, Lammert 
and Katrina. 

HENRY WIETERS, who is one of the sub- 
stantial representatives of farm industry in 
Glenwood township, was born in Germany, 
September 2, 1857, and when a young man he 
served in the German army, in the same regi- 
ment in which the present Kaiser William 
was a captain. When twenty-nine years of 
age he came to the United States, and for 
several years thereafter he worked in the lum- 
ber yard of his brother William, at Lanham, 
Kansas. Twenty years ago he purchased his 
present fami of one hundred and sixty acres 
on Section 20, Glenwood township, where he 
has made extensive improvements, including 
a good house and barns, and here he success- 
fully carries on general farming. 

He married Miss Louise Ritter, a native of 
the province of Hanover, Germany. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wieters are the parents of six children: 
Henry, who married Miss Hannah Duis, is at 
the home assisting in the operation of the 
fami; Sophia is the wife of Pape Duis, a 
farmer of Washington countv, Kansas ; Louise 



is the wife of Fred Sheele, of Lanham, Gage 
county; and Minnie, Annie and Caroline are 
at home. 

Mr. Wieters and his family are members of 
the Lutheran church, and in politics he is Re- 
publican. He is a good fanner, a good neigh- 
bor and a loyal citizen and he is hfeld in high 
regard by all who know him. 

TONY SHALLA was born on the farm, in 
Glenwood township, which has been the home 
of his parents since 1879, his natal day having 
been March 29, 1882. He is a son of Frank 
Shalla, whose life record is given in other 
pages of this book. Tony was reared on the 
farm, attended the public schools and as a boy 
assisted in the work about the farm. As his 
years and strength increased he gradually as- 
sumed the heavier burdens connected with the 
farm, giving his father the benefits of his la- 
bors until, on reaching man's estate and de- 
ciding upon agricultural pursuits as his voca- 
tion in life, he was assisted by his father in 
purchasing the farm which has been the scene 
of his successful activities for the past ten 
years. He is the owner of two hundred and 
forty acres, well improved, and gives his at- 
tention to general fanning. 

For a companion and helpmate he chose 
Miss Matilda Zaribnicky, who was born in 
Gage county, a daughter of Frank Zaribnicky, 
a farmer of Paddock township. Mr. and Mrs. 
Shalla are the parents of five children ; Elsie, 
William, James, Wilma and Martha. 

EDWARD BAUMAN is to be considered 
fortunate in that he is the owner of a well 
improved landed estate in Holt township, 
where his attractive homestead place is eli- 
gibly situated in Section 9 and where he is 
giving his attention most successfully to di- 
versified agriculture and to the raising of 
high-grade Durham cattle. In addition to 
owning four hundred acres of the valuable 
land of Gage county he has also a farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres near Cheyenne, 
Kansas. 

Mr. Bauman was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, to which Gage county is 



844 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 





< 

< 

C3 






HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



845 



indebted for a goodly number of representa- 
tive citizens in past as well as the present gen- 
erations, and the date of his nativity was Au- 
<TUSt 24, 1862. He is a son of Reiner and 
Fannie (Buhr) Bauman, of whose five chil- 
dren the eldest is Tillie, wife of Heye P. 
Parde, of Hanover township, this c<,imty; 
Anna is the wife of Heye Werts and they re- 
side in the state of California; Tena is the 
wife of Herman Wolken, of Hanover town- 
ship ; the subject of this review is the young- 
est of the number and the only son ; and one 
daughter died in infancy. 

In the year 1864 Reiner Daunian immi- 
grated with his family to America and settled 
in Adams county, Illinois, his wife having 
died there about two weeks later. Subse- 
quently Air. Bauman contracted a second mar- 
riage and of the same were born two children, 
both of whom are deceased. Mr. Bauman 
continued his activities as a farmer in Illinois, 
but shortly before his death he purchased land 
in Hanover township. Gage county, Nebraska : 
as he had made no payment on the purchase 
price the land reverted to the former owner 
upon the death of Mr. Bauman, when he was 
about seventy-two years of age. 

Edward Bauman was reared to adult age in 
Illinois, and his early educational advantages 
were those of the district schools. In 1885 he 
came to Gage county, and here he continued 
his activities as a farmer on rented land in 
Hanover township about fifteen years. He 
then purchased one hundred and sixty acres 
in Section 30, that township, but this property 
he later sold, after having made numerous im- 
provements on the same. In 1900 he pur- 
chased his present fine home farm, to which 
he removed in 1902, and in accumulating his 
valuable landed estate and bringing the same 
to its present condition of thrift and prosper- 
ity he has depended entirely upon his own 
abilitv and well ordered industry, his financial 
resources having been ver\' limited when he 
came to Gage county as a young man of am- 
bition and dauntless determination. Mr. Bau- 
man assisted in the organization of the Far- 
mers' State Bank of Pickrell, and is now jjresi- 
dent of this substantial financial institution. 



In politics he designates himself an inde- 
pendent Republican and he attends and sup- 
ports the German Lutheran church, of which 
his wife is a zealous member. 

On the 11th of March, 1888, Mr. Bauman 
married Miss Fannie Zimmerman, who was 
born -in Logan township, this county, March 
28, 1867, a daughter of Tamme Zimmerman, 
a sterling pioneer of Gage comity. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bauman have two children — Reiner, 
who is a progressive farmer in Holt township ; 
and Thomas, who remains at the parental 
home and assists his father in the manage- 
ment and work of the farm. 

ALBERT HUBKA. — The late Albert 
Hubka, a man of strong individuality, fine 
mentality and sterling character, was a pio- 
neer settler in Nebraska and through his well 
directed activities in connection with farm en- 
terprise he achieved large and worthy success. 
.A-t the time of his death, which occurred in 
Sherman township. Gage county, in 1898, he 
was the owner of a valuable landed estate of 
several hundred acres, and as a man of lip- 
rightness and constructive energ}% as well as a 
loyal and public-spirited citizen, he is properly 
accorded a tribute in this publication. His es- 
tate was largely represented in valuable land in 
Sections 1 and 12, Sherman township, and his 
sons are in their generation well upholding the 
honors of the family name. 

Albert Hubka was born in Bohemia, April 
22, 1846, and was a member of a family of 
twelve children, of whom six attained to years 
of maturity, two of his brothers likewise hav- 
ing become residents of Nebraska. Mr. Hubka 
was a son of Joseph and .\nna (Blaha) Hubka. 
who passed their entire lives in Bohemia. Al- 
bert remained at the parental home until he 
was a youth of fourteen years, and he passed 
the following five years in another section of 
the German empire, in the meanwhile receiv- 
ing good educational advantages. About the 
time of the Franco-Prussian war he came to 
America and after remaining for a time in 
Baltimore, Maryland, he came to the west. He 
passed a short inten-al in the city of Chicago 
and then went to Richland countv, Wisconsin. 



846 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



he having been a successful teacher during the 
period of his residence in Chicago. Finally 
he came to Nebraska and took up a homestead 
of one hundred and sixty acres in Pawnee 
county. There he continued farm operations 
about fourteen years, and in 1871 he ex- 
changed his pioneer farm in that county for 
four hundred and eighty acres in Sherman 
township, Gage county. He improved this 
land into one of the fine farm properties ol 
the county and became specially successful as 
an agriculturist and stock-grower, giving spec- 
ial attention for a number of years to the 
raising of high-grade horses. He accumu- 
lated a substantial fortune, was true and 
loyal in all of the relations of life and com- 
manded unqualified popular esteem. His po- 
litical support was given to the Democratic 
party and while he was frequently importuned 
to accept local offices he declined all such 
overtures, save that he gave effective service as 
director and treasurer of his school district, 
he having declined to accept the office of town- 
ship treasurer when urged to become the in- 
cumbent thereof. 

In 1867 Mr. Hubka wedded Miss Mary 
Kovanda, who was born in Bohemia, May 2, 
1847, a daughter of Albert and Fanny Ko- 
vanda, with whom she came to Pawnee county, 
Nebraska, in 1867. ;Mrs. Hubka still sur- 
vives her husband and now maintains her 
home in the village of Virginia, this county, 
as one of the venerable and loved pioneer 
women of this section of the state. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hubka became the parents of eight chil- 
dren, all of whom are living : Frank is a pros- 
perous farmer in Elm township; Joseph S. 
is individually mentioned on other pages of 
this work ; Annie is the wife of Joseph S. 
Stanek, of Sherman township; Frances is the 
wife of John Henzel, of Virginia, this county; 
Tames is a farmer in Washington county ; 
Emil is engaged in farm enterprise in Sher- 
man township; Emily is the wife of George 
Henzel, of Sherman township; and Julia is 
the wife of Charles Kozak. of Filley town- 
ship. 

Mr. Hubka not only won for himself sub- 
stantial success but also assisted all of his 



sons in gaining a secure start on the road to 
independence and prosperity. 

THOMAS W. STANOSHECK, president 
of the State Bank of Odell, is a native of 
Iowa, born at Iowa City, November 10, 1859. 
His parents were Albert and Pauline Stan- 
osheck, who were natives of Poland and who, 
in 1857, immigrated to America, locating at 
Iowa City, where they spent the remainder of 
their lives. 

Reared in his native city, Thomas Stano- 
sheck attended the public and parochial 
schools, and in 1884 he and his brother, Frank 
J., came to the new town of Odell. Nebraska, 
with a small stock of goods and opened up a 
general merchandise store. For thirteen 
years he successfully continued in this line of 
enterprise, and then, in 1897. he retired and 
de\oted his time to looking after his invested 
interests, having purchased a large amount of 
farm lands. In 1908 he became one of the 
organizers of the State Bank of Odell, and of 
the .same he has been president since 1913. 
He now gives close attention to his executive 
duties in connection with this institution and 
to the supervision of his fine landed estate of 
eight hundred acres, — comprising well im- 
proved farms. 

Mr. Stanosheck was united in marriage to 
Miss Abbie Murphy, a native of New York 
state, and a sister of J. E. Murphy of Odell. 
\\ho has furnished a record of the Murphy 
family. Mr. and Mrs. Stanosheck have be- 
come the parents of three children : William 
F. is married and resides in Odell. where he is 
cashier of the State Bank; Lillie and Gene- 
vieve are at home. 

-Mr. Stanosheck is interested in various en- 
terprises which have to do with the growth of 
the town. He is president of the Odell Lum- 
ber Company and also of the Farmers" Eleva- 
tor Companv. 

The religious views of our subject coincide 
with the teachings of the Catholic church and 
in politics is a Democrat. He has never as- 
pired to nor held public office, preferring to 
give his time and attention to his own affairs, 
in which he has been verj- successful. Odell 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



847 



was but two years old when he arrived and 
became one of its first merchants, and for 
thirty-four years he has been an important 
factor in its business development. 

JOSEPH HUBKA has through his own 
ability and energetic efforts accumulated one 
of the large and valuable landed estates of Fil- 
ley township and is one of the successful and 
representative agriculturists and stock-grow- 
ers of Gage county, his attractive home place 
being in Section 33, about one mile distant 
from the village of Filley. 

Mr. Hubka was born in Bohemia, Austria- 
Hungary, January 25, 1867, and is a son of 
Michael and Veronika Hubka, who came to 
the United States in 1883 and settled in Paw- 
nee county, Nebraska, where the father became 
a successful fanner; after his retirement from 
active labor he removed to the village of 
Table Rock, that county, where he passed the 
remainder of his life and where his widow 
still resides. 

Joseph Hubka gained his youthful educa- 
tion in the schools of his native land and was 
sixteen years old when he accompanied his 
parents on their immigration to America. He 
assisted his father in the reclaiming of the 
home farm in Pawnee county and also found 
employment as a farm hand. He could not 
at the time speak the English language and 
this proved somewhat of a handicap, his 
wages for the first year having been only ten 
dollars a month and the highest wages he at 
any time received during eight years of em- 
ployment as a fann worker having been 
seventeen dollars a month. In the meanwhile 
he gave virtually all of his earnings to his 
father and mother. \Mien he was twenty- 
four years of age his father assisted him in 
buying eighty acres of land in Pawnee county, 
and incidentally he assumed an indebtedness 
of five hundred dollars. On this farm, to 
which he later added eighty acres, he con- 
tinued his operations fourteen years, after 
which he sold the property. On the 22d of 
February, 1903, he came to Gage county and 
purchased two hundred and thirty-five acres 
of land in Filley township, where he has since 



continued his notably successful activities 
along the line of diversified agriculture and 
stock-growing. In 1918 he added to his es- 
tate by the purchase of another valuable farm 
in Filley township, this place comprising three 
hundred and twenty acres. His home farm in 
early days was owned by that honored pioneer, 
the late Elijah Filley, in whose honor the 
township and village of Filley were named. 
Mr. Hubka is a man whose word is as good 
as any bond that was ever issued, and he com- 
mands the unqualified respect of all who know 
him. His career has been marked by earnest 
and diligent application and he has well earned 
the gracious rewards of independence and 
prosperity. In politics he is independent of 
strict partisan lines and he is always ready to 
do his part in supporting movements and 
measures tending to conserve the general well- 
being of the community. 

In Pawnee county was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Hubka to Miss Anna Richly, who 
likewise is a native of Bohemia, and concern- 
ing their children the following brief record 
is given: Lillie is the wife of Amos Fritz, 
of Pawnee county; Frank conducts an auto- 
mobile garage in the village of Filley ; Emma 
is a student (1918) in the Nebraska State 
Normal School at Peru; and Clement, James 
and Joseph remain at the parental home. 

JAMES RATHBUN. — For thirty-six 
years the subject of this review has been a 
resident of Glenwood township. Gage county 
and in the work of development, from pioneer 
times to the present day, Mr. Rathbun has con- 
tributed his full share. 

James Rathbun was born in Washington 
county, Ohio, November 28, 1828, and is des- 
cended from a family founded in New Eng- 
land may generations ago. The father of our 
subject was Ebenezer Rathbun, who was bom 
in \'ermont. where he was reared to manhood. 
As a young man he went to Washington 
county, Ohio, where he married. In 1840 
he located in La Salle county, Illinois, and 
after a few years there and in Peoria county 
he made permanent location in Henry county, 
where he became a successful farmer and land 



848 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



owner. He was amongst the first white set- 
tlers of that county and there spent the re- 
mainder of his life, passing away in 1874. The 
mother of our subject bore the maiden name 
of Martha Hall. She was a native of Ireland 
and when a girl was brought to America by 
her parents, who settled in Ohio. She died in 
Henry county, Illinois, in 1878. 

James Rathbun was a lad of twelve sum- 
mers when the home was established in Illi- 
nois, where he grew to manhood and became 
a farmer. He bought and improved a tract 
of one hundred and twenty acres in Henry 
county, where he resided until 1882, when he 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, and in Sec- 
linn 1, Glenwood township purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, the same having 
been partly improved. As time passed he 
brought the land to a high state of cultivation 
and made good improvements. He has made 
his home on this place continuously for thirty- 
six years. That he has been successful is in- 
dicated in the fact that to-day he owns three 
hundred and twenty acres in Glenwood and 
Paddock townships and formerly owned two 
hundred and forty acres in Kansas : this prop- 
erty he has sold to three of his sons, who now 
make their homes on the land. 

February 25, 1858, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of James Rathbun and Mary Wolfe, who 
was born in Knox county, Ohio, June 24, 1836, 
a daughter of Peter and Jane (Biggs) \\'olfe. 
natives of Knox county, Ohio, and early set- 
tlers in Henry county, Illinois, where they 
passed away. Mrs. Rathbun was called to the 
home beyond in 1895, and was the mother 
of the following named children : Frank, 
George and Charles are married and reside on 
farms near Hollenburg, Kansas ; Lewis is a 
farmer residing in Odell ; John is a farmer ol 
Paddock township; Alice, is the wife of A. 
I. Layton. operating the home farm; Lizzie is 
the wife of Charles Mort. of Nebraska City; 
and Carrie is the wife of Ira Hageman, of 
Beatrice. 

.Mr. Rathbun has reached the venerable 
age of ninety years, has lived to see his sons 
and daughters established in life and can look 
on the past without regret and to the future 
without fear. He is a Democrat in politics. 



FRED EGGERT came to Gage county soon 
after his immigration from Germany to 
America, and was a vigorous and ambitiouus 
}Outh of seventeen years when he thus set 
forth to seek his fortunes in the United States. 
It was in the year 1882 that he arrived in 
America and made his appearance in Gage 
county. He was dependent entirely upon his 
own exertions in making advancement to- 
ward the goal of independence and was bur- 
dened by an indebtedness of one hundred and 
fifteen dollars at the time of his arrival in this 
county. For several years thereafter he was 
employed at farm work, at wages varying 
from six to ten dollars a month, but his fru- 
gality and careful saving of his earnings soon 
permitted him to free himself from debt and 
justify him in beginning independent oper- 
ations as a farmer on rented land. He finally 
purchased a farm in Saline county, where he 
continued his operations eight years. In 1912 
he [jurchased his present homestead farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, the saiue con- 
stituting the soutliwcst quarter of Section 34, 
Logan township, and here he has made many 
improvements of the best order, including the 
erection of a large barn and the remodeling 
and enlarging of the house. Without preten- 
tiousness or flourish of any kind Mr. Eggert 
has devoted himself earnestly to productive 
enterprise as a farmer and has won worthy 
success, the while he has commanded the full- 
est measure of ])opular esteem. His political 
activities are confined to the casting of his 
ballot in support of the cause of the Repub- 
lican party and of men and measures meeting 
his approval as a loyal citizen. Both he and 
his wife are consistent communicants of the 
Lutheran church. 

In this county was rtvorded the marriage 
of Mr. Eggert to Miss Lizzie Daubendick, 
who had been his boyhood schoolmate in Ger- 
many, she having been born and reared in the 
same community as was he, in Westphalia, and 
having been a young woman when she accom- 
])anied her parents to .\merica, the family 
liome having been established in Clatonia 
tow'nship, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Eggert 
have five children : Mary' is the wife of Hans 
Schmohr, a prosperous farmer of this county ; 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



849 



Henn,- is successfully engaged iu farm enter- 
]irise in Loj^aii township; Annie is the wife 
of John King, of Sanborn, Iowa; and Fred, 
Jr. and Carl, who are twins, are the younger 
members of the parental home circle. 

Adverting to the early period of the life 
history of Mr. Eggert, it may be noted that he 
was born in the province of Westphalia. Ger- 
many, on the 9th of May, 1864, and that he 
was but three years old at the time of his 
mother's death, he having no remembrance 
of ever having seen his father, as he was 
reared in the home of friends of the family. 
He was given the advantages of the schools 
of his native place and there continued his 
residence until ambition spurred him to come 
to the United States, where he felt assured 
of better opportunities for the winning of 
prosperity through his ow-n efiforts. He has 
made the passing years count in productive 
industry^ and is one of the substantial fanners 
of Logan township. 

FRANK BURES, who passed away, in 
Paddock township. May 1, 1915, was one of 
Gage county's successful farmers and sub- 
stantial citizens. A native of Iowa, he was 
born in Jones county, October 3, 1868, and 
was a son of Frank and Anna Bures, of whom 
mention is made in a sketch written for Joseph 
Bures. of Glenwood township. Reared to the 
life of the farm, in Iowa and in Gage county, 
Nebraska, Frank Bures, as a young man, 
learned the trade of blacksmith, at which he 
worked for a few years in Odell. He then 
purchased a farm in Section 7, Paddock town- 
ship, and this he brought to a high state of 
cultivation, with due attendant success mark- 
ing his varied farm activities. 

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Bures 
chose Miss Anna Lisec, a native of Saline 
county, Nebraska, where she was born March 
10. 1875. She is a sister of Frank Lisec, of 
Sicily township. Mr. and Mrs. Bures became 
the parents of four children: Albert died in 
infancy ; and Frank, Mary and James are with 
their mother on the farm, the sons carrj-ing 
on the work which has fallen upon their 
shoulders since the death of their father. 



Frank is serving, in 1918, his second year as 
assessor of Paddock township, his father hav- 
ing served as assessor of this township for 
three years. 

The late Frank Bures was a good farmer, 
a loyal citizen, a loving husband and father, 
and in his passing the community was bereft 
of a man whom it could ill afford to lose. 

WILLIAM PIEPER, who rents from his 
father a well improved farm of one hundred 
and sixty-one acres in Section 4, Holt town- 
ship, is another of the native sons of Gage 
county who is here exemplifying the best tra- 
ditions and also modern policies in progres- 
sive agriculture and stock-raising. He was 
born in Grant township, this county, July 8, 
1892, and is the eldest of the seven children 
born to Henrj' and Louisa (Bushe) Pieper; 
Ernest, the second son, has become a member 
of the national amiy being trained for partici- 
pation in the appalling European war, and at 
the time of this writing he is stationed in a 
training camp in New Mexico, in the winter 
of 1917-1918; Minnie, Sophia and Helen re- 
main at the paternal home; Emma is being 
reared in the home of her uncle, Frederick 
Rishe, in the city of Lincoln, this state ; and 
Hilda is in the home of her uncle Frederick 
Pieper. in Grant township. 

Henny' Pieper, father of the subject of this 
review, was born in Germany, about 1850, 
and was a lad of about fifteen years when he 
came with kinsfolk to the United States and 
settled in Gage county. Thereafter he was 
employed about nine years as a farm hand, 
and in the meanwhile he was careful in saving 
his earnings, his ambition being to establish 
himself eventually as an independent farmer. 
Finally he purchased eighty acres of land in 
Section 2, Grant township, and of the splendid 
success that has since attended his energetic 
and well ordered endeavors no further voucher 
need be given that the statement that he is 
now the owner of a valuable landed estate of 
four hundred and ten acres — one hundred 
and sixty acres in Grant township ; the one 
hundred and sixty-one acres farmed by his 
son \\'illiam, of this review, in Holt township ; 



850 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and eighty acres in Scotts Bluff county. He 
still resides on his fine homestead farm in 
Grant township, his devoted wife having died 
in 1908, as the sequel of an operation for ap- 
pendicitis. She was born in Germany and was 
thirty-seven years of age at the time of her 
death. She was a devoted member of the 
Evangelical Lutheran church, in which her 
husband likewise holds membership. 

William Pieper was reared on the home 
farm and gained his youthful education in the 
district schools of Grant township. He initi- 
ated his independent career as a farmer in 
1915, when he rented from his father his 
present farm, and he is proving himself one 
of the aggressive and successful agriculturists 
and stock-growers of the younger generation 
in his native county. In the season of 1917 
he obtained from seventy-one acres a yield 
of corn that averaged thirty bushels to the 
acre, and in the live-stock department of his 
farm enterprise he is giving special attention 
to the raising of Duroc-Jersey swine. Mr. 
Pieper is an industrious and ambitious young 
man who is always ready to do his share in the 
ftirthcring of movements and enteqirises for 
the general good of the community, his politi- 
cal support being given to the Republican party 
and both he and his wife holding membership 
in the Evangelical Lutheran church. 

October 4, 1917, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Pieper to Miss Dora Tiemann, who is the 
popular mistress of their pleasant home, which, 
under her regime, is truly worthy of the name 
of home. Mrs. Pieper was born in Grant 
township, this coxmty, near Clatonia, and is a 
daughter of the late Henry Tiemann, the 
mother, whose maiden name was Anna Dar- 
naucr, remaining on the okl homestead farm 
with her two sons, Mrs. Pieper having been 
the fourth in a family of five children. 

JOHN BARRATT. — Not only historic 
interest but much of romance attaches to the 
career of this venerable and honored pioneer, 
who became a resident of Gage county nearly 
ten years prior to the admission of Nebraska 
to statehood and who is still the owner of a 
fine landed estate in the countv, the same com- 



prising two hundred and seventy acres, in 
Grant and Blakely townships, his original 
homestead entry, in the former township, hav- 
ing been the twenty-ninth recorded within the 
limits of that now opulent division of the 
county. In the gracious twilight of a long 
and useful life he is living retired in the vil- 
lage of Dewitt, Saline county — about two 
miles distant from his old Gage county home- 
stead. 

John Barratt was born in Somersetshire, 
England, on the 5th of December, 1837, and 
is the younger in a family of two children, his 
brother, William, having continued to reside 
in England until his death, as did also the 
parents, John and Uriscilla A. (Barratt) Bar- 
ratt, both likewise natives of Somersetshire, 
where the father followed the trade of black- 
smith in connection with farm enterprise. The 
parents were devout communicants of the 
Church of England and the son John has con- 
tinued to hold earnestly to the ancestral faith, 
he being a zealous communicant of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal church, as was also his wife. 

He to whom this review is dedicated was 
reared on the old home farm in England and 
was given the advantages of the parish schools. 
\\'hen eighteen years of age, in 1856, he 
severed the home ties and set forth to seek his 
fortunes in the L'nited States. Making the 
voyage across the Atlantic on a sailing ves- 
sel of the type common to that period, he 
landed in the port of New York city in May 
of the year mentioned. Thence he proceeded 
to ( )hio, where he remained a few months, and 
he then made his way to Wisconsin. There 
he remained uiuil 185S. when he set out for 
the western frontier. He walked the greater 
part of the distance from \\"isconsin to Ne- 
braska Territory', and when he arrived in 
Gage county, in August, 1858, his capitalistic 
resources were represented in the sum of little 
more than one hundred dollars. He came to 
Gage county in company with his cousin, 
George Grant, and the latter's family, this 
cousin having been one of the first settlers on 
Turkey creek, and Grant township having 
been named in his honor. He was one of the 
most influential pioneers of that section of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



851 




Mr. and Mrs. John Barratt 



852 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the county, as data appearing in the history 
of the county clearly indicate. 

While he was thus facing the responsibilities 
and labors of a pioneer Mr. Barratt manifest- 
ed his unqualified loyalty to the land of his 
adoption after the Civil war had been pre- 
cipitated upon the nation. On the 30th of 
October, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, 
Second Nebraska Cavalrj', and with this com- 
mand he took part in the battle of Whitestone 
Hill, but his principal sen-ice was in connec- 
tion with minor engagements and skirmishes 
• on the frontier. In December, 1863, he re~ 
ceived his honorable discharge, and upon his 
return to Gage county he built a log cabin on 
the homestead claim of one hundred and sixty 
acres to which he had previously made entr>-. 
He provided for his needs by working as a 
farm hand and in the meanwhile gave as much 
atteiuion as possible to the reclaiming of his 
own land. He became a member of the terri- 
torial militia and when, on the 7th of August, 
1864, the governor of the territory called out 
troops to repel a formidable Indian outbreak 
Mr. Barratt was elected orderly sergeant of 
Company C, with which he served six 
months — principally in guarding the road 
for the passage of the United States mail. He 
escaped injury during this service, as had he 
previously while with the cavalry command, 
and his company did not come into active con- 
flict with the marauding Indians. 

Energetically continuing the improvement 
of his farm, Mr. Barratt met with cumulative 
success in the passing years and became spe- 
cially prominent as a stock-grower in Grant 
township, where he gave particular attention 
to the raising of Poland-China swine. He did 
well his part in furthering the civic and indus- 
trial development of Gage county, made ju- 
dicious investments in additional land and 
finally developed one of the well improved and 
valuable fann properties of the county — the 
landed estate which he still retains in his pos- 
session, besides being the owner of his resi- 
dence and other property in the village of De- 
witt, where he established his home on his re- 
tirement from the farm, in 1903. He was 
active and influential in communal afifairs, was 



one of the organizers of the district school in 
the vicinity of his home farm and ser^-ed as a 
director of the same from 1870 until his re- 
moval to Dewitt, more than thirty years later. 
He has continuously given his earnest allegi- 
ance to the Republican party and is one of the 
appreciated and honored members of the old 
pioneer association of Lincoln and of the 
post of the Grand Army of the Republic in 
Dewitt. 

Mr. Barratt's reminiscences concerning con- 
ditions and incidents of the early pioneer days 
are most graphic and interesting, and in this 
connection the following record is well worthy 
of peq:ietuation in this connection. On the 
7th of August, 1867, he and three other men 
were quartered in a house on the Oak Grove 
ranch, in Nuckolls county, together with three 
women and one or more children, when the 
place was approached by a party of thirty-five 
Indians who asserted that they were hunting 
for a hand of Pawnee Indians. M. C. Kelley 
and J. H. Butler, the other two men, went out 
for a pariey with the Indians, by whom they 
were shot dead. As one of the four guards 
for the women and children. Mr. Barratt piled 
bags of flour against the doors and succeeded 
in keeping the bloodthirsty Indians at bay 
until they were driven ofl:' on the approach of 
the returning wagon train from Denver, Colo- 
rado, a few hours after the massacre of the 
two men. 

Mr. Barratt recalls that in .Vugust, 1866. 
this section of the state was visited by a 
veritable scourge of grasshoppers, which laid 
ha\oc to all vegetation and left not a blade of 
corn in the fields. They next attacked the 
onion beds and after eating the tops Mr. Bar- 
ratt states that they would hold each other 
down in order that they might feast on the 
onion roots. In May, 1872. while Mr. Bar- 
ratt was visiting his old home in England, 
Gage county was visited by a hail storm of 
such remarkable severity that even fish in the 
streams were killed. He has shot prairie 
chickens on the site of the present thriving 
and beautiful city of Beatrice and there are 
few, if any, of the incidents, trials, and hard- 



1 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



853 



ships of the pioneer days with whicli he is 
not familiar through personal experience. 

On March 17, 1867, was solemnized the 
marriage of ^Ir. Barratt to Miss Annie E. 
\\'heeler, who was born in London, England, 
November 1, 1840, a daughter of Charles and 
Annie (Pierce) \\heeler, and who came to 
Nebraska in 1866, in company with an uncle 
and aunt and one of her brothers and a cousin, 
she having been in the home of her uncle, in 
Saline county, at the time of her marriage. 
Mrs. Barratt proved a most faithful and de- 
voted wife and mother and was loved by all 
who came within the sphere of her gentle and 
gracious influence, she having been summoned 
to the life eternal December 31, 1914. In the 
concluding paragraph of this article is given 
brief record concerning the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Barratt. 

William, who is a prosperous farjner in 
Smith county, Kansas, married Aliss ^lyrtle 
Quinn, a native of Cass county, Nebraska, and 
they have four children — Mabel F., Audrev, 
Ella Beatrice, and ^lildred Pauline. Ella is 
the wife of Edgar Coke, of Dewitt, and with 
them resides her venerable father. Robert 
resides upon and has the active management 
of his father's old homestead fanii in Gage 
county: he wedded Miss Nettie Wolf and they 
have two children — John F. and Lloyd E. 
Nellie died in infancy. George, who is a rep- 
resentative farmer of Blakely township, mar- 
ried Miss Millie Moore, and they have three 
children — Georgia M., Birdie I., and Wini- 
fred D. Harry, the youngest of the children 
of the honored subject of this re\iew, died at 
the age of five years. 

JOHN F. BURBANK came with his par- 
ents to Nebraska in the spring of 1883, and 
has here achieved marked success in connec- 
tion with the basic industries of agriculture 
and stock-growing. He was twenty-three 
years of age when he came to this state and 
he continued for some time to be associated 
with farming in Sarpy county, where he was 
continued in independent farm enterprise 
until 1900. He then came to Gage county 
and purchased one hundred and twentv acres 



of land in Section 29, Filley township, this 
farm having been developed and improved 
by that sterling pioneer, the late John Wesley 
\\ right, to whom a memoir is dedicated on 
other pages of this work. On this farm Mr. 
Burbank continued his successful enterprise 
as an agriculturist and stock-grower until the 
spring of 1918, when he sold the property to 
advantage, and he now resides in the village 
of Filley. He is a Republican in his political 
proclivities and as a citizen has always stood 
exponent of loyalty and progressiveness. 

Mr. Burbank was bom in Peoria county, 
Illinois, on the 2d of November, 1860, and 
concerning his father, Benjamin F. Burbank 
and the family history in general, adequate 
data appear on other pages, in the sketch dedi- 
cated to his brother C. A. Burbank. He was 
reared on the home fann in Illinois and his 
early educational advantages were those af- 
forded in the public schools. He has never 
faltered in his allegiance to agricultural indus- 
try and through the medium of the same has 
won success worthy of the name. In Stark 
county, Illinois, 'Sir. Burbank wedded Miss 
Rosa Schanck, who was born in that county, 
and she passed to the life eternal in 1907, be- 
ing surv'ived by one daughter, Loisa, who is 
the wife of J. C. Perky, of Filley. In 1911 
Mr. Burbank contracted a second marriage, 
when ^liss Maude Eaton became his wife. 
I\Irs. Burbank was born in the state of ilis- 



FRANK R. SHALLA. — Among the na- 
tive sons of Gage county who have chosen to 
remain within its borders and who are meeting 
with success, Frank R. Shalla merits definite 
recognition. He is a son of Frank Shalla, a 
pioneer of Gage county, whose record appears 
elsewhere in these pages. Born in a primi- 
tive pioneer home in Section 36, Glenwood 
township, on April 14, 1880, Frank R. Shalla 
spent his boyhood days in the usual manner ot 
farm lads, his time being divided between his 
studies in the district school and such farm 
tasks as his young strength permitted. He 
was one of a family of eight boys and learned 
the necessity and value of industr)'. When 



854 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



twenty-one years of age he began working by 
the month for others, and when he was twenty- 
five years old his father assisted him in the 
purchase of eighty acres of land in Section 
29, Paddock- township, where he bought an 
adjoining eighty acres. The place contained 
some improvements, but the buildings were 
in a run-down condition. For thirteen years 
he has been building upon and otherwise im- 
proving the place, and it is to-day one of the 
valuable famis of the township. .\s his re- 
sources increased Mr. Shalla made addition 
to his land holdings by the purchase of eighty 
acres in Section 32. 

Mr. Shalla completed arrangements for a 
home by his marriage to Miss Clara Pribyl. 
who likewise was bom in Gage county, and 
who is a daughter of Tony Pribyl, a pioneer 
of Paddock township and now a resident of 
Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Shalla are the parents 
of five children, — Ella, Sylvia, Edward. 
Anna and Vera. Mr. and Mrs. Shalla are 
members of no church, although reared in the 
Catholic faith. Mr. Shalla expresses his ideas 
of religion when he says he believes in truth, 
friendship and love, — and membership in no 
earthy tabernacle could assure happiness in 
this world or any world to come more than 
obedience to the doctrine implied by those 
three words. 

Mr. Shalla is independent in politics. He 
has served as a member of the school board, 
and as treasurer of the school district, in both 
of which positions he rendered efficient ser- 
vice. 

FRED RIGGERT. — One of the finest of 
farm properties in Paddock township is the 
home of the subject of this record, who was 
bom in Marshall county, Kansas March 5, 
1881. His parents. August and Minnie (Ger- 
mer) Riggert, both natives of Hanover, Ger- 
many, came to America when they were 
young people, and were married in Marshall 
county, Kansas, where August Riggert took 
up a homestead and became one of the pio- 
neer famiers of that county. He was a suc- 
cessful man in his business ventures, devoting 
the active years of his life to agricultural pur- 



suits, and is now living retired on his farm, 
having become one of the extensive land own- 
ers of his county. His wife has passed away, 
and they were the parents of ten children : 
.\nna is the wife of Fred Klaus, of Paddock 
township ; Fred, was next in order of birth ; 
Sophia is the wife of Ernest Adam of Glen- 
wood township ; Mrs. Fred Gleue and Mrs. 
Adolph Stohs reside in Marshall county, Kan- 
sas ; Christ remains on the home farm ; Mrs. 
Freda Stohs lives in Kansas ; and Miss Clara 
is at the paternal home. Two children died 
when young. 

Fred Riggert was reared on his father's 
farm in Marshall county, Kansas, acquired his 
education in the public schools, and under the 
instruction of his father he learned those les- 
sons of industry- and thrift which have been 
of great value in after years. 

When twenty-two years of age he started 
his independent career as a fanner. For the 
first seven years he rented land, and in 1910 
he purchased his present farm, upon which he 
has erected as fine a set of farm buildings as 
can be found anywhere. An atmosphere of 
thrift and prosperity pervades the place and 
easily convinces the observer of the progres- 
sive and practical methods of its owner. Aside 
from the raising of cereals best adapted to the 
soil and climate, Mr. Riggert deals in stock 
of a good grade, both branches of his business 
yielding him a substantial income. 

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Riggert 
chose Miss Mary Adam, of Glenwood town- 
ship, a daughter of Ernst and Elizabeth (Dan- 
iel) Adam, of whom mention is made else- 
where in this volume. In January 1915, Mr. 
Riggert was called upon to mourn the loss of 
his wife, who was the mother of six children, 
— Elsie. Edwin, Martha, .\lfred, Clara and 
Paul. For his second wife Mr. Riggert 
wedded Miss Lena Adam, a sister of his first 
wife, and they are the parents of one child, 
Lillian. 

Mr. and Mrs. Riggert are members of the 
Lutheran church, the faith of which was held 
by their parents. Mr. Riggert casts his vote 
in support of the men and measures of the Re- 
publican party and is serving as director of his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



855 



school district. He is one of the substantial 
citizens of his community and any worthy 
cause for the social, moral or material benefit 
of Gage county has his hearty support. 

HENRY J. SIEMS. — One of the most 
original and attractive rural homes in Cage 
county is the beautiful bungalow which adorns 
the fine farm of Mr. Siems, in Section 22, 
Grant township. This artistic strticture was 
designed and erected by Mr. Siems, who has 
had much experience as a mechanic and as con- 
tractor and builder, and he has also made other 
improvements that mark his farm as one of 
the most attractive in the county. He is the 
owner of one hundred and sixty acres of the 
productive land of Grant township and the 
same represents his heritage from the estate 
of his father, who was one of the sterling pio- 
neers of Gage county. 

Henry J. Siems was born at Lincoln, Logan 
county, Illinois, on the 2d of August, 1873, 
and thus was about two years of age when his 
parents came to Nebraska, in the spring of 
1876. He is a son of Claus and Lena (Welt- 
zein) Siems, both natives of Germany, the 
former having been born in the province of 
Hanover, February 11, 184L and the latter 
in Mecklenburg, August 18, 1849: their mar- 
riage was solemnized at Lincoln, Illinois, Mrs. 
Seims having been a child of five years when 
she came with her widowed mother to the 
United States and the home having been es- 
tablished in Wisconsin, whence removal was 
later made to Illinois. 

Claus Siems was reared and educated in 
his native land, where also he served an ap- 
prenticeship to the trade of cabinetmaker. He 
became an expert artisan and was a vigorous 
and self-reliant young man when he came to 
America and established his residence at 
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. There he was em- 
ployed in a sash and door factory for three 
years and for ten years thereafter he was em- 
ployed in a furniture establishment at Lincoln, 
Illinois. In 1876, as before noted, he came 
with his family to Gage county, Nebraska, 
and incidental to leasing a tract of land in 
(jrant township he gained practical experience 



in farm enterprise. In 1881 he began oper- 
ations on land which he purchased in the same 
township, and as a pioneer he developed one 
of the fine farm properties of the county. He 
eventually accumulated an estate of four hun- 
dred and eighty acres, of which the present 
homestead of his son Henrj' J. is an integral 
part. His mechanical skill enabled him to 
effect readily a better order of improvements 
on his fami, in the matter of buildings and ap- 
purtenances, and he was known as a citizen 
of energy and progressiveness, of strong mind 
and of utmost integrity in all of the relations 
of life. He was a loyal Democrat in his po- 
litical adherency and the religious faith of the 
entire family has been that of the Lutheran 
church. After the death of his first wife he 
contracted a second marriage, but of this union 
no children were bom. Of the first marriage 
were born f\ye sons and two daughters, and 
of the number the subject of this review is the 
eldest. Louise (Siems) Eckel died February 
8, 1911, at the age of twenty-eight years. 
Louis and Anna Siems are the other living 
children. 

Henry J. Siems was reared under the en- 
vironment and influences of the pioneer farm, 
and in the meanwhile he made good use of the 
advantages afl'orded in the district schools of 
Grant township. He virtually inherited much 
of the mechanical talent and proclivities of his 
father and was but fifteen years of age when 
he began eiTective work at the carpenter's 
trade. Thereafter he continued to devote the 
major part of his time and attention to car- 
penter work in this county until the early '90s, 
when he went to Bern, Nemaha county, Kan- 
sas, and established himself in business as a 
contractor and builder. There he remained 
ten years, within which period he erected a 
large number of the business and residence 
buildings that still mark that progressive vil- 
lage. It may incidentally be noted also that 
he was the contractor who erected the edifice 
of the Catholic church at Dawson, Richard- 
son county, Nebraska. In 1905 Mr. Siems 
removed to Seneca, Kansas, where he oper- 
ated a well equipped planing mill until 1909, 
when he disposed of his interests at that place 



856 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and weni to the city of Denver, Colorado. 
There he contiiiued as a successful contractor 
in the erection of high-grade houses until 
191.5. when, after the death of his father, 
which occurred November 22, 1911, he re- 
turned to Gage county and took possession 
of the farm which he had inherited. Here he 
has since continued his successful activities 
as an agriculturist and stock-grower, but he 
has by no means lost interest in practical me- 
chanics. In 1916 he designed and erected the 
beautiful and modern bungalow that now con- 
stitutes the family home, and this building is 
of brick and concrete construction, in which 
connection it is interesting to record that Mr. 
Siems manufactured the brick and cement 
blocks used for the purjjose, as well as the 
mechanism demanded in their production. He 
has further improved the place by erecting a 
model poultry house of cement and a machine 
shop of concrete blocks. He has invented a 
sanitary school-house seat of entire steel con- 
struction, and another product of his inven- 
tive genius is a brick-cleaning machine that 
is now in use in the Argo smelters at Denver, 
Colorado. His most important invention, 
however, was the cast stone-block system and 
mechanism for the moulding of concrete 
blocks, the same being versatile and accurate, 
as it will produce concrete blocks or fence 
posts of any desired size, as well as window 
sills and tank staves. For the manufacturing 
of concrete products by his special system Mr. 
Siems maintains his own well equijjjied plant 
on his farm, and he is making plans to manu- 
facture on a large scale and to ship his pro- 
ducts to distant points, as well as meeting the 
requirements of a more localized trade. On 
his farm is a valuable deposit of tine sand and 
gravel for use in connection with architectural 
purposes and from the same he sells about 
400 wagon loads annually, and the output is 
increased every year. Mr. Siems has been at 
all times energetic and ambitious, and this was 
significantly shown in his youth by his attend- 
ing the Beatrice Business College for one term, 
though in his studies he was handicapped by 
having previously received only the discipline 
of the district schools, besides having found it 



incumbent upon him to apply himself vigor- 
ously to work on the home farm. His early 
farm experience, however, comes into practical 
use at the present time, as he is not only a 
skilled mechanic of much inventive ability but 
is also a well fortified and practical farmer. 
He is affiliated with the Modern Brotherhood 
of -America in the city of Denver, Colorado. 
FeJjruars- 10, 1896, recorded the marriage 
of 'Sir. Siems to Miss Anna Poppe, who was 
born in Nemaha county, Kansas, May 20, 
1877, and who was reared on the pioneer farm 
of her parents, Frederick and Amalia ( Wiese- 
deppe) Poppe, who are natives of Germany 
and who are now residing in the village of 
Bern, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Siems have 
three children, all of whom remain at the par- 
ental home and contribute to its prevading at- 
mosphere of good cheer and generous hospi- 
tality, their names being here entered in re- 
spective order of their birth : Herman, \\'ilma 
and George. 

WILLIAM H. SHALLA is one of the suc- 
cessful young farmers of Gleinvood township. 
He was bom on his father's homestead in this 
township, August 25, 1888, a son of Frank 
Shalla, w^hose life record is given elsewhere 
in this volume. 

William H. Shalla was reared on the farm, 
assisted in its cultivation, and five years ago 
he married and his father helj>ed him pur- 
chase the one hundred and sixty acre farm 
upon which he is now residing. 

He married Miss Agnes Juricek, a native 
of Saline county, and a daughter of Frank 
Juricek, who is retired and living in Crete, 
Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Shalla have one son, 
Harry \\'. 

ERNST ADAM. — The subject of this rec- 
ord is the oldest of a family of seven children 
born to F.rnst and Elizabeth (Daniel) Adam. 
The father was born in Schlazian, Germany, 
February 18, 1843. and wiien a young man of 
twenty-fne came to the L'nited States and 
found ein])loyment at farm labor, first in Iowa 
and later in Nebraska. He carefully saved 
his earnings and in the early '80s ]nirchased 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



land in Glenwood township, Gage county. He 
became one of the successful farmers and ex- 
tensive land owners of the county, his posses- 
sions at the time of his death being more than 
five hundred acres. His death occurred on 
the farm, December 26, 1914. His wife also 
was a native of Germany, where she was born 
in 1859, and her death occurred on the farm 
in Glenwood township, in 1891, both having 
been earnest members of the Lutheran church. 
Following is a brief record concerning their 
children : Ernst, Herman and August are 
fanners in Glenwood township, on land left 
them by their father ; Lena, is the wife of Fred 
Riggert, of Paddock township, his first wife 
having been Airs. Riggerts sister Mary, who 
died three years ago; one child of the family 
died in infancy ; and a son, Henry, died at the 
age of six years. 

Ernst Adam, the oldest of the children above 
mentioned, was born on the farm in Glenwood 
township, November 3, 1883, was educated in 
the jiublic schools and inherited one hundred 
and sixty acres of land from his father. On 
this place he has erected a splendid set of 
buildings and here he carries on general farm- 
ing and stock-raising. 

Mr. Adam married j\Iiss Sophia Riggert, 
who was born in Washington county, Kansas, 
a daughter of August Riggert. Further men- 
tion of the family is made in the sketch of 
Fred Riggert, on another page. Mr. and Mrs. 
Adam have six children : Alvin, Herbert, 
Raymond Helen, Hilda and an infant born 
April 5, 1918. The family attend the Luth- 
eran church. 

C. A. BURBANK, who is numbered among 
the progressive farmers of Filley township, 
was bom in Marshall county, Illinois, Janu- 
ary 23. 1865. and is a son of Benjamin Frank- 
lin Burbank, who was born in Oxford county, 
Maine, September 22, 1832, a son of Israel 
and Rhoda (Hatch) Burbank, who likewise 
were natives of the old Pine Tree state, where 
tliey passed their entire lives and where they 
reared their children on a little farm of twelve 
and one-half acres, in the midst of the pine for- 
ests. Benjamin F. Burbank had limited educa- 



tional opportunities in his youth but early 
learned the lessons of practical and productive 
industry. In 1855 he went to Peoria county, 
Illinois, where he engaged in farm enterprise. 
In 1861 he removed to Marshall county, that 
state, where he continued his activities as a 
farmer for many years. He owned land not 
only in that county but also in Stark county, 
property which he sold in 1883, when he came 
to Nebraska and purchased an entire section of 
land in Sarpy county. He gave his supervision 
to the development of this land and he now, 
at the venerable age of eighty-five years 
(1918) makes his home with his sons in Gage 
county. He represents the sterling character 
so typical of the sons of New England and is 
a man who has ever commanded the confi- 
dence and high esteem of his fellow men. His 
political support is given to the Republican 
party and while he has not become actively 
affiliated with any church organization he has 
been a close student of the Bible and has deep 
reverence for the spiritual verities of the 
Christian faith and practice. As a young man 
he married Miss Caroline Hovenden, who was 
born in England and who was a girl when she 
came with her widowed mother to America, 
the family home being established in Peoria 
county, Illinois. Mrs. Burbank was about 
sixty-seven years of age at the time of her 
death, in 1903, and she is survived by six 
children : John F. and C. A. are substantial 
farmers of Gage county ; A. G. is engaged 
in the banking business at Cordova, Seward 
county ; Eva is the wife of Oscar Harlan, of 
Lincoln, this state; Carrie is the wife of 
Charles Owen, of South Omaha ; and Wil- 
liam H. is a farmer in Sherman township. 
Gage county. 

C. A. Burbank gained his early education 
in the public schools of Illinois and at the 
age of twenty-two years he left the home farm 
of his father, in Sarpy county, Nebraska, to 
engage in farm enterprise in an independent 
way. He purchased in that county eighty 
acres of land, but ten days later he sold the 
same at a profit of one thousand dollars. He 
then purchased a farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres in the same countv, and there he 



858 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



continued his operations until 1900, when he 
came to Gage county and purchased his pres- 
ent attractive homestead farm, of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, in Section 21, Filley 
township. The inferior buildings on the fanu 
he has since replaced with thoroughly modern 
structures, including a commodious house, of 
modern design and facilities, an excellent barn 
and other substantial farm buildings. The 
fine orchard which he planted on this farm is 
now giving substantial fruitage each successive 
season, and other improvements likewise de- 
note his enterprise and progressiveness as an 
exponent of modern farm enterprise. He 
takes loyal interest in community alTairs and 
is ready to do his part in the furtherance oi 
enterprises and measures advanced for the 
general good. His political allegiance is given 
to the Republican party. 

In the year 1888 was recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Burbank to Miss Margaret L. Turley, 
who was born in Morgan county, Illinois, and 
who was left an orphan in her early childhood, 
she having been a resident of Nebraska for 
half a century. Mr. and Mrs. Burbank have 
three sons, all of whom are associated in the 
work and management of the home farm — 
Herbert Benjamin. Harry Harlan, and Charles 
Albion. 

ALEX ARMSTRONG. — The subject of 
this memoir was born in County Tyrone, Ire- 
land, June 3, 1857, a son of Andrew and Eliza- 
beth Armstrong, who likewise were natives of 
the Emerald Isle, where they spent their en- 
tire lives. Of their children three sons and a 
daughter came to the United States. John 
and -Alexander died in Gage county, Nebras- 
ka ; Kate became the wife of William Hom- 
mersham and resides in Missouri; Charles is 
a prosperous fanner of Paddock township, 
and is indi\i(lually mentioned elsewhere in 
this volume. 

.\lex Armstrong was a lad of eighteen years 
when he came to the United States and be- 
came a farmer in Linn county, Iowa. In 
1880 he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
purchased an improved farm of eighty acres 
in Paddock township. He was a successful 



farmer, and as his resources increased he 
added lo his original purchase, owning at the 
time of his death two hundred acres, finely 
improved and constituting one of the valuable 
farms of the township. He finally retired 
from active work on the farm and established 
his home in the village of Odell, where his 
death occurred August 8, 1910. 

.■\t Cedar Rajjids, Iowa, on the 8th of Au- 
gust, 1890, Mr. Armstrong was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Rachel Whelan. who was bom 
in Ireland, a daughter of William and Eliza- 
beth Whelan, both natives of Ireland. The 
father was an officer in the British amiy and 
fought in the conflict in Afghanistan. On the 
return of the army to England he was among 
the few who were ushered into the presence 
of Queen Victoria, who presented him with a 
gold medal, as a reward for bravery displayed 
on the field of battle. He died in his native 
land, and his wife passed away at Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa. 

Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong became the par- 
ents of three children : Minnie, born July 29, 
1891, became the wife of Erskine Colgrove. 
and she passed away December 21, 1910; 
Agnes, bom December 4, 1893, and John, 
born .August 22, 1898, still remain with their 
mother. John married Miss Gertrude Bar- 
nadt. After the death of her husband Mrs. 
.Armstrong returned to the farm, which, with 
the help of her children, she has since con- 
ducted. Both she and her .son display excep- 
tional business ability in connection with agri- 
cultural pursuits. The husband and father 
was reared in the faith of the \\^esleyan 
Methodist church. He was a loyal citizen, a 
loving husband and father, and a substantial 
citizen whose death marked a loss to the com- 
munity as well as to his own family. 

THOMAS D. MOSBY. — Among the 
early settlers of Gage county mention should 
be made of Thomas Davis Mosby, owner of 
two hundred and forty acres of land in Sec- 
tions 26 and 35, Adams township. Mr. Mosby 
was born in Spencer county, Indiana, January 
6, 1852, and is a son of L. L. and Mary L. 
(Adams) Mosby. His father was born in 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



859 




Alex. Armstrong 



860 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Kentucky, in 1820, and as a young man moved 
to Indiana, where he followed farming until 
his death, which occurred in 1856. The 
mother of our subject was born in Kentucky, 
and her death occurred in Adams, Nebraska, 
December 2. 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Mosby were 
the parents of three children: Thomas Davis, 
the subject of this review; Charles J., owner 
and manager of the Adams Hotel at .\dams, 
this county ; and G. L., a carpenter at Adams. 

Thomas Davis Mosby was educated in the 
public schools in Indiana, and in that state he 
followed farming until 1871. He then re- 
moved to ^lissouri, where he continued farm 
enterprise until 1876, and in that year he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and settled in Sec- 
tion 26, Adams township, where he has lived 
continuously for more than forty-one years. 
On August 15, 1877, Mr. Mosby was united in 
marriage to Miss Naomi Adams, daughter of 
John O. and Letitia (Harris) Adams, and to 
this mn'on seven children were born. Lulu is 
the wife of Arthur Campbell, of .Adams; Julia 
Frances is the wife of Claud Campbell, of 
Virginia, this county ; Samuel A. married 
Clarinda Whittaker and they reside at Adams ; 
]\Iattie .Alice is the wife of Frank \'an Fossen, 
of Adams ; Thomas O. died December 5, 1883 ; 
Georgia .\. is at home; and Edna Isabelle died 
March 15, 1917. 

John O. Adams, father of Mrs. Mosby was 
the first permanent settler in Gage county and 
a record of him is given elsewhere in this 
volume. 

Thomas D. Mosby is a Republican in poli- 
tics and has served on the school board of his 
district for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Mos- 
by are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, in which they are both faithful work- 
ers, and they are numbered among the best 
people of the community in which they have 
so long maintained their home and in which 
they are held in ver\- high esteem by all who 
know them. 

JAMES C. GALLOWAY was not only one 
of the early and honored pioneer settlers of 
Gage county, but he also made large and valu- 
able contribution to the si^ial and industrial 



development and progress of this now favored 
section of the state. He was a member of a 
family founded in America many generations 
ago, and the same was true of his wife, both 
families having had much to do with pioneer 
activities as the course of empire made its way 
to the western portions of our national do- 
main. The subject of this memoir was one of 
the representative pioneer citizens of Adams 
township. Gage county, where he established 
his home nearly half a century ago and where 
he continued to reside until the close of his 
long and useful life, his death having occur- 
red September 9, 1892. 

Mr. Galloway was born near Jonesboro, 
Tennessee, on the 17th of July, 1836, and as a 
youth he accompanied his parents on their im- 
migration to Macoupin county, Illinois, where 
his father engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
Mr. Galloway had the tnie pioneer instinct, as 
shown by the fact that in 1861 he set forth 
w-ith a wagon and ox team to make an explor- 
ing expedition to the western lands being 
opened to settlement. He continued his jour- 
ney westward until he arrived in California, 
and such were the conditions at the time that 
he encountered many perils from attack by 
marauding Indians, as well as danger from 
depredations of wild beasts. He walked vir- 
tually the entire distance on the long overland 
journey, and after making careful observations 
he finally returned to Illinois. There, in 1872. 
was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eliza- 
beth Scott, and in 1874 the young couple, with 
their infant son, set forth with a team and cov- 
ered wagon for Gage county, Nebraska. Here 
Mr. Galloway purchased, at the rate of fifteen 
dollars an acre, a tract of land in Section 26, 
Adams township, this being the old homestead 
on which his widow and two of their sons still 
reside. Mr. Galloway bent his energies to the 
improving of his farm and the passing years 
brought to him a generous measure of pros- 
perity. From the wild prairie he eventually 
developed a fine landed estate of three hundred 
and twenty acres, and his widow still retains 
the ownership of this valuable property. On 
the old homestead, as previously intimated, 
Mr. Gallowav remained until his death. He 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



861 



was enterprising and progressive in his farm 
enterprise and left to his sons the gracious 
heritage of a good name and the record of a 
useful and successful life. Mr. Galloway was 
ahvavs ready to give his support to measures 
tending to advance the civic and material wel- 
fare of the community and he so ordered his 
life as to retain the unqualified confidence and 
good will of his fellow men. His political al- 
legiance was given to the Democratic party 
and he was affiliated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity. The land which he purchased for fif- 
teen dollars an acre is to-day valued at one 
hundred and fifty dollars an acre. 

As previously noted, the marriage of Mr. 
Gallowav to iNIiss Elizabeth Scott was solemn- 
ized in 1872. Mrs. Galloway, now venerable 
in years, is a representative of a family that 
has been one of not a little distinction and in- 
lluence in connection with pioneer history in 
various states of the west and middle west. 
Members of the Scott family were early set- 
tlers in Illinois, and in the early part of the 
nineteenth centur>' the father of Mrs. Gallo- 
way, in company with his brother John, drove 
an ox team and cart from Kentucky to Ohio 
and thence into Illinois. The forests of Ohio 
were dense and only a few Indian trails 
marked the route to settlements and Indian 
trading stations. The Scott brothers were 
numbered among the earliest settlers of what 
is now Scott county, Illinois, and the county 
was named in honor of John Scott, the elder 
of the two brothers. James C. Scott, father of 
Mrs. Galloway, became a substantial farmer in 
Scott county, Illinois, and there Mrs. Galloway 
was born, on the 6th of July, 1845. Her 
father was a native of Kentucky and her 
mother, whose maiden name was Mar\' Cow- 
hick, was born in Ohio. They continued their 
residence in Scott county, Illinois, until the 
close of their lives. ]\Irs. Galloway remains 
on the old homestead that is endeared to her 
by the gracious memories and associations of 
the past, and she is still able to direct many of 
the domestic economies of the household. She 
is one of the revered pioneer women of Adams 
township, where she bore with her husband 
the trials and hardships of the pioneer days. 



This honored pioneer couple became the par- 
ents of four sons : Lee and James remain 
with their widowed mother on the old home- 
stead and have the active supervision of the 
well ordered farm ; Scott died when about six 
years of age; and Charles M. resides in the 
village of Adams, this county. 

James E. Galloway was born and reared on 
the fine fami which is now his liome and in 
the management of which he is well upholding 
the prestige of tlie name which he bears. He 
was boni May 9. 1876, and received his early 
education in the public schools of his native 
township. After the death of his father he 
and his brothers assumed the active manage- 
ment of the farm, and he and his brother, 
Charles M., still have the same in charge, the 
while they carry forward the various depart- 
ments of the farm enterprise with marked 
energy and progressiveness. James E. Gallo- 
way has lived on this farm from the time of 
his birth and has stated that he feels that he 
is almost a part of it. He has shown much 
circumspection in his agricultural enterprise 
and also in stocking the farm with pure-bred 
cattle and other excellent live stock. His po- 
litical allegiance is given to the Democratic 
party, but he has had no desire for public of- 
fice of any kind. 

GEORGE BARN.\RD. — The prosperity 
of Gage comity is due largely to the industry 
displayed and the success achieved by those 
of its citizens who are engaged in the noble 
occupation of tilling the soil. Among this 
number should be mentioned George Barnard, 
who for thirty-five years has given his best 
effort to the agricultural development of his 
adopted county. 

"Sir. Barnard is a native of Tennessee, his 
birth occurring near Tazewell, in Claiborne 
county, December 11, 1862, a son of John and 
Delia C. (Webb) Barnard, both of whom 
were natives of Tennessee. The father met 
his death in 1877, by a fall from a horse. His 
widow now resides in Kentucky. They were 
the parents of ten children, two of whom, 
James and George, are residents of Gage 
county. 



862 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



George Barnard was reared and educated in 
his native state, and was a lad of fifteen years 
when he was bereft of his father. In lf^S3 he 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, and there- 
after he conihicted farming operations on 
leased land, in Hanover, Logan and Midland 
townships, until 1900. Having carefully hus- 
banded his earnings, he then purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres, and as his financial 
resources increased he added to his holdings, 
utitil today he is the owner of four hundred 
acres in Midland township. Beginning his 
career empty-handed, he has by diligence and 
intelligently directed efforts acquired a valu- 
able estate. His farm is well improved and 
everything about the place is substantial. The 
buildings and neat appearance display the 
thrift and good judgment of its owner. 

April 3, 1879, Mr. Barnard was united in 
marriage to Miss Belle Day, who was bom in 
Greene county, Tennessee, December 29, 1862, 
and to this union have been born eight chil- 
dren : William C. is a fanner in Logan town- 
ship ; Mar\' is the wife of Charles Le Poidevin, 
of Midland township ; John, Woodson, James, 
and Roy also are farmers of Midland town- 
ship ; Zella is at home, and one child died in 
infancy. The religious faith of the family is 
that of the Christian church, of which they 
are devoted members. In politics Mr. Bar- 
nard is a Democrat. The allurements and 
emoluments of public office have no charms 
for him, as he prefers to give his time and at- 
tention to his business interests, of which he 
has made a decided success. 

LOUIS WERNER. — One of the noble 
and well ordered institutions of Nebraska is 
the Home for the Feeble Minded, at Beatrice, 
and of the same Mr. Werner has been the effi- 
cient and honored steward since 1908, his 
residence in the county having covered a pe- 
riod of more than forty years. He was born 
in Alsace-Lorraine. France, October 6, 1853, 
and the iirovincc of his nativity, now again the 
stage of terrific warfare, passed under the 
dominion of Germany at the time of the 
Franco- Prussian war. He is a son of Freder- 
ick and Dorothy (Weil) Werner, both like- 



wise natives of Alsace-Lorraine, where the 
former was bom in 1809 and the latter in Feb- 
ruary, 1810, their marriage having been sol- 
emnized about 1836 and both having passed 
their entire lives in their native province, 
where the father died in 1868 and the mother 
in 1886. Frederick Werner served seven 
years in the French army and thereafter he 
followed the carpenter's trade, in which con- 
nection he became a successful contractor and 
erected a number of important public build- 
ings, churches, etc. Of the five children the 
subject of this review is the younger of the 
two survivors, and his brother, Charles, re- 
sides in the historic old city of Strassburg, 
capital of Alsace-Lorraine. The parents were 
devout communicants of the Lutheran church 
and the paternal grandfather of the subject 
of this review was Jacob \\'erner, who like- 
wise was a carpenter by trade and vocation. 

Louis Werner was reared and educated in 
his native province and there he learned the 
trade of carpenter with such a measure of effi- 
ciency as to be able to uphold the ancestral 
prestige of the family name in this connec- 
tion. In 1871 he came to the United States 
and established his residence in New York 
city. There he followed his trade for the en- 
suing six years, at the expiration of which, in 
1877, he came to Nebraska, with Gage county 
as his destination. In the following year he 
purchased twenty acres of land, in Midland 
township, and there he continued to maintain 
his home for thirty-two years, giving his at- 
tention to fami enterprise and eventually de- 
veloping a good property, which he still owns. 
Upon leaving the farm Mr. Werner removed 
to Beatrice and resumed the work of his 
trade. Here he continued his activities as a 
contractor and builder until 1908. since which 
time he has served continuously, through suc- 
cessive reappointments, as steward of the Ne- 
braska Home for the Feeble Minded, his re- 
tention of the ofVice affording the best evidence 
of the efficiency of his administration. He is a 
Democrat in his political adherency and served 
two years as a member of the county board of 
supervisors. His religious faith is that of the 
Lutheran church, his wife having been a 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



863 



communicant of the Catholic church, as are 
also their children. 

In 1875 Mr. Werner wedded Miss Nepo- 
mocena Musialowska, who was born in Po- 
land and whose death occurred in 1894. Con- 
cerning the children of this union the follow- 
ing brief record is available: Josie is the wife 
of Albert Hetherington, of Beatrice; Sophia 
Anna remains with her father; Mary is the 
wife of Michael Rooney, a farmer in the state 
of Wyoming; Lulu remains at the paternal 
home ; Leo is associated with his father-in-law, 
Louis Graff, in the lumber business at Be- 
atrice; Nettie is employed in the office of a 
leading trade journal in the city of Lincoln ; 
and Dorothy is the wife of Edwin Grafif, of 
Blakely township. 

MARTIN V. B. NICHOLS, one of the 
well known and highly honored citizens of 
Beatrice, was born at Newark, New York, 
March 17, 1835, a son of Samuel F. Nichols, 
M. D., who was a representative physician in 
Wayne county. New York. In 1844 Dr. 
Nichols removed with his family to Wiscon- 
sin, where he platted the village of Albany 
and became the virtual founder of the same. 
There he organized the Northwestern Stage 
Company, which has continued operations for 
more than half a century, and he became one 
of the prominent and influential citizens of the 
Badger state, his wife having been a menibei 
of a prominent family in Wayne county. New 
York, one of her brothers having been super- 
intendent of the historic old Erie canal, be- 
sides having served as a member of the state 
senate of New York. The maiden name of 
Mrs. Nichols was Julia A. Bartle. 

Martin Van Buren Nichols was afforded the 
advantages of the common schools of his 
native state, and also attended an academy at 
I'latteville, Wisconsin, in which state he later 
was a student in Beloit College. As a youth 
he became associated with the stage company 
organized by his father at Black River Falls, 
Wisconsin, and in 1858, he was placed in 
charge of the company's business, as general 
manager in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. 
He eventually became one of the largest stock- 



holders of this pioneer corporation, the North- 
western Stage Company, which later assumed 
control of the business of the El Paso Stage 
Company, operating in the southwest. In 1878 
the Northwestern Stage Company operated 
the most expeditious mail service ever given 
to the government by a stage line — this opera- 
tion having been between Los Angeles and 
Soledad, California. During the climacteric 
period of the Civil war Mr. Nichols served as 
provost marshal in Minnesota, the stage com- 
pany with which he was identified having at 
the time been running stages through the 
Winnebago Indian reservation, and the his- 
toric New Ulm massacre having there taken 
place within this period. Mr. Nichols loaded 
wagons with arms and munitions and set forth, 
as provost marshal, for Mankato. En route 
he encountered his own men and stock and as 
the men were fleeing to a point of safety he 
ordered them all to turn back, the little band 
which was thus reinforced having thereafter 
taken general part in conflict with the insubor- 
dinate Indians. 

In 1867 Mr. Nichols came to Nebraska and 
for a time he maintained his residence at Ne- 
braska City, as representative of the North- 
western Stage Com.pany. In 1869 he removed 
to Osage, Iowa, and there the family home 
was maintained for the ensuing nineteen 
vears. He continued his active association 
with the operation of stage lines until the con- 
struction of railroads caused the business to 
wane, the Northwestern Stage Company hav- 
ing been the first to establish stage service be- 
tween Nebraska City and Beatrice, and the 
organization of the company being still main- 
tained, with Mr. Nichols as general manager. 

Mr. Nichols held the responsible post of 
general manager of the Northwestern Stage 
Company during the years in which it was 
conducting active and important operations in 
many states of the west and northwest. Pass- 
engers were conveyed in "Concord coaches" 
and stages, and the company became asso- 
ciated with the El Paso Stage Company in 
oTierations in Texas and other southern states 
after the close of the Civil war, their mail re- 
ceipts at this period running as high as one 



864 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



million dollars annually and the express busi- 
ness handled being correspondingly large. At 
the time when the Missouri, Kansas & Texas 
Railroad was in process of construction the 
Northwestern Stage Company operated a line 
of stages between Fort Scott, Kansas, and 
Austin. Texas, and between Little Rock Arkan- 
sas, and Hot Springs. In this enterprise were 
utilized Concord coaches with si.x-horse teams, 
and ambulances for the sick were provided by 
the company. This line was in operation at 
the time when the epidemic of epizootic swept 
over virtually the entire country, and all of its 
horses were afflicted with the malady, with, 
however, verj' few fatal cases, owing to the 
wise policies adopted in caring for the ani- 
mals. The horses, when so badly afflicted 
with phleghm in the throat that they could 
hardly breathe and could move only with dif- 
ficulty, were harnessed to the stages and 
started forth on a slow walk. After going 
four or five miles they would sweat profusely 
and become so limbered up that they could 
thereafter proceed along their regular route. 
After their journey was completed they would 
be carefully blanketed and each horse be given 
a good dose of whisky and pepper. After eat- 
ing they would, in three or four hours, again 
be in the same condition as on the previous 
day, and could not eat or drink. The epidemic 
continued about two months but by following 
the system described the stage company not 
only saved its horses but continued to use them 
in the active service. For service in Nebraska 
the company first stocked its line for the 
passenger and mail transportation between St. 
Joseph, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska, and 
the route was along the river on the Kansas 
side. Much of the road along this route was 
in verj' bad condition, and two days and one 
night were demanded in making the stage 
journey of one lunuh-ed and fifty miles. Mr. 
Nichols made an admirable record in handling 
the important transportation service of the 
pioneer days, and it is pleasing to enter these 
brief details concerning that period. 

During the period of his residence in Be- 
atrice Mr. Nichols has been distinctly the ad- 
vocate and sujjportcr of civic and material 



progress. Here he has ser\'ed as president ot 
the Union Savings Bank, and at the present 
time he is vice-president of the First National 
Bank. He is a staunch advocate of the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party and he and his 
wife hold to. the faith of the Presbyterian 
church. 

In June, 1865, Mr. Nichols married Miss 
Frances A. Lindsley. daughter of Charles H. 
and Sylvia (Willard) Lindsley, of Rochester, 
Minnesota, and the three children of this union 
are Stella, who is the wife of Charles H. Van 
Arsdale, of Beatrice; Samuel F., of whom 
specific mention is made on other pages ; and 
Grace, who is the wife of Walter S. McLucas, 
president of the Commerce Trust Company, 
of Kansas City, Missouri. 

Mr. Nichols gained wide and varied expe- 
rience in connection with pioneer life on the 
frontier and it is interesting to record that he 
became closely associated with the interests of 
Nebraska in the year that marked the admis- 
sion of the territon' to statehood. He is one 
of the venerable pioneer citizens of Beatrice 
and it is most consistent to pay to him this 
tribute in the historj' of the county and the 
state. 

BYRON P. ZUVER. — In the years that 
have passed, many of the illustrious citizens of 
Gage county have gone to their reward. The 
impress of their lives and the evidences of 
their labors are felt on every hand, and lesson 
and incentive are given in reviewing the life 
records of such noble men of the past. The 
following is a copy of the record prepared for 
a former publication of Gage county personal 
histories, and the context fully merits repro- 
duction in this volume. 

"The grandparents upon the paternal side 
of the family of which Byron P. Zuver is a 
member were Henr>' and Margaret (Schnei- 
der) Zuver ; upon the maternal side, John and 
Elizabeth (Zuver) Kerns. Both these families 
were of Holland Dutch origin, and representa- 
tives of both became residents of America 
prior to the Revolutionar>- war. The historj- 
of the Kerns family in America dates back to 
1727. The two families included within their 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



865 



circles a large number of children, of whom 
were Solomon Zuver and Julia Ann Kerns, the 
father and mother of Byron P. Zuver. Solo- 
mon Zuver was born in the year 1819, in 
Pennsylvania, and his wife was born in Ohio. 
They were united in marriage in 1839, in 
Wayne county, Ohio, whither the father of 
our subject had accompanied his parents. Of 
this union there were born five children, the 
eldest of these being Byron P. The others 
were Sarah, John H., George W., and Henry. 
The last named died when quite young; John 
H. departed this life in 1883, in Sonoma 
county, California ; Sarah resides in Los An- 
geles, that state; and George W. lives near 
Adams, Nebraska. 

"Solomon Zuver became prosperous in his 
farming and mercantile business, which very 
rapidly expanded, and in a short time he be- 
came comparatively well-to-do, but reverses 
followed rapidly upon the heels of success, 
owing to some unfortunate transactions, and 
his fortune melted away, leaving him nothing 
but the unsubstantial memory and sometimes 
bitter reflections of baffled hopes and desires. 
In 1855, a poor man and starting life the sec- 
ond time, he moved to Cerro Gordo county. 
Iowa, where he was one of the early pioneers. 
He there engaged in keeping hotel, and by the 
summer of 1864 he had so succeeded in busi- 
ness as to be able to make a somewhat ex- 
tended trip to the Pacific coast and through 
the northwestern states. Upon his return 
home he removed to Kansas, where he lived 
until October 5, 1878, when he departed this 
life, at the age of fifty-eight years. He was 
married three times, but had no children by 
the last two marriages. 

"Byron, P. Zuver was born November 8, 
1840, in Wayne county, ( )hio. After the re- 
moval of the family to Iowa he attended the 
common schools, and in the winter of 1860 he 
taught school. He left the teacher's desk to 
attend classes of Western College, in Linn 
county, Iowa. April 28, 1861, he enlisted in 
Company D, Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infan- 
try, being the first to enlist from this county. 
Owing to the fact that only three-months men 
could be utilized to advantage, he was obliged 



to re-enlist, on the 20th of Seirtember, 1861. 
The organization of this company for service 
was at Cedar Rapids, where the ladies of the 
city presented them with a silken flag that was 
afterwards carried into the conflict and became 
a source of inspiration and courage to the 
jaded and weary soldiers. From that city they 
went to Dubuque, and November 28th they 
proceeded by railroad to St. Louis, where they 
were stationed until January 28, 1862. They 
then went to Smithland, Kentucky, thence to 
Fort Henry, which was reached February 6th, 
and that very day the fort surrendered. Mr. 
Zuver was an active jiarticipant in the battle 
and splendid victory of Fort Donelson. At 
Mineral Landing they took the boats for Pitts- 
burg Landing, where they arrived March 20th, 
and on the 6th of the following month they 
were in the battle of Shiloh. On the evening 
of that day several regiments were taken pris- 
oners, among them the Twelfth Iowa, which 
had been in the conflict all day and which 
fought to the bitter end, in the portion of the 
field known by the enemy as Hornet's Nest 
and Hell's Hollow. 

"The prisoners — among them Mr. Zuver — 
were hurried ofT to Corinth and thence to 
Memj)his ; from Alemphis they were trans- 
ferred successively to Granada, Jackson, and 
^Meridian, Alississippi, and finally to ]\Iobile, 
Alabama, where they were put upon boats and 
sent to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, their arrival at 
this point occurring on the tenth day of their 
imprisonment. It was the great misfortune of 
these prisoners to be under the charge of the 
notorious tyrant, Henry Wirz, of Anderson- 
ville Prison fame, and from him they suffered, 
directly or indirectly, the most scandalous 
treatment and untold brutality. Leaving Tus- 
caloosa, they were then taken to Montgomery, 
Alabama, and there they were paroled, on the 
22d of May. Mr. Zuver rejoined the army, 
on the 30th of the same month, at Huntsville, 
Alabama, and as a paroled prisoner-of-war he 
was sent to Nashville, Louisville, Cairo, and 
finally, on the 10th day of July, to Benton 
Barracks, at St. Louis, Missouri. Here he 
remained until the reorganization of the regi- 



866 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



ment, on the first day of January of the fol- 
lowing year — 1863. 

"Leaving St. Louis on the 9th of April, Mr. 
Zuver with his regiment started once more to 
the front. Their first battle was that of Grand 
Gulf, Louisiana, and this was speedily fol- 
lowed by the engagements at Fort Gibson, 
Raymond, Jackson, Clinton, Edmund Station, 
Champion Hills, Black River Bridge. They 
then went on to the seige of Vicksburg. near 
which city they remained until its fall, July 4, 
1863. They next engaged in the eight days' 
seige of Jackson, Mississippi, which fell in 
the same month. Next was the battle of Bran- 
don, which was fought on the 19th of July. 
Returning to \^icksburg, they were stationed 
there until the Canton expedition, in October, 
in which they took part. In the next month 
they went back to Memphis, guarding the 
Memphis & Charleston Railroad, and in this 
work the regiment continued during the win- 
ter of 1863-1864, at Chewalla, Tennessee. 

"On Christmas day of the year 1863 Mr. 
Zuver re-enlisted as a veteran, and February 
1, 1864. he started once more for Vicksburg, 
where the regiment was engaged in guard 
duty at the Black River Bridge until the 4th 
of March. The next four days were spent at 
Vicksburg, and March 8th they left for home, 
arriving at Davenport, Iowa, on the 22d 
After much needed rest and recreation, they 
reassembled at Davenport on the 26th of 
April, proceeding immediately to Memphis, 
where they arri\ed May 1st and were engaged 
in picket duty until the 16th. Active hostili- 
ties for this company re-commenced with the 
battle of Tupelo, which lasted from the 13th 
to the 16th of July. This was the occasion 
when the Twelfth Iowa R,egiment covered it- 
self with a mantle of glory that can never 
grow old or dim : they were the heroes of the 
day. Upon the 22d they were back to Mem- 
phis and on the 31st of the same month they 
started out for the Oxford expedition. At 
this period Mr. Zuver was detailed for pro- 
vost duty part of the time, at Holly Springs, 
and also took part in the battles of Abbeville 
and Tallahatchie, Mississippi. 

"The regiment returned to Memphis on the 



30th of August and then proceeded to 
Duval's BlulT, on the 8th of September, thence 
to Brownsville on the 11th. then leaving to 
go on the "Pap" Price expedition, in which 
they followed Price and his forces for tliree 
hundred and fifty miles. Landing at Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri on the 5th of October, 
they went to St. Louis ; thence to Jefferson 
City, arriving on the 18th ; thence by cars to 
LaMine Bridge, where they set forth on the 
march to the scene of action. On the way 
they passed through Sedalia, Lexington and 
Independence, arriving on the battlefield oi 
the Big Blue on the 24th of the same month, 
— just after the fight was over. From that 
place they went to Santa Fe, Kansas, reaching 
Harrisonville, Missouri, on the 26th. They 
left again on the 30th, for St. Louis, via Se- 
dalia. 

"Upon the 8th of November Mr. Zuver 
voted in the capitol building of Missouri and 
in favor of Abraham Lincoln. This is mem- 
orable to him as being his first presidential 
vote. He was twenty-four years of age at 
the time. Leaving St. Louis on the 23d, he 
proceeded with his regiment to Cairo, which 
was reached in four days ; thence on to Nash- 
ville. December 15th and 16th he and his 
brave comrades were again under fire and 
added fresh laurels to those already won. 
After this they went on the Hood expedition. 
Mr. Zuver's regiment belonged to the Six- 
teenth Army Corps, which became known by 
the opprobrious appellation "Sinith's Guer- 
rillas." The expedition was continued to the 
Tennessee river, where they arrived January 
2, 1865. On the 10th they were at Eastport, 
Mississippi, where they remained the 7th of 
February. Then they went to . Paducah, 
Cairo, Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans, 
in which last named city they arrived on the 
21st. During this time Mr. Zuver, being de- 
tached from his regiment, was transferred to 
the ordnance departinent of the division, as 
ordnance sergeant, in which service he re- 
mained until near the close of the war. 

"From Lake Pontchartrain they left for 
Mobile Bay, and thence went to Spanish 
Fort. They participated in the seige of that 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



867 



fort and also that of Fort Blakesley, which 
fell April 10, 1865, and was the cause of the 
evacuation of Mobile the next day. Thence 
they marched to Montgomery, Alabama, 
which was reached upon the 25th. During 
the said march they learned of Lee's sur- 
render, and shortly afterward of Johnston's. 
During the summer and fall of 1865 they did 
duty at Selma and Talladega, and they then 
took up their march to Memphis, Tennessee, 
proceeding onward to Demolis, Meridian and 
Corinth, at which last point they arrived 
January 3, 1866. Mr. Zuver returned to his 
company on the 19th of July, 1865, with the 
rank of sergeant. Leaving Memphis on the 
18th, they reached Cairo on the 20th and 
Davenport on the 23d. The regiment was 
mustered out, to date the 20th of January, 
and was paid off on arrival at Davenport, 
where the gallant comrades, had marched, 
labored, fought and suffered together so long, 
answered the words of command for the last 
time, bade each other their affectionate fare- 
wells, and disbanded. 

"Mr. Zuver was in the service of his coun- 
try during a period of four years and four 
months. Within this time he marched over 
four thousand miles, in all weathers, suffering 
from heat and dust, frost and wet, passing 
over roads rough, hard and rocky, and 
through streams and swamps, or plodding 
wearily through deep clay and mud, — no 
easy task or pleasant journey. It is some- 
what remarkable that in spite of the fact that 
Mr. Zuver was so long in the service, so often 
an active combatant, so often engaged in lesser 
hand-to-hand conflicts, he sustained only one 
wound, and that of a comparatively slight na- 
ture, — this occurring at the battle of Shiloh. 
He kept a very careful record of all the hap- 
penings and circumstances of any importance 
from the first to the last of his military ex- 
perience and has since written a very com- 
plete, accurate and interesting history of Com- 
pany D, Twelfth Iowa \^eteran Volunteers, 
besides which he has received the honor of an 
appointment as a member of the regimental 
historical committee. 

"After the war Mr. Zuver returned to Ma- 



son City, Iowa, and engaged as clerk in a 
mercantile house, but in the fall of 1866 he 
engaged in the hotel business at Waterloo, 
Iowa. There he continued until the spring 
of the following year, when he came with his 
brother, George W., to Nebraska City, where 
he arrived on the 1st of July, reaching Brown- 
ville the next day. During the summer he en- 
gaged in farming, and in the winter in teach- 
ing school. LTpon the 17th of July, 1867, Mr. 
Zuver took a homestead in Hooker township. 
Gage county, and it was during this time 
that he became acquainted with Miss Nancy 
Adams, the daughter of John O. Adams, 
the first settler of Gage county, whose rec- 
ord appears elsewhere in this volume. Oc- 
tober 16, 1873, Mr. Zuver and Miss Nancy 
Adams were joined in holy wedlock. Nancy 
Adams was bom October 16, 1842, in Du- 
Bois county, Indiana, where she continued 
to make her home until she was fourteen 
years of age, when she came with her 
parents to Nebraska Territory, in 1857. 
Her education was, by force of circumstances, 
quite meager so far as schooling went, al- 
though she has earnestly endeavored to make 
up for any loss in that direction. The first 
school in upper Nemaha Valley was held in 
the house of her father, who did everything 
in his power to advance the interests of the 
young people. 

"Mr. Zuver owned one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Hooker township and two 
hundred and forty acres in Adams township, 
where he resided. He was a member of 
the Post No. 100, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, at Adams, of which he was com- 
mander for two years and adjutant for a num- 
ber of years. For several years, he was jus- 
tice of the peace in Hooker township and also 
in Adams township. He served also as town- 
ship assessor and deputy county assessor, as 
well as a member of the petit jury and the 
United States circuit jur>'. For a number of 
years he was appointed by the governor as the 
register of voters. It is hardly necessary 
after the foregoing military and official rec- 
ord to state that in political matters Mr. Zu- 
ver was an uncompromising Republican and 



868 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



that all of his influence and energj- were at its 
service. 

"An intimation has already been made to 
the eii'ect that Mr. Zuver has made a reputa- 
tion as a writer tipon the thrilling, painful and 
patriotic history of the war. To this de- 
partment of literature he added that of a 
writer of travels. The productions of his pen 
m this department are very interesting, be- 
cau.se he is a man of keen perceptions and 
knows what to observe and how to obsene 
It, and what is perhaps more rare, how to 
present it. In 1884 he made a trip to Cali- 
fornia, and concerning the journey he sup- 
plied the columns of the Beatrice Express 
with regular letters of deep interest. Com- 
ment on such history is superfluous; it is its 
own compliment as to the character of Air. 
Zuver and the estimation in which he was 
held by his fellow men." 

Mr. Zuver continued a resident of Gage 
county until his death, which occurred March 
21, 1893. From 1880 until his death he was 
in the United States railway service. His 
wife passed away April 28, 1898. The chil- 
dren born to this worthy couple were six 
in number: Georgia L. died at the age of 
thirteen years; Mary A. and Martha are 
twins, the former being the wife of Daniel E. 
Tracey, of whom special mention is made on 
other pages of this volume, and the latter be- 
ing the wife of E. H. Whittemore, of Adams, 
this county ; Anna and John A. died in infancy ': 
and Byron P. is a resident of Ellendale, North 
Dakota. 

CHRIST SPILKER.-In virtually the 
center of a fine landed estate of somewhat 
more than five hundred acres, in Section 17, 
Holt township, is situated the beautiful mod- 
ern farm home of Mr. Spilker, and the at- 
tractive residence combines with the group 
of other high-grade farm buildings to give 
to the place the semblance of a little village. 
Here Mr. Spilker is living retired from active 
labor since the time when he was incapacitated 
by a paralytic stroke, on the 21st of Febnian,-. 
1912, but he bears his infirmity with fortitude 
and equanimity, his mental faculties are un- 



impaired and he takes lively interest in the 
supervision of the general activities of his 

fine estate, as well in community affairs, a 

man who has won success through vigorous 
and well ordered endeavor and who has so 
ordered his course as to merit and receive the 
high regard of his fellow men. In Gage 
county Mr. Spilker is the owner of a finely 
improved estate of eight hundred and eighty 
acres, — five hundred and sixty acres in Sec- 
tion 17, Holt township, and the remaining 
three hundred and twenty acres in Midland 
township, four miles north of the city of Bea- 
trice. 

Mr. Spilker was born in Westphalia, Ger- 
/nany, July 18, 1870, and is a son of Henry 
and Louisa ( Frome) Spilker, who were hon- 
ored pioneers of Gage county and concerning 
whom specific mention is made on other pages, 
in the sketch of the career of their son Ernst H. 
Christ Spilker acquired his rudimentary 
education in the common schools and was 
twelve years of age at the time when the fam- 
ily home was established in Gage county, 
where he has maintained his residence during 
the intervening years and where his prosper- 
ity has been won entirely through his own ef- 
forts, save that his father gave to him the 
sum of fifteen hundred dollars as a basis for 
his independent activities. He was reared to 
adult age on the old homestead farm near 
Clatonia and later the family lived not far dis- 
tant from his present fine fann estate in Holt 
township. As a youth he attended the district 
schools of Gage county and he has never 
wavered in his allegiance to farm industrj-, 
through the medium of which he has won suc- 
cess of most substantial and worthy order. 
In 1891 Mr. Spilker purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of land in Holt township, and 
after there conducting operations a few years 
he sold the property to his brother Frederick. 
In the meanwhile he had purchased other farm 
Ijroperty in the same township, and his good 
judgment has been significantly manifested in 
his further accumulation of Gage countv land, 
as well as in the progressive policies he has 
followed in all departments of his farm enter- 
prise. He has been influential in community 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



869 



affairs of public order, has sensed as treasurer 
of Holt township, is a Republican in his po- 
litical proclivities, and he and his wife are 
communicants of the German Lutheran 
church. His farm in Holt township is one 
of the finest in this part of the county, all 
parts of the estate being kept in the best of 
order and the buildings being of most modern 
type, the attractive family residence, of eight 
rooms, having furnace heat. Mr. Spilker is 
one of the principal stockholders of the Farm- 
ers' State Bank at Pickrell and is serving as 
vice-president of the same. 

On the 1st of June, 1892, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Spilker to Mrs. Marj" 
(Tiemann) Spilker, widow of his brother 
Henry, who had met death as the result of 
injuries received when he was kicked by a 
mule. Mrs. Spilker's marriage to Henry 
Spilker occurred March 6, 1891, and his death 
occurred only a few months later, the only 
child of this union being Henry, who married 
Lydia Obring and who is now engaged in 
fanning in Holt township. Mrs. Spilker was 
bom in Germany, January 4, 1874, and was 
eleven years of age when she came to Gage 
county, in 1885, in company with one of her 
kinswomen. She is a daughter of William 
and Anna (Daubendick) Tiemann, who came 
to this county in 1888, and who removed, in 
1907, to Kansas, in which state they have since 
maintained their residence. Mr. and Mrs. 
Spilker have a fine family of eight children, 
all of whom remain, in 1918, members of the 
ideal home circle, their names being here en- 
tered in respective order of birth : William, 
Herman, Ernest, John, Frederick, Charles, 
Louisa and Anna. 



GEORGE C. BURROWS. — A brief rec- 
ord of the Burrows family cannot fail to be 
of interest to the readers of this volume, as 
its members have faithfully sened state and 
nation in times of both war and peace. 

George C. Burrows was born in Chautauqua 
county. New York, May 27, 1859. His 
father. Jay Burrows, likewise was a native 
of the Empire State, born in the little town of 
Mayville, at the head of Lake Chautauqua, 



March 4, 1837. As a young man Jay Bur- 
rows learned the printer's trade, which he fol- 
lowed until the outbreak of the Civil war. 
Having watched the course of events, his -pa- 
triotic spirit was aroused, and he enlisted in 
the Ninth New York Cavalry, with which he 
faithfully followed the stars and stripes for 
three years, being mustered out at the close of 
hostilities, as a lieutenant. Li 1865 he re- 
moved with his family to Iowa, where he fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits until 1880. He 
then became a resident of Filley township. 
Gage county, Nebraska. In 1879 he had pur- 
chased a relinquishment on the last homestead 
taken in Gage county. He was engaged in 
farming this tract for ten years. Mr. Bur- 
rows foiUTded and organized the Farmers' 
Alliance in Nebraska, and in 1890 he moved 
to Lincoln and edited and published the Farm- 
ers' Alliance official paper, continuing in this 
connection until shortly before his death, 
which occurred January 16, 1900. In New 
York state he married Lucinda Walker, who 
passed away in 1894. Of their children, 
Charles E. died in childhood ; George C. is the 
subject of this review ; Frank E. is a resident 
of Augusta, Kansas ; James B. lives at Paul, 
Idaho; Mar>' B. is the wife of L. H. Boggs, 
of Beatrice, Nebraska; Lucinda B. is the wife 
of William Axling, of Tokio, Japan, and they 
have devoted their lives to missionan,' work ; 
Sara A. is the wife of J. B. Lobell, of Denver, 
Colorado ; and Carrie died in childhood. 

George C. Burrows was a young man of 
twenty-one years when the family home was 
transferred to Nebraska. His education was 
acquired in the common schools of Iowa and 
Nebraska, and he became a farmer on his 
father's place.' On October 16, 1884, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Long, a 
daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Stahr) 
Long. Mr. and Mrs. Long came to Gage 
county in 1880, and bought land in Filley 
township. The father died August 27, 1888, 
and the mother passed away Alay 11, 1906. 
They were the parents of six children : Elias, 
was a soldier in the Civil war and died in the 
army hospital at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1865 ; 
.\lvin, died in childhood ; John, resides at 



870 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Idaho Falls, Idaho; Mary died in infancy; 
Mrs. George C. Burrows was the next in 
order of birth; and William died May 28 
1917. ^ ' 

To .Mr. and .Mrs. Burrows have been born 
SIX children: Earl C. married Miss Mabel 
Culp, and they reside in Adams, this county; 
Jessie died at the age of seventeen years' 
Herbert W. died in childhood; Chase W. en- 
listed as a volunteer in Company F, One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-Fourth Regiment United 
States Army, and is now at Camp Cody. New 
Alexico: he was elected by a large majority 
to the State Legislature and had the distinc- 
tion of being the youngest member of that 
body during the session of 1917-1918; Leslie 
W. is a member of the same military company 
as his brother Chase ; and .Miss Nina C, is 
still under the paternal roof. 

Mrs. Burrows is a member of the .Method- 
ist church, and in politics .Mr. Burrows is a 
Democrat. For thirty-eight years he has 
been a resident of Gage county, where he is 
well and favorably known, and where he has 
always taken a prominent part in supporting 
those things which have to do with the up- 
building of the community. 



PERRY L. BOWER, market gardener and 
greenhouse proprietor in the city of Beatrice, 
was bom in Jefferson county, Nebraska, Sep- 
tember 6, 1871, and is a son of Henry T. and 
Mary .X. (Norman) Bower. 

Henry T. Bower was born in Ohio, June 3, 
1844. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in an 
Ohio batter>- of light artillery, and he served 
as gunner until the close of the war. in 1865. 
Mr. Bower came to Nebraska in 1869, settling 
in Jefferson county, where he took a home^ 
stead. .Vt that time the nearest town to this 
pioneer farm was Beatrice, about twenty miles 
distant, where he went for the family mail, 
often making the trip on foot. A few years 
later a postoffice was established at Bower, 
Jefferson county, and this was named for Mr' 
Bower. When he f^rst located in Jefferson 
county he hauled lumber and provisions from 
Nebraska City with ox team, and it took one 
week to make the round trip. Mr. Bower 



lived on the homestead until 1899, when he 
retired and moved to Fairbury, Jefferson 
county, where he now makes his home. Mr. 
Bower had three brothers and three sisters. 
Fred and Harlow are deceased; .\rthur is 
living in Missouri; .Marj- is the widow of 
Henry Quayle and resides in Ohio ; r^liss Ella 
Bower is a resident of Corvallis, Oregon ; and 
-Mrs. Minnie Huff lives in Ohio. Mr.' and 
-Mrs. Henry T. Bower became the parents of 
three children: Lavinia is deceased; Rena 
is the wife of W. J. Moss, an attorney at 
Fairburj^ Nebraska; and Pern' L. is the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

Perry L. Bower was educated in the coun- 
try schools of Jefferson county, and as a boy 
and youth he worked on the farm with his 
father. Later he farmed for himself in that 
county. In 1908 he came to Beatrice and en- 
gaged in market gardening. About t\vo years 
ago Mr. Bower built a beautiful home and 
greenhouse at 739 West Scott street, the green- 
house being one of the most complete and 
modern establishments of its kind to be found 
in the state. The building is of concrete and 
steel construction, heated with hot water, with 
about seven thousand feet under glass. Here 
Mr. Bower raises winter vegetables for the 
market, making a specialty of strawberries 
and early vegetables. 

Mr. Bower owns twenty acres of land and 
has about five acres of this under irrigation, 
using the Skinner system of irrigation, and he 
lias it so arranged that he can use either water 
pumped from his own well by gas engine or 
that obtained by direct connection with the 
Beatrice city water system. 

On July IS, 1899, Mr. Bower was united in 
marriage with .Miss Ethel Rutledge, daughter 
of Thomas J. and Delilah (Fred) Rutledge, 
of Jefferson county. They are the parents of 
four children — Albert L., Harold O., Thelma 
I., and Hugh T. 

Thomas J. Rutledge, father of .Mrs. Bower, 
died at Fairbury, .Nebraska, in .'\pril. 1905, at 
the age of se\enty-seven years. His wife 
passed away in November, 1907, at the age of 
scventy-se\-en years. Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge 
were the parents of seven children : Irving is 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




Perry L. Bower 



S72 



HISTORY OF GAGE COrXTV, NEBRASKA 



deceased; William fl. is a resident of Arling- 
ton, Kansas; Alice is the widow of William 
.Montgomer>' and lives at Houston, Texas; 
-Mar>- is the wife of Aaron Cowles, of Fair- 
bury, Nebraska; Ethel is the wife of the sub- 
ject of the sketch; and .Misses Ella and Belle 
Rutledge reside at Fairburj^ this state. 



JOHN R. SPEAL.MAN.- After one has 
spent many years in honest toil, to win a com- 
petence for old age and to rear sons and 
daughters who are willing to give of their 
very best in the upholding of the principles 
that are for the advancement of mankind, it 
IS with pleasure that such a person looks 
cheerfully upon the past and confidently to the 
future. There is also a pleasure in knowing 
that all the struggling and striving has not 
been m vain ; that our ideals, our principles, 
are bemg realized in our posteritv and that 
they are taking up the burden where we laid 
It down, with a surer vision and a greater 
strength. 

John R. Spealman and his wife are hon- 
ored citizens of Wymore, where they are 
Iivmg a retired life, after vears of active 
farmmg m .Marshall county, Kansas. 

John Spealman was born'in La Salle county 
Ilhnois, July 18, 1848, and is a son of Henry 
and Sarah Ann (Richart) Spealman, who be- 
came pioneers of Marshall county. Kansas. 
Henry Spealman was born in Gennany Feb- 
ruary 15, 1820. a son of John Spealman, and 
his wife was born in Pennsylvania, November 
15, 1828. They were joined in holv wedlock 
June 24, 1847, in the state of Pennsvlvania 
where Heniy Spealman had settled upon his 
arrival in this land of freedom, ^\•ith hearts 
full of courage and beating with abounding 
pulse of youth, they started their home life in 
La Salle county, Illinois, where they tilled 
the soil and where sons and daughters were 
growing up around them. Later they re- 
moved to Lee county, that state, and in 1886 
they moved to Marshall county, Kansas, and 
homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres ol 
land. Henry Spealman and his wife shared 
the privations of the pioneer life, and their 
sons and daughters also participated in these 



eariy experiences, the while they grew strong 
in mind and body and were prepared to meet 
the new difficulties of a more advanced civili- 
zation. November 1. 1896, Henn- Spealman 
was laid to rest, and .May 7, 1898, his wife fol- 
lowed him to the life eternal. They were the 
parents of nine children, seven of whom are 
living: John R. is the subject of this sketch; 
George A. died in Illinois ; James Edwin is a 
farmer of Osborne county. Kansas; Armenta 
F. died in August, 1879; \\-illiam Henrv is a 
farmer in -Marshall county, Kansas; Rachel 
Man- is the wife of J. E. Daily, a retired 
farmer of -Alarjsville. Kansas ; Andrew is a 
farmer in Colorado; Clara B. is the wife of 
P. T. Burk, a retired farmer of Man-sville, 
Kansas; .Marcus F. is farming the old'home- 
stead in Marshall county, Kansas. 

John R. Spealman was educated in Lee 
county, Illinois and in 1875 he married Miss 
Sarah M. Cass, who was bom in that county, 
in 1857, she being a daughter of Aaron Jef- 
ferson Cass and Sarah Jane (Wheeler) Cass, 
the former bom in 1830, in Steuben county,' 
New York, and the latter bom in 1840, in 
Bangor, Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Cass were 
eariy settlers of PawPaw, Lee county, Illinois, 
and in 1870 they homesteaded near Frankfort,' 
.Marshall county. Kansas. There they con- 
tinued their famiing operations until their 
death. Mr. Cass died .August 30, 1910, and 
his wife died in 1890. Of their seven chil- 
dren six are living: Sarah is the wife of 
John R. Spealman, subject of this sketch; 
Aaron Jacob is deceased: Edwin B. is a 
fanner near Casey, Iowa; John Franklin is 
a farmer near Frankfort, Kansas; Miles 
Diton is a famier near Onaga. Kansas: 
.Martha Ann is the wife of A. C. Scoville, a 
carpenter at Frankfort, Kansas ; and Ida .May 
makes her home in Topeka, Kansas. 

-Mrs. Spealman was a young girl when her 
parents established the home in Kansas and 
that she imbibed the principles of that state is 
attested by the fact that for many years she 
has been an ardent worker in the Women's 
Christian Temperance Union. For eight 
years she has been county president of the or- 
ganization and she is also president of the 



I 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



873 



local chapter. Her influence in political cir- 
cles has borne fruit, as is seen by the state 
prohibiton,' amendment passed by a Nebraska 
lejjislature. She has done more for the pro- 
hibition cause in the southeastern part of Ne- 
braska than has any other woman, and as 
much as any other woman in the entire state. 
Her time and her talents are given unstint- 
ingly for the righteous cause of making this 
nation free, — free from moral sins as well 
as physical bondage to other nations. Such 
a mother, with such ideals, can not help but 
give to the world sons and daughters who 
will carry the light of truth and civilization 
in a higher and better way. Four children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Spealman : 
The firstborn is John Franklin, who was 
afforded the advantages of the Wymore 
schools and finished his education by attend- 
ing the Nebraska -Medical College. For eigh- 
teen years he practised medicine in Lincoln, 
where he was city physician for two years and 
city health officer for a number of years. He 
served his country on the border, in the Mexi- 
can trouble, and since our participation in the 
great European conflict he has subordinated 
all else to give his time and service to the 
nation. He is in command of Field Hospital, 
No. 166, sanitary train of the Forty-second 
Division of the Rainbow Forces of the United 
States in France. He was formerly in charge 
of the Nebraska field hospital corps of the Na- 
tional Guard, with the rank of major. The 
division of which Major Spealman is in charge 
has won commendatory mention from Secre- 
tary of War Baker. Major Spealman married 
Miss Ruth Holmes and they have two daugh- 
ters, Sarah and Edith. The next child of Mr, 
and Airs. John R. Spealman is Ernest Garfield, 
who is an attorney at Stalkton, Kansas ; he 
was educated in the Wymore schools and the 
Nebraska State University,at Lincoln, in which 
he was graduated. Cora Belle, who died in 
1915, was the wife of Andrew Alexander, of 
Lincoln, and she is survived by one daughter, 
Phyllis Belle. Henry Jefferson Spealman has 
active charge of the original eighty-acre home- 
stead of his father in Marshall county. Kan- 
sas. 



In 1866 John R. Spealman came to Marshall 
county, Kansas, and when of sufficient age he 
there homesteaded eighty acres of land. He 
added unto his land holdings until he had ac- 
quired four hundred acres. In 1888 he re- 
tired to Wymore, where he is now making his 
home and where his sons and daughters have 
received the advantages of the excellent pub- 
lic schools. Mr. and Mrs. Spealman have rea- 
son to be proud of their children and also are 
to be commended for their eiforts in the work 
of reform in behalf of the people of their state 
and nation. Both are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and are active in all 
of its social and missionary affairs. Frater- 
nally they are members of the Knights & 
Ladies of Security, in which organization 
they have held all official positions. It is 
men and women like Mr. and Mrs. Spealman, 
— willing to give their lives that great princi- 
ples may live — who are the ones that bring 
truth and righteousness to the world. 

CHESTER F. KING, who resides in the 
village of Filley, was born in Rock Island 
county, Illinois, November 23, 1867, and is a 
son of Charles W. and Candace (Stenzell) 
King, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere 
in this work. 

Chester F. King was nine years of age at 
the time of the family removal to Gage 
county, where he was reared under the condi- 
tions that marked the pioneer epoch and where 
he attended the district schools at intervals 
until he had attained to the age of twenty- 
four years. Finally he devoted several years 
to independent farm enterj)rise in Filley town- 
ship. His political allegiance is given to the 
Republican party. 

July 4. 1891, Mr. King wedded Miss Stella 
Pittman, who was bom in Knox county, Illi- 
nois, and their marriage was the first one per- 
formed in the new court house of Gage 
county. Of this union have been boni eight 
children : Charles Francis died at the age of 
si.xteen years ; the second child died in in- 
fancy ; Eflie is a popular teacher in the schools 
of her native county, as is also Hazel ; Chester 
remains at the parental home; Jesse died at 



874 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the age of two years ; Mildred remains with 
her parents; and the eighth child died in in- 
fancy. 

WILLIAM E. BRYSON. — After years 
of industry which netted him a competence, 
Mr. Brjson is now li\ing retired at University 
Place, Lancaster county, Nebraska. He is a 
native of Ohio, bom in Morgan county, Sep- 
tember 16, 1858, and is a son of the late Silas 
and Clarinda (Young) Br^-son, to whom a 
memorial tribute is given on other pages of 
this volume. On April 1, 1862, the Br>-son 
family arrived in Johnson county, Nebraska. 
Here William E. Bryson was reared on the 
pioneer farm, and four years later removal 
was made to Gage county. His boyhood be- 
ing passed in the usual manner of farm lads, 
— in that his time was divided between 
studies in the district school, the pleasures 
of the playground and doing such tasks on 
the home farm as his age would permit. As 
his years and strength increased he assisted 
more largely in the work of development 
and cultivation of the pioneer farm. When 
a young man he purchased three hundred 
and twenty acres in Sections 23 and 24, Adams 
township, and as the years passed he improved 
and cultivated this tract until it became one 
of the valuable properties of the town- 
ship. No better improved place could be 
found in Adams township, and on this farm 
he continued to labor until 1908, when he re- 
tired to the village of Adams. Later he 
moved to his present abode in University 
Place. Mr. Bryson has sold his farm in Gage 
county, and his time now is partly given to 
suj^erintending a ranch in Thomas county, 
Kansas, the same comprising two sections of 
land. 

On September 21, 1881, Mr. Bn,-son mar- 
ried Miss Etta Brjson, a daughter of David 
and Elizabeth Brj'son, who were early set- 
tlers in Gage county. The father is deceased 
these many years. The mother, who ha:= 
reached the advanced age of eighty-three 
years, resides (1918) at Adams. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bryson have become the parents of 
seven daughters ; Kate is the wife of J. A. 



Miller, of St. Louis, Missouri ; Dell is the wife 
of Paul Pillsburj', of Chico, California ; Lois 
is the wife of C. S. \\'oten, of San Francisco ; 
Jessie E. is the wife of Shirley Marshall, and 
they reside at Hastings, Nebraska ; Mae is the 
wife of W. A. Gray, of Lincoln, Nebraska; 
and Nell and Mildred remain at the parental 
home. 

The Brv'son family were among the early 
settlers of Gage county, and contributed in 
large measure to its development and upbuild- 
ing. By industry and the careful husband- 
ing of his resources \^'illiam E. Bryson is en- 
abled to lay aside the heavier labors and du- 
ties and to live in ease and comfort. He and 
his wife are members of and active workers 
in the ^Methodist Episcopal church, and they 
have a host of friends in Gage county, as well 
as in the community in which they now reside. 

EZRA LePOIDEVIN purchased in 1916 
an excellent fann of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in Section 26, Holt township, and is 
giving his characteristically vigorous super- 
vision to its improvement and management, 
the while he e.xercises similar i>rerogatives in 
connection with a farm of equal area which he 
rents from the L. E. Austin estate, in Section 
36 of the same township. He may well take 
pride in his status as one of the successful ex- 
ponents of farm enterprise in his native county 
and he is one of the progressive agricultur- 
ists and stock-raisers of the younger gener- 
ation in his native county. 

Mr. LePoidevin was born in Midland town- 
ship, this county, March 28, 1880, and is a 
son of Thomas LePoidevin, concerning whom 
individual mention is made on other pages. 
Reared to the sturdy discipline of the home 
farm the subject of this review early learned 
the value and consistency of honest toil and 
endeavor, the while he profited fully also by 
the advantages afforded in the district schools. 
His inclinations and tastes have led him wise- 
ly to accord unwavering allegiance to the basic 
industries with which he is now identified and 
in connection with which he is making suc- 
cess not an accident but a logical result. He 
is loyal in support of those measures and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



875 



movements which make for the advancement 
of the general welfare of the community, is a 
Republican in politics and he and his wife 
hold membership in the Christian church. 

December 22, 1909, Mr. LePoidevin wedded 
Miss Bessie Essam, who likewise was born 
in Midland township, where her father is a 
representative farmer, her mother being now 
deceased. Mrs. LePoidevin is a daughter of 
Jacob and Mollie (Bartram) Essam, both of 
whom were born and reared in Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. LePoidevin have two children, — 
Irma, born February 7, 1912. and Irene, born 
March 3, 1913. 

JAMES CRAWFORD. — Among the men 
of Gage county who fought gallantly in the 
Civil war and who have now passed to their 
reward, may justly be mentioned the late 
James Crawford. In 1863, when he was only 
seventeen years old, James Crawford enlisted 
in Company G. Sixty-fourth Illinois Volun- 
teer Infantry, and he became one of Yale's 
famed sharpshooters. He was involved in 
many a battle ere the end of the war. At 
Kenesaw Mountain twenty-two of his com- 
pany were killed and it seemed as though the 
enemy was to win the day, but the "Boys in 
Blue" fought bravely and finally won the 
victory. Mr. Crawford was also with Sher- 
man on the famous march through Georgia to 
the sea. He was wounded twice and was 
taken to the military hospital at Springfield, 
Illinois. 

James Crawford was born in New York 
city, October 10, 1846, and was a son of Wil- 
liam and Mary (Quinn) Crawford, who were 
born in County Kerry, Ireland, and were land 
owners in the Emerald Isle, but they became 
convinced that the hospitable shores of the 
United States offered better opportunities 
than their native land. In 1845 they came to 
New York city, and for a number of years 
William Crawford conducted a steamship busi- 
ness between Brooklyn and New York. Later 
he operated an omnibus line. He continued 
U> reside in New York city until his death. 

The Crawford family lineage traces to the 
famous Robert Bruce, of Scotland, James 



Stuart being the descendant who founded 
the family in Ireland, and he having been be- 
headed because of his religious views, in the 
early part of the fifteenth centurj'. 

James Crawford received his education in 
Illinois and, as before noted, he enlisted from 
that state for service in the Civil war. When 
the war had ceased and the men were again 
able to go back to the peaceful occupations of 
office and fami, Mr. Crawford came back and 
began to study to fit himself more efficiently 
for his life work. In T^farch, 1870, he mar- 
ried Miss Lavina McDonald, who lived only 
three months after their marriage. 

In 1871 ]\Ir. Crawford came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and purchased land in Sec- 
tion 22, Wymore township, where he gave 
many years to successful farm enterprise, his 
death having occurred May 19, 1914. On the 
31st of August, 1875, at Blue Springs, this 
county, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Crawford to Ivliss Carrie Lott, and their 
gracious companionship continued unbroken 
for nearly half a century, the ties being 
severed only by the death of the devoted hus- 
band and father. They reared their sons and 
daughters to lives of honor and usefulness, 
and concerning the children brief record may 
consistently be entered at this point: Frank 
E. is at the time of this writing, in the spring 
of 1918, a member of the fine military forces 
which the nation is preparing for participa- 
tion in the great European war and he is sta- 
tioned with his command at Deming, New 
Mexico, where he is captain of Company F, 
One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment of 
the United States Army. Captain Crawford 
acquired his preliminary education in the dis- 
trict schools of Gage county, and supplemented 
this by attending the high school at Wymore. 
Later he took up the study of law, and in 
1901 he w^as graduated at the law department 
of the University of Nebraska. Thereafter 
he was engaged in the practice of of his pro- 
fession at Wymore until he became a mem- 
ber of the patriotic military organization which 
is destined to bring the greatest honor to the 
American arms in connection with the great 
world war. Alice, the elder daughter of the 



876 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



honored subject of this memoir, is the wife 
of W. C. Dagwell, an insurance agent, and 
they reside in the city of Omaha, Mrs. Dag- 
well being a graduate nurse and having fol- 
lowed the work of her profession prior to her 
marriage. Mary E., the younger daughter, 
is the wife of Robert Jones, a skilled ma- 
chinist, and they reside at Wymore. this 
county. Harry remains with his widowed 
mother on the old home farm and has the 
active management of the same. Ralph is 
identified with bridge building operations in 
the service of the Chicago, Burlington & 
Quincy Railroad. 

Mrs. James Crawford is a representative ol 
one of the honored territorial pioneer fami- 
lies of Gage county. She was born at Blue 
Springs, this county, May 3, 1862, and is 
the youngest of the children of James Mon- 
roe Lott and Sarah L. (Knight) Lott. The 
father was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 
1826, and his death occurred in 1870, his wife 
having been bom in Ohio, in 1832, and she 
having passed to the life eternal in the year 
1909; their marriage was solemnized in Iowa 
and in 1862 they came to Nebraska Terrilor}- 
and numbered themselves among the pioneer 
settlers in Sicily township. Gage county, 
where Mr. Lott entered claim to a homestead 
of one hundred and sixty acres and where he 
and his wife bore their full share of the hard- 
ships and arduous labors incidental to the re- 
claiming and improving of a pioneer farm, the 
while they reared their children carefully and 
well, inculcating in them the highest of ideals 
and principles and fortifying them for the 
duties of later years, much of this responsi- 
bility resting upon the devoted mother, as the 
father was in the very prime of life at the time 
of his death, which occurred on his home 
farm. Mr. Lott was a man of education and 
superior intellectual ken, and was preparing 
himself for the ministry* at the time of his 
death, in the winter of 1870. He was a Re- 
publican in politics and as a citizen he was 
influential in community alTairs in the pioneer 
period of Gage county's history. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lott became the parents of four chil- 



dren, of whom the youngest is Carrie, widow 
of the subject of this memoir. The other 
surviving children are Augustine and Olive 
M. Augustine, whose first wife was Dollie 
\\'ymore, chose Miss Ada Nichols for his 
second wife, and he is a blacksmith by trade, 
though at the present time he is operating a 
saw mill in the great lumbering district of the 
state of Washington. Olive M. is the wife of 
D. E. Moore, who is a veteran of the Civil 
war and who is now living retired at Napanee, 
Nebraska. All of the children were reared in 
the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
for the ministry of which their father was pre- 
paring himself, and Mrs. Crawford is an earn- 
est member of this church. She has the dis- 
tinction of having been the first white child 
born in Blue Springs township, this county, 
and she acquired her education in the schools 
of the county, all of her life thus far having 
been passed within its gracious borders, so 
that she knows well the history of this section 
of the state and is deeply interested in all 
things touching the welfare of her native 
county. 

James Crawford, to whom this memoir is 
dedicated, was a gentleman of distinctive cul- 
ture and of high ideals, — -a man who ac- 
counted well for himself in all of the relations 
of life. He was an appreciative and valued 
member of Coleman Post, No. 115, Grand 
Army of the Republic, and he sen-ed seven 
years as a lieutenant in the Nebraska state 
militia. He took lively interest in all that con- 
cerned the fine state of his adoption and was 
a member of the Nebraska State Historical 
Society. For thirty-nine years he served as 
a member of the school board of his district, 
and it is probable is that a record for such ser- 
vice during so prolonged a i>eriod can be 
claimed in connection with few, if any, other 
citizens of Gage county. Mr. Crawford 
held for two terms the office of county com- 
missioner, he was a stalwart Republican in 
politics, was always alert and ready to aid in 
the furtherance of civic and material progress, 
and was a valued citizen who will long be re- 
membered by his sun-ing comrades of the 
Civil war and bv his host of other friends. 



I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



877 



CARL I. WHYMAN. — In Section 27, 
Adams township, on the outskirts of the town 
of Adams, may be found the beautiful resi- 
dence of Carl I. Whyman, farmer and busi- 
ness man and a representative of one of Gage 
county's most prominent and influential pio- 
neer families. Mr. Whyman was bom at 
Adams, this county, on July 9, 1882, and is a 
son of Frank E. and Mary (Windle) Why- 
man. Frank E. Whyman is a native of 
Pennsylvania, born July 25, 1854, and he re- 
ceived his early education in the schools of 
his native state. As a youth of fourteen 
years he came with his parents to Nebraska 
and the family home was established in Adarns 
township, Gage county, — in 1868. The 
father homesteaded one hundred and sixty 
acres of land, which he reclaimed and im- 
improved. Frank E. Whyman eventually 
l)ought land and engaged in independent farm 
enterprise. He thus continued his activities 
until 1882, when he disposed of his land and 
engaged in the drug business in the village of 
Adams. In this business he continued for 
some time and he then sold out and engaged 
in the furniture and undertaking business, also 
buying and selling live-stock. In 1914 Mr. 
Whyman disposed of his business in Gage 
county, and removed to Boise City, Idaho, 
where he now makes his home. He is a son 
of Charles A. and Amelia (Allen) Whyman, 
who were natives of England and who came 
to the United States in 1852 : Charles A. Why- 
man passed to the life eternal March 23, 1911. 
The following extract is taken from an article 
which appeared in the Adams newspa]3er at 
the time of his death: 

"Charles Whyman was bom April 15, 1827, 
at threat Bowden, Leicestershire, England. He 
was the youngest son of eleven children born 
to Henry and .\nne Whyman. He was left 
fatherless at the age of twelve, which threw 
liim upon his own resources, with the care of a 
widowed mother. This, together with the 
rigid conditions of England at that time, de- 
veloped in him a spirit of integrity seldom met 
with and, with the prayers of a Christian 
mother, as a young man of twenty he conse- 
crated himself to Christ, beginning his life of 



service at that time by entering the Congrega- 
tional church, and that actively as an earnest 
Sabbath-school teacher, one of a company ol 
young men who regularly taught in several 
villages each Sabjiath. He married Amelia 
Allen, in the Butler Avenue Congregational 
church of Leamington, June 27, 1851. Mr. 
and Mrs. Whyman removed immediately to 
Mrs. Whyman's childhood home at Galbally, 
Ireland, where they resided about fifteen 
months, and where their first daughter, Mary, 
was born. In the fall of 1852 they embarked 
for America, which at that time meant a voy- 
age of thirty-two days on a sailing vessel. 
They came to Pennsylvania and settled in Erie 
county, where they remained until 1868, when 
they came to Nebraska with twelve children, 
and settled on a homestead in Nemaha town- 
ship. Gage county. Here they were welcomed 
by the hardy pioneers, and met the hardships 
with them. Many may remember the 'Old 
Log schoolhouse' church services. Father Why- 
man reading a sermon. In 1887 Mr. Whyman 
united with the IVesbyterian church of Adams. 
Mr. Whyman's life has been one of activity 
as a farmer and merchant. He lived in the 
Adams vicinity for forty-three years. About 
four years ago he removed to the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. Cora Cofifman, where on the 
morning of March 23, 1911. he passed peace- 
fully to the home he had longed for, just ten 
years after the wife and mother departed. 
Ten of the fourteen children, forty-four grand 
children, and seventeen great-grandchildren 
are left to mourn the loss and cherish the 
memory of a noble father." 

Carl I. Wyman was educated in the public 
schools of Adams, and is a graduate of the 
Adams high school. As a young man he 
clerked in a general merchandise store in 
Adams, and later he bought an interest in a 
furniture and undertaking business, willi his 
father. This enterprise he continued to con- 
duct until 1914, and in the same he is still in- 
terested. In 1914 Mr. Whyman bought sixty 
acres of land in Section 27, Adams township, 
and here he and his family now make their 
home, in a comfortable modern residence. He 



878 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



is actively engaged in farming and stock- 
raising. 

November 27, 1902, Mr. Whyman married 
IMiss Mar\' Ellen Meyer, a daughter of the 
late Adolphus Meyer. Mrs. Whyman passed 
away on June 28, 1907, and is survived by 
three children. Bertha, Ruth and Harold, all 
at home. On April 21, 1908, Mr. Whyman 
was united in marriage to Mrs. Eliza A. Gar- 
rison, a sister of his former wife, and to this 
union one child has been born, Josephine. 

Mr. Whyman is one of a family of eleven 
children, as follows: George E., of Adams, 
Nebraska; Ralph W. and Arthur, of Lincoln; 
Harry, deceased; Eve, wife of George F. 
Bates, of Canby, Oregon; Estella, wife of 
Hugh Jones, of Monticello, Utah ; Annie, wife 
of Earnest DeHaven, a soldier in the engi- 
neering corps of the United States Army; 
Esther and Mildred, of Boise, Idaho; and 
Rose, wife of Charles M. Galloway, of Adams, 
Nebraska. 

In politics Mr. Whyman is a Republican, 
and he and his family are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church of Adams, where 
they are numbered among the most progres- 
sive and esteemed citizens. 

JOHN BRADDOCK has proved himself 
energetic and forward-looking in his activities 
as a farmer and is one of the representative 
agriculturists and stock-growers of Filley 
township, where his attractive homestead is 
situated in Section 13. He is a scion of a 
sterling pioneer family of the Hawkeye state 
and was born in Marshall county, Iowa, Oc- 
tober 16, 1853, a son of Martin and Dehlah 
(Lepley) Braddock, who were bom and 
reared in Ohio, where their marriage was sol- 
emnized and whence they removed to Iowa in 
1850. They remained for a time in Mahaska 
county and then removed to Alarshall count}-, 
where Martin Braddock entered claim to gov- 
ernment land, perfected title to the same and 
developed a good farm, both he and his wife 
having there passed the remainder of their 
lives, the subject of this review having been 
the second of their eleven children, of whom 
eight are living. Martin Braddock made the 



overland trip to Iowa with team and wagon 
and on his arrival his available capital was 
represented in the sum of sixty-five cents. 
By energy and good management as a pioneer 
farmer he achieved independence and well 
merited prosperity, and his political support 
was given to the Democratic party, his wife 
having been a member of the Christian church. 
Mr. Braddock was a son of W^illiam Braddock, 
who was born in New England, of sterling 
colonial ancestn,-, his father having come to 
America from England. William Braddock 
became a pioneer in Ohio, where he and his 
wife passed the residue of their lives. John 
Eepley, maternal grandfather of the subject 
of this sketch, was bom in Pennsylvania and 
was a resident of Ohio for many years prior 
to his death. 

John Braddock acquired his early education . 
in the public schools of his native county and 
there continued his association with agricul- 
tural pursuits until 1883, when he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land, of which 
sixty-five acres had been broken, a small 
house having been erected on the place. Since 
that time he has erected excellent fami build- 
mgs and made many other improvements, be- 
sides which he has added to the area of his 
fami estate until he now has a valuable prop- 
erty of two hundred and forty acres, devoted 
to diversified agriculture and to the raising of 
good live stock, including white-face cattle that 
are bred largely from registered stock. He is 
liberal and progressive as a citizen and in 
politics gives his allegiance to the Democratic 
party. 

In 1890 Mr. Braddock wedded Miss Sarah 
Woods, who was bom in Johnson county, 
Iowa, and whose death occurred in February, 
1893. She is sur\-ived by two sons, Ray and 
Frank, both active young exponents of farm 
enterprise in Gage county. In 1900 was re- 
corded the marriage of Mr. Braddock to Miss 
Edna May Hogle, who was, like himself, bom 
in ■Marshall county, Iowa, and they have three 
daughters — Bessie, Blanche, and Marjorie — 
all members of the United Brethren church. 
Mrs. Braddock is a birthright member of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



879 




Mr. and Mrs. John Braddock 



880 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Society of Friends, and Mr. Braddock is af- 
filiated with the lodge of Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons in the village of Filley. 

AMESBURY LEE, M. D. — Gage county 
claims as one of its representative physicians 
and surgeons Dr. Lee, who is a young man of 
excellent professional attainments and whose 
success is attested by his substantial and im- 
portant general practice, as well as his un- 
equivocal personal popularity. He maintains 
his residence and professional headquarters 
in the attractive village of Pickrell, in Holt 
township. 

Dr. Lee was born in Jefferson county, New 
York, November S, 1886, and is a son of 
George A. and Mary (Jackson) Lee, of whose 
three children he \yas the second in order of 
birth; Chlevera is the wife of G. Bowles, of 
Theresa, Jefferson county. New York ; and 
In-ing died in infancy. 

George A. Lee was born in England and 
was a marble-cutter by trade. He followed 
his trade in Jefferson county. New York, 
where both he and his wife died, Dr. Lee hav- 
ing been doubly orphaned when he was a lad 
of seven years and thus having little definite 
knowledge concerning the family history of 
either of his parents. He was reared in the 
home of kinsfolk and at the age of thirteen 
years he began to assist in the general mer- 
chandise store of his uncle, John Lee, at 
Triumi)h, La Salle county, Illinois. His 
rudimentary education was acquired in the 
public schools of his native state and there- 
after he continued his studies in those of Illi- 
nois until he had completed the curriculum 
of the high school. In consonance with his 
ambition and well formulated plans he en- 
tered, in 1902, the pharmacy department of 
\'alparaiso Univeristy, at \'alparaiso. Indiana, 
where he continued his technical studies one 
year. Thereafter he was employed in a drug 
store in the city of Chicago, and in 1905. he 
came to Gage county and assumed a similar 
position in the establishment of the M. E. 
Schultz Drug Company, at Beatrice. In the 
following year he took a position in a drug 
store in the city of Omaha, and there, in 1906, 



he was matriculated in Creighton :Medical Col- 
lege, in which he completed his professional 
education and was graduated as a member of 
the class of 1910. The Doctor depended en- 
tirely upon his own resources in defraying 
the expenses of his professional education and 
thus he applied himself with all of earnestness 
and assiduousness until he had won his coveted 
degree of Doctor of Medicine. Shortly after 
his graduation Dr. Lee returned to Gage 
county, and he has since been engaged in the 
active and successful practice of his profession 
at Pickrell. He is an appreciati\e and popu- 
lar member of the Gage County Medical So- 
ciety and holds membership also in the Ne- 
braska State Medical Society and the American 
Medical Association. His political allegiance 
is given to the Republican party, he has re- 
ceived the thirty-second degree of the Ancient 
Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry, his maxi- 
mum York Rite affiliation being with the com- 
mandery of Knights Templars at Lincoln and 
his ancient-craft afliliation with Lodge No. 2, 
at Lincoln. He and his wife are popular fig- 
ures in the social life of their community and 
their attractive home, a modem bungalow 
erected by the Doctor, is a center of gracious 
hospility. 

May 27, 1912, Dr. Dee wedded Miss Cecil 
Mayer, who was Ixirn at Beatrice, this 
county, where her parents, Joseph and Julia 
(Meyers) Mayer, still reside, Mr. Mayer being 
a prominent and influential citizen and having 
ser\-ed at one time as mayor of the city. Dr. 
and :\Irs. Lee have one child, Amesburv, Jr., 
who was bom October 6, 1914. 

CH.\RLES A. JACKSON. — The late 
Charles A. Jackson was one of the early set- 
tlers of Beatrice, Nebraska, where for many 
years he was engaged in the drag business. 
He came to Gage county, in 1874, from Cur- 
ran, Illinois. Mr. Jackson was actively iden- 
tified with the civic and business development 
of Beatrice and contributed his share to the 
advancement and upbuilding of the little mral 
hamlet until it became the beautiful and pros- 
perous little western city of the present dav. 

Mr. Jackson was born in Canandaigua, New 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XECRASKA 



881 



York, Alarch 2, 1841. and he was reared as 
the youngest child of a widowed mother. Al- 
though he had no father's hand to guide him. 
his mother gave him good educational ad- 
vantages and in the old Empire state he grew 
to adult age. Some time during his early man- 
hood he went to Curran, Illinois, where he 
held various positions of trust. There, in 
turn, he taught school, was connected with 
the general merchandise business, was a rail- 
road station agent, and served as the post- 
master of Curran. 

After the Civil war there was a great immi- 
gation movement trending to the west. In 
this general emigration from Illinois. Air. 
Jackson came to Beatrice, Nebraska, where 
he and George \\'. Hinkle formed a partner- 
ship and engaged in the drug business. This 
partnership was dissolved a few years later, 
and Mr. Jackson continued the enterprise. 
For more than thirty years he devoted his en- 
tire time to the conducting of his prosperous 
business. After he and his young bride came 
to Beatrice he built a spacious house, and in 
this attractive old home Mrs. Jackson still re- 
sides. It has withstood efifectually the disin- 
tegrating influences of the passing of years 
and, after several remodelings, is now a sub- 
stantial and essentially modern dwelling. 
When it was first built it was pointed out as 
the nicest home in Beatrice. In this home 
the death of ^^r. Jackson occurred September 
3, 1907. 

At Curran, Illinois, on the 10th of October, 
1872, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Jackson to Miss Ann Kelly, who was born 
on a farm near that place and who is a daugh- 
ter of Jonathan and Sarah (Cook) Kelly. Her 
parents were children at the time when the 
respective families became numberd among 
the pioneers of Illinois, the Kellys having 
come from North Carolina and the Cooks 
from Tennessee. John Kelly, grandfather of 
]\Irs. Jackson, settled in Illinois in 1819, when 
that now great and prosperous state was still 
on the very frontier, and there he bore the 
full heat and burden of the day as a sterling 
pioneer who did well his part in the forward- 
ing of the march of civilization and progress. 



He hewed from the forest the logs with which 
to build his pioneer cabin, and this was the 
first log cabin to be erected in what is now 
the fair capital of Illinois, — the city of 
Springfield. In May, 1821, was held in this 
cabin the first session of court in Sangamon 
county, and the building has consequently been 
definitely memorialized in the recorded history 
of Illinois. 

In addition to holding for many years a se- 
cure place as one of the representative business 
men and influential citizens of Beatrice, 
Charles A. Jackson further aided in the ad- 
vancement of the interests of Gage county, 
for he became the owner of a valuable landed 
estate of three hundred and twenty acres, in 
Filley township. He was a thorough consci- 
entious and successful business man, gave 
close attention to his business but was always 
ready to give his influence and co-operation in 
the support of measures advanced for the 
general good of his home city and county. 
He commanded unqualified popular esteem 
and was one of the honored pioneer citizens 
of the county at the time of his death. Mrs. 
Jackson is an active memljer of the ]\Iethodist 
Episcopal church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jackson became the parents 
of two children, but both died in infancy. 
They adopted three children, and of these the 
only survMvor is ]Mrs. Alice Park, of Ash- 
grove, ^Missouri. Mrs. Park was born near 
Diller, Gage county, and she became the wife 
of William Jamison, whose death occurred 
in 1916. The one child of this union is John 
Jamison, who now resides in the home of Mrs. 
Jackson. In October, 1917, Mrs. Alice Jami- 
son became the wife of Walter Park, and they 
now reside at Ashgrove, Missouri. 

WILLIAM KRAMER. — Within the fifty- 
two years of William Kramer's residence in 
America he has attained through indefatigable 
industrj' a substantial fortune. In these years 
of earnest endeavor he endured many depri- 
vations and hardships of which the younger 
generation can have but slight comprehension. 
Like many other German immigrants to the 
United States, ilr. Kramer was a poor man 



882 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



financially when he landed on our hospitable 
shores, but he was blessed with robust health 
and strength and was imbued with an ambition 
to win success in the land of his adoption. 
He has accomplished his purpose and is now 
one of the wealthy farmers in Nemaha town- 
ship, Gage county. 

Hanover, Germany, has given many of its 
industrious, ambitious men to people the 
United States and dot its fertile lands with 
houses, barns, silos and herds of cattle. It 
was in Hanover, Gennany, on the 24th day of 
Tune, 1848, that William Kramer first saw the 
light of day. He is a son of Herman and 
Mary (Tellkamp) Kramer, who were the par- 
ents of seven children, — • six sons and one 
daughter. William was the sixth son born 
and the daughter was the youngest child. Mr. 
and Mrs. Herman Kramer remained in their 
home country until their death. 

In 1866, William Kramer, when only eigh- 
teen years of age, heard of the vast oppor- 
tunities off'ered in the United States for men 
of energy and a knowledge of farming, so he 
left the paternal fireside and took passage on a 
sailing vessel bound for the New World. The 
voyage took nearly two months on the slow 
cumbersome ship of that day, — a voyage that 
can now be made within six days' time. Air. 
Kramer first located in Washington county, 
Illinois, where he labored as a farm hand. He 
remained there some time and then went to 
Menard county, Illinois, where he rented land 
for nearly eleven years. It was in this county 
that he married, and there his children were 
born. 

At this time in the world's historj- Nebraska 
was fast being settled by men coming from the 
eastern states, and the men were coming from 
Illinois in great numbers. Mr. Kramer heard 
of the vast, fertile lands and decided to come 
and purchase some of this land. In 1886 he 
arrived with his family in Nemaha township, 
Gage county, where he purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, in Section 3. He 
made all of the improvements on the farm and 
has set out two or three acres of grove trees. 
From time to time as he was able, he has 
added to this original one hundred and sixty 



acres until he now (1918) owns nine hundred 
and seventy acres of land in Nemaha town- 
ship. 

When Mr. Kramer chose Wilhelmina 
Sachtleben as his wife, he chose a woman 
who has been truly a helpmeet to him. She 
has worked steadily and faithfully by his 
side, helping him in all of his plans for the 
acquiring and improving of their broad acres. 
Their marriage was solemnized March 18. 
1875, in Alenard county, Illinois. Mrs. 
Kramer was born in Germany and upon com- 
ing to this countrv' she settled in Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kramer have two sons and three 
daughters: Anna is the wife of Rev. M. 
Lehnenger, living near Plymouth, Nebraska; 
John is at home and assists his father in the 
work and management of the farm ; Henr)' is 
operating a grain elevator at Firth, Lancaster 
county; Maggie is the wife of James Ikerd, 
of Lancaster county; and Minnie is the wife 
of Fred Hochheim, a farmer in Highland 
township, Gage county. All of the children 
have received good educational advantages 
and are doing well their part in the world's 
work. They were reared in the Lutheran 
faith and in their youth the parental home 
was always open to their friends. 

While Mr. Kramer has always been a busy 
man, he has had time to devote to the inter- 
ests of the community at large. He was a 
member of the school board from 1887 to 
1914, devoting his energies to the furtherance 
of the educational advantages of his district. 
He served as road overseer for some time, 
and did his work faithfully and well. His 
political views are in harmony with the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party and it receives 
his support. Tlie Kramer farm is known foi 
its fine breed of Short-horn cattle, in which 
their owner takes a great deal of pride. On 
his good xNebraska corn he has always fed a 
great many cattle for market. 

WILLIAAI R. McKINLEY, who is now 
living virtually retired, in the city of Beatrice, 
was a young man of twenty-one years when 
he came to Gage county, fully forty years 
ago, and he was long and success fullv identi- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



883 



fied with fann industry in this section of the 
state, his experience covering fully the ex- 
igencies and labors incidental to reclaiming a 
pioneer farm. Mr. McKinley is a bachelor 
and it is a matter of supreme satisfaction and 
pride to him that he has remained constantly 
with his loved mother, to whom he has accord- 
ed the utmost filial devotion and solicitude 
and whose gentle presence, after she was ven- 
erable in years and in impaired health, rested 
as a gracious benediction upon him and upon 
their pleasant home, at 1208 Ella street, Be- 
atrice, until she passed to the life eternal, her 
death having occurred May 6, 1918. 

Mr. McKinley was born at Farmer City, 
Illinois, on the 20th of July, 1856, and is a 
son of John Wesley McKinley and Julia 
(Hays) McKinley, the fonner of whom like- 
wise was a native of Farmer City, where he 
was born June 3, 1831, a representative of 
one of the sterling pioneer families of that 
part of Illinois. John W. McKinley was 
reared and educated in Illinois and there 
learned the trade of harnessmaker, but fol- 
lowed farming in that state until his death, he 
having passed away April 26, 1865. His wife 
was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, was 
reared and educated at Bellefontaine, Ohio, 
and in the winter of 1854-1855 she became a 
resident of Dewitt county, Illinois, where, 
July 4, 1855, was solemnized her marriage to 
John Wesley McKinley, who was in the very 
prime of his useful manhood at the time ol 
his death. The children of this union were 
four in number, William R., of this review, 
being the eldest ; the other surviving son, 
Charles S., who was born October 1, 1858, 
was taken into the home of his maternal 
grandparents after the untimely death of his 
father, and was by them reared and educated, 
in Illinois : he is now a resident of Fowler, 
Colorado; and Lincoln and Joseph died in 
infancy. On the 30th of April, 1868, Mrs. 
Julia ( Hays) McKinley became the wife of 
Alba C. Turner, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, 
and there they continued to reside until the 
spring of 1878, when they numbered them- 
selves among the pioneers of Gage county, 
Nebraska. For three years they maintained 



their residence in Sicily township, near the 
village of Blue Springs, and they then pur- 
chased eighty acres of land in Section 20, 
that township. This land, which was unre- 
claimed and entirely without improvements, 
challenged their energy and resourcefulness 
to the fullest extent in the early days, and 
their original dwelling was a primitive dug- 
out, built in a bank of earth and then boarded 
up, the domicile having been fourteen by 
twenty feet in dimensions. Later a tract of 
forty acres was added to the pioneer farm, 
and on this old home place the death of Mr. 
Turner occurred September 11, 1885. The 
widow and children remained on the farm 
until 1909, when they removed to the village 
of Wymore, and four years later removal was 
made to the city of Beatrice, where the home 
has since been maintained. After the death 
of Mr. Turner his widow and her eldest son, 
William R. McKinley, purchased an adjoin- 
ing tract of one hundred and sixty acres, and 
thus the farm was made one of the well im- 
proved and valuable places of Sicily township, 
the property being still in possession of the 
family and being now under the efficient man- 
agement of Fred H. Turner, a son of the 
second marriage, he being the elder of the 
two children of his mother's second marriage 
and the younger, Lucy, being now the wife 
of James M. Skinner, of Beatrice. Lucy 
Turner's first husband was Frank L. Gray 
and they became the parents of two children — 
William L. and Nettie, the latter having from 
infancy been in the home of her maternal 
grandmother and her devoted "LTncle Will," 
by whom she was reared to maturity : she 
was afiforded the advantages of the Gage 
cpunty schools and is now a successful and 
popular teacher in the pubhc schools of Be- 
atrice. Mr. McKinley, as before stated, con- 
stantly remained with his loved mother, who 
cared for him with the utmost devotion dur- 
ing his childhood and to whom he found it a 
matter of great satisfaction to pay the tribute 
of filial love and attention which was so emi- 
nently her due in the gracious evening of her 
long and earnest life. She was born January 
19, 1837, and thus was eighty-one years of 



8SA 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



age at the time of her death. This gentle and 
revered pioneer woman had been in impaired 
health for several years, but her alert men- 
tality enabled her to enjoy the peace and pros- 
perity that attended her and to appreciate the 
fact that her lines were "cast in pleasant 
places" in the co'jnty in which she endured 
her full quota of the hardships and trials in- 
cidental to pioneer life, her circle of friends 
having been limited only by that of her ac- 
quaintances and she having been tenderly 
cared for by her devoted son. 

JOHN W. CAMPBELL is the owner of 
one hundred and twenty acres of land in Sec- 
tion 33. Adams township, and is successfully 
engaged in farm enterprise, in which he 
makes a specialty of raising thoroughbred 
Polled Durham cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. 

Mr. Campbell is a native of Rockford. Illi- 
nois, where he was born July 7, 1866, son of 
George W. Campbell, whose record appears 
elsewhere in this volume. John \V. Campbell 
was two years old when his parents came to 
Nebraska and established the family home in 
Gage county, (^n his father's farm, which 
has been the home of the family for almost 
fifty years, he grew to young manhood. Re- 
ceiving a good education in the schools of 
Adams, he taught school for two years, read- 
ily imparting to others the knowledge he had 
acquired. As his years and strength increased 
he assumed more largely the arduous duties 
and tasks incident to the work on the home 
farm, and in 1900 he purchased the old home 
place. Since that time he has directed, with 
marked progressiveness and success, the 
varied operations of his excellent farni. On 
the place substantial improvements have been 
made bj^ him, and to-day it is one of the most 
valuable farm properties in Adams township. 

On September 18, 1890, was solemnized 
the marriage of John W. Campbell and Miss 
Eliza E. Key. Mrs. Campbell was bom in 
Illinois and was a girl of ten years of age 
when she accompanied her parents to Iowa, 
where she was reared and educated, and 
where her marriage occurred. \It. and Mrs. 
Campbell became the parents of six children : 



Darwin H., a machinist and motorcycle in- 
structor, is doing valiant service for his coun- 
try ''somewhere in France" ; Edna is de- 
ceased ; and Otto, Vera, Raymond, and El- 
vessa remain at the parental home. 

Mr. Campbell and his family are members 
of the Methodist church. In politics he gives 
his support to the Republican party. He 
capably served as assessor of his township 
and for fourteen years he has been secretary- 
of the Adams school, which is the only A- 
grade normal training high school in the 
county, outside of Beatrice. Fraternally Mr. 
Campbell is a Mason and member of the 
Royal Highlanders. In all things pertaining 
to the moral, social, and material uplift of 
his community he is always ready to give his 
influence and co-operation. 

GUY S. ATKINS. — Near the village of 
A.dams, Nebraska, in Section 34, Adams town- 
shi]), may be found Guy S. Atkins, a vigorous 
young fanner who operates one hundred and 
si.xty acres of land belonging to David F. 
Bryson. Mr. Atkins was born at Sterling, 
Johnson county, Nebraska, on the 3d of 
January, 1893, and is a son of Ulysses Alden 
Atkins and Harriet C. ( McClung) Atkins. 
Ulysses A. Atkins was born at Minonk, Illi- 
nois, May 9, 1862, and he was about nine 
years old when he came with his parents to 
Johnson county, Nebraska, where they arrived 
April 20, 1871. He attended the public 
schools of Johnson county and assisted his 
father on the farm until he was twenty-one 
years of age, when he rented land and began 
farming on his own account, in Johnson 
county. In 1889 Mr. Atkins came to Gage 
county and bought one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Hooker township. There he 
remained until 1913, when he sold out and 
bought eighty acres in Section 1. Hanover 
township — a property which he still owns. 
In 1908 Mr. .\tkins retired, and he now makes 
his home in the town of Adams, where he 
owns a comfortable residence property. On 
December 25, 1882, Ulysses A. Atkins was 
united in marriage to Miss Harriet C. Mc- 
Clung, a daughter of Alexander and Jane 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



885 



(Matthews) McClung, and of this union were 
born six children: Cora is the wife of Harrj' 
Hilhnan, of Adams, this county ; Viva is de- 
ceased ; Ruth is an art teacher at Vancouver, 
Washington; Guy S. is the subject of this 
review; and Harold and Alden J. reside at 
Adams. 

Guy S. Atkins was educated in the public 
schools of Adams, and he followed farming 
with his father until 1909. In 1910 he rented 
land on Section 34, Adams township, where 
he now lives. On June 13th, 1911, Mr. At- 
kins was united in marriage to Miss Velma L- 
Bry-son, eldest daughter of David F. and Mar- 
tha Bryson, of whom record will be found 
elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. At- 
kins are the parents of four children, Rome 
Belmont, I'olly Madge, Valeria Juanita, and 
.\rline Genevieve. 

Mr. and Mrs. Atkins are members of the 
Methodist church of Adams, and in politics 
Mr. Atkins is an independent voter who casts 
his ballot for the man rather than for the 
party. 

ALBERT O. UERICH. — This successful 
and representative farmer of Gage county 
may well consider that his "lines are cast in 
pleasant places," for independence and pros- 
perity have crowned his energetic endeavors 
and he is the owner of a model farm estate of 
two hundred and forty acres in Section 18, 
Grant township, as well as three hundred and 
twenty acres in Deuel county, this state. 

Mr. Ulrich was born in Livingston county, 
Illinois, on the 12th of March, 1870, and is a 
son of Charles G. and Johannah (Graff) Ul- 
rich, who came to Gage county, Nebraska, 
when the subject of this review was a lad of 
twelve years, more specific mention of the 
parents being incidentally given on other 
pages of this work, as the family has been one 
closely and worthily identified with civic en- 
terprise and industrial activities in this county. 
Albert O. Ulrich acquired his early educa- 
tion in the schools of his native state and later 
continued his studies in the district schools 
of C>age county, where he was reared on the 
home fami of his father, in Grant township. 



He has not found it expedient or a matter of 
inclination to sever his active association with 
farm enterprise in the succeeding years and 
he purchased his present attractive farm in 
Grant township in 1903. Here his progres- 
siveness and cumulative success are shown not 
only in the general thrift that characterizes 
all parts of the farm but also in the splendid 
improvements which he has made, including 
the erection of a handsome and modern house 
of ten rooms, placed on a fine site in the cen- 
ter of a field and one and one-half miles dis- 
tant from the village of Dewitt, Saline county. 
On the place Mr. Ulrich has erected also a 
large barn of modern type, as well as minor 
farm buildings. He utilizes in his agricultural 
and stock-raising operations the best of mod- 
ern accessories and has proved himself a 
leader in farm enterprise in this part of the 
county. 

Mr. Ulrich is a stalwart advocate of the 
cause of the Republican party and his ability 
and popularity marked him as specially eli- 
gible when he was made his party's candidate 
for treasurer of Grant township, an office to 
which he was elected in 1914. Later he was 
elected for a second term, and he is giving a 
careful and effective administration of the 
fiscal affairs of the township. Both he and 
his wife are earnest communicants of the Lu- 
theran church and their attractive home is 
I'cnown for its generous hospitality and good 
cheer. 

October 6, 1897, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Ulrich to Miss Laura M. Meyer, who 
was born in Marshall county, Illinois, a daugh- 
ter of Edward and Emma (Hanan) Meyer, 
the former of whom is deceased and the lat- 
ter of whom resides on the old home farm in 
Adams county, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Ul- 
rich have six children, all of whom are, in 
1918, still members of the happy home circle, 
namely; Meta, Carl, Edward, Gertrude, Jo- 
hannah, and Herbert. 

MAURICE KIRBY. — :\Ir. and Mrs. 
Alaurice Kirby have a valuable farm estate of 
three hundred and twenty acres in Sicily 
township, and for nearly thirty years they 



886 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



have been identified with the agricultural life 
of their community. They are both natives of 
the Emerald Isle, that land of bouyant and 
generous people who have for so many years 
tried to get their rights and freedom as a 
free-governing people, but who are still under 
the rulership of England. 

Maurice Kirby was born January 1, 1852, 
in County Limerick, Ireland, and is the only 
child born to Maurice and Johanna (O'Mal- 
ley) Kirby, who passed their entire lives in 
Ireland, where the father devoted his active 
life to tilling the soil. When Maurice Kirby 
was nineteen years of age he left his aged 
parents and set out to see the world. Coming 
to America, he first settled in Detroit, Michi- 
gan. He there remained only a short time 
and then went to Pennsylvania, where he was 
employed for six years as a stone cutter. 

In 1878 Mr. Kirby came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and for fifteen years thereafter lie 
was foreman of John Fitzgerald's ranch. In 
1889 he purchased his present three hundred 
and twenty acres of land in Sicily township, 
but he did not establish his residence on the 
place until March 9, 1898. 

Februar)' 7, 1887, holy wedlock united the 
lives of Maurice Kirby and Ellen Quinn. 
Mrs. Kirby was born in Ireland, and is a 
daughter of Patrick and Alice (Hawley) 
Quinn, who were tillers of the soil, and who, 
no doubt, experienced the oppression inci- 
dental to the landlord system by which Eng- 
land has handicapped the toilers of Ireland. 
While her people have been oppressed. Ireland 
has not lost her individuality or her propen- 
sity for fun and wit. Two brothers and one 
sister of Mrs. Kirby make their home in the 
United States — John Quinn and Maurice 
Quinn, the latter a machinist living at Scran- 
ton, Pennsylvania, and Margaret, wife of 
Charles Harms, of Omaha, Nebraska. 

Eleven children were bom to Mr. and Mrs. 
Kirby, and of the number seven are living: 
Alice is a stenographer, employed in the city 
of Omaha; Johanna is a clerk in Neumann's 
store at Wymore; Maurice William remains 
on the home farm; and Ed J. and Ella 
(twins), John and Jeannette are all under the 
parental roof and attending school. 



Mr. Kirby has a nice residence and other 
farm buildings, and his place is fully equipped 
with the necessar)' farm machinery and im- 
plements. His vote is given to the Demo- 
cratic party, he has sensed his township as 
treasurer and is now its efficient road over- 
seer. Both he and his wife are communicants 
of the Catholic church, in the faith of which 
they were reared, even as they are rearing 
their children in the same faith. 

JOSEPH H. SCHEVE. — In the all im- 
portant domain of basic industry' Mr. Scheve 
is consistently to be designated as one of the 
foremost agriculturists and stock-growers of 
his native county, where he is the owner of a 
splendidly improved landed estate of seven 
hundred and sixty acres, his attractive home- 
stead farm being eligibly situated in Section 
22. Blakely township, and comprising three 
hundred and twenty acres. Under the able 
supen-ision of Mr. Scheve is conducted the 
cultivation of fully one thousand acres of the 
excellent land of Gage county, the same be- 
ing devoted primarily to the raising of wheat, 
corn, oats, and alfalfa. 

On the old homestead that is now his place 
of residence Joseph H. Scheve was bom 
March 20, 1882, and he is a son of John and 
Marie (Meyer) Scheve, of whose eleven chil- 
dren he is the third in order of birth of five 
now living; Anna is the wife of John Meyer, 
of Thayer county, this state ; Henry is a rep- 
resentative farmer of Jefferson county; Mar- 
tha resides in the home of her sister Amanda, 
who is the youngest of the children and who is 
the wife of John Kuchenbecker, of Ruskin, 
Nuckolls county, Nebraska. 

John Scheve was a native of Germany, 
where he was bom April 28, 1842, and where 
he was reared and educated. About the year 
1865 he came from his native land to the 
United States and settled in Bremer county, 
Iowa, where he worked two years as a farm 
hand, besides showing his ambition by study, 
nig English and other branches under the 
preceptorship of a leading teacher in that sec- 
tion of the Hawkeye state. In the autumn of 
1867, the year that marked the admission of 
Nebraska to statehood, Mr. Scheve came to 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



887 




Mr. and Mrs. John Scheve 



888 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Gage county and purchased one hundred and 
sixty acres of unbroken prairie land in what 
is now Blakely township. He lived up to the 
full tension of the pioneer life, and in this con- 
nection it may incidentally he recorded that in 
the early days he aided in fighting prairie fires 
on the site now occupied by the postofifice 
building in the city of IJeatrice. He managed 
to provide himself with an ox team, and this 
he used in the breaking of his land, as well as 
in other farm activities. While this work was 
in progress he found diversion by an occa- 
sional friendly game of cards with other pio- 
neers, and his genial and kindly nature gained 
to him the lasting friendship of those with 
whom he came in contact in both the early and 
later days. John Scheve was a man of sterling 
character and his energy and persistence were 
on a parity with his resolute purpose. He 
labored early and late in reclaiming and im- 
proving his farni and his early crops were 
taken overland to Nebraska City, which was 
then the nearest market point. He added from 
time to time to his landed possessions and be- 
came eventually one of the most substantial 
and progressive farmers of the county. He 
had mature judgi^ent and understood the true 
values of Nebraska land, so that he accumu- 
lated property of this kind not only in Gage 
county but also in JefTerson county, and in 
Cheyenne county, Kansas, his landed estate at 
the time of his death having comprised two 
thousand seven hundred and twenty acres. 
Mr. Scheve was a leader in the civic as well as 
the industrial development and upbuilding of 
Gage county, was called upon to serve in var- 
ious minor offices of public trust and was un- 
wavering in his allegiance to the Republican 
party. Both he and his wife were most ear- 
nest and de\out communicants of the German 
Lutheran church and he was the organizer of 
the church of this denomination in his pre- 
cinct. He continued to reside on his attractive 
old homestead, the present abiding place of his 
son Joseph, of this review, until his death, 
which occurred October 9, 1911, only a few 
months prior to his seventieth birthday anni- 
versary, his cherished and devoted wife hav- 
ing passed away on the 9th of the preceding 



July, so that in death these honored pioneers 
were not long divided, Mrs. Scheve having 
been born in the province of Hanover. Ger- 
many, on the 1 5th of Jime, 1841, and having 
preceded her husband to eternal rest by ex- 
actly one month. Their engagement to be 
married was formed in Germany, but not until 
about 1866 did .Mrs. Scheve find it expedient 
to come to America and join her fiance, their 
marriage having been solemnized in Iowa, 
shortly prior to their coming to the new state 
of Nebraska. 

On the old homestead fann which he now 
occupies and which came as his heritage at 
the time of the death of his parents, Joseph 
H. Scheve was reared to manhood, and in 
addition to receiving in his youth the ad' 
vantages of the jjulilic schools of his native 
county he completed a course in the North- 
western Business College, at Beatrice. He has 
gained precedence as one of the most progres- 
sive and successful agriculturists and stock- 
growers of the younger generation in Gage 
county and has made his homestead place a 
veritable model. In addition to remodeling 
and enlarging the substantial hoi'ise erected by 
his father he has erected on the place two 
modern silos and made other excellent im- 
provements of permanent order, including the 
building of large sheds for the care of his 
cattle. He is giving special attention to the 
breeding of shorthorn cattle, and in the season 
of 1917 has had upon his fann twenty-five 
head of purebred stock of this type. 

Mr. Scheve has marked his appreciation of 
the advantages and attractions of his native 
county by his unfaltering civic loyalty and his 
productive activities along industrial lines. 
He has taken active part in public afYairs of a 
local order and has held some manner of town- 
ship oftice almost continuously since he at- 
tained to his legal majority. He is now serv- 
ing as treasurer of Blakely township, of which 
ofiice he became the incumbent in 1915. He 
is one of the stockholders in the cooperative 
farmers' grain elevator in the village of Hoag. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party and he and his wife hold member- 
ship in the German Lutheran church. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



889 



May 7, 1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Scheve to Miss Maria Wollenburg, who like- 
wise was born and reared in Gage county, she 
being a daughter of William and Wilhehnina 
(Meyer) Wollenburg, who were born in Ger- 
many and who became pioneers of Blakely 
township. Gage county, where Mr. Wollen- 
burg reclaimed and improved the old home- 
stead farm on which his widow still resides. 
Mr. and Mrs. .Scheve have four children — 
Josephine, Edward, A'vin, and William. 

In a reminiscent way it may be stated that 
the father of Mr. Scheve was a man of ex- 
ceptional physical strength and weighed more 
than two hundred pounds, though he was re- 
markably alert and vigorous. He purchased 
and placed in operation on his farm one of 
the first self-raking harvesting machines in- 
troduced into Gage county, and on one occa- 
sion when he had the harvester in commission 
he was caused some disquietude when a band 
of fifteen hundred Indians gathered at his 
farm to witness the mar\-elous working of the 
machine. The Indians were on their way to 
the west and at first their appearance on the 
scene caused some consternation to jNIr. 
Scheve, but in their gutteral language and by 
their sign language they assured him of their 
friendship, as well as their curiosity, and they 
finally passed on without molesting him in the 
least. He and a man named Harvey were as- 
sociated in the buying, ownership, and opera- 
tion of the first threshing machine ever used 
in this county. 

MRS. SARAH J. EASTMAN is one of 
the loved pioneer women of Gage county, and 
is a sister of Hugh J. Dobbs, the author of 
this history. .A. record of the family appears 
elsewhere in this volume. 

In December, 18cS0. Miss Sarah Dobbs be- 
came the wife of Matthew Weaverling. who 
was born in Pennsylvania, in 1845, and who 
became a resident of Nebraska in 1869, when 
he settled in Lancaster county. In 1875 he 
came to Gage county, where he became one of 
the early-day school teachers. In 1878 he 
was elected county superintendent of schools, 
and bv re-election he held this office six vears. 



In 1883 he bought and removed to a farm near 
Barneston, and soon afterward he purchased 
the Barneston Star, of which he continued 
the editor and publisher until his death, which 
occurred /Vpril 18, 1895. 

Mr. Weaverling was a prominent figure in 
the educational, political, and social life of his 
adopted county. He was a member and an 
active worker in the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Concerning the children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Weaverling the following brief rec- 
ord is entered: Ray W. Weaverling is a 
traveling salesman for a hardware concern 
and lives at Huron, South Dakota. He mar- 
ried Miss Alice Parker, of Beatrice, and they 
have three children — Ralph W., Robbin Dale, 
and Carrol Louise. Charles S. Weaverling 
died in the year 1912. Ralph E. Weaverling, 
a graduate of the law department of the Uni- 
versity of Nebraska, class of 1910, is success- 
fully practicing his profession at North Bend, 
this state. He married Miss Beatrice Moffit, 
of Lincoln, a graduate of the University of 
Nebraska, and they have two children, Elea- 
nor and Ralph W. 

October 1, 1901, Mrs. Weaverling became 
the wife of Leonard A. Eastman, a native of 
Minnesota. He is engaged in brick and cement 
contracting. By a former marriage he had 
four children: Grace M., Guy B., Roy L., 
and Hazel. These are all at home except Roy 
L.. who is in the United States Army and 
now in active ser\'ice in France. Mr. and 
Mrs. Eastman are held in high esteem in Be- 
atrice, where they have an attractive home at 
1401 High street. 

JAMES H. FREEMAN is a native son of 
Gage county, a scion of one of its foremost 
pioneer families, and in his individual versa- 
tility he has been successful along varied lines 
of productive endeavor. At the present time 
he is one of the leading real-estate dealers en- 
gaged in business in the city of Beatrice, his 
operations being of broad scope and impor- 
tance and having included effective service in 
promoting desirable immigration not only into 
Nebraska, Missouri, and Texas, but also into 
the Canadian northwest. 



890 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



The pages of this pubhcation in which is 
outlined the general history of Gage county 
give due consideration to the interesting fact 
that the first tract of land entered under the 
provisions of the United States homestead act 
vv'as that obtained in Gage county by the late 
Daniel Freeman, father of him whose name 
initiates this review, and on this first home- 
stead thus obtained James H. Freeman was 
bom February 27, 1870, a son of Daniel and 
Agnes (Suiter) Freeman. However, there is 
consistency in amplifying the data by incor- 
porating in this article, with minor elimina- 
tion and paraphrase, quotations from an old- 
time issue of the Beatrice Daily and Weekly 
Express : 

"One of the events connected with the early 
settlement of Gage county, and one which will 
eventually form a page of national history, is 
the taking up of the homestead of Daniel 
Freeman, the first under the homestead act 
passed by the United States congress. The 
securing of the first homestead, or the filing of 
the first application, by Mr. Freeman was 
more by accident than design. The homestead 
act was approved on the 20th of May, 1862, 
and took effect January 1, 1863. In July, 
1862, Mr. Freman purchased a 'squatter's 
right,' which he held until the 31st day of De- 
cember following. The government land of- 
fice was located at Brownville, and on Decem- 
ber 31st Mr. Freeman went to that place to 
make an entry and file his application under 
the homestead law. At this time he had been 
regularly enlisted in the United States amiy, 
and was in Nebraska Territory on special 
duty. He was under orders to report to head- 
quarters and was therefore in some haste to 
file his application. While at the hotel in 
Brownville he was introduced to a young man 
who was to be clerk or assistant to the land- 
office receiver. By this young man :Mr. Free- 
man was informed that the next day being 
New Year's, and consequently a holiday, the 
office would not be open. Mr. Freeman stated 
the urgency of his business and that he was 
ordered to report to the army headquarters 
M-ithout delay, after which he said that it 
would be a great accommodation to him if he 



could file his application before leaving for the 
army. Upon this representation, made on the 
evening of his arrival at Brownville, :\Ir. Free- 
man met with exceptional consideration, as the 
clerk sent for the register of the land office 
and before 12:05 o'clock on the morning of 
January 1st .Mr. Freeman had made his filing 
on the first homestead ever taken under the 
homestead act." 

The above mentioned entry was recorded in 
the archives of the United States land office in 
the city of Washington on the 6th of January, 
1870, after Nebraska had attained to the dig- 
nity of statehood, and is filed as "Homestead 
certificate No. 1, application No. 1." The 
homestead of one hundred and sixty acres 
thus distinguished above all others in Amer- 
ican annals is situated in Section 26, town 4 
north, of range 5 east of the sixth principal 
meridian, and about four miles west of Bea- 
trice, which city was a frontier village at the 
time when Mr. Freeman made the historic 
entry. The homestead, in the valley of Cub 
creek, became the nucleus of the extensive and 
valuable landed estate which Mr. Freeman 
eventually accumulated and improved in Gage 
county. 

Daniel Freeman was born in Preble county, 
Ohio, April 26. 1826, and his death occurred 
December 30, 1908. He was a son of Samuel 
and Phoebe (Willis) Freeman, natives respec- 
tively of Vermont and Ohio, and in 1835 the 
family home was established at Abingdon, 
Knox county, Illinois, where Samuel Freeman 
became a citizen of prominence and influence: 
he was a successful merchant and also de- 
veloped a prosperous enterprise in the extend- 
mg of financial loans, his operations having in- 
cluded loaning money to the government at the 
time of the Civil war. Samuel Freeman died 
in Knox county, Illinois, February 6, 1887, 
one of its most honored pioneers, and his 
widow sun-ived him by a number of years. 

Daniel Freeman, second in a family of six 
sons and one daughter, was about ten years old 
at the time of the family removal from Ohio 
to Knox county, Illinois, in which state he was 
reared and educated. Concerning him the fol- 
lowing interesting statements have been made: 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



891 



"About the time of the Civil war he became 
connected with the interests of the government, 
and was sent to the west and southwest. While 
thus engaged he traveled over a large portion 
of the undeveloped western countr\', becoming 
one of the most familiar characters of this 
section. He was peculiarly adapted for com- 
ing in contact with unruly frontiermen and the 
native Indians, nature having endowed him 
with an unusually commanding physique, the 
nobility of which was heightened by his mili- 
tary bearing, the while his keen black eye 
seemed to penetrate through hidden things. 
For weeks at a time he rode over the wilds ot 
the west, acting as a watch against the wary 
Indians, leaving his saddle only to obtain food 
and sleep and making the saddle his pillow as 
he slept on the hard ground. Such was the 
character of his experience that he had a wide 
range of information and an unlimited knowl- 
edge of the country in which he took up his 
permanent residence before the close of the 
war." Mr. Freeman reclaimed and developed 
one of the large and valuable landed estates of 
Gage county and was to the close of his long 
and useful life numbered among the honored 
and influential pioneer citizens of the county. 
His service as a soldier in the Civil war cov- 
ered a period of three years, during which he 
was a member of the Seventeenth Illinois Vol- 
unteer Infantry. In 1864 he established his 
permanent home on his historic claim in Gage 
county and there he maintained his residence 
many years, the while he bore his full share 
of the responsibilities and trials incidental to 
pioneer life. He served two terms as sheriff 
of the county, and also held the offices of 
coroner and justice of the peace. His was a 
noble figure in the history of the county, the 
territory and the state, and every record touch- 
ing Gage county should pay to his memory a 
tribute of honor. His political support was 
given to the Democratic party and he and his 
wife were earnest and tolerant in their abid- 
ing Christian faith and practice. 

The first marriage of Mr. Freeman was to 
Miss Elizabeth W'ilber, whose death occurred 
in 1861, at Rock Island, Illinois. She w^as sur- 
vived bv three children, — Julia F., Charles 



and Loretta, the last named becoming the wife 
of Martin Rich. February 8, 1865, recorded 
the marriage of Mr. Freeman to Miss Agnes 
Suiter, of Scott county. Iowa, where she was 
born and reared, the date of her nativity hav- 
ing been November 16, 1843. This revered 
pioneer woman still resides in Gage county 
and owns the fine old homestead place which 
her husband secured in the early territorial 
days, as previously noted, the same being in 
Blakely township. Mrs. Freeman is a daugh- 
ter of John and Eliza (Wright) Suiter, who 
were numbered among the early settlers of 
Scott county, Iowa, the farmer's father, Philip 
Suiter, having settled at LeCIaire, that county, 
when the place was a mere Indian village, the 
same having been named in honor of Antoine 
LeCIaire, who was Indian agent to the Sac and 
Fox tribes. Mrs. Freeman received good edu- 
cational advantages in her youth and after 
coming with her husband to Gage county she 
had the distinction of being the first teacher in 
Blakely township, her first school having been 
held in a private house. Of the children of 
Daniel and Agnes (Suiter) Freeman all are 
living except Daniel, who died at the age of 
three years ; Eliza is the wife of D. Webster 
Carre, of Beatrice; Samuel is a prosperous 
farmer in Jefferson county; James H., of this 
review, was the next in order of birth ; John 
is a substantial farmer near Beatrice; Frank 
and LeCIaire remain with their widowed 
mother on the fine old homestead fann : and 
Agnes is the wife of Clifford Quackenbush, 
another of the progressive farmers of this 
county. 

James H. Freeman passed the period of his 
childhood and early youth on the old home 
farm and in the meanwhile profited by the ad- 
vantages afforded in the public schools. After 
leaving the parental home he was for a time 
identified with newspaper work at Beatrice, 
and thereafter he gave six months to the read- 
ing of law. Later he took up the study of 
medicine and he so fortified himself that 
though he did not receive a medical diploma 
he w^as engaged in successful practice four 
years. For the past decade he has been one 
of the most aggressive and influential expon- 



892 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



ents of the real-estate business in Beatrice, and 
his operations now extend to wide limits, as 
noted in an earlier paragraph of this article. 
As a business man and iJublic-spirited citizen 
he is well upholding in Gage county the honors 
of the family name, and his political allegiance 
is given to the Democratic party. It is a mat- 
ter of record that no other man in Beatrice has 
handled and sold as large an amount of land 
as has Mr. Freeman, and he is an authority in 
all details pertaining to the real-estate business. 
In 1891 ^Ir. Freeman wedded Miss Lelah 
Hare, who was born in the city of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter of William 
N. and Eliza Hare, who came to Nebraska in 
1879 and settled at Pawnee, Mr. Hare having 
been an architect by profession. Of the four 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Freeman three are 
living : Laura is the wife of T. J. Long, who 
is engaged in the drug business at Mitchell, 
South Dakota ; Alice is a popular teacher in 
the public schools of that place ; and Bobbie 
Josephine remains at the parental home, she 
being at the time of this writing a student in 
the public schools of Beatrice. 

FRANK N. HOFFSTAEDT has the intel- 
lectual attainments and Ijusiness acumen which 
make possible the effective accomplishment of 
results along any line in which he may direct 
his energies, and none can doubt his progres- 
siveness and leadershij) as an exponent of agri- 
cultural and live-stock industry in the state 
that has been his home since his young man- 
hood. Here he is the owner of one of the fine 
landed estates of this section of Nebraska, and 
the same comprises four hundred acres. — two 
hundred and forty in Highland township and 
one hundred and sixty in Section 13, Clatonia 
township. His homestead place, of eighty 
acres, is one of the best improved and most 
attractive rural demesnes in the county and is 
situated in Section 18, Highland township. 
This is a part of the estate locally known as the 
old Ujilinger ranch, and here Mr. HofTstaedt 
has made the best of modern improvements, in- 
cluding the erection, in 1900, of his handsome 
residence, which in facilities and appointments, 
as well as architectural design and construc- 



tion, is of the most modern type. Mr. Hofif- 
staedt gives special attention to the breeding 
and raising of short-horn cattle and is equally 
vigorous and progressive in directing the agri- 
cultural department of his farm enterprise. 
He is a stockholder and director of the Farm- 
ers' State Bank at Clatonia and is essentially 
one of the influential and representative citi- 
zens of the county. 

Mr. HotTstaedt was born in Winnebago 
county, Illinois, August 2, 1855, and is the eld- 
est in a family of seven children : George W, 
died at Lincoln, Nebraska ; Theresa became the 
wife of J. P. Ticknor and is now deceased ; 
Addie is the wife of J. I. Kemp, of Omaha ; 
Frederick J. is a resident of Phoenix, Arizona ; 
Anna is the wife of Eugene Richardson and 
they reside in the city of Omaha : and David 
died in Pasadena, California. Frederick Hoff- 
staedt, father of the subject of this review, was 
bom in Prussia, Germany, in 1822, and was a 
resident and honored pioneer of Lancaster 
county, Nebraska, at the time of his death, in 
1895. He came to America when a young 
man and first settled in Winnebago county, Illi- 
nois. Later he became a pioneer in Minne- 
sota, where he entered a homestead claim. He 
I)erfected his title to this homestead and after 
having there given his attention to farming 
for a few years, he continued his active alli- 
ance with farm industry in \\'innebago county, 
Illinois, until 1882, when he came with his 
family to Nebraska and established his home 
in Lancaster county. There he reclaimed and 
improved a productive farm and there he con- 
tinued his residence until his death. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Gertrude Hauser, 
likewise was a native of Germany, and she 
passed to the life eternal in Lancaster county, 
and was about sixty-three years of age at the 
time of her death. 

Frank N. Hoffstaedt was reared to adult age 
in his native county, where he early learned the 
varied details of farm work and where he ac- 
quired his ])reliminary education in the district 
schools. In 1876 he entered Northwestern 
College, at Naperville, Illinois, and in this ex- 
cellent institution he continued his higher 
academic studies three vears. In 1878 he came 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



893 



to Lincoln, Nebraska, and in Lancaster county 
he found exigent demand for his services as a 
teacher in the district schools. His success in 
the pedagogic profession was unequivocal and 
he continued as a teacher in the district schools 
for a period of ten years, in the meanwhile be- 
coming successfully identified with fami enter- 
prise. He continued his residence in Lancas- 
ter county until 1892, when he came to Gage 
county and purchased a farm three miles north 
of Clatonia. Three years later he purchased 
his present fine homestead farm, and his suc- 
cess is attested not only in his possession of a 
large and valuable landed estate but also in the 
admirable improvements which he has made 
on his property. From the time of coming 
to Nebraska Mr. Hofistaedt served consecu- 
tively as a member of the school board until 
1914, and has serv^ed in other official positions 
in both Lancaster and Gage counties. He 
takes deep interest in all things touching the 
well-being of" his home county and state and is 
well fortified in his opinions concerning eco- 
nomic and governmental polity. He has given 
ettective campaign service in behalf of the Re- 
publican party but has manifested no ambition 
for political prefennent of an official order. 
He is a stockholder of the Farmers' Grain & 
Coal Company of Cortland, which operates 
the modem elevator in that village and also 
conducts a substantial business in the handling 
of coal and lumber. He and his wife are 
active members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Hallam and he is a trustee of the 
same. 

August 2, 1887, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Hofifstaedt to Miss Diena Schmidt, who is 
a daughter of the late Jergen and Etta 
Schmidt, of whom incidental mention is made 
on other pages, especially in connection with 
the sketch of the career of John Carstens, who 
married their daughter Mary. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hoffstaedt became the parents of five children : 
Harold died at the age of five years ; Roy and 
Etta remain at the parental home ; Esther died 
at the age of ten years ; and Estella is the 
youngest member of the gracious home circle. 
Miss Etta Hofifstaedt was graduated in the 
Beatrice high school, and in 1918 she is a 



member of the senior class in Central Wes- 
leyan College, at Warrenton, Missouri. 

W'EITJE G. COOPER owns and resides 
upon a fine farm estate of three hundred and 
twenty acres, and his attractive home is in 
Section 36, Nemaha township. He is essen- 
tially one of the representative agriculturists 
and stock-growers of this part of the county 
and has given special attention to the breeding 
and feeding of live stock for the market. 

Mr. Cooper was born in Atchison county, 
Missouri, on the 4th of March, 1874, and is a 
son of Gerd and Rixtie (Harms) Cooper, of 
whose thirteen children three died in infancy. 
Concerning the other children the following 
brief data are available: John is deceased, 
Thomas is a resident of Atchison county, Mis- 
souri ; Mrs. Tillie Bowers lives in the vicinity 
of Filley, Gage county, Nebraska ; Hennan is 
deceased ; Eilert remains in Atchison county, 
Missouri; Weitje G., of this review, was the 
next in order of birth; Heibie is the wife of 
J. Heyen, a farmer near Filley, this county ; 
John resides in Atchison county, Missouri; 
George maintains his home in Gage county, 
.Nebraska ; and Rosa is deceased. 

Gerd Cooper, father of him whose name in- 
troduces this review, was born in Straukhault, 
Germany, on the 13th of January, 1837, and in 
his native land he was identified with farm 
enteqDrise until, as a young man, he immi- 
grated to the United States and settled in John- 
son county, Nebraska, in the early pioneer 
days. Later he removed to Atchison county, 
Missouri, where he passed the remained of his 
life, his death having occurred June 13, 1907. 
A man of energy and ability, he achieved defi- 
nite success and at the time of his death he was 
the owner of a large and valuable landed es- 
tate. On the 14th of March, 1861, was 
solemnized the marriage of Gerd Cooper to 
Miss Rixtie Harms, who was born in Han- 
over, Germany, February 28, 1844, and who 
survived her husband by a period of seven 
years, she having been summoned to the life 
eternal on the 12th of June, 1914. 

Weitje G. Cooper was reared to the sturdy 
discipline of the farm and received the advan- 



894. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY, NEBRASKA 



tages of tlie public schools. He remained at 
the parental home until 1895, when he began 
farming on his own account, in which enter- 
prise he rented land from his father, in .\tch- 
ison couniy, Missouri. There he continued 
his activities until 1905, when he came to Ne- 
braska and purchased two hundred and forty 
acres of partially improved land in Gage 
county. He is now the owner of three hun- 
dred and twenty acres, showing that he had 
added to his original holdings in Nemaha town- 
ship, and in the developing and improving of 
this valuable farm estate he has shown splen- 
did enterprise and progressiveness. In 1915 
he erected his present handsome farm house, 
which contains nine rooms and which is mod- 
em in architectural design, as well as in all 
appointments and equipments. The house is 
heated by furnace, has circulating hot and cold 
water, and is supplied with its own system of 
lighting, by acetylene gas. 

March 4, 1895, recorded the marriage of 
Air. Cooper to Miss Anna Heyen, who like- 
wise is a native of Atchison county, Missouri, 
where she was born October 1, 1873. She is 
a daughter of Heye J. and Gobke (Heyen) 
Heyen. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have four chil- 
dren, — Heiko, Frank, Freda and John. 

In politics Mr. Cooper gives his allegiance to 
the Democratic party and in his civic relations 
he is liberal and public-spirited. He is now 
serving as a member of the school board of his 
district, and he and his wife are commuicants 
of the German Lutheran church. 

HERM.VN WEIBE has been a resident of 
Gage county since 1894 and is a brother of 
Gerhard Weibe, of whom specific mention is 
made on other pages, with adequate review of 
the family history. Mr. Weibe is the owner 
of a fine farm property in Midland township 
and is a substantial and honored citizen who 
well merits recognition in this histor}-. He 
was bom in the province of Danzig, Prussia, 
Febmary 3, 1850, and acquired his early edu- 
cation in the schools of the city of Danzig. He 
accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Russia, and there he was identified with the 
general merchandise business for a quarter of 



a centur)^ In this enterprise he was asso- 
ciated with his brother Gerhard and he came 
to Nebraska in 1894. In 1896 he purchased 
his present fineh improved farm estate, of two 
hundred and eighty acres, where he is living 
virtually retired, his sons having the active 
management of the farm, which they rent. Un- 
qualified success has attended the activities of 
Mr. Weibe as one of the progressive expon- 
ents of farm industry in this county, and he 
has given his attention to diversified agricul- 
ture and stock-growing, besides having de- 
veloped a prosperous dairj- enterprise, with a 
fine herd of Holstein cows. He has erected 
modem buildings on his farm and the attrac- 
tive home is one of the model rural residences 
of the county. In political matters he is inde- 
pendent, and he and his family are active mem- 
bers of the Mennonite church. 

In 1875 Air. Weibe married Miss Wilhel- 
mina Hein, and she died in Russia, in 1882. the 
two surx'iving children being John, who is as- 
sociated in the management of the home farm, 
and Alar)', who is the wife of Franz Albrecht, 
a farmer residing eight miles west of Beatrice. 
In 1885 Mr. Weibe contracted a second mar- 
riage, when Aliss Gertrude Epp became his 
wife, she likewise having been bom in Ger- 
many. Of the children of this union brief rec- 
ord is given in conclusion of this article: Her- 
man is a successful school-teacher in the fine 
Mennonite institution known as Bethel College, 
at Newton, Kansas, his education having in- 
cluded courses in the University of Nebraska, 
the University of Wisconsin and the Univer- 
sity of Illinois ; Jacob is one of the lessees of 
his father's farm property; Gertrude is the 
wife of Aaron Claassen, a farmer ten miles 
south of Beatrice; Elizabeth remains at the 
parental home ; William and Ernest are asso- 
ciated in the operation of the home fann ; and 
Helena and Katie likewise are at home, though 
both are, in 1918, students in the Beatrice 
high school. 

FRANK M. BARMORE. — One of the 
early settlers of Gage county, and one who 
was numbered among the most respected and 
honored citizens of the communitv in which 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



895 



he lived was Frank M. Bamiore. Mr. Bar- 
more was bom at Buchanan, Berrien county, 
Michigan, on the 11th of September, 1862, and 
was a son of Horace C. and Mary (Curtis) 
Barmore. Horace C. Barmore was born in 
New York state, in December, 1829, and 
moved to Michigan when a young man. There, 
in the pioneer days, he worked in the making 
of potash. In 1859 was recorded the mar- 
riage of Horace C. Barmore and IMary Curtis, 
of Michigan, and to this union were born six 
children : Carrie B. resides in the city oi 
Chicago ; Frank M. is the subject of this 
memoir; William A. is a resident of Texas; 
Charles L. and Walter H. live in Gage county, 
Nebraska, as does also Florence, who is the 
wife of Perry Disher. In the fall of 1863, 
Horace C. Barmore started west and he and 
his family arrived in Gage county, Nebraska, 
on December 4th of that year. He took a 
homestead in Section 33, Adams township, 
and lived on the place a number of years. His 
death occurred at Adams, in 1889. At one 
time Air. Bamiore was engaged in freighting 
across the plains from Nebraska City to Fort 
Kearney. His widow survived him by many 
years, and passed away in 1911. Her father 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, in 1860, and 
here he took a homestead, besides which he 
built the first house ever erected in the town 
of Adams, this county. He passed to the life 
eternal in 1876. 

Frank M. Barmore was united in marriage 
September 9, 1886, to Miss Mollie O. Br>'son, 
a daughter of Silas and Clarinda (Young) 
Bryson, of whom a record will be found on 
other pages of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. 
Barmore became the parents of three sons and 
five daughters, as follows : Melvin C, of 
Adams, this county ; John W., of Chicago ; 
Mrs. Ray Braddock, of Filley, Gage county ; 
Mrs. Clay Campbell, of Lincoln, Nebraska ; 
and Irene, Eunice. Lora and Eugene, at home 
with the widowed mother. The husband and 
father passed away on the 1st of March, 1916. 
The following extract is taken from a notice 
which appeared in the Adams paper at the 
time of Mr. Barmore's death : "Frank M. 
Barmore was born in Buchanan, ISerrien 



county, Michigan, September 11, 1862. The 
following fall he was brought by his parents 
to this vicinity, then a part of Nebraska Ter- 
ritorjf, reaching the Nemaha, December 4, 
1863. His boyhood was spent on the family 
homestead southwest of Adams, where he 
grew to manhood, getting his schooling in 
books in the district school, and in the sterner 
school of work and experience he studied on 
his father's farm, where he and his younger 
brother Will, much earlier than most boys, 
shouldered a large share of the men's work 
and responsibility, because of a lame father, 
who was unable to follow a team or do many 
of the other tasks on a farm. He was mar- 
ried September 9, 1886, to Miss Mollie C. 
Bryson, who had been a girlhood friend and 
schoolmate. In this neighborhood they built 
a home, which was ever a bright center of love 
and confidence to the family and of cheery 
hospitality to friends and acquaintances. Mr. 
Barmore belonged to the Methodist Episcopal 
church of which he was ever a faithful and 
consistent member. His faith in Christ cheered 
and sustained him, and remained bright and 
clear as his physical powers failed. His death 
brings deep sorrow not only to the family 
group but also to a wide circle of friends, many 
of whom have known him from boyhood, and 
none knew him but to esteem him more highly 
as the years passed by. He was one of na- 
ture's noblemen in the truest sense, — brave, 
generous, manly, his was the soul of honor and 
his friends and friendships were sacred to 
him." 

Mrs. Barmore makes her home in the com- 
munity where she was born and reared and 
where she and her husband spent most of 
the years of their married life. 

OTIS B. HEFFELFINGER. — Of the 
business men and farmers in Gage county none 
is more worthy of consideration in this his- 
tory than Otis B. Heffelfinger, business man, 
and live-stock dealer. Mr. Heffelfinger was 
born in Whiteside county, Illinois, on January 
5, 1881, a son of Bell M. and Louise (Wag- 
ner) Heffelfinger, of whom a record will be 
found in other pages of this volume. (See 



896 



JC HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 





< 






HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



897 



sketch of Ray C. Heffelfinger). The subject 
of this review came to Nebraska with his par- 
ents in 1887, at the age of six years. Their 
first home in the west was at Grand Island. 
Nebraska, and later in Adams county, where 
they remained only a short time before coming 
to Beatrice. Mr. Heiifelfinger received his 
education in the public schools of Beatrice, and 
thereafter he was associated with his father 
in meat-market enterprise, and also in farm- 
ing and stock-raising until his father's death. 
Since that time he has conducted the farming 
and stock business on his own account, and 
he is associated with H. L. Goble in the meat- 
market business in the city of Beatrice, where 
they do a large business in both wholesale and 
retail lines. Near the city of Beatrice, ■Mr. 
Heffelfinger is the owner of a small tract of 
land, where he has his home, and where he 
conducts his live-stock activities. He feeds 
each year a large number of both cattle and 
hogs for the market, and is making a great 
success of his chosen occupation. The meat 
market is conducted under the firm name of 
Goble & Heffelfinger. 

On January 15, 1901, Mr. Heft'elfinger was 
united in marriage to Miss Effie Veon a 
daughter of John and Hulda (Burner) Veon, 
of Beatrice, Nebraska, and to this union have 
been born six children, — Gussie L., Robert 
L., Marion B., Belle M., Harold E.. and Ruth 
E. — all of whom are at the parental home. 

Mrs. Heffelfinger has three brothers and one 
sister, as follows : John, of Oxford, Ne- 
braska ; Henry, and Russell, both of Beatrice ; 
and Laura, wife of Herbert Palmer, of Bea- 
trice. 

In politics Mr. Heffelfinger is a Republican, 
but he has never sought public office, prefer- 
ring to give his whole time and attention to hi.s 
business. Mr. and Airs. Heffelfinger have a 
beautiful little home in the south part of the 
city of Beatrice and have hosts of friends in 
the community in which they live. 

ALBERT BEDNAR. — In 1876, the year 
tliat marked the centennial of the national in- 
dependence of the United States, Albert Bed- 
nar and his wife numbered themselves among 



the pioneer settlers of Nebraska. They first 
located temporarily near Wilber, the county 
seat of vSaline county, and in the spring ot 
1880 established themselves on an embryonic 
farm near the town of W'ymore, Gage 
county — on what had but recently been a 
part of the Otoe and Missouri Indian reser- 
vation. Here \It. Bednar, with the help of 
his wife and family, reclaimed from the un- 
trammeled prairie a fertile farm. Not a fur- 
row had been turned on the land and no im- 
provements of any kind had been made. The 
coyote and the Indian were the only habitues 
It was truly virgin soil. 

Undaunted by the prospects, Mr. Bednar, 
with a yoke of oxen and a breaking plow 
broke sod, built a sod house for his family, 
and then turned vigorously to the reclaiming 
and cultivation of his pioneer farm. He soon 
came to be one of the representative expo- 
nents of agricultural industry in his com- 
munity. His energy and good management 
brought to him a generotis measure of success 
in his passing years. Through his well directed 
activities he eventually not only accumulated 
a large and valuable landed estate in Gage 
county, but in all of the relations of life he 
so ordered his course as to merit and receive 
the unqualified confidence and good will of his 
fellow men. He contributed his full share to 
the civic and industrial development of the 
county ; took a loyal interest in all matters 
touching its communal welfare, but never 
sought or desired public office. In his political 
views he was non-partisan. His early re- 
ligious faith was that of the Catholic church, 
but on coming to America he did not affiliate 
with any church. 

Albert Bednar was born April 23, 1837, in 
Pistina, Bohemia. By trade he was a skilled 
cabinetmaker. He was actively engaged in his 
vocation while in Bohemia, but after coming 
to -America he devoted almost his entire time 
to farming and stock-raising. In August, 
1863, was solemnized his marriage to Jo- 
hanna Peroutka. It was a matter of great 
gratification to Mr. Bednar that he lived to 
celebrate his golden wedding anniversarj', an 
occasion on which the children, grandchildren, 



898 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and friends of IMr. and Mrs. Bednar united 
to pay the aged couple a lasting and well de- 
served tribute. 

In 1908 this honored pioneer, having already 
accumulated a competency, his health failing 
him, left, though somewhat reluctantly, the 
farm in Sicily township that had been the 
home for over a quarter of a century — the 
farm which by his labor he had converted 
from raw prairie into fertile fields, the farm 
where he had witnessed his children grow to 
manhood and womanhood — and removed to 
the village of Odell. Here were spent the 
closing years of his life and on the 21st day of 
September, 1914, he passed away — a man 
who had accounted well for himself to the 
world in which he lived and labored to goodly 
ends. He is buried in the Odell cemetery. 

His widow, Mrs. Johanna Bednar, now ven- 
erable in years, was born in Hatina, Bohemia, 
in 1840. Since the death of her husband she 
makes her home with one of their sons, Peter 
Bednar, near Barneston, Nebraska. To her 
thrift, industry, and undaunted courage much 
credit is due for her husband's success and 
prosperity. With a family of six little chil- 
dren she braved the perils of an ocean voyage 
from the old world to the new, and endured 
the many subsequent hardships incident to 
])ioiieer life. Her's is the distinction of being 
the mother of ten children, nine of whom she 
reared to manhood and womenhood. Felix, a 
son, died in infancy, in November, 1876, and is 
buried in Saline county ; Lillie died September 
28, 1891 ; Theresa, who later became the wife 
of Frank Zaribnicky, died IMarch 10, 1894; 
Frances, later Mrs. Vincent Marek, died Feb- 
ruary 26, 1917; Ferdinand, the oldest member 
of the family, is a prosperous fanner in Sicily 
township ; Mary, the widow of Milton Prebyl, 
resides on her farm near Barneston, Ne- 
braska; Carrie is the wife of Joseph Krotz, 
of whom individual mention is made on other 
pages of this work ; Peter is a substantial 
farmer near Barneston, Nebraska: and Eman- 
uel is similarly engaged near W'ymore, Ne- 
braska. James E. is engaged in the practice of 
law in the city of Omaha, and is individually 
mentioned on other pages of this volume. 



\VILLI.\M N. REVIS. — While not a na- 
tive born Nebraskan, IMr. Revis says that in 
all his life he never tilled better land than can 
be found in Gage county. After a residence 
of one year in Lancaster county, he came to 
Adams township. Gage county. The work of 
subduing the prairies was so hard and the food 
so scarce this first summer that Mr. Revis 
gave out completely. He continued his stay 
in Gage county eight years, then he returned 
to Illinois. He was bom in Montgomery 
county, Illinois, October 9, 1855, a son of 
Ewen and Jane (Greer) Revis. Ewen Revis 
was bom in Kentucky and went to Illinois 
with his parents with horses and rude wagon, 
the wheels, which were hewn from the trunk of 
a tree. As a famier he aided in opening the 
way for future generations. His death oc- 
curred in 1877. His wife, Jane (Greer) Revis, 
likewise was bom in Kentucky and her par- 
ents were pioneer settlers in the state that 
reared Abraham Lincoln. She passed away 
in 1876. 

After his first experience in Nebraska, Wil- 
liam Revis remained for three years in the 
state that had been his boyhood home, but he 
then decided that Gage county, Nebraska, of- 
fered the best opportimities for fanning. 

November 28, 1878, he married Chloe B. 
Ellis, who was born December 30, 18(^)0, in 
Montgomery' county, Illinois. Her parents, 
Jeremiah and Henrietta (Holcombe) Ellis, 
were bom in New York and Ohio respectively, 
and after coming to Illinois they there re- 
mained until 1881, when they came to Gage 
county, Nebraska. Here they purchased land 
for six dollars an acre. They continued their 
farming operations all of their life. After 
their death, Mrs. Revis inherited forty acres 
of the Revis farm, located in Section 5, Adams 
township. 

The following named children were bom 
to Mr. and Mrs. Revis: Ethel Ann died in 
infancy: Berge is living at home; Emery is 
living in Nemaha township, this county ; 
Bertha is the wife of Edgar Sims, and they 
reside in Wright county, Iowa ; Earl lives in 
-Adams township ; and Jane is at home with 
her parents. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



SQ*-/ 



In politics Mr. Revis is a Democrat, but he 
is prone to cast an independent vote, prefer- 
ring men and measures to strict party lines. 
He and his wife attend the Baptist church, 
which has their liberal support. 

CHARLES S. CURRY, M. D. — One of 
the younger members of the medical profes- 
sion in the city of Beatrice is the subject of 
this sketch. Dr. Charles Samuel Curry. Dr. 
Curry was born in the village of Clayton, 
Adams county, Illinois on the 30th day of 
July. 1873. He is a son of Benjamin A. and 
Lucy (Hopkins) Curry, both of English des- 
cent. His father was born in Kentucky in 
1825 and in 1837 he was taken by his parents 
to Illinois. The family was amongst the ear- 
liest settlers of Adams county and was well 
connected and highly respected. 

Benjamin A. Curry obtained title to a consid- 
erable tract of land in the immediate vicinity 
of Clayton, his patent to a portion of it being 
signed by Franklin Pierce, president of the 
L'nited States. At the time of his death, w^hich 
occurred on the 29th day of June, 1915, when 
he was just closing his ninetieth year, he was 
one of the wealthy farmers of Adams county. 
Doctor Curry's mother, Lucy (Hopkins) 
Curry, was boni in the state of Ohio, in 1840. 
She was a woman of great refinement. She 
was reared in the state of Illinois and became 
the wife of Benjamin A. Curr\- in 1858. She 
died in 1881, at the age of forty-one years, and 
when her son Charles S. was in the eighth year 
of his age. 

Six children were the fruit of this marriage, 
— four daughters and two sons. The daugh- 
ters are I\Irs. Linnie A. Wilson and IVIrs. Dora 
.\. Cain, both of Clayton, Illinois; Mrs. Nel- 
lie P. Potter, of Chicago, Illinois: and Mrs. 
Carrie .■\. .Andrews, of Kansas City. Missouri. 
The sons are Edgar T. Clayton, the leading 
hardware merchant of Clayton, and Dr. 
Charles Samuel Curry, of Beatrice. 

Dr. Curry was brought upon his father's 
farm and learned the occupation of a farmer. 
In the schools of his native village he obtained 
a good education, and was graduated in the 
high school in 1890. He then conceived the 



idea of entering upon a business life and ac- 
cepted employment in connection with a string 
of dry-goods stores owned by his uncle, A. C. 
Majors, at Chillicothe, Missouri, Herringfton, 
Kansas, and Hennessey, Oklahoma — in each 
of which he remained six months. 

In the autumn of 1896 Dr. Curry entered 
classical Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illi- 
nois, from which institution he graduated in 
1900. Almost immediately he located at Bea- 
trice in the practice of his profession and here 
he has since been engaged constantly in that 
useful and benevolent calling. 

After locating in Beatrice, August 6, 1900, 
he returned lo Illinois, in November of that 
year, and was united in marriage to Miss Ada 
W'illa Hiles, an accomplished and very ami- 
able young lady. Through many excellent 
qualities of heart and great worth of character 
they have m.ade for themselves a large place 
in the social life of the city of Beatrice. 

Dr. Curry is now well established in his 
professional work. He has a large and an in- 
creasing business. He is a member of the 
Gage County Medical Society, the Nebraska 
State Medical Society and the American Medi- 
cal Association. He is the local medical ex- 
aminer for a number of life insurance com- 
panies including the Bankers' Life of Lincoln, 
Nebraska, the Pacific Mutual of New York, 
the Union Central, the Phenix Mutual and the 
Metropolitan. He is also a member of the 
Gage county pension board and the county 
insanitv commission. He is district surgeon 
for the Union Pacific Railway Company and 
a member of the local advisory board for the 
L'nited States govemment. 

Dr. Curry has a large and an increasing 
business and is much esteemed not only by the 
public at large but also by his professional 
brethren, which is the acid test of a physi- 
cian's abilities and integrity of character. 

JOHN F. STEINMEYER. — He whose 
name introduces this article is a member of a 
family whose name has been long and prom- 
inently identified with the activities of agri- 
cultural and live-stock industry in Gage county 
and adequate record concerning the family ap- 



900 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



pears on other pages, in connection with the 
review of the career of his honored father, 
Frederick Steinmeyer. In Clatonia township 
John F. Steinmeyer now rents from his father 
a fine farm of one hundred-and fifty-two acres, 
and here he is vigorously and successfully 
carr)'ing forward operations as an agricultur- 
ist and stock-raiser and as one of the repre- 
sentative farmers of the younger generation 
in his native township. 

On the old homestead farm, in Section 28, 
Clatonia township, Mr. Steinmeyer was bom 
March 10, 1880, and here he was reared to 
manhood under invigorating and bfenigant in- 
fluences, in the meanwhile making good use of 
the advantages afforded in the local schools. 
He continued to be associated with his father 
in farm ojierations until 1901, and since that 
time he has conducted independent enterprise 
as a farmer, his unequivocal success attesting 
to the energy and good judgment which he has 
brought to bear. He has leased and operated 
his present farm since 1907 and in the mean- 
while has made numerous imjirovements on 
the place, including the erection of a modern 
house and bam, as well as com cribs and other 
minor farm buildings. In the live-stock de- 
partment of his farm enterprise he gives spec- 
ial attention to the raising of high-grade Po- 
land-China swine. He is a Republican in his 
political proclivities and he and his wife hold 
membership in the German Methodist church. 

February 19, 1908, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Steinmeyer to Mrs. Minnie (Strouck- 
meyer) Unbefunde, who was bom in High- 
land township, this county, and who is a 
daughter of August and Catherine (Albert) 
Strouckmeyer. Her first husband was Fred- 
erick Unbefunde, who is sun-ived by their 
two children. .\lma and Emma, both of whom 
remain with their mother and both of whom 
are attending school. 

FREDERICK W, WINTER. M. D., a rep- 
resentative physician at Wymore, was born 
September 28, 1852, and is a son of ^^'illiam 
and Wilhelmina (Fiegenbaum) Winter. Wil- 
liam Winter was born at Lippe-Detmoid, Ger- 
many, July 31, 1825, and came to the United 



States in 1842. His wife was bom in Ger- 
many, July 27, 1833, and died IMarch 19, 1917. 
After coming to America both families settled 
in W'arren county, Missouri, where William 
Winter and Wilhelmina Fiegenbaum met for 
the first time; shortly after their marriage they 
moved to Iowa. 

William Winter was a soldier in the war 
with Mexico and was given government land 
in Iowa in consideration of his services. In 
1857 he was ordained a minister of the Ger- 
man Methodist church, his first charge being 
at Rock Island, Illinois, and his last charge was 
at Davenport, Iowa, where he died February 
21, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Winter became tht 
parents of nine children, of whom Dr. Fred- 
rick W. is the eldest. Adolph Fiegenbaum, 
father of Mrs. William Winter, was born in 
Gemiany, December 17, 1792, and came to the 
United States in 1833, settling in Missouri. 
Later he removed to Garner, Iowa, and there 
his death occurred January 7, 1877. His 
wife, Christina Wilhelmina, was bom in Ger- 
many; in 179(), and died in Iowa, Januar}' 17, 
187l'. 

Dr. Frederick W. Winter was educated at 
Muscatine, Iowa, where he was graduated in 
the high school as a member of the class of 
1866. He was at one time superintendent of 
schools at Gamer, Iowa, a position he retained 
two years. He studied medicine in Iowa State 
Medical College and was graduated with the 
class of 1880. The same year he moved to 
Kansas and began the practice of medicine at 
Junction City, where he remained one year. 
In 1882 Dr. Winter came to Wymore, Ne- 
braska, and here he has practiced his profes- 
sion continuously from that year to the present 
time. 

On October 26, 1885, Dr. Winter was 
united in marriage to Miss Lida P. Bennett, 
daughter of James Bennett, Jr. To this union 
were born five children, as follows, Ralph B., 
of Adams, this county; Mary Irene, a teacher 
of schools at Casper, Wyoming; Wilhelm 
Waldo, Elsie Amelia, at home ; and Louis E., 
now in the United States army. 

Jaiues Bennett, Jr., father of Mrs. Winter, 
was bom in New York state. November 26. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



901 



1840. He came to Wymore in 1882 and in 
1884 was followed by his family. He was a 
brick mason and brick manufacturer, and he 
followed this business after coming to Ne- 
braska. He assisted in erecting some of the 
first brick buildings in the city of Wymore. 
Mr. Bennett married Miss Eliza Hollenbeck, 
who was born November 12, 1839. They were 
the parents of four children, two of whom are 
hving, — Lida, wife of Dr. Winter, of this 
review, and Frances B. Horham, a widow, 
Hving in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Bennett 
(lied in May, 1897. 

Dr. Winter is a Republican and he was 
for six years a member of the Wymore school 
board. He is a member of the Methodist 
church, is a Mason and belongs to several fra- 
ternal insurance societies. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Nebraska State Homoeopathic 
Medical Society and the American Institute 
of Homocpath)'-. Dr. Winter has always en- 
joyed a large practice and is held in very high 
esteem in the community in which he lives. 

LEWIS D. LENGER was until recently 
the owner of one of the well improved and 
ably managed farms of his native county and 
became known as one of the aggressive and 
successful younger exponents of agricultural 
and live-stock industry in Midland township, 
which represented his place of residence from 
the time of his birth and in which he was a 
scion of a pioneer family that was here 
founded prior to the admission of Nebraska 
to statehood. Air. Lenger was born on his 
father's old homestead farm, in Section 2, 
Midland township, on the 9th of July, 1880, 
and is a son of Herman B. and Charlotta 
Louise (Brand) Lenger, both of whom were 
born in Germany and both of whom were resi- 
dents of Gage county at the time of their death. 
The marriage of the parents was solemnized in 
Warren county, Missouri, and in 1866 they 
came to Nebraska Territory and numbered 
themselves among the pioneer settlers of Gage 
coimty, the journey to the new home having 
been made with a wagon and a team of anny 
mules, which outfit afforded transportation for 
the parents and their four children, as well as 



a small supply of household effects. With the 
funds which he had previously accumulated, 
Herman B. Lenger was enabled to make par- 
tial payment on a quarter-section of land which 
he here purchased for twelve hundred dollars, 
in Midland township, and later he added to his 
farm property by buying, for three hundred 
dollars, a relinquishment of a claim to an ad- 
joining tract of one hundred and sixty acres. 
He reclaimed and improved a good farm, he 
and his wife endured their full quota of the 
hardships and trials incidental to pioneer life, 
but substantial prosperity eventually crowned 
their earnest endeavors, both having remained 
on the old homestead until their death. Of 
their ten children seven are living: Hemian 
H. is a retired farmer residing in the village 
of Odell, this county; Lena M. is the wife of 
P. M. Roush and they reside on their well im- 
proved fruit farm, near Canyonville, Oregon ; 
Lottie married J. B. Renard, of Odell, this 
county; ]\Iinnie C. is the wife of Samuel C. 
Gockley, a farmer and fruit-grower in the vi- 
cinity of W enatchee, Chelan county, Washing- 
ton ; William J. owns one of the excellent 
farms of Gage county and there maintains his 
home, five miles west of the village of Pick- 
rell : John A. lives in the home of his brother 
William J. ; and Lewis D., of this review, is 
the youngest of the number. The parents 
were zealous members of the Church of the 
Brethren and the father gave not only an acre 
of ground as a site for the church of this de- 
nomination in Midland township but also an 
equal amount for a cemetery, with stipula- 
tion that no charge should be made for inter- 
ments in the same. He was a man of indomit- 
able industry, of mature judgment and of those 
sterling principles that make for the highest 
type of citizenship, his political allegiance hav- 
ing been given ot the Republican party. He 
was a young man when he came to America, 
his parents having passed their entire lives in 
Gemiany. His wife's parents were pioneer 
settlers in Johnson county, Nebraska, and 
there both were killed by lightning while they 
were driving in a spring wagon, on their way 
from a visit to the parents of the subject of 
this sketch. 



902 



HI?Tr)R^' OF GAGE COl'XTY. NEBRASKA 



Lewis D. Lenger acquired his early educa- 
tion in the Mount Olive school, in District No. 
11, Midland township, and he early became 
familiar with the varied details of farm en- 
terprise. In initiating his independent activi- 
ties as an agriculturist and stock-grower he 
purchased a part of the farm of his brother 
Herman, and to the same he added until he 
had an admirably improvecl and valuable 
landed property of one hundred and eighty- 
six acres, in Section 2, Midland township. He 
here gave his attention to diversified agricul- 
ture and the raising of good types of live stock, 
in which latter department he made a specialty 
of raising sheep and swine. He is imbued 
with the vital sjjirit of the west and is liberal 
and progressive as a citizen, his jiolitical sup- 
port being given to the Republican ])arty. He 
has not been ambitious for political activity 
or jniblic office but has given effective service 
as a member of the school board of his district. 
Both he and his wife are active members of 
the Church of the Brethren. 

januan- 1, 1908, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Lenger to Miss Willa Coonley, who was 
born in Beatrice, and reared on her father's 
farm near Pickrell, this county, where her 
father, (). G. Coonley, is now living retired. 
.Mr. and Mrs. Lenger have one child. Lea 
Louise, who was born December 22, 1911. 

In December, 1917, Mr. Lenger sold his 
farm and moved to Beatrice. .\t the time of 
this writing he is manager of the Pickrell Live 
Stock Shipping .\ssociation, of Pickrell, this 
county. 

WILLI. \M \V. WICK is a well-to-do 
farmer, and is farming one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in Section 19, Sicily town- 
ship. This land is the homestead of his par- 
ents, Andrew and Maria Elizabeth ( Heimlich) 
Wick, who came to Gage county in 1883 and 
purchased this land, upon \\'hicli they made 
their home until they were called to the life 
eternal. i\ndrcw Wick was born in Baden, 
Germany, in 1834. and was a son of Sabas- 
tian Wick, who also was born in Germany, 
and who came with his faniilv to America. 
He settled in ( )iii() in 183.^. and tliere he 



tilled the, soil until 1863, when he removed to 
Indiana, where he again beguiled nature to 
yield her com and wheat, and where he and 
his wife passed the remainder of their lives. 
Their son, Andrew, the father of William W. 
Wick, was a baby in arms when his parents 
immigrated to the United States, and in his 
early manhood he lived in Ohio where he 
married Maria Elizabeth Heimlich, who was 
born in that state, in 1836, a daughter of Ger- 
man emigrants who had first lived in Pennsyl- 
vania and then moved to Ohio, where they 
were farmers in .Morrow county, and where 
they passed their last days. 

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wick moved from 
Ohio in lS(i3 and settled near Bourbon, Indi- 
ana, on a fanu of eighty acres. They bought 
sixty acres more of the fertile land, making 
in all one hundred and forty acres that they 
owned in Indiana. In 1883 they came to Sic- 
ily township. Gage county, Nebraska, and 
purchased the land which their son William 
W. now owns. For many years they lived on 
this homestead. Mr. Wick died in 1894 and 
his widow passed 'away in 1915, at the age of 
seventy-nine years. They were the parents 
of thirteen children, and those surviving have 
taken their places in the world, to enrich the 
communities in which they live: John and 
Charles are twins, the former residing in Kan- 
sas and the latter in Bourbon, Indiana ; Cath- 
erine is with her brother William, of this 
sketch: Mary who is deceased, was the wife 
of M. Yowell, living in ( Jklahoma ; Lena is the 
wife of Henry Kelvcr. a retired farmer living 
in Plymouth, Indiana; Henry L. is a farmer 
east of Holmesville, Gage county; Caroline is 
the wife of M. E. Kerr, a school teacher of 
Bourbon, Indiana; William W. is the subject 
of this review ; .\. C. is a farmer in Elm town- 
ship, this count\- : Anna, is the wife of F. H. 
Kimmcrling, a retired farmer of Beatrice; R. 
L is a bachelor and lives with his brother Wil- 
liam ; Philip died in infancy; and M. A. is a 
farmer in Sicily township, this county. 

William Wick was a lad of fifteen years 
when his parents came to Gage county and 
here he finished his education in the district 
schools. He has devoted his time exclusively 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



903 



to his fanning interests. He is a member of 
the Lutheran church and votes the Democratic 
ticket. He has served as town clerk and is 
alive to the best interests of his community. 

GEORGE L. ROE, M. D., who has for 
more than thirty years been engaged in the 
practice of his profession in Gage county, has 
maintained his residence in the city of Bea- 
trice since 1886. Prior to this he had been a 
pioneer physician and surgeon at Odell, this 
cotinty, where he had established his residence 
in 1881. Dr. Roe served seventeen years as 
official physician and surgeon of Gage county 
and for an equal period as city physician of 
Beatrice. He held for twenty- four consecu- 
tive years a position as a member of the United 
States board of pension examining surgeons 
for Gage county, and at the expiration of this 
long period he resigned the post. The Doctor 
holds membership in the Gage County Medical 
Society, the Nebraska State IMedical Society, 
and the American Medical Association. 

Dr. George Lowry Roe was born in the 
state of Indiana, September 13, 1858, and is a 
son of Samuel Lowry Roe and Mary Eliza- 
beth (Henley) Roe, natives respectively of 
Kentucky and Virginia. The parents passed 
the closing years of their lives in Adams 
county, Illinois, Samuel L. Roe having been 
a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. 

Dr. Roc acquired his early education in 
Louisville, Kentucky, and Quincy, Illinois. In 
1878 he was graduated in the Louisville Medi- 
cal College, and after thus receiving his degree 
of Doctor of Medicine he engaged in practice 
at Clayton, Illinois, where he remained until 
he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and en- 
gaged in practice as one of the pioneer phy- 
sicians in the new town of Odell, his removal 
to Beatrice having occurred in 1886, as previ- 
ously noted. The representative character of 
his clientage during the long intervening years 
best attests to his professional ability and per- 
sonal popularity. 

Dr. Roe has served as medical advisor and 
examiner of the official draft board of Gage 
county since the nation entered the great 
European war, and in May, 1918, he tendered 



his services to the government for professional 
identification with the military activities of 
the country in a more direct way. His only 
son is at the time of this writing serving as a 
soldier with the American expeditionary forces 
in France. 

Dr. Roe is a Democrat in politics, and is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fra- 
ternal Order of Eagles. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Ida L. Thompson, was born 
at Elkhom, Wisconsin, and they have two 
children; Marie L. is the wife of Frederick 
Nichols, of Beatrice, and Samuel Lowry Roe, 
as previously stated, is a soldier with our na- 
tional forces in France. 

PERCY F. HEFFELFINGER. — One of 
the native sons of Gage county who has elected 
to remain within its borders and who is meet- 
ing with success in his occupation is Percy 
F. Heffelfinger, who operates a farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres in Midland town- 
ship. He was bom in Beatrice, this county. 
June 3, 1892, and is a son of Bell M. and 
Louise Heffelfinger, whose record appears 
elsewhere in this volume. 

In the acquirement of his early education, 
Percy F. Hefl^elfingcr attended school in his 
native city. On January 4, 1909, Mr. Heffel- 
finger was united in marriage to Miss Nellie 
Ray, who likewise is a native of Gage county 
and who is a daughter of Ira and Millie 
(Ayers) Ray, natives of Illinois, who became 
residents of Gage county at an early date and 
owned and developed the farm which is now 
the home of their daughter Nellie ( Mrs. Hef- 
felfinger) . Mr. Ray passed away on this farm 
October 3. 1908, and his widow now resides 
in Lincoln. They became the ])arents of si.x 
children, of whom three are living: Nellie, 
wife of the subject of this sketch : Edward D., 
a machinist, residing in the city of Lincoln; 
and Fred, now a soldier in the national army, 
he being, at the time of this writing, stationed 
at Kelley Field, Te.Kas. The three deceased 
children were Lou Emma, Lester and .Mien 
Henry. 

Mr. and Mrs. Heffelfinger are the parents of 



904 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



905 



three children : Ray, Anita, and Erma Dean. 
Mr Heffelfinger follows general farming, em- 
ploying up-to-date methods, and is meetmg 
with that success which comes as the result of 
industry and thoughtfully applied efforts. He 
is independent in politics. Mrs. Hetfelhnger 
is a member of the Christian church at Bea- 
trice. 

JOHN F. BOESIGER. — Among the many 
prosperous farmers in Nemaha township, 
Gage county, mention should be made of John 
F Boesiger, agriculturist, grower of purebred 
shorthorn cattle, and owner of three hundred 
and sixty acres of well improved land, m 
Sections 11 and 12. 

Mr. Boesiger was born February 5, lb//, 
in Lancaster county, Nebraska, and is a son 
of Frederich and Anna (Egger) Boesiger. 
The father was born in Switzerland, October 
18, 1843, and the mother also was a native o^f 
Switzerland, where she was born March 18, 
1852. Frederich Boesiger left his native coun- 
try at the age of nineteen years and after his 
arrival in America he settled near Blooming- 
ton, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand. 
He'remained in Illinois until about 1871, when 
he came to Nebraska and settled in Lancaster 
countv. where he still resides. When Mr. 
Boesiger first came to the state he purchased 
a small tract of land, and by careful manage- 
ment and economy he added to his holdings 
until he became the owner of two thousand 
six hundred acres of good agricultural land 
in Lancaster and Gage counties. This he di- 
vided among his children. He is also a stock- 
holder in the Bank of Cortland, Gage county. 
He now makes his home with his youngest 

son. 

j\Ir. and Mrs. Frederich Boesiger became 
the parents of twelve children, concerning 
whom brief record is here entered: David is a 
farmer in Nemaha township, Gage county; 
T^Iarv is the wife of W. C. Luckey, of Prince- 
ton. 'fiuda township, Lancaster county; John 
F. is the subject of this review; Mrs. Fannie 
Loesing resides at Hickman, Lancaster county ; 
Rudolph lives in Lancaster county ; Emma is 
the wife of George Hickman, a farmer m 



Highland township. Gage county; Fred, Jr., 
is a farmer near Princeton, Lancaster county ; 
Ella is the wife of Fred Morimer, of High- 
land township. Gage county; George is de- 
ceased ; William is living near Princeton, Lan- 
caster county; and two children died in in- 
fancy. The wife and mother passed away 
Tune 8, 1916. She was a member of the Con- 
gregational church, as is also her husband, 
who is now venerable in years. 

John F. Boesiger has always followed fann- 
ing. He received his education in the dis- 
trict schools of Lancaster county and contin- 
ued to assist his father on the farm until he 
was twenty-six years of age, when he became 
the owner of his present farm home, and be- 
gan operations for himself. This farm he has 
greatlv improved. In 1904 he erected a hne 
new house of eight rooms, a modem barn 
thirty-eight by forty feet in dimensions, and 
also a silo, thirty-six by nineteen feet in dimen- 
sions. He is a breeder of fine pure-bred cattle, 
feeds both cattle and hogs for the market, and 
has made a great success of his chosen occu- 
pation. 

January 1, 1902, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Boesiger to Miss Hannah Meyers, who 
was born in Lancaster county, this state, and 
who is a daughter of Henry and Sophia 
(Menke) Meyers. Mr. Meyers is now de- 
ceased and his widow continues to make her 
home in Lancaster county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Boesiger are the parents of three childem. 
Evelyn, Helen and Mildred, all at home. 

In politics Mr. Boesiger is a Republican of 
independent proclivities and he usually casts 
his vote for the man rather than observing 
strict partv lines. He is a member of Firth 
Lodge No. Forty-seven, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, at Firth, and the family are 
members of the Congregational church. In 
connection with this review are consistently 
given portraits of the parents of Mr. Boe- 
siger. 



WILLIAM MANGUS, whose death oc- 
curred in the year 1904, established his resi- 
dence in Gage county in 1881 and became one 
of the successful farmers and highly honored 



906 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



citizens of Shemian township, where he Hved 
a righteous and productive Hfe and made for 
himself secure place in popular confidence and 
esteem. As one of the sterling pioneers of 
the county he is properly given a memorial 
tribute in this history. 

A scion of a family that was founded in the 
historic Old Dominion in the colonial days, 
William Mangus was born in Virginia, Octo- 
ber 20, 1832, and in that fine old common- 
wealth his i;arents, Michael and Sarah ( Sho- 
walter) Mangus, passed their entire lives, the 
father having been a farmer by vocation. 
Reared and educated in his native state, \\i\- 
liam Mangus gained in his j'outh such exper- 
ience as to cause him naturally to turn to agri- 
cultural pursuits in initiating his independent 
career, and after his marriage he engaged 'in 
farming in Roanoke county, Virginia. When 
the Civil war was precipitated he was loyal to 
the cause of the Confederacy and, in 1862, he 
enlisted in Company E, Forty-second X'irginia 
Infantr\-, with which he served in the com- 
mand of General Stonewall Jackson until the 
death of that gallant officer. 1 le took part in 
the battles of Chancellorsville. McDowell 
Mountain, Middletown and Peterburg, and at 
the battle of the Wilderness he was so severely 
wounded that he was thereafter confined to 
the hospital for two months. He then re- 
joined his regiment, and while with the com- 
mand in the Shenandoah valley he was cap- 
lured by the enemy. He was held as a pris- 
oner of war for three months, at the expira- 
tion of which his exchange was eft'ected. An 
attack of typhoid fever made it imjjossible for 
him to join his regiment until the following 
year, and after recuperating he continued in 
active service until shortly before the fall of 
Petersburg, when he was honorably dis- 
charged, at the expiration of his term of en- 
listment. He continued his farm enterprise in 
Roanoke county until the close of the war and 
in 1866 he removed with his familv to .Macou- 
pin county, Illinois, where he was similarlv 
engaged for the ensuing four years. He then 
removed to Christian county, that state, where 
he continued his active association with farm 
enterprise until 1881, when he came with his 



family to Nebraska and settled in Gage county. 
.\t the rate of ten dollars an acre he purchased 
eighty acres of partially improved land in 
Shemian township, and his energy and ability 
brought to him large and substantial success 
during the passing years, as shown by the fact 
that at the time of his death he was the owner 
of a valuable landed estate of four hundred 
acres. He was a stalwart in the local ranks 
of the Democratic party and was influential in 
community affairs in his township, where he 
held minor official positions, including that of 
school director. 

November 6, 1859, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Mangus to Miss Catherine Garst, who 
was born in Roanoke county, \'irginia, Decem- 
ber 9, 1840, and who survived him by more 
than a decade, she having been one of the 
re\ered pioneer women of Gage county at the 
time when she was summoned to etenial rest, 
in FebRiarj-, 1916. She was a daughter of 
George and Catherine (Marka) Garst, both 
natives of the state of Pennsylvania. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Mangus were born twelve children: 
John H., born May 2. 18(i0. died December 5, 
1860: Sarah E., born December 28. 1861, is 
the widow of Enos Rishel and resides at Mc- 
Cook, Nebraska ; Rebecca J., boni December 
1, 1864, is the wife of J. W. Martin, of Sher- 
man township. Gage county : George W.. born 
May 7, 1866, is a farmer in Sherman county, 
Kansas ; Jerrj' T. is individually represented on 
other pages of this volume : Joseph and Josiah, 
(twins) w-ere born August 17, 1871: Josiah 
died September 19, 1871, and Josejjh is a resi- 
dent of Gage county ; E. B. was born March 7, 
1869; Mary E. was born January 29, 1873, 
and is the wife of Gustavus A. Erickson, of 
Gage county ; Catherine, born April 14, 1876, 
is the wife of John Lidgard, of Gage county: 
C. E., born August 16, 1879. resides in Gage 
county ; and ^\"illiam, bom February 7, 1882, 
resides in Delta county, Colorado. 

FRED A. HARPER. — The agricultural 
interests of Gage county find a worthv repre- 
sentative in Fred A. Harper who owns one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 20, 
Adams township. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



907 



He was born in a brick house in the city of 
Liverpool, England, at six o'clock in the 
morning of January 3. 1843, and his parents 
Allen and Mary (Hopley) Harper, also were 
natives of England. In 1848, with their fam- 
ily of four children, they came to America and 
settled on a farm, in McLean county, Illinois, 
after a short stay in New York state. When 
the Civil war broke out, Allen Harper enlisted 
in the Thirty-second Illinois \'olunteer Infan- 
try. He became a captain, and while in de- 
fence of his adopted country he was taken 
sick with typhoid fever and received an hon- 
orable discharge. His last days were passed 
at the home of his son, in Jefferson county, 
Nebraska, where he died in 1888, at the age of 
sixty-eight years. His widow died in 1891, 
at the age of seventy-one years. They were 
the parents of the following named children : 
Mrs. Elizabeth Mayberry. deceased; Fred A., 
subject of this sketch ; Mrs. William Groves, 
of Marshall county, Kansas: Allen, deceased; 
Samuel, a resident of Illinois ; Joseph, de- 
ceased ; and Mrs. Richard Newconib. of Cali- 
fornia. 

Fred A. Harj^er was a lad of five years 
when the family home was transferred to 
America. He was reared on a farm in Illi- 
nois, attended district school, in the acquire- 
ment of an education, and when he became a 
man he wisely chose for a life work the oc- 
cupation which he had learned in his younger 
days. His home remained in Illinois until 
December 13. 1887, when he came to Nebraska 
and bought a farm in JetYerson county. He 
successfully operated this until 1893, when he 
traded it for his present farm, moving to 
Adams township on December 13th of that 
year. He has had made such improvements as 
were needed, transforming it to a valuable 
tract. Mr. Harper has done general farming, 
and pays particular attention to the feeding 
of swine, both branches of the business prov- 
ing profitable. 

As a helpmeet Mr. Harper chose Miss Cas- 
sandra Mayberry. their wedding being cele- 
brated July 18, 1870. Mrs. Harper was bom 
Januar}' 17, 1849, in Hamilton county, Illi- 
nois, in the district known as Egypt. Her 



parents were William and Caroline (Mc- 
P.rooml .Mayberry, natives of Illinois, and of 
German and French descent, both are now de- 
ceased. 

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Harper has been 
blessed with seven children as follows: Stella 
is the wife of W. Barmore, of Adams; Eliza 
is the wife of F. Perry, a farmer of Adams 
township; John F. who operates his father's 
farm, married Miss Clara Silver, whose par- 
ents were homesteaders in Gage county; Ira 
.Vrthur, who lives in Hollenberg, Kansas, mar- 
ried Minnie Hildebrand, of Adams; Jessie L. 
is the wife of A. Robb. residing at Filley, Ne- 
braska ; and two children died in infancy. 

In politics Mr. Harj^er endorses the princi- 
pals of the Republican party, and he has served 
efficiently as a member of the school board 
of his district. He is a member of the lodge 
of the Independant Order of Odd Fellows at 
Adams. In ever\- relation of life Mr. Harper 
has measured up to the full standard of citi- 
zenship. While the active work of the farm 
has been shifted to younger shoulders, he still 
is interested in all those things which have to 
do with moral and material uplift of his com- 
munity. 

HERMAN A. KROESE. — Holland is a 
country that is noted for its thrifty and in- 
dustrious people. While it is a small nation 
geographically, it has won a place in the world 
as a nation of intensive farming and other pro- 
ductive industries. Its sons who immigrate to 
the United States bring with them methods of 
farming which, when applied to our broad 
acres, makes them specially successful and 
prosperous farmers. 

Herman A. Kroese is a Hollander by birth 
and an American by adoption. He was born 
May 2, 1863, in Elburg. Holland. His par- 
ents, with their eleven children, left the spot- 
less town of Elburg, Holland, in 1881, to seek 
in the LInited States greater opportunities for 
advancement. Lancaster county, Nebraska, 
was selected for their farming operations and 
they located on a farm near Panama, that 
county. They remained on this farm until 
their death. These good people, Jannes and 



908 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Gerritje ( Dulj Kroese, were born in Holland. 
Jannes was born February 17, 1832, and his 
death occurred August 2, 1916. His wife was 
born April 22>, 1841, and her death occurred a 
few months prior to that of her husband — 
May. 28. 1916. Thirteen strong, robust sons 
and daughters were reared on the farm near 
Panama, Nebraska. They have all taken their 
places in the world's work, as farmers and as 
artisans of various sorts. 

Herman .\. Kroese was seventeen years old 
when his jxirenls migrated to the broad prair- 
ies of Nebraska. They toiled to subdue the 
wild fertile lands and wrest from nature her 
treasures, as well as to develop strong minds 
and bodies for their children. The early edu- 
cation of Herman A. Kroese was received in 
Holland and upon his arrival in Nebraska he 
helped his father on the farm. After he 
passed his majority he worked among the 
farmers as a farm hand, continuing in this 
work until, in 1888, he was employed as a 
clerk in the general merchandise store at Hol- 
land. Nebraska. 

At this period of life he wedded Ida Boeve, 
their marriage having been solemnized on the 
26th day of February. 1891. :Mrs. Kroese 
was the daughter of Dutch parents who had 
immigrated to this country from Holland and 
settled in Iowa, and she was born January 18. 
1872. Her parents, Lewis and Hattie ( Stuu- 
rop ) Boeve, helped to build up the agricultural 
wealth of Iowa. Mrs. Kroese was a member 
of the Dutch Reformed church, was a devoted 
mother and was a true heli)meet to her hus- 
band. Her death occurred in Kansas, March 
18, 1903. Six children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Kroese, and concerning them the fol- 
lowing brief record in consistently given : 
Hattie is the wife of G. Wubbels. living in 
Lancaster county, Nebraska ; Louisa is the 
wife of H. Kamp, of Adams township. Gage 
county ; John and Edna remain at home with 
their father; Adrian is deceased; and Arthur 
is with his uncle, L. H. Kroese. 

After Mr. Kroese's marriage, in 1891, he 
rented land from his father for two years. 
In 1893 he purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Norton county, Kansas, and 



fourteen years were spent on this farm, where 
his children were born, and the children at- 
tended the rural schools of the vicinity. In 
1907, about four years after the death of his 
wife, Mr. Kroese, with his family of children, 
returned to Nebraska, and he purchased one 
hundred and seventy acres of land in section 
3, Adams county- He is still owner of his 
land in Kansas. 

A modern residence is occupied by Mr. 
Kroese and his son and daughter who re- 
main at home with him. The house is lighted 
by gas, is steam heated, and is provided with 
running hot and cold water. Such a home a 
prosperous farmer can truly enjoy after years 
of hard labor. 

In politics Mr. Kroese is independent in his 
thinking and voting. He believes that the 
man and not the party is to be chosen as the 
servant of the people in the legislative and 
other governmental bodies. His religious 
views are in accord with the faith of the Dutch 
Reformed church, which receives of his lib- 
eral support. 

ISA.\C H. BRL'BAKER, owner and man- 
ager of the Farmers Feed Yard, 212 South 
Fourth street, Beatrice, was born in Cass 
county, Indiana, December 17, 1860, and is a 
son of Abraham and Martha (Parker) Bru- 
b:,ker. 

Abraham Brubaker was born in Pennsyl- 
vania in 1811. He moved to Indiana and later 
to Illinois. By his marriage to Miss Martha 
Parker, of Ohio, were born fourteen children 
as follows: Stephen, living in Iowa; Jacob, 
a Union soldier, who was taken prisoner and 
died in Andersonville prison, in 1865 ; Han- 
nah, wife of William Parker, of Tennessee; 
Mary, widow of Wilson Dunniston, now mak- 
ing her home in Kansas City, Missouri; Jo- 
seph and Solomon, of Indiana ; Alva, of Bige- 
low, Kansas : David, of Hendley, Nebraska ; 
Jennie, Martha, and Angeline, deceased ; Isaac 
H., the subject of this sketch ; Henry, of Colo- 
rado; and Ella, widow of William Woodburn, 
late of Kansas. 

Abraham Brubaker came to Nebraska in 
1886 and settled in Furnas county, where he 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



909 



died in 1901. His wiilow passed away in 
1903. 

Isaac H. Brubaker was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Illinois, and followed farming 
in that state until 1879, when he came to Ne- 
braska and settled in Gage county, where he 
bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
in Glenwood township. Several years ago Mr. 
Brubaker removed to the city of Beatrice, 
where he bought the Farmers Feed Yard, 
which he now manages. He has recently pur- 
chased thirteen acres of land in Section 35, 
jMidland township, on which he has built a 
comfortable residence, and wlicre he makes 
his home. 

In 1903 Mr. Brubaker married Miss Eliza- 
beth .\lder, of Beatrice. They are the parents 
of two children, Richard and Grace. Mr. and 
Mrs- Brubaker are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and take a great interest in 
church work. 

HERMAN F. SIEIMS. — It is a privilege 
at this point to direct attention to another of 
the native sons of Gage county who has here 
achieved success and prominence as a repre- 
sentative agriculturist and stock-grower, Mr. 
Siems being the owner of three hundred and 
twenty acres of excellent land in Grant town- 
ship, his homestead farm, of one hundred 
and fifty-eight acres, being in Section 16, and 
his second farm, of one hundred and sixty-two 
acres, being in Section 21. Both places are un- 
der his direct and characteristically able man- 
agement and are given over to diversified 
agriculture and stock-growing. 

On his father's old homestead farm in Sec- 
tion 23, Grant township, Herman F. Siems 
was born March 22, 1877, a date that indi- 
cates that he is a scion of one of the pioneer 
families of the county. His father, Glaus 
Siems, came to Gage county in the spring of 
1876, and eventually he developed and im- 
proved one of the fine farm properties of 
Grant township, he having reclaimed from the 
prairie fully two hundred and forty acres of 
land and having become one of the successful 
and representative farmers and stock-growers 
of the county, where he continued to maintain 



his home until his death, in 1913, his fine farm 
estate having been that on which the subject 
of this sketch was born and reared. 

Claus Siems was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, February 11. 1841, and 
after leaving school he served a tliorough ap- 
prenticeship to the trade of cabinetmaker. In 
his native land he continued to follow his 
trade until his immigration to America, and 
for three years after his arrival in the land 
of his adoption he was employed in a sash 
and door factory at Fond du Lac, U'isconsin. 
Thereafter he was for ten years employed at 
his trade at Lincoln, Logan county, Illinois, 
where, on the 19th of February, 1873, he 
wedded Miss Lena Weltzein, who was born 
in Mecklenburg, Germany, August 18, 1849, 
and who was but five years old when she ac- 
companied her widowed mother to the L'nited 
States. Air- and Mrs. Siems became the par- 
ents of six sons and two daughters — all of 
whom are living — and of the number the 
subject of this sketch was the third in order 
of birth. The devoted wife and mother, who 
is now deceased, shared fully with her hus- 
band in the trials and hardships of pioneer life 
after they iiad established their home in Gage 
county, both having been active members of 
tile German Lutheran church and his political 
support having been given to the Democratic 
party. 

Reared under tlie influences of the pioneer 
farm and profiting duly l)y the advantages af- 
forded in the English and German schools of 
the locality, Herman F. Siems early began to 
lend eflfective aid in the work of his father's 
farm, so that he learned in the passing years 
all details of farm industry. In 1907 he pur- 
chased his present fine farm, commonly known 
as the old Ellis place and long prominent in 
having a large white house which was for 
many years the only one of this color in the 
locality. As a farmer he has added to the 
honors of the family name, as has he also as a 
loyal and progressive citizen, his political sup- 
port being given to the Democratic party and 
he and his wife holding to the faith of the 
Lutheran church. 

In 1004 .Mr. Siems married Miss Sophia 



910 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Danikroger, who likewise was born and reared' 
in Gage county and who is a daughter of the 
late Henry Damkroger, an honored pioneer 
of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Siems have six 
children, all of whom remain members of the 
cheery home circle, namely : Martha, Elmer, 
Lawrence, Elsie, Arthur, and Laura. 

JOHN A. BRYSON. farmer and stock- 
raiser in Section 35, Adams township, has the 
distinction of being a native of Gage county, 
Nebraska, and a member of one of the most 
widely known and respected families of Adams 
township. 

Mr. Bryson was born in Adams township, 
this county, on May 12, 1869. a son of Silas 
and Clarinda (Young) Bryson. of whom men- 
tion is made elsewhere in this volume. John 
A. was educated in the district schools of 
Gage county and as a boy and young man he 
worked with his father on the farm. Later 
he rented land and was here engaged in farm- 
ing for himself until 1899. when he went to 
Oklahoma, in which state he continued farm- 
ing until 1903. He then returned to Gage 
county. Nebraska, and farmed on rented land 
until the spring of 1908, when he again went 
to Oklahoma, where he remained until 1911- 
Coming back to Gage county, Nebraska, in 
that year, he engaged in farming and stock- 
raising on Section 35. .\dams township where 
lie has reiuained to the present time. Mr. 
Bryson is making a success of his chosen 
calling, and at the present time, in connection 
with his brother. David F., is feeding a large 
herd of cattle for market. 

Mr. Bryson was united in marriage Feb- 
ruary 8, IS^'ii. to Miss Evalena .\. Reynolds, 
a daughter of J. S. and Sarah (Thompson) 
Reynolds, and of this union have been born 
five children, as ftillows : George W. died in 
childhood ; Lilah L is a teacher in the Johnson 
county schools : and Hugh. Charles, and Zella 
are at home. 

L S. Reynolds, father of Mrs. Bryson. was 
born in ^\'est \'irginia. in May. 1839. and 
followed farming and the carpenter trade in 
Iowa until 1861, when he enlisted in the Un- 
ion army and served throughout the war. He 



was mustered out in 1865, and thereafter in 
Iowa he again took up the carpenter trade, 
which he followed until 1878. He then came 
to Nebraska with his family and settled in 
Otoe county, where he stayed only one year. 
In 1879 he came to Gage county and here he 
followed farming for twenty years. Going 
to Oklahoma in 1899. he there bought land 
and he remained there until his death, in 1908. 
Mrs. Reynolds is a native of Indiana, born 
.April 15, 1850. a daughter of Garret Thomp- 
son- She now makes her home at Pond 
Creek. Oklahoma. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bryson are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Adams, in 
which they are both devoted workers. In 
politics Mr. Bryson is a Prohibitionist and 
he is very enthusiastic in the furtherance of 
the party cause. 

COLONEL JOHNSON HIATT. — The 
history of nations is but the composite assem- 
bling of the histories of individual persons, 
each of whom, in working out his destiny, 
co-ordinates with others in making the history 
of the community, the county, the state, the 
nation. Few men in Gage county have had in 
life a closer personal and ancestral touch and 
asssociation with events of historic import- 
ance than has Colonel Johnson Hiatt, who is 
an honored and influential citizen of (!)dell and 
who is familiarly known throughout this sec- 
tion of Nebraska. 

The sixth in a family or seventeen children, 
Colonel Johnson Hiatt was bom at Sidney, 
Fremont county. Iowa, in the year 1859. and 
he is a son of Joseph anad Martha Ann (Es- 
tes) Hiattt. His parents were numbered 
among the early pioneer settlers of the Hawk- 
eye state, which was little more than an un- 
trammeled wilderness when they there estab- 
lished their home, in 1851. upon removal from 
Illinois. Joseph Hiatt was born in Peoria 
county. Illinois, on the 27th of December., 
1826, and was a son of Jesse Hiatt. the family 
name of whose wife was Proctor. Jesse 
Hiattt was a soldier in the war of 1812 and 
thereafter became one of the very early set- 
tlers in the state of Illinois. His father was a 
birthright member of the Society of Friends. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



911 




Colonel Johnson Hlatt and Wife 



912 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



or Quakers, and his religious faith did not 
permit him to give military service. Under 
these conditions he paid a fourfold tax in lieu 
of such service, at the time of the war of the 
Revolution. As recognition is taken of the 
lives and deeds of such worthy men and wo- 
men as the ancestors of the subject of this re- 
view, it becomes evident that they did a noble 
part in connection with laying broad and deep 
the foundations of our nation, gave loyally to 
upholding the principles of democracy, and 
aided in the conquering of the wilderness as 
the great march of progress made its west- 
ward way. Mrs. Martha Ann (Estes) Hiatt, 
mother of Colonel Hiatt of this review, was 
born in Clinton county, Missouri, on the 12th 
of January, 1884, and was a daughter of the 
celebrated Joel Estes, in whose honor Estes 
Park, Colorado, was named, he having been 
the first white man to discover and exploit 
this region, which is full of nature's wonder 
and which now attracts thousands of visitors 
each year. The marriage of Joseph Hiatt 
and Martha Ann Estes was solemnized in Il- 
linois, on the 30th of November, 1850, and in 
the following year, as before stated, they es- 
tablished their home in Fremont county, Iowa, 
where all of their seventeen children were 
bom. On the 30th of November, 1900, this 
venerable and noble pioneer couple celebrated 
their golden-wedding anniversary, and the oc- 
casion was made a notable one, as fourteen of 
their married children, with their respective 
families, and also one unmarried daughter, 
came from far distant points to pay a tribute 
of honor and affection, this having been the 
first family reunion to be held in fifteen 
years. One daughter and her husband came 
from London, England, where they were en- 
gaged in missionary work, to be present at this 
memorable celebration and family reunion. 
At this remarkable gathering of a remarkable 
family, old times, stories, and incidents were 
recalled in pleasing reminiscence, and thus 
were brought back to memory the joys, the 
sorrow, the hardships and the happy associ- 
ations of days long past. Joseph and Martha 
A. (Estes) Hiatt lived long and useful lives 
and gave to the world sons and daughters of 



whom they had every reason to be proud when 
the gracious evening of their lives began to 
show the lengthened shadows from the sunset 
gates of the golden west. Joseph Hiatt 
passed from the stage of life's mortal en- 
deavors on the 19th of February, 1914, at the 
age of eighty-six years, his loved and devoted 
wife having passed to the life eternal Decem- 
ber 20, 1907. They were earnest, unassuming 
folk of noble character and exemplified in 
their daily lives the best ideals of the gentle 
religious faith to which they adhered, that of 
the Society of Friends. 

Colonel Johnson Hiatt is thus shown to be 
a true scion of fine pioneer stock, and in his 
native state he was reared and educated under 
the conditions of the pioneer era. He was an 
ambitious youth of eighteen years when, in 
1877, he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
entered claim to a homestead on the Otoe In- 
dian reservation, which had recently been 
opened to settlement. There were no roads, 
no houses in sight and no improvements made 
on the land which he determined to reclaim 
into a productive fann. In that early period 
of his residence in Gage county Colonel Hiatt 
followed the Indian trails to the little village 
i;)f Charleston, where he obtained his mail and 
his necessary supplies. Charleston is now one 
of the vanished towns of this part of the 
state, and it was situated one mile south of 
the present thriving town of Odell. Though 
a mere youth. Colonel Hiatt girded himself 
\aliantly for the responsibilities and ser\-ices 
of a pioneer, and it was his to know and 
experience all of the incidental loneliness, 
privation and hardships incidental to the 
early days on the old Otoe reservation. He 
endured all and faltered not in his resolute 
purpose, with the result that the passing years 
rewarded him with generous prosperity, so 
that to-day he is one of the substantial land- 
holders and influential citizens of Gage 
county. It may consistently be said that the 
community would have lost much had his life 
and labors found another stage of activity than 
this, in which he has pressed forward to the 
goal of worthty prosperity. Colonel Hiatt 
or added from time to time to the area of his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



913 



original homestead, and to-day he is the owner 
of a well improved and valuable landed estate 
of eight hundred- and sixty acres, — • in Elm, 
Glenwood and Paddock townships. In July, 
1911, he removed from his farm to the village 
of Odell. He bought land adjoining the town 
and has here platted and developed an attrac- 
tive addition to the village, the same being 
known as Hiatt's addition and having proved 
a distinct gain to Odell, as well as an evidence 
of the progressiveness of Colonel Hiatt, who 
has been successful in the development of the 
addition. Though he is retired from active 
farm enterprise he gives his attention to the 
buying and selling of cattle and hogs. For 
fully thirty years he has been a buyer and 
shipper of cattle, his shipments having been 
made principally to Kansas City and St. Jo- 
seph, Missouri. 

On the 6th of April, 1881, was solemnized 
the marriage of Colonel Hiatt to Miss Ade- 
laide Upson, who was born at Rock ford, Il- 
linois, March 11, 1859. and who is a daughter 
of Lyman D. and Lucina (Miller) Upson. Her 
parents removed from the state of New York 
to Illinois, and later they came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, where Mr. Upson took a homestead 
in the former Otoe Indian resenation, but his 
death occurred three years later. To Colonel 
and Mrs. Hiatt have been born ten children, 
concerning whom brief record is here given : 
The first child died in infancy ; Joseph is a 
resident of Glenwood township ; Mrs. Ruth 
A. Moffat and her husband reside five miles 
west of Odell ; Wilber is in Elm township ; 
Miles Cleveland resides in Glenwood town- 
ship ; Clarence W. remains at the parental 
home; Mrs. Grace Thompson lives east of the 
city of Beatrice; Mary E. is at home and is a 
popular teacher in the district schools, as is 
also George D., who likewise is a member of 
the parental home circle ; and Caroline S. is the 
youngest of the children at the pleasant home. 

Colonel Hiatt gives his allegiance to the 
Democratic party and while he had had no 
ambition for public office he gave efficient ser- 
vice as treasurer of his school district while 
residing on his farm. He is affiliated with 
the Masonic fraternity, including the order of 



the Eastern Star, and he holds membership 
also in the Modern Woodmen of America. 
Mrs. Hiatt is affiliated with the local chapter 
of the Eastern Star and also with the Royal 
Neighbors, and both she and her husband hold 
membership in the Christian church. 

ROBERT \V. SABIN is one of the best 
known and most highly respected citizens of 
Gage county. He came to Beatrice from Ill- 
inois in August, 1878, and has since main- 
tained a continuous residence here. He found 
Beatrice an overgrown village of two thousand 
iiihabitants, while all Gage county contained 
less than twelve thousand. He has seen the 
county expand to more than thirty thousand 
and Beatrice develop from a mere western vil- 
lage into a modern city of twelve thousand 
people. 

Mr. S'abin was born in a log cabin in Knox 
county, Ohio, near the city of Mount Vernon, 
February 9, 1850. When he was but eighteen 
months old his parents moved from Ohio to 
McLean county. Illinois, and located on a farm 
near the city of Bloomington, where his early 
life was spent. When opportunity offered he 
attended the country schools of his neighbor- 
hood, and by the time he attained his ma- 
jority he had acquired a good common-school 
education. He then entered the Illinois State 
Normal School, located at Normal, a suburl> 
of Bloomington, and later he attended Wesley- 
an College, graduating from the law depart- 
ment of that institution in the class of 1877. 
In November of that year he opened a law 
office at Minonk. Woodford county, Illinois, 
where he continued in the practice of his pro- 
fession for ten months. He then came to the 
rising city of Beatrice, in search of fortune 
and professional distinction. Here he engaged 
in the general practice of the law and de- 
veloped into an excellent trial lawyer. Dur- 
ing his forty years' practice at the bar of Gage 
county he has successfully transacted a very 
large volume of legal business, both civil and 
criminal. His practice has extended to all the 
courts of the state and to the federal courts, 
and on account of his abilities as a lawyer 
and his standing at the bar he has always 



914 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



commanded the respect of the courts and of 
his professional associates- 

In 1883 Mr. Sabin was elected district at- 
torney of the old First judicial district, which 
then coni]irised the counties of Richardson, 
Nemaha, Johnson, Gage, Jefferson. Saline, 
Thayer, and Fillmore, and he discharged the 
duties of his office with great credit to him- 
self and to the satisfaction of the public at 
large. During his incumbency he tried and 
convicted Jackson Marion for the murder of 
John Cameron, in 1872; he tried and convict- 
ed Enoch Bradshaw for the murder of H. C. 
Voorhees, and also tried the case of the State 
of Nebraska vs. William H. Reed, for wife 
murder. 

Marion was sentenced to be hanged. On 
appeal the sentence was reversed and a new 
trial awarded him. He was again convicted 
of murder in the first degree and sentenced to 
he hanged. On appeal the sentence was af- 
firmed by the supreme court, and on the 25th 
<lay of March, 1887. he was executed in the 
old jail yard, this being the first and only 
legal execution in Gage county. 

In the Reed case the jury mi the first trial 
disagreed, but on the second trial the defend- 
ant was convicted of manslaughter and was 
sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary. 
Bradshaw was given a life sentence in the 
penitentiary and afterward pardoned by the 
governor of the state and set free. 

Mr. Sabin's successful trial of these cases 
and many others gave him a standing at the 
bar as trial lawyer of which any attorney 
might feel justly proud. Since 1883 he has 
been counsel for one side or the other in a 
large numlx;r of criminal cases in the Gage 
county courts, including sixteen mvirder trials. 

In 1892 Mr. Sabin was elected county at- 
torney of Gage county, and he served one 
term in that important office. Me has held 
also the office of city attorney of Beatrice for 
six years, and in all these positions he has 
accjuitted himself as a lawyer of marked abil- 
ity. 

Mr. Sabin's parents were Daniel Sabin and 
Rhoda (Williams) Sabin- His father was of 
pure English stock, his ancestry reaching back 



to the Puritans of Xew England. He was a 
physician by profession and was also a farmer 
and a preacher. He was a man of great en- 
ergy. For his preaching he took no pay, 
holding that a man who made a daily living 
otherwise than by preaching ought not to 
charge for filling the pulpit on Sunday. He 
was a great reader and a deep Bible student, 
and for many years he carried on an active 
practice as a physician, at the same time 
farming extensively. Robert W. Sabin "s 
mother was of Scotch-Irish stock. Her great- 
grandfatiier. Ebenezer Williams, was a Rev. 
olutionary soldier and fought with great credit 
in that war for human liberty. She was a 
literary woman and took time from her house- 
hold duties to read good and instructive books. 
Dr. and RJioda Sabin were the parents of 
eleven children, the subject of this sketch be- 
ing their ninth child. Two of their four sons 
were physicians and two lawyers. In the 
mother's family there were several lawyers; 
one brother. Robert E. Williams, for whom 
Mr. Sabin was named, was a distinguished 
member of the bar at Bloomington, Illinois. 
On the 14th day of February, 1878, Mr. 
Sabin married Miss Mary Louise Carlock, 
who had been born and reared in the country 
near Bloomington. Illinois. Six months after 
their marriage this young husband and wife 
came to Beatrice and immediately became 
factors in the social life of the city- They 
have for many years been active members of 
the Christian church of Beatrice and are much 
esteemed for their social and neighborly qual- 
ities and worth of character. Six children 
have been the fruit of this marriage, of whom 
five are living, two sons and three daughters. 
The elder son, Ralph L. Sabin, is married 
and lives in Washington, D. C. The vounger 
son, Robert L. Sabin also is married and he 
lives in Kansas City, Missouri. Both are ac- 
tive and ])rosperous business men. Gertrude, 
the oldest daughter, is the wife of Earl M. 
Marvin, publisher of the Beatrice Daily Sun ; 
Louise, the second daughter, is the wife of 
Dr. F. W. Buckley, of Beatrice, who recently 
went to France as a surgeon in the American 
expeditionary army, and when last heard from 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



915 



was at \'erdun ; Hazel, the youngest daugh- 
ter, is at home with her parents. 

Mr. and Airs. Sabin hve in a pleasant home 
at the corner of Seventh and Grant streets, 
and they are here spending the afternoon of 
tiieir lives, surrounded by their family and 
by friends who are tried and true. 

C. A. GARRISON. — A fine farm of two 
hundred acres, in Sections 28 and 29, Adams 
township, reflects credit upon the owner, Mr. 
Garrison, who is one of the progressive and 
up-to-date farmers and stock men of Gage 
county. 

Mr. Garrison is a native of the neighbor- 
ing state of Iowa, his birth having occurred, 
in Wapello county, .-Xpril 18, 1870. His fath- 
er, Silas J. Garrison, was born in Dearborn 
county. Indiana, January 10, 1846. Reared 
in his native state, Silas J. Garrison took up 
farming when a young man, and made it his 
life work. He had three brothers, Sylvester, 
Robert, and Herod, who served as soldiers in 
the Civil war. The last named was a physi- 
cian who gave his best efforts to care for and 
heal the sick and wounded during that terri- 
ble war. In spite of his able services, his 
two brothers died during the war. After the 
war Dr. Garrison located at Chicago, Illinois, 
and practiced his profession. He also be- 
came president of and a lecturer in the Ben- 
nett Medical College. The father of these 
boys was in poor health, a sufferer from rheu- 
matism, and Silas J. remained at home to care 
for his parents. He also rendered valuable 
aid to the widows of his brothers. 

In 1873 Silas J. Garrison brought his fam- 
ily to Gage county, arriving here April 22, 
of that year. He settled on the farm that is 
now the home of his son. He hauled lumber 
from Lincoln to build the first home of the 
family, a frame house, twelve by fourteen 
feet in dimensions. The people from whom 
he bought the land had a crop growing and 
he gave them ten dollars for the privilege of 
erecting his cabin. He devoted several years 
to improving and cultivating this tract, built 
substantial buildings and set out trees, making 
it a valuable property. He later bought an- 



other farm in this township, and he retired 
from the active work of the fields several years 
before his death, which occurred in 1912. 
The mother of our subject was Lucy A. (Cad- 
well ) Garrison. She was born in Ohio, Jan- 
uary 22. 18-14, and was reared in Indiana, ac- 
companying her parents there when a little 
girl. She survived her husband and passed 
away in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison were 
the parents of five children, of whom C- A., 
the subject of this review is the eldest. Alvin 
L. and Clifford E. are deceased; Estella H., 
wife of J. A. Atkins, is deceased ; and Royal 
\'. is a resident of Adams, Nebraska. 

C. .A. Garrison was three years of age when 
the home was established in Gage countv. He 
acquired his education in the district schools 
and in the high school at Adams, also attend- 
ing the Lincoln Normal School. In 1891 he 
began farming as a renter, and so carefully 
did he conserve his earnings that in 1906 he 
was able to purchase eighty acres of land in 
Elm township, which he operated for seven 
years. Upon the death of his father he in- 
herited eighty acres of the old place, and the 
next year he moved to the old farm. He has 
since disposed of his land in Elm township, 
and he now owns two hundred acres in Adams 
township. Mr. Garrison leases other land in 
addition to his own and farms four hundred 
and forty acres. Aside from general farm- 
ing he also raises pure-bred Hampshire hogs 
and Percheron horses, both branches of his 
business yielding him good returns. 

In 1901 occurred the marriage of C. A. Gar- 
rison and Miss Mary Isley, who was born in 
Hawkins county, Tennessee, a daughter of 
David and Martha (Walker) Isley. Mrs. 
Garrison's brother Jasper lived in Gage coun- 
ty and with him she made her home several 
years prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
Garrison have three children, Dwiglit, Rubv, 
and Ruth, all under the parental roof. The 
family attend the Methodist church, of which 
they are all members. In politics Mr. Garri- 
son is a Democrat. He is one of the substan- 
tial men of Gage county and enjoys the es- 
teem and good will of all with whom he has 
come in contact. 



5:6 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



CHARLES A. MILLER — One of the 
sterling pioneer citizens who achieved suc- 
cess and prosperity by coping vigorously with 
the opposing forces incidental to the devel- 
opment of a productive farm from the virgin 
prairie soil of Gage county, Mr. Miller ac- 
quired and improved one of the large landed 
estates of Clatonia township and continued as 
one of the active agriculturists and stock- 
growers of this township until 1911, since 
which time he has lived retired in the village 
of Clatonia, where he erected a modern and 
attractive house, — a pleasant home in which 
he and his wife are enjoying the rewards of 
former years of earnest endeavor. 

Mr. ^liller was born in Lippe, Germany, on 
the 6th of December, 1851, a son of Fred- 
erick and Charlotte (Hartmann) Miller, he 
being the eldest of the three children and the 
only son; his elder sister, Minnie, who became 
the wife of Bernard Mooberg, is deceased : 
and Martha is the wife of William Sang, of 
Lancaster county, this state. Mr. Miller was 
about four years old when he accompanied his 
parents to .America and the family home was 
established at Freejwrt, Illinois, where the 
father engaged in the work of his trade, that 
of wagonmaker. In 1878 Frederick Miller 
came with his family to Gage county and two 
miles north of Clatonia he purchased land, 
though he never engaged personally in farm- 
ing, the place having been turned over to his 
only son : he and his wife passed the remain- 
der of their lives in this county, as honored 
pioneer citizens. 

Charles A. Miller has achieved prosperity 
entirely through his own ability and efforts, 
and when but fourteen years of age he began 
working as farm hand in Illinois. His initial 
service included the planting of corn, which 
he dropped by hand and covered by throwing 
earth over the grain with his foot. For this 
work he received fifty cents a day. and his 
recompense for nine months work was not 
given in cash but in four loads of corn. Dur- 
ing the winter months as a boy and youth he 
attended school at Davis, Illinois, and he was 
twenty-six years of age when he accompanied 
his parents to Gage county, where it devolved 



u[)on him to break up and otherwise improve 
the farm of one hundred and sixty acres which 
his father purchased in Clatonia township, the 
nearest market points at that time having been 
the villages of Cortland and W'ilber. Each of 
his parents attained to the age of three score 
years and ten, his mother having passed 
away in 1893, and the father in 1894. Both 
were earnest members of the German Metho- 
dist church. 

Prior to coming to Nebraska, Mr. Miller 
had gained pioneer experience in Oregon, to 
which state he made his way in 1874. He 
found employment on a farm near the city of 
Portland and received compensation of four 
hundred dollars a year, paid in gold. He 
remained in Oregon four years and then re- 
turned to Illinois, whence, soon afterward, he 
came to Nebraska. Industry and good man- 
agement brought to him cumulative success in 
connection with farm enterprise in Gage 
county, and he eventually accumulated a val- 
uable and well improved landed estate of three 
hundred and twenty acres, in Section 11, Cla- 
tonia township. This property he has sold to 
his children. He used much discrimination in 
the improvement of his farm property and on 
the same set out both fruit and shade trees. 
One spring he planted sixty-five dollars' worth 
of fruit trees, a portion of which are still in 
bearing. Mr. Miller has contributed his share 
to the general development and progress of 
Gage county, is a Republican in politics and 
both he and his wife hold membership in the 
German Methodist church. 

March 13, 1878, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Miller to Miss Sophia Hanrichmeier, who 
vi'as born in Stephenson county, Illinois. April 
23, 1837, a daughter of Frederick and Amelia 
(Meyer) Hanrichmeier, who were natives of 
Germany and whose marriage occured in 
18.^1, in Illinois, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives and where Mr. Han- 
richmeier eventually became the owner of a 
valuable farm of three hundred and twenty 
acres. He was born February 2, 1828, and in 
1848 he passed seven weeks in making the 
voyage across the Atlantic to America, on a 
sailing vessel. In Stephenson county. Illinois, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



917 



his first farm was one of forty acres, and on 
tl'.is homestead he maintained his residence 
twenty years, removal having then been made 
to a new house which he erected on the op- 
posite side of the road. He died March 29, 
1908, and his widow passed away June 23. 
1914, she having been born in Lippe-Detmold, 
Germany, August 26, 1833 : of their nine 
children — three sons and six daughters — 
Mrs. Miller was the third in order of birth. 
Mr. and Mrs. Miller became the parents of 
six children; Paul is a prosperous farmer two 
miles north of Clatonia ; Alinnie is the wife of 
Charles C. Houpt, of Clatonia township ; 
Charles is a resident of Kansas and Frederick 
of Texas ; Wesley is a teacher in the public 
schools at Doniphan, Missouri; and Herbert 
is attending school at Warrington, Missouri, 
his plans being to locate on a farm in 
Colorado. 

JERRY T. MANGUS, whose fine farm 
home is situated in Section 24, Midland town- 
ship, has won large and worthy success 
through his association with farm enterprise 
in the county that has represented his home 
since he was about fourteen years of age, and 
as one of the substantial and well known 
citizens of the county he merits recognition in 
this history. He is a son of the late William 
Mangus, to whom a memoir is dedicated on 
other pages, so that further review of the 
family genealogy is not demanded at this 
juncture. Mr. Mangus was born in Macou- 
pin county, Illinois, October 19, 1867, and 
there he acquired in the public schools his 
early education. In 1881 he came with his 
parents to Gage county and his father pur- 
chased a farm in Sherman township, so that 
Jerry T. had ample opportunity to gain fel- 
lowshi]i with arduous toil in connection with 
the development and general operations of the 
pioneer farm. He attended school when op- 
portunity afforded and finally he engaged in- 
dependently in farm operations. For four 
years he farmed on rented land and he then 
purchased two hundred and twenty acres, in 
Midland township, where he has since con- 
tinued his earnest and fruitful activities. In 



obtaining this property he assumed, as may 
be inferred, an appreciable indebtedness, but 
his energy and good management not only 
enabled him eventually to relieve himself en- 
tirely of such financial obligation but also to 
make the admirable improvements that mark 
his estate as one of the model farms of the 
county, his attractive residence being one of 
the best rural homes in Alidland township, 
and all other farm buildings provided by him 
being of consonant order. As an exponent 
of farm industry Mr. IMangus has wisely di- 
versified his activities and has made himself 
successful both as an agriculturist and as a 
raiser of good types of horses, cattle and 
swine. In politics he is to be designated as 
an independent Republican, and while he takes 
loyal interest in communal affairs and is lib- 
eral in supporting measures and enterprises 
advanced for the general good, he has man- 
ifested no ambition for public office. He is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and he 
and his wife hold membership in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church. 

On the 20th of December, 1893, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Mangus to 
Miss Elvina Reed, who was born, April 2, 
1871, in the state of Iowa, and who was a girl 
when she came with her parents to Gage 
county, in the early '80s, her father, Enos 
Reed, having been a native of Illinois and 
having become one of the substantial farmers 
of Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Mangus be- 
came the parents of seven children, of whom 
five are living: Orville, who was born, Feb- 
ruary 26. 1895, and who was associated with 
his father in the work and management of the 
home farm, is, in the spring of 1918, in the 
national military forces preparing for service 
in the European war, and, as a member of 
Battery C, Second Artillery, is stationed at 
Fort -McArthur, California; Josephine died 
January, 4, 1916, at the age of nineteen years; 
Oscar, who remains at the parental home, was 
born March 23, 1899; Wilda was born in 
December 18, 1901; Louise was seven years 
old at the time of her death, in 1910; John 
Thurston was born February 12, 1912; and 
LeNore was born June 5, 1917. 



918 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




a 




a 
US 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



919 



EDWIN B. HINDS. — A native of the 
Green Mountain state, the subject of this 
biography was born in Windham county, 
\ermont, November 21, 1842. He is a 
son of Charles C. and Lorena (Burke) 
Hinds, who were natives of Vermont and 
who left their New England home in 1855 
and became residents of Clayton county, 
Iowa. Here the father passed away March 
21, 1877, having rounded out sixty-eight years 
of a busy and honorable life. His estimable 
wife did not long survive the shock of his 
death, her death occurring on the 14th of the 
following August, when she was sixty-two 
years of age. They were the parents of two 
children : Edwin B. and Charles C, the latter 
heroically giving up his life for his country in 
the Civil war: he died May 14, 1863, at 
Grand Gulf, Mississippi. He was a member 
of Company B, Twenty-first Iowa Volunteer 
Infantry. 

Edwin B. Hinds was a boy of thirteen when 
the home was established in Iowa and his ed- 
ucation, which was begun in his native state, 
was continued in the public schools of Iowa. 
When the Civil war broke out he longed to 
take part in it and he had not yet reached his 
majority when he enlisted, in August, 1862, 
as a private in Company M, First Iowa Cav- 
alry, and for three years and six months he 
faithfully served the Union cause on many a 
hard fought battle field, his military record as 
a brave and efficient soldier being one of which 
he may well be proud. He took part in the 
battles of Prairie Grove, Little Rock, Camden 
and many others, and was with General Cus- 
ter through Texas. He was mustered out in 
!March, 1866, and returned home without a 
scar, although he took part in every battle in 
which his regiment participated. 

Mr. Hinds' early education was supplement- 
ed by a course at Eastman's Business Col- 
lege, Chicago, after which he engaged as a 
clerk in a general merchandise store, later 
turning his attention to agricultural jnirsuits. 
Winding up his affairs in Iowa, he decided to 
seek a home farther west, and in May, 1881, 
he went to Washington county, Kansas, but 
not finding a suitable location he came to 
Odell, Nebraska, then a small village where 



the railroad was just being built. Here he 
established a hardware business which he suc- 
cessfully conducted for several years. He 
also invested in farm lands and in 1903 he 
entered the banking business, as president of 
Hinds State Bank, of which he has continued 
the head and principal owner. It is one of the 
strong financial institutions of Gage county 
and though its president is still active in its 
management, the active affairs of the bank are 
under the supervision of his son, Charles N., 
a worthy young man who is mentioned else- 
where in this volume. 

December 1, 1870, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Hinds and Miss Sarah Shaw, a 
native of Clayton county, Iowa, and a daugh- 
ter of the late John Shaw. 

Mr. Hinds has taken an active interest in 
all things pertaining to the welfare of the com- 
munity. In 1893-95 he served in the lower 
house of the state legislature, and in 1895 was 
chairman of the railroad committee. He was 
the first director of the school board of the 
Odell district and served about twenty years 
as treasurer of the board. He is affiliated with 
Reserve Post, No. 148, Grand Army of the 
Republic, and with Odell Lodge No. 97, In- 
dependent Order of ( )dd Fellows. Mrs. Hinds, 
is an active member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. 



PERCY J. CHAPMAN. — The history of 
the early '80s in Gage county is made up of 
the rapid settlement of its lands by the num- 
bers of people who came at this tin-ie to make 
their home upon her soil. One of the young 
men who c-i.nie with his parents to Gage coun- 
ty is Percy J. Chapman, who is one of Blue 
Springs township's representative citizens. 

Percy Chapman was born July 31. 1871, in 
Woodford county. Illinois, where his parents, 
John and Verona (Kellogg) Chapman, had 
lived for forty years previously to their com- 
ing to Gage county to make their home. John 
Chapman was born in 1825, in Connecticut, 
and in the early days of our nation's history 
his parents immigrated to the state of Ohio, 
where he received his education and learned 
the shoemaker's trade. In \'ermont ^Ir. 



920 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Chapman was married to \'erona Kellogg, 
who was born in 1834, in that state. In the 
early '-K)s Mr. and Mrs. Chapman moved to 
Illinois and for forty years they labored to 
win the living which would give their sons 
and daughters, growing up around them, 
strong minds and strong bodies. In 1885, af- 
ter disposing of their lanrl in Illinois, they 
came to Gage county, where John Chapman 
purchased two hundred and sixty acres of 
land and tilled it until his retirement to Be- 
atrice, lie passed from this life in 1903. His 
wife, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, 
is still residing in Beatrice. For further fam- 
ily history see Lee L. Chapman sketch in this 
volume. 

The fourteen years of Percy J. Chapman's 
life spent in Illinois were under the parental 
roof, learning the lessons of childhood under 
their direction and that of the school teacher 
at the district school. He remained with his 
parents on the farm until his marriage, in 
1895, to Millie M. Swett, who was born in 
Gage county. She is a daughter of Merton 
L. and Mary (LaGorgue) Swett, the former 
born in 1850, in Wisconsin, and the latter 
1853, in Iowa. They commenced their home 
building in Gage county, where they married 
in 1873, and this was the home until 1914, 
when Mr. Swett retired to live in Beatrice, 
where he is still making his home. His wife 
passed away in 1908. Five children were 
born to them, three of whom are living — 
Millie M., wife of Percy J. Chapman; Effie, 
wife of W. H. Reid, living in Sicily township; 
and Hattie'. the v.-ife of E. \V. Calkins, also in 
Sicily township. 

Mr. Chapman has recently purchased the 
home farm where he lives and he is doing a 
general farming business, keeping a good 
grade of cattle and hogs. His lodge affilia- 
tions are with the Ancient Free & Accepted 
Masons, his political views are in harmony 
with the Democratic party, and he is serving 
as township assessor at the present time 
(1918). He and his wife are members of the 
Brethren church. Three children, Clarence, 
Wesley, and Myrtle, have come to bless this 



home and are being educated to fill their places 

in the world. 

HIRAM SIZER BARNUM. the subject of 
this sketch, was born at Buffalo, New York, 
November 11, 1837. His ancestry runs back 
to two well known New England families, the 
Barnums and Howards. His paternal grand- 
parents, Eli Barnum and Mary (Dibble) Bar- 
num, were both natives of the state of Con- 
necticut. They were born and reared in the 
city of Danbury and were married there. Af- 
ter their marriage, in 1810, they emigrated 
to TrnmljuU county, Ohio, where they pur- 
chased land in the deep woods, three miles 
from the nearest settler. This they cleared 
and finally developed into a good farm. They 
also erected a flouring mill, on a stream known 
as Eagle creek. Their home was always the 
abode of free-hearted hospitality and the scene 
of many a cheerful gathering. Here Eli Bar- 
num passed away at the age of seventy-six 
years, and his wife, Mary, surviving him, died 
at the age of eighty-five years. 

Hiram Barnum, their son, was born on his 
father's Trumbull coimty farm in 1811, and 
obtaining a good, usable education, on reach- 
ing his majority, he made his way to Buffalo, 
New York, where he began life as a broker. 
Here he met and married Miss Irena How- 
ard, a member of the well known Howard 
family of \'ermont. Five children were the 
fruit of this marriage, three sons and two 
daughters. The daughters, Lucy and ]Mary, 
both died in childhood. The sons were Eli 
Howard Inirnmii, Hiram S'izer Barnum, and 
Samuel II. Barnum. The oldest son, Eli, af- 
ter serving through the great Civil war with 
an Illinois regiment and accompanying Sher- 
man on his "march to the sea," died many 
years ago in Illinois. Samuel 11. Barnum. the 
youngest son, lost his life in die ranks of the 
Union army in the terrible battle of Chancel- 
lorsville, in May, 1863. 

When the subject of this sketch was one 
year old. his parents moved from New York 
to Trumbull county, Ohio, then to Akron, in 
Summit county, and returning to Trumbull 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTV, NEBRASKA 



921 



county, finally settled on the ancestral estate 
of the Barnum family, where they remained 
until both had paid the last great debt of na- 
ture, Hiram passing away at the age of sev- 
enty-six years and his venerable wife at the 
age of ninety-three. 

Hiram Sizer Barnum remained; with his 
parents until the spring of 1859, when, accom- 
panied by his cousin, Eli B. Hendy, he crossed 
the Missouri river at Nebraska City, on the 
20th day of April, and entered the new terri- 
tory of Nebraska. After several days spent 
there in inquiry and deliberation, they resolved 
to investigate the region of country known 
as the valley of the Big Blue river. Moving 
westward, the cousins, on May 24th, came to 
Blue Springs, in Gage county. On all their 
long journey they found little but a broad ex- 
panse of unbroken prairie, diversified to some 
extent by stream and wood, with here and 
there, along the timbered water-courses, a 
squatter on the public domain. At that time 
there were not to exceed one hundred white 
people in all Gage county, and save the smil- 
ing face that nature wore, there was nothing 
to attract the young and aspiring. But the 
spell of the wide, rolling prairie, the dark-blue 
sky and the far mystery of distances fell upon 
them, and these young men, with the previ- 
sion of the true pioneer, resolved to cast their 
lots with the handful of settlers whom they 
found here clinging to the very rim of civiliza- 
tion. Both were poor, but they possessed the 
alchemy of youth, which, like the philosopher's 
stone, turns everything it touches into silver 
and gold. They settled on vacant tracts of 
prairie land in Blue Springs township, about 
two miles north of Blue Springs, and at once 
became identified with the destiny of Gage 
county and of the great territory of which it 
formed a part. Mr. Hendy. shortly after his 
arrival here, married Caroline C. Coffinberry. 
a member of a pioneer family of Rockford 
township, and was one of the early sheriffs 
of Gage county. Years ago he returned to 
New Jersey to live, and there, at a ripe old 
age and much respected, he passed away sev- 
eral years ago. Mr. Barnum except for a 
temporary residence in another county of the 



state, has always remained a citizen of Gage 
county. Though stricken with age and weak- 
ness, he is still a living representative of that 
heroic band of pioneers who were the first 
to brave the dangers and hardships attending 
the early settlement of Gage county. 

Air. Barnum has always led the life of a 
farmer or a business man. The single excep- 
tion to this is his service in the army during 
the Civil war. On the 1st day of September, 
1861, he enlisted in Company C, Curtis Horse, 
a Nebraska military organization which was 
afterward united with the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, 
and he served as a soldier in defence of the 
Union until November 11, 1862, when he was 
honorably discharged, for disabilities received 
in the line of duty, at Hieman, in the state of 
Kentucky. 

Mr. Barnum acquired title to one hundred and 
twenty acres of land in Blue Springs township, 
where he resided until 1870, when he sold his 
stock and farm produce and with the proceeds 
purchased lumber at Brownville, on the Mis- 
souri river, which he hauled to Blue Springs 
with wagons, a distance of seventy miles, and 
erected a small house in that village. He al- 
so built a rough stable for his own use. There 
being at that time no accommodations for 
travelers at Blue Springs, Mr. Barnum hos- 
pitably opened his house and barn to trav- 
elers, and gradually this expanded until it be- 
came a business of considerable importance. 
"Barnum's Pioneer Livery Stable" at Blue 
Springs was known far and wide in this sec- 
tion of country, and his home for many years 
partook of the nature of a wayside inn. In 
1809 Mr. Barnum sold his business in Blue 
Springs and moved to Beatrice, where he pur- 
chased a residence on East Court street, where 
he now resides. 

On the 19th day of April. 1863. Mr. Bar- 
num married Mrs. Myra (Shelley) Rappleye, 
who was the daughter of Francis and Fanny 
( Hollingsworth) Shelley, pioneer settlers of 
Rockford township. She was born in Der- 
byshire, England, and came with her parents 
to America when a girl fourteen years of age. 
She was a very capable woman, and the ob- 
ject of the affection of a large circle of rela- 



922 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tive.s and friends. She died at Beatrice on 
the 15th day of December. 1913, leaving be- 
hind her the memory of a beautiful life. The 
fruit of this marriage was two sons and two 
daughters. One son, Samuel, died in infancy. 
The other, Eli Howard Barnum. was l)orn at 
Blue Springs, grew to manhood there, and in 
1892. married Miss Clara Robertson. He is 
now a member of a well known stock-commis- 
sion firm in Omaha. The daughters, Kate 
and Rosa, were both for some years school 
teachers. The elder daughter, Kate, in 1891, 
married Josiah .\. \an Orsdel, at Blue Springs, 
and almost immediately they left for Chey- 
enne, Wyoming, where Mr. \an Orsdel en- 
gaged in the practice of law. He was for 
some years attorney general of the state of 
Wyoming and associate justice of the supreme 
court of that state. For the past ten years 
he has been associate justice of the court of 
appeals of the Kstrict of Columbia and lives 
the greater part of the year in Washington. 
When not engaged in official duty, his home is 
in Beatrice, where he owns an elegant resi- 
dence, at the corner of Thirteenth and Wash- 
ington streets. The younger daughter, Rosa, 
in 1901. married Dr. B. L. Spellman. a lead- 
ing dentist in the city of Beatrice. They live 
in a pleasant home at the corner of Tenth and 
Ella streets. 

Mr. I'.arnum in his old age is surrounded 
bv his children and grandchildren, who ten- 
derly watch over his declining years and with 
great solicitude minister to his every want. 
Beliind him lie many years of honorable and 
blameless life, and with an unfaltering trust 
in Almiginy God he approaches the time when 
he mav wrap the drapery of couch around 
him and lie down to pleasant dreams. 

AE\1X D. SPENCER. — The hfe story 
of .^Ivin D. Spencer, banker, ex-representa- 
tive, and ex-senator, is a record of the doings 
of a successful man of affairs who has won 
his place in the citizenshi]) of I'arneston by 
virtue of a decided ability of a high order. 

Mr. Spencer was born in Jo Daviess county, 
Illinois. November 21. 1870. and is the young- 
est son of Oscar and Mary (Daniels) Spencer. 



Oscar Spencer was born in 1833. in Jefferson 
county, New York, the son of Samuel Spen- 
cer, who also named Jefferson county. New 
York, as his birthplace. Samuel Spencer was 
a cooper by trade and followed his trade all 
of his life, the latter years were spent in Lin- 
coln. Nebraska, where his decease occurred in 
1899. His son, Oscar Spencer, was given a 
very good education, fitting him for his life 
work of bookkeeper. For a few years was a 
school teacher in New York, hut later took 
up bookkeeping at Freeport, Illinois, with a 
harvester company. September 19, 1854. he 
married Mary Daniels, who was the daughter 
of Joseph and Mary (Tucker) Daniels. She 
was born in Jefferson county, which was also 
the birthplace of her parents. Mr. Daniels 
was a cooper by trade and was laid to rest 
in .Adams, New York. 

Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Spencer, in 1862, came 
to Jo Daviess county. Illinois, and first lo- 
cated in Nora. Illinois, where they remained 
for some years. Mr. Spencer then was em- 
ployed in the thriving city of Freeport. same 
county, as a bookkeeper. .As the years pro- 
gressed, four sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Spencer, as follows : Jay A. is in the hard- 
ware business at Barneston, Nebraska : Edson 
R. is in the wholesale casket and undertaking 
supi)lies business at Des Moines. Iowa : Evelyn 
O. is in the same business, located at Wichita, 
Kansas ; .Mvin D. is the subject of this sketch. 

In 1877 Oscar Spencer came to Lincoln. Ne- 
braska, and was employed as a bookkeeper in 
the McCormick Harvesting Machine Com- 
pany's general agency. He was a member of 
the .Ancient Free & .Accepted Masons and he 
and his wife were members of the Metliodist 
church. His life was an inspiration to his 
sons, who have taken their positions in the 
world of affairs. B.oth he and his good wife 
are deceased. The former died in Lincoln, 
anil the latter at Barnston, in l'X)9. 

.Alvin D. Spencer attended the public schools 
of Lincoln and his education was supplement- 
ed by a course at the F. F. Roos Business 
College at Lincoln, which fitted him for his 
life work of bookkeeper and banker. 

For a number of years Mr. Spencer was 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



923 



employed as bookkeeper in McCormick Har- 
vester Company's main office at Lincoln. In 
tliis position he was so capable and rendered 
such efficient service that he was elected the 
cashier of the forenamed company in 1896. 
I Ic continued in this position until he severed 
his connections with the McCormick Harvester 
Company, in 1898, and purchased the Bank 
of Barneston, at Barnestone, Nebraska. This 
in.stitution is capitalized at $5,000; with a sur- 
])lus of $1,000; undivided profits, $1,425; de- 
posits, $140,000. For a number of years, Mr. 
Spencer was the owner of the Spencer Eleva- 
tor at Barneston, but he has discontinued this 
business and confines his efforts to the bank- 
ing- business. 

In Lincoln, Nebraska, January 25, 1893, was 
solemnized the marriage of Alvin D. Spencer 
and Miss Emma Glover. She is the daughter 
of Peter and ^lary (Crawford) Glover, farm- 
ers in Lancaster coimty. Mrs. Spencer was 
born March 22, 1873, in Malcomb, and was 
educated at Lincoln institutions of learning-. 
No children have been born to this union. 

Mr. Spencer exercises his right of fran- 
chise by voting the Republican ticket and up- 
holding its principles in national, state, and 
local affairs. In 1900 the voters of district 
No. 34, composed of Gage and Saline coun- 
ties, elected Mr. Spencer to represent them 
in the twenty-seventh session of the house of 
representatives. In 1916 he was elected state 
senator, from the Fourteenth district, com- 
posed of Gage and Pawnee counties. In 
these two houses of our law-making institu- 
tion he served his people faithfully and well, 
looking after the best interests of his district 
and the state at large. 

He has served as treasurer and clerk and 
village trustee for years and is now clerk. He 
has also been justice of the peace of Barne- 
ston township and a member of the local school 
board. In all cif these positions, he has shown 
a rare genius of administering the affairs of 
his fellow voters in a highly efficient nianner. 

Mr. SjJencer is a member of the Ancient 
Free & Accepted Masons and in this great fra- 
ternal organization he has received the th'r- 
ty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, lie 



and his esteemed wife affiliate with the Pres- 
byterian church and are giving of their time 
and talents unstintingly. 

IRA \V. EVANS, D. V. S'., Beatrice, Ne- 
braska, was born in Fillmore county, Nebras- 
ka, December 8, 1886, a son of C. L. and Lucy 
( Ward ) Evans. 

C. L. Evans was born in Ohio and when a 
young man moved to Iowa, where he engaged 
in farming. About forty-five years ago Mr. 
Evans came to Fillmore county. Nebraska, 
where he took a homestead near what is now 
the town of Geneva. A few years later Mr. 
Evans was united in marriage to Miss Lucy 
Ward, of Geneva, Nebraska, and to this union 
were born six children: Albert, superintend- 
ent of schools at Dow City, Iowa ; Le Roy, of 
Fairbury, Nebraska ; Jay, a merchant of La 
Porte, Indiana ; Dr. Ira W., of Beatrice, Ne- 
braska ; Mary, widow of W. L. Martin, living 
in C^maha, Nebraska ; and Iva, wife of Wil- 
liam Bennett, of Iowa. C. L. Evans has now 
retired and makes his home in Omaha, Ne- 
braska. His wife passed away July 27. 1915. 

Dr. Ira W. Evans was educated in the 
schools of Geneva, Nebraska, and is a graduate 
of the Kansas City A'eterinary College, class 
of 1915. He began the practice of his pro- 
fession in Bruning, Nebraska, in 1915, and 
remained there until April, 1917, when he 
moved to Beatrice, where he has built up a 
fine practice, where he enjoys the confidence 
of the people, and where he is considered one 
of the leading veterinarians in the community. 

ARON E. CLAASSEN is consistently to 
be designated as one of the sterling pioneer 
citizens of Gage county, is a man of vigorous 
mentality and impregnable integrity and 
through his own well directed endeavors he 
has become one of the representative exponents 
of agricultural and live-stock enterprise in 
Gage county, where he is the owner of a val- 
uable landed estate of seven hundred and 
twenty acres, his finely improved homestead 
farm being situated in Section 18, Riverside 
township, five miles west of the city of Be- 
atrice. Mr. Claassen still gives a general su- 
pervision to his extensive farm interests. 



924 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



though tlic active management of the farms is 
now reposed in his sons, who are well up- 
holding the industrial and civic prestige of the 
family name. He has much of his land un- 
der a high state of cultivation and also makes 
a specialty of breeding and raising the best 
type of Hampshire swine. 

Mr. Claassen was born in the west Prussian 
province of Dantzic, Germany, May 28. 1850. 
and is a son of John and Catherine I Entz ) 
Claassen. of whose three children he is the 
firstborn, his father having been twice mar- 
ried and having passed his entire life in that 
section of the German empire. After his death 
his widow came with her three children to 
America, in 1874. and after remaining for a 
time in Canada she became a member of the 
company of one hundred and twenty-eight 
Mennonites who founded a colony at Mount 
Pleasant, Iowa, and she passed the closing- 
years of her life in Beatrice, where she died 
at the age of seventy-three years, ;:he having 
been a devout member of the Mennonite 
church, as was also her husband. The subject 
of this sketch was reared and educated in his 
native land and was twenty-four years of age 
when he accompanied his widowed mother to 
America. He remained for a time with the 
Alennonite colony at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. 
and then set forth to seek a location in which 
he might successfully initiate his independent 
activities as a farmer. In this quest he trav- 
eled through Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebras- 
ka, and finally, in 1876, he and his brother 
Jacob purchased a section of land in Riverside 
township. Gage county, his present homestead 
farm being a part of this tract. The brothers 
here continued to be closely associated in 
their farm enterprise for seven years, and in 
the meanwhile both married. The passing 
years, marked by diligent and well directed 
application and progressive policies, have 
brought generous prosperity to the honored 
subject of this review, and the tangible evi- 
dence is afforded in his ownership of his pres- 
ent large and well imi)roved landed estate. 

On the 9th of January. 1879, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Claassen to Miss 



Anna Jansen, who has proved a devoted wife 
and helpmeet and the gracious mother of their 
fine family of children. Mrs. Claassen was 
born in Prussia, Germany, ]\Iarch 23. 1856, 
and was a child of six months when her par- 
ents, Cornelius and Helena ( X'onRiesen ) Jan- 
sen, removed to Russia, where she was reared 
and educated. In 1873 Mr. Jansen came with 
his family to America and settled near Ber- 
lin. Waterloo county, Ontario, Canada, whence 
he later removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, as 
a n'.ember of the jireviously mentioned Men- 
nonite colony. In 1876 he came with his fam- 
ily to Gage county, where he became an ex- 
tensive land owner but made his home in Be- 
atrice. Here he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. They became the par- 
ents of six children : Margaret died in child- 
hood; Peter, who is now living retired in the 
city of Beatrice, was long numbered among 
the leading ranchers of the state and is an in- 
fluential citizen who represented in the state 
senate the district comprising Gage, Pawnee, 
and Jefferson counties; Mrs. Claassen was 
next in order of birth ; John is now a resident 
of Saskatchewan, Canada; Miss Helen main- 
tains her residence in Beatrice ; and Cornelius, 
who was formerly a popular teacher in the 
])ublic schools of Beatrice, is now a resident of 
Pasadena, California. In politics Mr. Claas- 
sen is a liberal Republican, more for the man 
than party, and as a citizen he has been most 
liberal and progressive. Both he and his wife 
are earnest members of the Mennonite church 
and their sterling attributes have gained and 
retained to them the high regard of all who 
know them. Of their ten children the first 
two died in infancy; Cornelius is cashier of 
the Peters Trust Company, in the city of Oma- 
ha ; John J. has active management of the old 
homestead farm ; Aron J. is a successful 
farmer in Lincoln township ; Daniel died at 
the age of ten years ; Anna is, in 1918, a stu- 
dent in the University of Nebraska, at Lin- 
coln ; Catherine is a student in a hospital for 
trained nurses, in the city of Omaha; the ninth 
child died in infancy : and Margaret remains 
at the parental home. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



925 



JASPER H. PENCE is a successful ex- 
ponent of farm enterprise in Logan township, 
where he is the owner of a good farm of one 
lunulred acres, in Section 5, and where he is 
conducting well ordered operations as an agri- 
culturist and stockgrower. He was born in 
Adams county, Ohio, November 24, 1857, was 
reared to the sturdy discipline of his father's 
farm and received in his youth the advantages 
of the common schools, his parents, Harrison 
and Mary J. Pence having passed their en- 
tire lives in Adams county, Ohio, and having 
been representatives of sterling pioneer fam- 
ilies of the Buckeye state. 

In his native state Jasper H. Pence contin- 
ued his alliance with farm enterprise until 
1884, when he came to Nebraska and estab- 
lished his residence in Gage county. For sev- 
eral years thereafter he was engaged in farm- 
ing on rented land and he then purchased for- 
ty acres, to which he later added an adjoining 
forty acres. He made improvements on this 
propertv and upon selling the same he pur- 
chased his present homestead, upon which he 
has since continued his successful enterprise 
as a substantial farmer, the while he is known 
for his sterling integrity and for his loyalty 
as a citizen. His political allegiance is given 
to the Democratic party and he and his wife 
became in their youth active members of the 
Church of the Brethren, with which he has 
continued his earnest affiliation. 

As a young man of twenty-six years Mr. 
Pence wedded Miss Alary E. Roush, who like- 
wise was born in Ohio, and her death occurred 
December 24, 1900. She is survived by four 
children — Walter S., Grace, Edna, and Clif- 
ford D. 

HERMAN CARSTENS is the owner of a 
fine farm of six hundred and twenty acres, in 
Sections 11, 12, and 13, Riverside township, 
where in addition to general agricultural pro- 
duction he gives attention also to the raising 
of Poland-China swine and graded short-horn 
cattle. 

Air. Carstens was born in Adams county, 
Illinois, November 14. 1869, and is a son of 
George and Hattie (Harmke) Carstens, to 



whom four children were born. After the 
death of his first wife George Carstens wedded 
Miss Lulu Bowser, and of this union were 
likewise born four children. George Carstens 
was born in Oldenburg, Germany, in October, 
1828, and was one of the venerable and hon- 
ored citizens of Gage county at the time of 
his death, in 1910. He came to America in 
the year 1858 and after remaining for a time 
in Brown county, Illinois, he removed to Clay- 
ton township, Adams county, that state, where 
he became a prosperous farmer. In 1890 he 
came to Gage county, Nebraska, and settled 
in Hanover township, where he became the 
owner of three hundred and twenty acres of 
land and wlwre he continued his association 
with farm industry until his death, his religi- 
ous faith having been that of the Lutheran 
church. Of the children of his first marriage 
the eldest is Anna, wife of Bartdel Aden, of 
Hanover township; Minnie is the wife of 
George Ordgisen, of Hildreth, Franklin coun- 
ty ; Richard is a resident of Aleadow Grove, 
Aladison county; and Herman, of this review 
is the youngest, he having been two years old 
at the time of his mother's death. John G., 
eldest child of the second marriage, is a farm- 
er of Adams township; Christopher W. is a 
resident of Jefferson county ; Paul is a sub- 
stantial farmer in Hanover township and with 
him remains his sister, Mary, the mother hav- 
ing died in 1916, at the age of seventy-eight 
years. 

Herman Carstens was a young man at the 
time of the family removal to Gage county and 
he was assisted by his father in gaining a 
start as an independent farmer. In 1901 he 
purchased a portion of his present well im- 
proved farm estate and to the area of the 
same he has since added until he now lias one 
of the valuable farm properties of tlie county. 
In politics he is a Republican and he served 
for a number of years as treasurer of River- 
side township, an office which he resigned in 
1916. He and his wife are active communi- 
cants of the Lutheran church. 

April 14, 1892, recorded the marriage of 
Air. Carstens to Aliss Anna Schuster, who was 
born in Adams county, Illinois, November 9, 



926 



HISTORY OF GAGE COl'XTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



927 



1870. Of this union have been born nine 
children: George is a successful farmer in 
Riverside township ; Henry was drowned in 
Blue river, July 13, 1913; Mary is the wife 
of Heye Schuster, of this county: and Ella, 
Minnie, Leah, Paul, John H., and Emma re- 
main at the parental home. 

WALTER E. HOYLE is numbered among 
the progressive and successful exponents of 
farm industry in Holt township, where he is 
the owner of the northwest quarter of Section 
14, and where he is giving his attention to 
diversified agriculture and stock-growing and 
makes a specialty of raising graded Duroc- 
Jersey swine. He was born in Lee county, 
Illinois, January 17, 1876, a son of Solomon 
and Elizabeth (Fritz) Hoyle, of whose six 
children the eldest is Cora, wife of Ed. C. 
Willie, of Midland township ; Jennie B. is the 
wife of Benjamin Wheeler, of Delta, Colo- 
rado ; Passamore is a substantial farmer in 
Holt township; Walter E., of this review, was 
the next in order of birth : Eugene likewise 
is identified with farm enterprise in this 
county; and Margaret is tlie wife of Albert J. 
Reedy, of Lincoln, this state. 

Solomon Hoyle was born in Somerset 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, and from the 
old Keystone state he went to Illinois, where 
he remained until 1879, when he came with 
his family to Gage county and purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Hanover 
township. There his death occurred in the 
following year, and his widow, who was born 
in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, November 
1, 1856, later became the wife of Frederick 
Schober, both being now deceased, her death 
having occurred in 1912. The one surviving 
child of this marriage is Julia, wife of Howard 
Rutter, a farmer in Lincoln township, this 
county. Frederick Schober, was a soldier 
of the Linion in the Civil war. By his first 
marriage he became the father of three chil- 
dren. The parents of Mr. Hoyle were earnest 
members of the United Brethren church and 
their remains rest in the cemeter)' in Holl 
township. 

Walter E. Hoyle was three years of age 



when his parents came to Gage county, and 
here he was reared on the farm, in the mean- 
while profiting by the advantages afiforded in 
the district schools. He has followed farming 
during his entire active career and purchased 
his present farm, of one hundred and sixty 
acres, in 1909, since which time he has made 
excellent improvements on the place. He is 
independent in politics and he and his wife 
are members of the United Brethren church, 
in which he is serving as trustee. 

September 25, 1907, Mr. Hoyle wedded 
Miss Bessie Rutter, who was born and reared 
in this county and who is a daughter of Clar- 
ence H. and Ermina (Flowers) Rutter, who 
now reside on their farm south of Beatrice, 
Mrs. Rutter being a daughter of the late John 
Flowers, one of the well known pioneers of 
Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle have three 
children, — Ermina, Ralph and Luther. 

CONRAD W. FRITZ is one of the enter- 
lirising and successful farmers of Hooker 
tc^wnship. where his well improved homestead, 
in Section 23, gives full evidence of thrift and 
effective management. 

Conrad William Fritz was born in the city 
of Joliet, Illinois, November 14. 1879, and is a 
son of Frederick and Johanna ( Hacke) Fritz, 
both natives of Germany. The father was 
1)1 irn in 1834 and was a resident of Gage coun- 
t\- at the time of his death, September 13, 
Vf07, his widow, who was born in 1842, re- 
maining with her son Conrad W. on the old 
homestead farm. Frederick Fritz came to the 
United States shortly before the outbreak of 
the Civil war and his deep loyalty to the coun- 
try of his adoption was shown in his three 
years of gallant service as a Union soldier. 
He enlisted in Company F, Twenty-ninth Wis- 
consin Infantry, and with the same he contin- 
ued in service until he was so severely wound- 
ed as to incapacitate him and to result in his 
honorable discharge. He later established his 
residence in Illinois, where his marriage was 
solemnized and where he was employed two 
years as a guard in the state penitentiary at 
Toliet. He then turned his attention to farm- 
ing, in Will countv, Illinois, and in 1890 he 



928 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



came with his family to Gage county. Ne- 
braska, where he purchased a farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres, in Hooker township. 
He erected a good house and made other e.x- 
cellent improvements on the place and con- 
tinued as one of the representative fanners 
and highly esteemed citizens of Hooker town- 
ship until his death. He was a Republican 
in politics, was affiliated with the Grand .Army 
of the Republic and was a Lutheran in his re- 
ligious faith, his widow being a member of 
the German Methodist Episcopal church. Of 
the five children the subject of this review is 
the youngest of the four who survive the hon- 
ored father ; Amelia is the wife of Edward 
Gingery, of Filley township ; George is a 
farmer near Crab Orchard, Johnson county ; 
and John is engaged in farming in Hooker 
township. 

Conrad W. Fritz gained his early education 
in the public schools of Illinois and later at- 
tended those of Hooker township, Gage coun- 
ty, he having been about ten years of age at 
the time of the family removal to Nebraska. 
He has been actively identified with farm en- 
terprise since his early youth and has been 
specially prosperous in his independent activi- 
ties as an agriculturist and stock-grower. He 
owns eighty acres of land in Section 14. Hook- 
er township, and here he has erected good 
farm buildings, the place being a part of the 
old home farm of his i)arents and his residence 
being t.he commodious house erected hy his 
father. He owns also an interest in the re- 
mainder of the old homestead of his father. 

In 1902 Mr. Fritz married Miss Hattie I. 
Kritner, who was born at Sterling. Johnson 
county, this state, and they have four children 
— Elise, Milda, Florence, and \'irgie. 

Mr. Fritz has been influential in public af- 
fairs in Hooker township, is a stalwart ad- 
vocate of the cause of the Republican party 
and has served as a member of the countv 
Republican committee. He served two years, 
1912-1913, as townshij) assessor, and in 1916 
was reelected to this office, for a term of two 
years. He has served nine years as school 
director and was reelected to this office in 
1917, for another term of three vears. He is 



affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of 
.America and he and his wife are active mem- 
bers of the German Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

WILLIAM KREBSBACH is a vigorous 
and ambitious young man who has through 
his own exertions achieved substantial success 
and gained for himself secure status as a repn 
resentative agriculturist and stock-grower ol 
Gage county. His well improved farm com- 
prises one hundred and sixty acres and is sit- 
uated in Section 14, Sherman township. 

Mr. Ivrebsbach was born in Polk county, 
Nebraska, May 19. 1880, and the somewhat 
limited educational advantages which he there 
received have been effectively supplemented 
by well ordered self-discipline, with the re- 
sult that he has in large degree made good 
this early handicap. He is a son of John and 
Gertrude (Smith) Krebsbach, the former of 
whom was born in Germany and the latter in 
the state of Wisconsin, where their marriage 
was solemnized and whence they came to Ne- 
braska and became pioneer settlers in Polk 
county. There John Krebsbach entered claim 
to a homestead and he continued his alliance 
with farm industry in this state until about 
1905, when he sold his farm in Polk county 
and removed to El Campo. Texas, near which 
place he engaged in farming. He is now suc- 
cessfully engaged in the banking and invest- 
ment business at El Campo. He is a Repub- 
lican in politics and he and his wife are com- 
nnmicants of the Catholic church. Of their 
thirteen children seven are living and of the 
number the subject of this review is the only 
one residing in Gage county. 

William Krebsbach continued his residence 
in his native county until 1898. when he came 
to Gage county, where for the ensuing two 
years he was employed by the month at farm 
work. For fourteen years thereafter he 
farmed on land which he rented from D. S. 
Dalbey. and in 1910 he purchased his present 
farm, which has since been the stage of his 
aggressive and successful activities as an agri- 
culturist and stock-grower. He gives his al- 
legiance to the Republican party and he and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



929 



his wife are members of the Christian church. 
November 21, 1900. recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Krebsbach to Miss Ida Erickson, and 
they have four children — John Peter, Ida 
Belle, Maynard, and Wilma. 

HANS ANDERSEN came to Gage county 
when a young man and by his vigorous and 
progressive activities as a farmer he achieved 
such success as to enable him at the present 
time to live in well earned retirement from 
the active labors that were long his portion. 
He still retains ownership of his well im- 
proved farm estate of two hundred acres, in 
Hooker township, but in 1909 he purchased 
six acres of land in the village of Filley and 
on the same erected the attractive and modern 
home in which he and his wife have since re- 
sided. 

Mr. Andersen was born in Denmark, on the 
21st of April, 1855, and is a Son of Nils An- 
dersen, who was born in 1830 and who passed 
the closing years of his life in Gage county, 
where he died on the 3d of February, 1917, 
his vocation having been that of farming dur- 
ing his entire active career. Upon coming to 
Gage county he rented land and he was en- 
gaged in farming on land obtained under 
Scully lease at the time of his death, this farm 
being in Filley township, where his widow 
still remains on the place. The subject of this 
sketch is the eldest in a family of three chil- 
dren ; Marie is the wife of John H. Moller, of 
Bruce, Wisconsin, where her husband holds 
the office of postmaster and is engaged in the 
real estate business ; and the third child died 
in infancy. After the death of his first wife 
the father contracted a second marriage, and 
his widow still resides on the farm which he 
operated in Gage county, as previously noted, 
the five children of the second marriage all 
surviving the honored father. Mr. Andersen 
was a Democrat in politics and was a member 
of the Lutheran church. 

Hans Andersen was reared and educated 
in his native land and was twenty-three years 
of age when he became a resident of Gage 
county, in 1878. For two years he was here 
employed by the month at farm work, and 



he then initiated the independent farm opera- 
tions that led ultimately to his achieving large 
and substantial success. His civic loyalty has 
been of the highest order, his political support 
is given to the Republican party and he has 
served as road supervisor, as well as a mem- 
ber of the school board. Both he and his wife 
are communicants of the Lutheran church but 
in their home village they attend and support 
the Methodist Episcopal church. The maiden 
name of Mrs. Andersen was Marie Nelsen, 
and she was born and reared in Denmark, 
where her parents passed their entire lives. 
Mr. and Mrs. Andersen have no children. 

JAY P. AND MASON D. CLOUGH, 
popular representatives of one of the honored 
pioneer families of Gage county, were closely 
associated in operating two hundred and twen- 
ty acres, in Highland township, until the for- 
mer entered the service of the nation in con- 
nection with its participation in the great 
world war, as will be more fully noted in a 
later paragraph. In Section 21, this township. 
Jay P. Clough was born on the 12th of No- 
vember, 1885, a son of Marion M. and Ellen 
H. (Dodge) Clough, of whose eight children 
he was fifth in order of birth ; Nettie E. is the 
wife of William J. Leopold, of Orleans, Har- 
lan county ; Alta P. is the wife of Ariel A. 
Gillespie, of Cortland, Gage county ; Mary V. 
is the wife of Thomas Walter Sargent, of 
Highland township; Florence is deceased, as 
are also Dessa A. and John R. ; and Mason 
D., who was born May 28, 1890, became the 
able coadjutor of his brother Jay P. in well 
ordered operations as agriculturists and stock- 
growers. 

Marion M. Clough, a man of marked ability 
and sterling character, became one of the ex- 
tensive stock-growers and ranch men of Gage 
county and was a renter of Scully land — of 
seven hundred and twenty acres in Highland 
township. He was born in Venango county, 
Pennsylvania, March 3, 1834, a son of Horace 
P. and Ann (Brown) Clough, both natives of 
the state of New York ; the mother died in 
Illinois, in 1867, and the father passed the 
closing years of his life in Gage county, Nebras- 



030 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



ka, where he died at a venerable age. Marion 
AT. Clough was reared on the home farm, re- 
ceived the advantages of the common schools 
anil at the age of fifteen years initiated an 
apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade. In 
1854 he engaged in the work of his trade in 
Henry county. Illinois, and in 1839 he estab- 
lished his residence at Sparta, Monroe county. 
W'isconsin. where he was actively identified 
with the lumber business until the outbreak 
of the Civil war. In August. 1861, he en- 
listed as private in Company A, Third Wis- 
consin Cavalry, and with his command he was 
assigned to the Army of the Frontier. He 
l^articipated in several of the historic battles 
in which this army was involved, including 
the ten days' conflict incidental to the raid of 
General Price in Missouri. While engaged 
in repelling bushwhackers his horse was shot 
from under him. hut lie was neither wounded 
nor captured. He was made corporal of his 
company, in 1862 was promoted sergeant and 
he was mustered out with the rank of orderly 
sergeant, his honorable discharge having been 
granted in February, 1865. 

After the close of the war Mr. Clough en- 
gaged in overland freighting from Fort Leav- 
enworth, Kansas, to Denver, Colorado. After 
one year of activity along this line he engaged 
in farming and stock-growing in southwestern 
Missouri, where he remained until 1873, when 
he and his wife established their home in Gage 
county, Nebraska. Here he reclaimed a farm 
in Highland township, besides becoming one 
of the leading stock raisers and dealers of this 
county. He remained an honored and influ- 
ential citizen until his death, which occurred 
May 10, 1903, his widow having jiassed away 
necember 14, 1916. Mr. Clough had broad 
and varied experience in life on the frontier 
and as a pioneer in Nebraska. He was affiliat- 
ed actively with Monitor Post, No. 84, Grand 
Army of the Republic, at Cortland, and both 
he and his wife were active members of the 
Congregational church, of which he served as 
a deacon for a long term of years. The 
Clough family was founded in America in the 
colonial davs and Horace Clough. grandfath- 



er of Clarion M., was a native of New Hamp- 
shire. 

December 2, 1865, Marion M. Clough wed- 
ded Miss Ellen H. Dodge, whose acquaintance 
he formed while serving as a soldier of the 
Union, in Missouri. She was born in \'ernon 
county, Missouri, July 2, 1847, a daughter 
of Edward and Phoebe (.Austin) Dodge, na- 
tives of New Hampshire, the latter having 
been a daughter of Daniel Austin, one of the 
founders of the Harmony Mission for the 
Osage Indians and a man prominent in the 
pioneer history of Missouri. 

Jay P. and Mason D. Clough have passed 
their entire lives thus far in Gage county and 
have upheld the honors of the family name, 
both as progressive farmers and as liberal and 
public-spirited citizens. The brothers in their 
business alliance proved specially successful 
agriculturists and stock-growers and they have 
a wide circle of friends in their native county, 
where both received excellent educational ad- 
vantages. 

At the time of this writing, in the spring of 
1918, Jay P. Clough is serving his country in 
connection with its participation in the terrific 
European conflict. He is a member of the 
signal corps being prepared for active service 
at the aviation field maintained in the gov- 
ernment camp at Greenfield, South Carolina, 
and ere this work is issued from the press he 
will have undoubtedly been called to service on 
the battlefields of France. 

On the fourth of December, 1917, Mason 
D. Clough married Miss Bernice M. Culp. who 
was born at Princeton. Lancaster county, Ne- 
braska, Scpte?nber 1, 1895. She is a daughter 
of George and Mary E. (Connor) Culp. na- 
tives respectively of Pennsylvania and Iowa. 
Mr. Culp is living in Gage county and is 
eighty years of age (1918). He was a valiant 
Union soldier in the Civil war. His wife 
die<l in 1901, at the age of forty-two years. 

GEORGE W. CAMPBELL. — Among the 
early settlers of Adams township may be men- 
tioned the venerable pioneer whose name in- 
troduces this review, and none is more worthy 
of recognition in this history than he. A na- 



HISTORY (3F GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



931 









fl 


■k 





Mr, and Mrs. George W. Cami'isell 



932 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tive of the Keystone state, Mr. Campliell was 
born on a farm in East Smithfield township. 
Bradford county Pennsylvania, on May the 
3d, 1(S35. "He is a son of George W. and Har- 
riet (Kingsley) Campliell, also natives of 
Bradford county, and of German and Scotch 
Irish descent respectively. The father con- 
ducted a saw mill for a number of j'ears, 
though later he became a farmer, and he and 
his wife spent their entire lives in Bradford 
county, Pennsylvania. 

The subject of this record spent his boy- 
hood days in his native county, attended 
country school until he had attained the age of 
fifteen years, and in the meanwhile he worked 
in the saw mill and on the fann. At the age 
of twenty he married Miss Mary Dewey, who 
was born in Chenango county, Pennsylvania, 
August 4, 1834, a daughter of John and Polly 
(Holmes) Dewey, both natives of New York 
state. As a girl Mrs. Campbell was bereft of 
her father and thereafter she made her home 
with a sister in Bradford county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where she taught school. She is a 
third cousin of Admiral Dewey, the hero of 
Manila I'>ay in the Spanish-.\meri:an war. 

The year after his marriage Mr. Canii)1)ell 
removed to Illinois and settled in Carroll 
county. While a resident there, a cloud arose 
which threatened to disrupt the Union, and 
when President Lincoln made the first call for 
volunteers Mr. Campbell responded by enlist- 
ing in Company B, Seventh Illinois Cavalry. 
The members of this company were mustered 
in at Camp Butler, Springfield, Illinois, and 
from that ])lace, by way of Cairo, they went 
to Bird's Point, Missouri, where they joined 
the forces of General Grant, under w-hose 
command they did skirmish duty and were 
ordered to Shiloh, reaching that place just 
after the famous battle. They took part in the 
first expedition against \'icksburg. but lack of 
supplies forced them to return to LaGrange, 
Tennessee. They were then placed on guard 
of the Tennessee river. Init the approach of 
I'rice caused them to fall back to Corinth, 
and they took part in the second battle at that 
place. The winter of 1862 they spent in camp 
at LaGrange, Tennessee, and in the spring of 



1S63 they opened the Grayston raid, of sixteen 
days. In six days of that time Company B, 
Seventh Illinois Cavalry, rode four hundred 
and twenty-five miles by itself, fighting all 
along the way. .\t the siege of Port Hudson 
they gpjarded the road with much credit and 
then took boats to Memphis. They then went 
to Colliersville. Tennessee, and while on picket 
duty there Mr. Campbell, with twenty-five o.f 
the forty-nine men thus engaged, was cap- 
tured during the fight of November 3, 1863. 
There were five hundred Union men against 
t.io thousand Confederates. The prisoners 
were taken to Cahoba, Alabama, where they 
were kept until April, 1864, when they were 
transferred to Anderson ville Prison. The hor- 
rors of this place could not be exaggerated, 
awful suffering, unmitigated by a gleam of 
humanity on the part of their captors, made 
the lives of the wear)' victims a wretched mock- 
ery. Nauseous food, impure water, crowded 
and vermin-infested quarters, contributed to 
disease and death, which took away all but 
eight of the company of twenty-six. Mr. 
Campbell and his companions were kept there 
until August, 1864, when they were removed 
to Charleston. There they were kejit four 
weeks, and they were then taken to Florence, 
where Mr. Cam])bell was released on sick par- 
ole. Upon regaining his health Mr. Campbell 
went to Annapolis. Maryland, and from there 
he made his way to his father's home, in 
Peimsylvania, where he arrived in January 
1865. In .\pril of that year Mr. Campbell re- 
ceived his honoraljle discharge, after having 
served three years and six months. Four 
hundred and se\enteen days of that time, how- 
ever, he was held as a captive of the enemy. 
.\fter returning to his family, in Illinois, Mr. 
Cam])l)ell was unable to work for about one 
year, but gradually he resumed farming. 

In the s])ring of 1868, accompanied by his 
wife and their two children, Mr. Campbell 
started for the west and located in Nebraska, 
the prairies of the new state being largely un- 
settled at that time. He homesteaded one him- 
(Ired and twenty acres in section 33. Adams 
township. Gage county. During the first year 
in the state Mr. Campbell and his family lived 



HISTORY OF GAGE COl-.XTY, NEBRASKA 



933 



in a covered wagon, and with a team of mules 
and one yoke of oxen he broke the prairies on 
his own land, beside which he worked for 
neighbors. Nebraska City was the nearest 
trading point, and Mr. Campbell hauled freight 
from that place to Beatrice, the county seat, 
which was only a little village at that time. 
From Nebraska City Mr. Campbell hauled 
Cottonwood lumber to build his first house. 
He resolutely set to work improving and de- 
veloping his farm, and he is to-day one of the 
few homesteaders who still reside on the same 
farms which they obtained in the early pioneer 
days. On his present fine farm he has 
lived for fifty years, during which time he 
has prospered. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were bom six 
children : Dewey is residing at BufTalo, \\'yo- 
ming: Nettie and Hattie are deceased; John 
resides in Adams, this county : E. W. is a resi- 
dent of Clarion, Iowa ; and George B. lives at 
Fort Morgan, Colorado. 

Some years ago Mr. Campbell let the mantle 
of intelligently directed industry fall upon his 
son John W., who now owns and operates the 
old home place in his own behalf. George W. 
Campbell and his wife still reside on the old 
home place, where they have lived and labored 
side by side all these years, that their children 
and their children's children might reap the 
benefit. 

• Mr. Campbell has always taken a deep inter- 
est in the affairs of his community and has 
maintained pleasant relationship with his army 
comrades by membership in Sergeant Cox 
I'ost, No. 100, Grand Army of the Republic, at 
Adams. In the Civil war it took men of heart, 
brains and heroism to bear the brunt of the 
conflict, the toil and suffering in camp and on 
the march and to face starvation in prison, 
but Mr. Campbell was one of those valiant 
souls, and his life as a pioneer in Gage county 
reveals the same characteristics as were dis- 
l)layed by him during the days when he fought 
for the preservation of the Union. 

JOHN M. MARTIN, as noted in the me- 
moir dedicated to his honored father, the late 
Thomas M. Martin, on other pages of this 



publication, remains with his widowed mother 
on the old homestead farm, of which he has 
the active management, the same being one of 
the fine landed estates of Sherman township. 
On this farm Mr. Martin was born Septem- 
ber 16, 1872, and his early educational ad- 
vantages were those afforded in the public 
schools of his native township. He learned 
under the direction of his father the valuable 
lessons of practical industry and gained inci- 
dentally a thorough kncjwledge of the various 
details of farm enterprise. He has had no 
desire to sever his allegiance to the great basic 
industry under the influence of which he was 
thus reared and he now rents from his mother 
the old homestead farm, in the operations of 
which he is proving himself a most aggressive 
and successful exponent of agricultural and 
live-stock enterprise, the while he is upholding 
the civic and industrial prestige of a family 
name that has been worthily linked with the 
history of Gage county during the entire peri- 
od of Nebraska statehood. 

Mr. Martin is one of the influential and 
popular citizens of Sherman township, and 
has served as a member of the school board, 
an office of which he has been the efficient in- 
cumbent ten years. In the city of Beatrice he 
is affiliated with Aerie No. 331 of the Frater- 
nal Order of Eagles. 

February 16, 1898, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Martin to Miss Nellie Lash, who like- 
wise was born in this county, and they have 
one child, Margaret, who is, in 1918, a student 
in the public schools at Holmesville. 

FRANK SCHOEN is the fortunate owner 
of a remarkably fine farm property of three 
hundred and thirty acres, improved with the 
best farm buildings to be found in Hooker 
township, where his attractive homestead is 
in Section 27. This distinct evidence of pros- 
perity is the more pleasing to note by reason 
of the fact that ^Ir. Schoen was dependent 
entirely on his own ability and efforts in mak- 
ing his way to the gcjal of independence. He 
was born in the district of Friesland, province 
of Hanover, Germany, on the 27th of Septem- 
ber, 1867, a son of Ahrend and Tina ( Tohn- 



934 



TITSTORV OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



son) S'choen, who passed their entire lives in 
that section of the German empire. 

Frank Schoen was reared and educated in 
liis native province and at the age of seven- 
teen years he severed the home ties and set 
forth to seek his fortunes in the L'nited States. 
For eight years after his arri\al he was em- 
ployed at farm work in Illinois, and in 1892 
he came to Nehraskq and established his resi- 



management. and he stands forth as one of the 
representative agriculturists and stock-growers 
of Hooker township, as well as a substantial 
and jioindar citizen. He is a Republican in 
politics but has held no public office save that 
of road su])ervisor. He is vice-president of 
the -Vdams State Hank. 

As a young man -\Ir. Shoen married Miss 
Mary Rathe; who was born in the vicinity of 




Reshif.nce of Frank Schoe.v 



dence in Gage county. For the ensuing nine 
years he farmed on a Scully lease, in Hanoxcr 
township, and he then purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres in Hooker township — the 
present Stevens farm. In 1909, after selling 
this farm, he purchased his present fine estate 
of three hundred and thirty acres, the build- 
ings, as intimated previously, being of model 
order, the farm having woven-wire fences, and 
an attractive evergreen grove adding to the 
beauty of the place. The same thrift and in- 
dustry which enabled Mr. Schoen to accumu- 
late this pro])erty are brought to bear in its 



the city of Chicago. Illinois, and they have 
three children: Frank F. is a member of the 
military forces being prepared for service in 
the great European war and at the time of this 
writing, in the s|)ring of 1918. he is stationed 
witli lii> cnmniand at Deming. New Mexico: 
and Henry and Eouis remain at the jiarental 
home. 

JAMES E. BALDERSON is another of 
the honored citizens who is a member of one 
of the sterling pioneer families of Gage county 
and who has here achieved large and worthy 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



935 



success as a vigorous exponent of farm in- 
dustry. He is the owner of a valuable landed 
estate of four hundred acres, in Section 21, 
Highland township, and is now living virtu- 
ally retired, his sons having the active man- 
agement of his farms. 

Mr. Balderson was born in Alorgan county, 
Ohio, .April 1, 1850, a son of George and 
Sarah (Davis) Balderson. of whose family of 
fourteen children eleven attained to maturity, 
as here noted : Mary, who became the wife 
of Alvin White, was a resident of Fairbury, 
Nebraska, at the time of her death ; Rhoda is 
the wife of A. B. McNickle. of Ashland, Kan- 
sas ; Alexander was a resident of Highland 
township. Gage county, at the time of his de- 
mise ; James E., of this review, was the next 
in order of birth ; Scott resides in the city of 
Beatrice, this county; Frank is employed in a 
hospital at Hastings, this state : George re- 
sides at Pickrell, Holt township; Mrs. Anna 
Grofif was a resident of Fairbury at the time 
of her death ; Jacob is an influential citizen oi 
AX'ilber. Saline county, where he is serving as 
mayor, in 1917-1918; Mrs. Alice Clark is a res- 
ident of -Austin, ^Minnesota; and ^Irs. Martha 
Snoker resides in the city of Lincoln, Neb- 
raska. 

George Balderson was born in Muskingum 
county, Ohio, September 5, 1819. and in the 
old Buckeye state his marriage to Miss Sarah 
Davis was solemnized in 1841, his wife having 
been born in Ma-'ne. in 1821. Mr. Balder- 
son engaged in farming in Alorgan county. 
Ohio, and in 1864 he removed with his fam- 
ily to Whiteside county. Illinois, where he re- 
mained similarly engaged until 1872, when he 
came with his family to Nebraska and num- 
bered himself among the pioneer settlers of 
Gage county. In Highland township he pur- 
chased eighty acres of wild land, in Section 6, 
and here he planted trees and made other sub- 
stantial improvements, the while he soon 
brought his land under efifective cultivation^ 
It is generally conceded that lie was the first 
settler to erect a frame house between Neb- 
raska City and Gage county, and in the early 
days his home was the stopping place of so- 
journers who required accommodations for a 



night or more, few of the pioneer homes hav- 
ing facilities adequate to extend such hospital- 
ity. From Nebraska City he transported by 
team and wagon his household effects, which 
had been shipped from the old home in Illinois. 
Mr. Balderson was a man whose character 
and mentality well equipped him for leader- 
ship in community affairs and, as a stalwart 
Re])ublican, he always took deep interest in 
political and governmental matters. He gave 
able assistance in tlie establishing of schools 
and churches and in laying out the township 
of Highland. In coming to Gage county he 
transported his family by means of three cov- 
ered wagons, and he was one of the sterling 
pioneers who aided greatly in furthering the 
development and progress of Gage county. 
He passed the closing years of his life in the 
heme of his daughter Mary, Mrs. Alvin 
White, at Fairbury. Jefferson county, where 
his death occurred January 15. 1899. His 
loved and devoted wife passed to eternal rest 
April 8, 1897, she having been a member of 
the Baptist church and he having been a birth- 
right member of the Society of Friends, com- 
monly designated as Quakers. The lineage 
of the Balderson family is traced back to 
staunch Scottish origin and the founders of 
the American branch were two brothers who 
came to this country in the colonial davs, both 
becoming citizens of prominence and influence. 
James E. Balderson acquired his rudimen-- 
tary education in the schools of Ohio and was 
about fourteen years of age at the time of the 
family removal to Illinois, where he was 
reared to adult age. Within a few weeks 
after he had attained his legal majority he 
came with his parents to Gage county, and 
about one year later, at the age of twenty-two 
years, he here obtained a homestead claim of 
eighty acres, in Section 8, Highland town- 
ship. He reclaimed and improved this farm 
under the conditions that obtained in the jiio- 
neer days and had his full share of hardships 
and trials. His energy and thrift were shown 
in the excellent improvements which he made 
on his original homestead and increasing 
prosperity in the passing years enabled him to 
add gradually to his landed estate until he be- 



936 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. XEl'-RASKA 



came the owner of his present large and val- 
uable farm property in Highland township. 
In his years of active farm enterprise he be- 
came specially prominent and successful as a 
breeder and grower of fine Hereford cattle, 
and his herds attracted much attention. ' He 
customarily shipjjed about two car loads of 
cattle annuall}-. after bringing the same into 
the best of condition by judi.'ious methods of 
feeding. He has not been circumscribed by 
mere individual advancement but has given 
his support to movements and enterprises pro- 
jected for the general good of the community, 
though never a seeker of public office. His 
political allegiance is given to the Republican 
party. 

January 18, 1883. recorded the marriage of 
Mr. IJalderson to Miss Rebecca Johnson, who 
likewise is a native of Morgan county, Ohio, 
where she was born June 30. 1861, a daughter 
of T'aten and Isabel ( Blake ) Johnson, the 
former of whom was born in i Vnnsylvania. 
in June, 1803, and the latter of whom was 
born the state of Maine. Mr. Johnson, whose 
father, William, was a native of Ireland, was 
a resident of Pennsylvania at the time of his 
death, June 28. 1871. and his widow passed 
away April 4, 1889, she having been his sec- 
ond wife and Mrs. Ealderson having been the 
ninth of their twelve children. Mr. and Mrs 
Balderson have three children : James F. i^ 
a jirogressive farmer of Colorado ; Pearl L. 
is also in Colorado; and Lester B., who re- 
mains at the parental home, has the active 
management of the old homestead farm. 

GEORGE G. DOUGLAS. M. I)., was en- 
gaged in the successful general practice of hi.< 
profession at Cortland, this county, from 1904 
until the spring of 1918, and was essentially 
one of the representative physicians and sur- 
geons of Gage county, even as he was one of 
the most liberal and jirogressive citizens of the 
vital little city in which he maintained his 
residence. He is now established in ])ractice 
at Elmwood, Cass county. 

Dr. Douglas was born in Adams county. 
Illinois, on the 30th of June, 1863. and is a 
son of William and Emma fMcMurrav") 



Douglas, the former of whom was born in 
Washington county, Kentucky, and the latter 
in .Adams county. Illinois, where his parents 
settled in the pioneer days. William Douglas 
was a child at the time when his parents im- 
migrated from Kentucky and became pioneer 
settlers in Adams county. Illinois, in 1832, anel 
there he was reared to manhood. In Illinois 
he continued his activities as a farmer until 
1869. when he removed with his family to 
Nodaway county. Missouri, where he became 
a substantial farmer and where he jjassed the 
remainder of his life. He was born January 
16. 1831, and his death occurred December 29, 
1888. His ])arents. Joseph and Jeanette ( M:- 
Murray) Douglas, were born and reared in 
\'irginia, the former having been a son of 
Josei)h Douglas, Sr., whose father, Hugh, was 
born and reared in Scotland and established 
his residence in Rockingham county, \'irginia, 
in 1740. Thus it ai)i)ears that Dr. Douglas 
is not only a scion of one of the fine colonial 
families of the historic Old IXjminion but 
also traces his ancestry back to staunch Scotch 
origin on both the paternal and maternal sides. 
His mother was born December 23. 1838, and 
passed to the life eternal .August 14, 1899. 
She was born at L'pper .Alton, Illinois, and 
was a daughter of Rev. Wilson McMurrav 
and Georgia Ann ( Parrish i McMurray. both 
natives of Kentucky, .Mr. McMurray having 
been a pioneer clergyman of the Methodist 
church in Illinois. It is worthy of historic 
note in this context that the first turnpike road 
in Kentucky was constructed in 1837 by a 
I)aternal great-uncle of Dr. Douglas. Wil- 
liam and Emma ( McMurray) Douglas be- 
came the parents of six children : William S. 
is a farmer in Canadian county, Oklahoma ; 
Joseph E. is engaged in the i)ractice of law 
at Plattsmouth, Nebraska: Rev. Fletcher D.. 
a clergyman of the Methodist Ejiiscopal 
church, is. in 1918. jiastor of a church at 
Mound City. Missouri: Mrs. Evehn .Miirrav 
is deceased, and left two ciiildren. Muriel and 
-Alma, the latter making her home with Dr. 
Douglas of this review ; Dr. Douglas was the 
next in order of birth : and Frederick E. died 
when about thirty-five years of age. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



937 



Dr. Douglas was a lad of about six years at 
the time of the family removal to Nodaway 
county, Missouri, where he was reared to 
adult age on the home farm and where he 
made good use of the advantages of the 
schools of the locality and period, as shown by 
the fact that as a youth he gave three years 
to successful service as a teacher in the dis- 
trict schools. Thereafter he supplemented his 
academic education by attending iKmity Col- 
lege, at College Springs, Iowa, and in prep- 
aration for his chosen profession he entered, 
in 1888, the Missouri ]\Iedical College, in the 
city of St. Louis. In this institution he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1891. 
and after thus receiving his degree of Doctor 
of Medicine, he engaged in practice at Ra- 
venswood, Missouri, where he remained until 
1904, when he came to Gage county, Neb- 
raska, and established his residence at Cort- 
land. Here he built up a large and represent- 
ative practice and in the meanwhile he has 
kept in close touch with the advances made in 
medical and surgical science, with full ap- 
preciation of his professional stewardship and 
responsibilities. He removed to Elmwood, 
Cass county, in the spring of 1918 and is there 
continuing his successful professional activ- 
ities. 

In 1917 Dr. Douglas became associated 
with Paul Schultz and A. J. Goodban in organ- 
izing a company that installed a thoroughly 
modern electric-lighting system in Cortland, 
and he became secretary and treasurer of this 
company. Mr. Schultz is president of the 
corporation and Mr. Goodban its general man- 
ager. In other ways Dr. Douglas showed his 
civic loyalty and progressiveness and took a 
lively interest in community afifairs in general. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party, he holds membership in the Amer- 
ican Medical Association and the Nebraska 
State ^ledical Society and, while a resident of 
Cortland, was prominently identified with the 
Gage County Medical Society. He is affili- 
ated with the Masonic fraternity, and he and 
his wife hold membership in the Congrega- 
tional church. 

On the 20th of June. 1894, Dr. Douglas 



wedded Miss Martha Hilton, who was born 
and reared in Cass county, Nebraska, a daugh- 
ter of George and Letta (Irwin) Hilton, pi- 
oneers of that county, where they have resided 
at Elmwood since their retirement from their 
old home farm. Dr. and Mrs. Douglas be- 
came the parents of three children, of whom 
only the second. Ellen, is living. Leland died 
at the age of twelve years and James at the 
age of one year. 

SAMUEL R. SMITH properly gains rec- 
ognition in this history by reason of his secure 
standing as a representative farmer and citi- 
zen of Filley township, where his pleasant 
rural home is established in Section 21. He 
was born at Peoria. Illinois. September 26, 
1857, and is a son of John R. and Sarah 
(Bateman) Smith, the former of whom was 
born in Switzerland, in 1810, and the latter of 
whom was born in the state of Ohio, in 1823. 
The death of the father occured December 4, 
1888, and that of the mother in December, 
1890. The marriage of the parents was sol- 
emnized in Ohio and after their removal to 
Illinois the father was for a number of years 
engaged in the boot and shoe business at 
Peoria, he having been one of the sterling pi- 
oneer merchants of that now vigorous city, 
where he and his wife settled at the early peri- 
od when the chief transportation facilities of 
Illinois were those of lake and river naviga- 
tion. John R. and Sarah (Bateman) Smith 
continued to maintain their home at Peoria 
until their death and were venerable and hon- 
ored pioneer citizens of that place. Mr. Smith 
was a Democrat in politics and was affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity, his wife having 
been an active member of the Presbyterian 
church. They became the parents of five 
children, of whom four are living : Fannie 
J. is a widow and resides in the city of Peoria, 
Illinois; Samuel R.. of this sketch, was the 
next in order of birth ; Mrs. Nellie M. Lee 
resides in the city of Chicago, where her hus- 
band is engaged in mercantile business; and 
Effie D. is the wife of William Burt, a pros- 
perous farmer near Decatur. Illinois. 

S. R. Smith is indebted to the public schools 



938 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




o 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



939 



of his native city for his early educational 
advantages, and after leaving school he was 
there employed eight years in a grain ware- 
house. In Decemher, 1886, he came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and in Filley township he 
purchased an unimproved farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres. He vigorously insti- 
tuted the reclamation and development of his 
land, erected a good house and other farm 
buildings, and on his farm he gained his initial 
experience in harnessing a horse, so that it 
may be readily seen that he was a novice in 
farm enterprise, this slight initial handicap 
having, however, been cfifectually counter- 
balanced by his initiative and administrative 
ability and determined purpose. He now has 
a valuable farm estate of four hundred acres 
and his generous success has been won entire- 
ly through his own ability and well directed 
endeavors. His farm property is well im- 
proved and he gives his attention to diversi- 
fied agriculture and the raising of good live- 
stock. 

November 18, 1880. recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Smith to Miss Ella \L Yates, who was 
born in Illinois, August 12, 1863, a daughter 
of John C. and Jane ( Hargadine ) Yates, the 
former a native of West Virginia and the lat- 
ter of Ohio, their marriage having been sol- 
emnized in Illinois, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Smith 
became the parents of two children, the first- 
born, Willard, having died at the age of twenty 
years, and \'erna M. being the wife of L. C. 
Roberts, their one child being a winsome little 
daughter. Helen Elizabeth. 

In a fraternal way Mr. Smith is affiliated 
with the Highlanders and the Royal xArcanum. 
and in politics he gives his allegiance to the 
Republican partv. 

JOHN C. BOYD is a representative of one 
of the well known families of Gage county 
and has here achieved distinctive success as 
an exponent of farm enterprise, his well im- 
liroved farm, comprising one hundred and 
twenty acres, being situated in Section 15. 
Sherman township. He has been a resident 
of this county since his boyhood and is a son 



of ( )tho I'loyd. of whom individual mention 
is made on other pages, so that further review 
of the family history is not here demanded. 

John C. Boyd was born in Linn county, 
Iowa, December 8, 1873, and was about nine 
years old at the time of the family removal 
to Gage county. Here he was reared on the 
old homestead farm of his father, in Sherman 
township, and in the meanwhile he made good 
use of the advantages aft'orded in the local 
schools. He has never wavered in his alle- 
giance to the basic industries of agriculture 
and stock-growing and in his independent op- 
erations as a farmer he has for more than 
twenty years utilized land which he has 
rented from Ford Lewis, besides having ac- 
cumulated and made the best of improve- 
ments upon his home farm, his ownership of 
which gives concrete evidence of the success 
that has attended his well ordered activities in 
diversified agricultural enterprise and in the 
raising of good grades of live stock, in which 
latter department he makes a specialty of 
raising pure-bred Duroc-Jersey swine. 

In politics Mr. Boyd is aligned with the Re- 
publican party, and his interest in community 
affairs has been shown by his effective ser- 
vice as a member of the school board of his 
district. On one occasion he was elected to 
the office of constable, but he refused to 
ciualify for and assume the duties of this po- 
sition. He and his wife hold membership in 
the Brethren church. 

In 1900 Mr. Boyd wedded Miss Daisy 
Swarts, who was born in Champaign county, 
Illinois, and whose death occurred in 1909. 
She is survived by three children. — Clarence 
Raymond, and Thelma and Inez, who are 
twins. In 1913 was solemnized the marriage 
of Mr. Boyd to :\(iss Alniira Shaw, who was 
bom and reared in Gage county and is a 
representative of one of the earliest territorial 
pioneer families of this now favored section of 
Nebraska, her paternal grandparents, Stephen 
P. and Hannah (Hicks) Shaw having settled 
in Gage county in 1857 and having here passed 
the remainder of their lives. Stephen V. Shaw, 
father of Mrs. Boyd, was born in Dutchess 
county. New York, January 4, 1844. and when 



940 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. XEF'.RASKA 



he was six years old the family removed to 
Wisconsin, from which state they came to N<:- 
braska Territory and settled in Gage county 
when he was thirteen years of age. In 1864 
he went to Colorado, where he was associated 
with prospecting and mining operations about 
one year. He then returned to Gage county 
and. in 1866. he married Miss Minerva Hand, 
daughter of William and Annie (Scott) 
Hand, who likewise came to Nebraska Ter- 
ritory in 1857 and who settled near Nebraska 
City. After his marriage Mr. Shaw engaged 
in farm enterprise in Adams township, where 
he reclaimed and developed one of the valuable 
farm properties of the county and became one 
of the honored and influential citizens of his 
communitv. Of the nine children of the Shaw 
family the following brief data are available. 
(See also Shaw family history.) Louis V. is 
a prosperous farmer near Berwyn, Custer 
county, Nebra,ska ; Katie is a successful and 
popular teacher in the schools of Gage count> 
and at the time of this writing, in the spring 
of 1918, is teaching in the public schools 
near Liberty; Almira, wife of Mr. Boyd, was 
the next in order of birth ; Ada M. is the wife 
of Miles W. McKnight, of Adams township; 
Alice H. is the wife of Truman Bert Kauff- 
man, of Havelock, Lancaster county ; Edna 
is the wife of Clarence Von. Palmer, of Chap- 
pell. Deuel county ; May remains at the paren- 
tal home; Charles is a successful farmer in 
Adams township ; and Rae is employed as a 
stenographer in the oflfices of the board of edu- 
cation of the city of Lincoln. Of the second 
marriage of Mr. Boyd no children have been 
bom. For the past twenty years Mrs. Almira 
Boyd has been an active worker in the 
Women's Christian Temperance Union. She 
was state secretary of the Nebraska organiza- 
tion for two years, and for the past thirteen 
years she has been recorder and secretary' of 
the Gage county organization of this splendid 
body. 

JAMES A. THOM has shown distinctive 
progressiveness and executive ability in con- 
nection with his well ordered activities as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower in his native 



county, and his fine farm estate of four hun- 
dred and sixty five acres, in Slierman town- 
ship, is given to diversified agruculture and to 
the raising of live stock, including Hereford 
cattle and Poland-China swine. Of the Thom 
family history specific data are given on other 
pages, in the memoir dedicated to his honored 
father, the late Peter C. Thom. 

-Mr. Thom was born in Sherman township, 
this county, on the 18th of January, 1872, and 
in addition to receiving in his youth the ad- 
vantages cf the local schools he completed a 
course of higher study in the normal school 
at Peru, Nemaha county. At the age of 
eighteen years Mr. Thom began a practical 
apprenticeship to the trade of telegraphy, and 
thereafter he served nine years as telegraph 
operator and station agent in the employ of 
the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Com- 
pany. He then resumed his active alliance 
with farm enterprise and brought to bear the 
specific knowledge which he had earlier gained 
in connection with the work of the old home 
farm on which he was reared. He has made 
each su:cessive year count in worthy achieve- 
ment as a farmer and has made excellent im- 
provements on his fine rural estate, his home- 
stead being in Section 20, Sherman township. 

November 1. 1894, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Thom to Miss Emma H. Gramenz, 
daughter of William and Minnie (Menchau) 
Gramenz. .Mr. Gramenz was born and reared 
in (jermany and as a young man he was a 
soldier in the German army, with which he 
participated in the Franco-Prussian war and 
was with the victorious forces that entered the 
city of Paris, he having been a lieutenant of 
his command. In 1872 he came to the L^nited 
States and settled at Rock Island. Illinois. He 
worked as a brickmaker. accumulated a com- 
petency, and he and his wife now maintain 
their home in California, Mrs. Gramenz hav- 
ing been burn at Coal \alley. Illinois. Mr. 
and Mrs. Thom have two children — Harold, 
who was born February 10. 1900. and Minnie, 
who was born November 1, 1905. The son 
was graduated in the Beatrice high school, as 
a member of the class of 1918. 

In the village of Flilev Mr. Thom is af~ 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



941 



filiated with the lodge of Ancient Free & Ac- 
cejjted Masons, and in politics he gives his al- 
legiance to the Repnl.ilican partv. 

JAMES W. GISH is nnnihered among the 
representative exponents of farm industry in 
Rockford township, where his tine homestead 
farm of two hundred and forty acres is sit- 
uated in Section 35, besides whi:h he is the 
owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres located about two miles east of his home 
place. Mr. Gish was born in Roanoke, Wood- 
ford county, Illinois, July 2, 1860, and is a 
son of William A. and Sarah E. (Statler) 
Gish. both natives of Roanoke, Virginia, their 
marriage having been solemnized at Salem, 
that state. William A. Gish became a pioneer 
farmer in Woodford county. Illinois, where 
he continued his activities until 1892. when 
he came to Nebraska and purchased a large 
farm in Gage county. Upon retiring from 
active labors he established his residence at 
Juniata, Adams county, and he and his wife 
died in 1904; they were killed in a terrific 
storm, at I5!oomington. Franklin county. Ne- 
braska. They became the parents of a fine 
family of eighteen children, and of the num- 
ber nine are living. Mr. Gish was a Demo- 
crat in politics and he and his wife held mem- 
bership in the Brethren church. Both were 
representatives of sterling families early found- 
ed in \'irginia, and their parents passed their 
entire lives in the historic Old Dominion. 

James W. Gish gained his initial experience 
of practical order in connection with the work 
of the old home farm in Illinois, was afforded 
the advantages of the public schools and in 
later years he has not faltered in his allegiance 
to the basic industries of agriculture and stock- 
growing, through the medium of which he has 
achieved unequivocal success. He has been a 
resident of Gage county since 1883 and is a 
progressive fanner and valued citizen of Rock- 
ford township. He is independent in politics 
and he is an active member of the Brethren 
church. 

In 1884 Mr. Gish wedded Miss Mary J. 
Reiff, who died in 1905, at the age of thirty- 
nine years. She was a daughter of Joseph 



and Mary Reiff. concerning whom specific 
mention is made on other pages, in the sketch 
of the career of John B. Reiff". Mr. and Airs. 
Gish became the jjarents of seven children : 
Frank is engaged in farming in Rockford 
township : Mabel is the wife of Robert H. 
Steinmeyer. cashier of the Holmesville State 
Bank ; Flora is the wife of Oscar Frantz. an- 
other of the prosperous farmers of Rockford 
township; Ethel is the wife of Arthur M. Mil- 
ler, residing one-half mile west of Holmes- 
ville ; Clayton W. is employed in farming the 
home place; Ray and Maude remain at the 
paternal home. 

WILLIAM H. PARDE is vigorou.sly and 
successfully carrying forward his operations 
as an agriculturist and stock-grower on his 
excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
in Section 34. I looker township, and his status 
as a citizen is such as to entitle him to special 
recognition in this history. He was born in 
Adams county. Illinois, in 1873. and is a son 
of Heye and Tuter ( Bowman) I'arde, who 
were born in Germany and who became resi- 
dents of Illinois upon coming to America. In 
1887 Heye Parde came with his family to Gage 
county and settled in Hanover township, where 
he eventually became the owner of four hun- 
dred and fifty acres of land and developed one 
of the valuable farm properties of the county, 
his political allegiance having been given to 
the Democratic party and he and his wife 
having been zealous members of the Luther- 
an church. Of their eight children five are 
living: Peter is a farmer in Hooker town- 
ship; William H.. of this review, was the 
next in order of birth ; Edward is a farmer 
in Hooker township ; Herman lives on his 
father's old homestead farm ; Kate is the wife 
of John Stevens, likewise a prosperous farmer 
of this county ; Anna is the wife of John Deitz- 
man, a farmer in Hooker township. 

William H. Parde acquired his early educa- 
tion in the schools of Illinois and Gage county, 
he having been about fourteen vears old at 
the time of the family removal to Nebraska, as 
noted above. He continued to be associated 
with his father in farm enterprise until he had 



942 



HISTORY OF GAGE COrXTY. XERRASKA 



attained to the age of twenty-two years, when 
he purchased a farm of eighty acres. Later 
he established his residence on his present 
fine farm of one luindred and sixty acres and 
he is one of the successful and energeti; ex- 
ponents of agricultural and live-stock enter- 
prise in Gage county. He is a Republican in 
politics, has served two years as road su])er- 
visor, and he and his wife hold membership 
in the Hanover Lutheran church. 

In 1896 Mr. Parde wedded .Miss Christina 
Eilers, who was born at Petersburg, Illinois, a 
daughter of Fritz Eilers, who is now a pros- 
perous farmer in Hooker township. Mr. and 
Mrs. Parde have five children — Heye. Min- 
nie, Tillie, Frederick, and William H.. Jr. 

OTHO BOYD has been for many years a 
vigorous and successful exponent of agricul- 
tural and live-stock industry in Gage county 
and accumulated a large and well improved 
landed estate in Sherman township, his pleas- 
ant home place being in Section 16. on rural 
mail route No. 1 from the village of Virginia. 

Mr. Boyd was born at Canton, Illinois, De- 
cember 3, 1851, and is a son of John and 
Susan ( Teach ) Boyd, the former of whom 
was born in Maryland, a son of William Boyd, 
who came from England to that state and who 
there passed the residue of his life. Mrs. 
Susan (Teach) Boyd was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, a daughter of Peter and Margaret 
Teach. John Boyd, who was a shoemaker by 
trade, established his residence in Illinois in 
the '40s, and in 186.^ he removed with his fam- 
ily to Iowa, where he purchased two hundred 
acres of land and developed a valuable farm 
property. In 1882 he came to Gage county. 
Nebraska, where he made investment in a 
tract of four hundred and eighty acres of land, 
nearly all of which was unbroken prairie. This 
he reclaimed and improved and in this county 
he and his wife passed the remainder of their 
lives, both having been earnest members of 
the Dunkard clnirch and he having been a Re- 
publican in jjolitics. Of the children the fol- 
lowing brief record is available : Sarah is the 
wife of Lawrence Thornton, M. D., who is 
now living virtuallv retired in the village of 



\'irginia, this county : Otho. of this review, 
was the next in order of birth ; Margaret is the 
wife of Ira R. Grover, a farmer of Sherman 
township; Peter is a retired farmer residing 
in Iowa; Xettie is the wife of \\'illiam H. But- 
terheld, of Sherman township; David lives in 
Sherman township: and Martha is the wife of 
David Kesler. of Sherman townshi]). 

Otho Boyd gained his early education in 
the schools of Illinois and Iowa and has been 
actively concerned with farm industry from 
his youth. L'pon coming to Gage county he 
bought a farm in Sherman township, and to 
the same he later added from time to time 
until he had a valuable estate of six hundred 
acres — one of the fine rural domains of this 
section of the state. He has won success en- 
tirely through his own ability and well ordered 
efforts and is one of the substantial and hon- 
ored citizens of Gage county. In the live- 
stock department of his extensive farm opera- 
tions he has given special attention to the 
raising of Red Polled cattle and Duroc-Jersey 
swine, most of his cattle and swine being reg- 
istered stock. He has sold to his children all 
but one hundred and sixty acres of his fine 
landed estate and is to live in semi-retirement 
from the cares and labors that have so long 
been his portion. Mr. Boyd is a loyal advo- 
cate of the prin;ii)les of the Republican party, 
has served as roatl supervisor, and for twelve 
years he was a member of the school board 
of his district. He and his family hokl mem- 
bershii> in the Dunkard church. 

In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Boyd to Miss Lucy Cobaugh, who was born 
in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Paul Cobaugh, 
who removed with his family to Iowa in 1864 
and who jiassed the closing years of his life in 
the Gage county home of his daughter, Mrs. 
Boyd. In conclusion is entered brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. ISoyd : 
John C. is a progressive farmer in Sherman 
township; Susan is the wife of Amos C. Kin- 
zie, of the same township ; Ernest is now a res- 
ident of Pratt county, Kansas ; Martin E. is 
farming in Sherman township; Stella is the 
wife of Da\id J. Holsinger, of Sherman town- 
shii). 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



943 



ABRAHAM L. THORNBURG has been a 
resident of Gage county from the time of at- 
taining to his legal majority and is a scion of 
one of the honored pioneer families that was 
here founded in the territorial era. He is a 
representative farmer in Midland township 
and his landed estate in its very appearance 
indicates the prosperity that has attended his 
activities as an agriculturist and sto:k-gro\ver. 
Abraham Lincoln Thornburg was born in 
Midland township, on the 10th of July, 1865, 
and is a son of Job Alexander Thornburg and 
Sarah Jane (Craig) Thornburg, both of whom 
were born and reared in Indiana, the former 
having been a cousin of John D. Thornburg. 
of whom specific mention is made on other 
pages, with incidental record concerning the 
family history. The parents of the subject of 
this review came to Gage county in the spring 
of 1863, and the death of the father occurred 
ill the following year, his venerable vk^idow be- 
ing now a resident of Delaware county, In- 
diana. Of the two children one died in early 
childhood. Upon coming to Gage county Job 
A. Thornburg took up a homestead of one 
hundred and twenty acres, in Midland town- 
ship, and here he provided a pioneer dug-out 
to serve as a residence until he could complete 
his log house. In the latter home his death 
soon occurred and his widow then returned to 
the old home in Indiana, taking with her her 
infant son, Abraham L., who thus missed in 
his boyhood the experiences of pioneer life in 
his native county. His venerable mother is a 
devoted member of the Christian church, as 
was also the father, who was a comparatively 
young man at the time of his death. 

He whose name initiates this review was 
reared and educated in Delaware county, In- 
diana, and upon attaining to the age of twen- 
ty-one years he returned to Nebraska and as- 
sumed control of the farm property that had 
been obtained by his father in the territorial 
days. This property comprises one hundred 
and sixty acres, and he owns also a farm of 
eighty acres, south of Beatrice, in Sicily town- 
ship. With the vital ambition and energy of 
youth Mr. Thornlnirg began the work of im- 
proving his farm and bringing the same under 



effective cultivation. Each successive year of 
application marked a distinct advancement and 
he now has one of the well improved and 
valuable farm properties of his native county, 
the same being given over to diversified agri- 
culture and stock-growing. I lis present house 
was erected in the late '80s and has since been 
notably imjiroved, while the other farm build- 
ings likewise indicate thrift and prosperity. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party and his wife and children hold 
membership in the Christian church, which he 
attends and supports. 

In 1878 Mr. Thornburg wedded Miss Adelia 
Le Poidevin, a daughter of Thomas Le Poide- 
vin, of whom mention is made on other pages, 
and of the four children of this union three 
are living: Clifford is a member of the na- 
tional army preparing for service in the great 
European war and at the time of this writing, 
in the spring of 1918, is stationed with his 
command at Deming, New Mexico, he being 
twenty-seven years of age ; Guy, who is twen- 
ty-five years of age and who married Miss 
Grace Spitznogle, is associated in the manage- 
ment of his father's farm, as is also Ferris, 
who is twenty-two years of age. 

WILLIAM T. FRY, a man of broad men- 
tal ken and mature judgment, has achieved 
success through his association with agricul- 
tural and live-stock enterprise in Gage county 
and his well improved farm property is sit- 
uated in Section 15, Rockford township. He 
was born in Keokuk county, Iowa, July 29, 
1864, his parents. John and Sarah (Cofifman) 
Fry, having been pioneer settlers of that sec- 
tion of the Hawkeye state and both having 
been born in the picturesque mountain town 
of Staunton, Mrginia — the father in 1822 and 
the mother in 1831. The marriage of the par- 
ents was solemnized at Harper's Ferry, \'ir- 
ginia, and thereafter Mr. Fry continued to be 
identified with farm industry in Virginia for 
several years. In 1834 he numbered himself 
among the early settlers of Keokuk county, 
Iowa, the overland trip having been made with 
team and wagon. He purchased land and im- 
proved a good farm, and there he continued 



944 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



his residence until 1880. wlicn he came to Paw- 
nee county, Nebraska, where he passed the 
residue of his life, his death having occurred 
in 1900 and that of his wife in l')14. ( )f their 
eight children seven are living: Frank is a 
farmer in Sherman township. Gage county; 
Cyrus is a farmer in Iowa ; David is engaged 
in farming near P.elleville, Kansas: Nettie is 
the wife of Isaac 15. Niswander. of Guthrie, 
Oklahoma; Jennie is the wife of Henry M. 
Flora, a substantial farmer of Chase county, 
Nebraska, where he served four years as coun- 
ty treasurer; William T., of this sketch, was 
the next in order of birth ; and Wesley is a 
prosperous farmer in Pawnee county, this 
state. Mary, the second child, died in \'ir- 
ginia. The parents were zealous members of 
the Brethren church and the father held to the 
faith of the Democratic party, under the influ- 
ences of which he was reared. He was a son 
of Rudolph Fry, who passed his entire life in 
\irginia and whose parents were natives of 
Germany. Christian Coffman. maternal grand- 
father of the subject of this review, was born 
in \'irginia, in 1/69, his parents having come 
from Germany and become colonial settlers of 
the historic Old Dominion. 

William T. Fry made good use of the ad- 
vantages afTorded in the district schools of his 
native state and later he completed norujal and 
commercial courses in Ilolton University. 
Kansas, .\fter the family removal to Ne- 
braska he was for some time employed as clerk 
in a general store and also as assistant post- 
master at Imperial, Chase county. He home- 
steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land 
there and for a few years thereafter he farmed 
on land rented from his father, in Pawnee 
county. He finally purchased the eighty acres 
in Pawnee county, and after selling this prop- 
erty he bought one hundred and sixty acres of 
bis present valuable landed estate in Gage 
county, where he now owns a half-section of 
the valuable land of Rockford township — a 
property accumulated entirely through his own 
ability and well ordered activities. 

In 1896 Mr. Fry wedded Miss Ella Dor- 
rance, who was born in Pawnee county, this 
state, a daughter of John G. and Florence 



Dorrance. who there homesteaded in 1867 and 
who are now venerable and honored pioneer 
citizens of that county, living at Pawnee City. 
Mr. and Mrs. Fry have five children — John. 
Wesley, \'era. Chester, and Lawrence. 

Mr. Fry is liberal and progressive as a citi- 
zen, is a Republican in politics and is now 
serving, P>18, as a member of the official board 
of Rockford township, besides whi.-h he has 
been for fifteen years a valued member of the 
school board of his district. In connection with 
his well directed farm cnterj^rises he raised a 
goodly amount of cattle and swine, making a 
specialty of raising the full-blood Poland-China 
hogs. He and his wife are earnest members 
of the Brethren church. Mrs. Fry was grad- 
uated in the high school at Pawnee City and 
prior to her marriage had been for six years 
a popular teacher in the schools of her native 
county. 

EHME W.VLLMANN. — Through his own 
energy and well ordered activities Mr. Wall- 
mann has become one of the substantial and 
representative exponents of farm enterprise in 
Gage county, where he has maintained his 
home since 1883 and where he is now the own- 
er of a valuable farm estate of six hundred 
acres, his attractive homestead place being in 
Section 11. Logan township. 

Mr. Wallmann was born in the eastern part 
of Germany, on the 30th of May. 1857, and is 
a son of Jeremiah and Annie (Miller) Wall- 
niann, both of whom passed their entire lives 
in Germany, where the father was a farmer by 
vocation. The subject of this review is the 
one surviving of the two children of his fath- 
er's first marriage and of the four children of 
the second marriage two are living — George, 
a retired farmer in the state of Mis.souri. and 
.Alma, who is the wife of Benjamin Omnian, 
of Hanover township. Gage county. Nebraska. 
The parents were earnest communicants of the 
Lutheran church, and the father died in the 
year 1880. 

Ehme Wallmann gained his youthful etluca- 
tion in the schools of his native land and was a 
young man of twenty-three years when he 
came to .America, in 1880, and established his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



945 



residence in Jolmson county. Nebraska. There 
he was employed at farm work until 1883, 
when he came to Gage county and purchased 
eighty acres of huul in Logan township. In 
acquiring this prt)perty he was alale to make 
only partial payment, but he had full confi- 
dence in his ability to win through energ}' and 
resolute industry eventual success. On his 
farm, which was at the time unbroken prairie, 
he erected a little iiouse of one room and in 
this little domicile he and his wife provided 
also accommodation for the school teacher 
who was making her home with them. He 
soon built a new house, but July 24, 1898, 
this was destroyed by fire. He then erected 
his present attractive and comfortable house 
of eight rooms, and with increasing prosper- 
ity he has erected other farm buildings of 
substantial and modern type, the while he has 
developed to the best standard his large and 
valuable farm property. Mr. Walhnann is in- 
dependent in politics and he and his wife arc 
active communicants of the Lutheran church, 
in which he holds the office of clerk. ,He 
served five years as road supervisor and two 
years as township assessor, these preferments 
indicating the confidence and esteem reposed 
in him in his home commiuiity. 

On May 1, 1884. Mr. W'allmann wedded 
Miss Margaret Jurgens, a daughter of Thee 
Jurgens, of whom mention is made on other 
pages. Mr. and Mrs. Wallmann have a fine 
family of ten children : Jerry has charge of 
his father's farm in Filley township : Annie 
is the wife of Thees Busboom, of Logan town- 
ship ; Thee is a farmer in Logan township ; 
George in Logan township ; John in Hanov- 
er township ; and the children who remain at 
the parental home are : Henry, Ehme, Jr.. 
Theodore, William, and Richard. 

JAMES E. BROWN, who has been a resi- 
dent of Gage county for nearly two score 
years and who has contributed worthily to the 
advancement of farm industry in the county, 
has lived virtually retired, in the city of Bea- 
trice, since 1901, and he and his wife have a 
large and attractive residence at 702 North 
Eighth street, where they are enjoying the 



gracious peace and prosperity that properly 
crown the earnest activities of former years. 
James Edward Brown was born in Stephen- 
son county, Illinois, on the 9th of September, 
1845, and is a son of William and Lydia 
( Hatch) Brown, the former a native of Ire- 
land and the latter of the state of New York. 
\N'illiam Brown was six years old at the time 
of the family immigration from the Emerald 
Isle to America, and in 1838 he became a 
pioneer settler in Wisconsin. Later he re- 
moved to Illinois and purchased land in 
Stephenson county, where he became a suc- 
cessful farmer and where both he and his 
wife passed the residue of their lives, his death 
having occurred in 1871. Of the seven chil- 
dren only three are now living. James E. 
Brown was reared to the sturdy discipline of 
the farm, received his early education in the 
common schools of his native state, and 
though he was not yet sixteen years of age 
at the outbreak of the Civil war his youthful 
patriotism was of insistent order and was not 
long to be denied expression. About three 
months after his eighteenth birthday anni- 
versary Mr. Brown, a remarkably vigorous 
)outh who was six feet in height and weighed 
two hundred and fifty pounds, tendered the 
full force of his brain and brawn in defense of 
the integrity of the nation. On the 2f)lh of 
December, 1863, he enlisted as a private in 
Company D, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer In- 
fantry, George C. Crane having been captain 
of the company. With this command Mr. 
Brown proceeded to the front and with tha 
same he continued to serve for a numljer of 
months after victory had crowned the Union 
arms, as he was mustered out January 20, 
1866, his honorable discharge having been re- 
ceived on the 2d of the following month. He 
took part in the historic Red River campaign, 
the siege and capture of Mobile, and in vari- 
ous other active engagements, and he was 
favored in never having been wounded or 
captured. His fine physical powers stood him 
well in the arduous service incidental to 
marches and campaign activities, and during 
his entire period of service he endured only 
minor illness, which did not long incapacitate 



946 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. XEP.RASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



947 



him, he having been mustered out at Baton 
Rouge, Louisiana, and having then returned 
to his home, in Stephenson county, lUinois, 
where he found employment at farm work. 
In 1871 he went to Story county, Iowa, where 
he purchased eighty acres of land, for which 
he paid twenty dollars an acre. There he con- 
tinued development work and farm enterprise 
for the ensuing four years, at the expiration of 
which he sold the property at the rate of 
twenty-five dollars an acre. Thereafter he 
farmed on rented land in Stephenson county, 
Illinois, until 1883, when he came to Nebraska 
and established his permanent residence in 
Gage county. In Holt township, at a point 
three miles west of the present village of 
Pickrell, he purchased one hundred acres of 
unimproved land, and in the spring of the fol- 
lowing year he brought his family to the new 
home, the domicile of the family for the first 
summer having been a crude shanty, fourteen 
by sixteen feet in dimensions. In the follow- 
ing autumn Air. Brown purchased an adjoin- 
ing tract of one hundred and sixty acres and 
he then erected a good frame house as a home 
for his family. He gained secure status as 
one of the substantial and progressive expon- 
ents of farm industn,- in the county, made the 
best of improvements on his land and con- 
tinued to reside on the old home place until 
1901, since which time, as previously stated, 
he has lived retired in the city of Beatrice. 

On the 8th of Febniar}-, 1871, was solemn- 
ized the marriage of Mr. Brown to Aliss Mary 
E. Fuller, of Stephenson county, Illinois. Mrs. 
Brown was born Februarj- 18, 1849, in Jef- 
ferson county. New York. She is a daughter 
of Jacob and Lydia (Spencer) Fuller, both 
natives of Vermont Mr. Fuller died in Jef- 
ferson county, New York, and his widow 
later removed with her children to Stephenson 
county, Illinois, where she passed the remain- 
der of her life. Mrs. Brown, a woman of gen- 
tle and winning personality, proved a true 
helpmeet to her sturdy young husband and 
their companionship during the long interven- 
ing years has been ideal in all relations. They 
have three daughters: Dora is the wife of 
David Neher, and they reside on her father's 



old homestead farm in Holt township, their 
three children being Leslie, Charlotte and 
\'iolet ; Mary Jeanette, the second daughter 
of Mr. and ]\Irs. Brown, is the wife of Jacob 
Meyer, of Beatrice, and they have two chil- 
dren, — DeLysle and Ruth ; Ida, youngest of 
the daughters, is the wife of A. Blaine Ozman, 
a prosperous farmer in Holt township, and 
they have two children, Dwight and Evelyn. 

Though he has passed the psalmist's span 
of three score years and ten, Mr. Brown re- 
tains splendid physical vigor and is erect and 
active, with a commanding physique that the 
passing years have touched most lightly. He 
is aligned as a staunch supporter of the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party and while on 
his farm he served as a member of the school 
board of his district, having invariably de- 
clined to become a candidate for any other 
oiilice. Mr. Brown vitalizes the memories of 
his youthful military career by his affiliation 
with Rawlins Post, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, in his home city. He and his wife 
are earnest members of the Congregational 
church, and they have inviolable place in the 
esteem an affection of a host of friends in 
Gage county. 

JACOB P. SAUSMAN. — As a dealer in 
creamery products, poultry, flour, and feed, 
Mr. Sausman has built up a prosperous en- 
terprise in the village of Cortland and he is 
a popular member of one of the sterling pio- 
neer families of Gage county. 

Mr. Sausman was born at Lena. Stephenson 
county. Illinois, December 11, 18.^9, and is a 
sen of John L. and Caroline (Shearer) Saus- 
man. the only other child having been Joseph, 
who died when about fifty-six years of age. 
John L. Sausman was born in L'nion county, 
Pennsylvania, February 18, 1834, and his 
death occurred ^May 25, 1904. During the 
period of his residence in Illinois he followed 
the trade of stonemason, and on the 10th of 
March, 1875, he established the family home 
on a pioneer farm one mile east of Cortland, 
Gage county. Here he continued his active 
association with farm enterprise until 1880, 
when he removed to the city of Beatrice, 



948 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEl'.RASKA 



where he passed the remainder of his Hfe. 
He reclaimed his farm from the virgin prairie 
and made good improvements on the place, 
this property having been sold by him in 1881. 
During the remainder of his active career he 
followed his trade and was a successful con- 
tractor in Beatrice. He was a gallant .soldier 
of the L'nion in the Civil war, his service hav- 
ing been with the Forty-si.xth Illinois \olun- 
teer Infantry, in which he enlisted in 1801. 
He i)articii)ated in the battle of Shiloh. in 
which he receivetl a wound of minor order, 
and after serving three years he reenlisted 
as a veteran, so that he continued as a soldier 
of the Union during virtually the entire period 
of the war. He was in later years an hon- 
ored and influential member of the post of 
the Grand Army of the Republic at lieatrice. 
He was a son of Joseph and Hannah Saus- 
nian. the former of whom was born in France, 
whence he came with his parents to .Vmerica 
when he was a boy. He was reared in the 
state of Pennsylvania, where his marriage was 
solemnized, and finally he removed with his 
family to Illinois, and became a pioneer farm- 
er in Stephen.son county, where he and his 
wife passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. 
Caroline (Shearer) Sausman was born in 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, October (\ 
1835, a daughter of Jacob and Fannie (,r>i- 
celine ) Shearer, likewise natives of that state, 
and her death occurred at lieatrice, Nebraska, 
April 14. 1894. 

Jacob P. Sausman was reared and educated 
in Illinois and in Jo Daviess county, that 
state, he gained early exi)erien:e in connection 
with farm work. He was fifteen years of age 
when he accompanied his parents to Gage 
county, Nebraska, and here he gave effective 
aid in the reclaiming and improving of the 
home farm, eighty acres of which he event- 
ually purchased. In 1884 he sold his farm 
and removed to Cortland, where he established 
a draying business. Later he was employed 
four years as a traveling representative of the 
International Harvester Company, after hav- 
ing previously been engaged for a number of 
years in the coal and farm-implement business 
at Cortland. In 1905 he established his pres- 



ent creamery business in Cortland, after hav- 
ing previously had charge of the Cortland 
station of the Beatrice Creamery Company, 
and in his enterpri.se in the handling of cream- 
ery products. fKDultry, flour, and feed he has 
developed a substantial and prosperous busi- 
ness. In politics he is a stalwart Republican 
and he served from 1904 to 1906. inclusive, as 
deputy assessor of Highland township. He 
is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and 
tlie Modern Woodmen of America. 

On the 18th of November, 1880. Mr. Saus- 
man wedded Miss N'illetia Batten, who was 
born at Ottawa. Illinois. January 25, 1859, 
a daughter of William and Mary ( Hay ward) 
Batten, natives respectively of Maine and Ver- 
mont. The parents of Mrs. Sausman came 
from Illinois to Gage county, Nebraska, in 
July. 1871, and the father entered claim to a 
homestead one mile east of Ct)rt!and. where he 
developed a productive farm, both he and his 
wife liaving i)asscd the remainder of their 
lives in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Sausman 
have two children ; and both were graduated 
in the Cortland high school. Albert L., who 
was born April 23, 1883. conducts a barber 
shop in Cortland, the maiden name of his wife 
having been Ethel Fink. Una. who was born 
.\ugust 8, 1898, is the wife of Alvin Jung- 
meyer, who conducts an automobile garage at 
Cortland. 

CHRISTIAN F. FRY. — In Section 30, 
Sherman township is situated the handsome 
and productive farm of Mr. Fry, who has 
been a resident of Gage county since 1888 
and who has won prosperity through his own 
efforts. He was born in .Agusta county, \'ir- 
ginia. January 22, 1851, and is a son of John 
and Sarah (Coffman) Fry, who likewise were 
natives of the historic Old Dominion state, 
where the father was born in 1822 and the 
mother in 1831. In 1854 John Fry removed 
with his family to Keokuk county, Iowa, the 
long overland trip having been made with 
team and wagon, and he became one of the 
pioneer farmers of that section of the Hawk- 
eye state. In 1880 he came with his family 
to Pawnee countv. Nebraska, and in this state 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



949 



he passed the remainder of his life, his death 
having occurred in I'^OO and that of his widow 
in 1914, both having been zealous members of 
the Church of the lirethren. Of their eight 
children all are living except one and further 
data concerning the family is given on other 
pages, in the sketch of the career of William 
T. Fry. 

The subject of this review was an infant 
at the time of the family removal to Iowa, 
where he received his early education in the 
pioneer schools, and he was twenty-six years 
of age when he accompanied his parents to 
Pawnee county, Nebraska. There he contin- 
ued his association with agricultural industry 
until 1888, when he came to Gage county and 
purchased eighty acres of land in Sherman 
township, fifty acres of the land having been 
broken. To this original homestead he has 
since added until he now has a well improved 
farm of one hundred ar.d fifty-six acres, the 
buildings being of excellent order and he 
having shown progressiveness and good judg- 
ment in the planting of shade trees which are 
now well matured, as is also his orchard', 
which likewise was set out by him. He has 
t'lken loyal interest in community affairs and 
served fifteen years as a member of the school 
board of his district. In politics he is inde- 
pendent of strict [jartisan lines and supports 
the men and measures meeting the approval 
of his judgment. His farm is devoted to di- 
versified agriculture and to the raising of 
good grades of cattle and swine. Pertinent 
to the high prices obtaining at the present 
time, it is interesting to record that in the 
earlier period of his farm activities in Gage 
county Mr. Fry sold corn at the rate of ten 
cents a bushel and hogs for three and one- 
half dollars per hundred weight. He and his 
family hold earnestly to the faith of the 
Church of the Brethren. 

At North English, Iowa, in 1874, Mr. Fry 
wedded Miss Sarah Ann Miller, who was 
born in Rockingham county, \'irginia, June 
30. 18?3, a daughter of Noah and Frances 
(Huffman) Miller, who removed to Keokuk 
county, Iowa, in 1856 and who there passed 
the remainder of their lives. Mr. Miller was 



a miller by trade as well as name but after 
going to Iowa he gave his attention to agri- 
cultural pursuits. Of his twelve children all 
are living except two and Mrs. Fry is the eld- 
est of the number. .Mr. and Mrs. Fry have 
had four children : John N. is employed as 
a railway mail clerk, with headquarters in the 
city of Omaha ; Minnie became the wife of 
L'lysses G. McPheron and was a resident of 
Sherman township at the time of her death ; 
Samuel E. is employed as a railway mail 
clerk, out of the city of Lincoln ; and Ola M. 
is the wife of Robert M. Jenkins, a prosper- 
ous farmer in Rockford township. 

JOHN T. BUSBOOM came to Gage coun- 
ty in the year 1900 and purchased a fine farm 
of three hundred and twenty acres, the same 
comprising the west half of Section 7, Filley 
township. He has remodeled and otherwise 
improved the buildings that were on the place 
and has erected other buildings, with the re- 
sult that thrift and prosperity mark his estate 
as one of the model farms of Filley town- 
ship. Here he is successfully carrving for- 
ward his progressive activities as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower and stands well to the 
front as one of the substantial and represen- 
tative exponents of farm industry in Gage 
county, as well as a liberal and public-spirited 
citizen. 

Mr. Busboom was born in Ost Friesland, 
])rovince of Hanover, Germany, on the 29th of 
May. 1855. and is a son of Thees and Inike 
I .\dams ) Busboom, who came to the United 
States in 1868 and established their residence 
in .\dams county. Illinois, whence they later 
removed to Champaign county, that state, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives 
and where the father became a prosperous 
farmer. 

John T. Busboom accjuired his rudimentary 
education in his native land and was thirteen 
years of age at the time of the family immi- 
gration to .\merica. He was reared to adult 
age on the farm of his father and in the mean- 
while profited by the advantages of the public 
schools of Illinois. There he eventually be- 
came the owner of a good farm, in Cham- 



950 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



paign county, where he continued his activi- 
ties until 1900. wlien he sold his farm proj)- 
erty and came to Gage county. Nebraska, 
where he has since been actively and success- 
fully engaged in farming, as previously noted 
in this context, his farm being now looked up- 
on as one of the finest in Gage county. In 
politics Mr. Busboom is independent and he 
and his wife hold membership in the Lutheran 
church. 

In Champaign county. Illinois. March 10. 
1882. Mr. Ikisboom wedded Miss Tida Duits- 
man. who was born in Germany, and they 
have six children : Thees is a successful 
farmer in Logan township: Gertrude is the 
widow of Menne ]. Leners and they reside 
with her parents; Emma is the wife of John 
Ehman. of Hanover township; Gepke is the 
wife of Paul Beahr. of Hanover township ; 
Thelka is the wife of Thee Wallman. of Lo- 
gan township ; and John J., who married Miss 
Tillie Renimers. is associated in the manage- 
ment of his father's farm. 

JOSEPH S. HL'BK.\ owns and gives his 
active supervision to his well improved farm 
estate of four hundred and thirty-four acres 
and his attractive homestead is situated in 
Section 12. Sherman township. He is a scion 
of a sterling pioneer family of Nebraska and 
on other pages is dedicated a memoir to his 
father, the late .-Mhert Hubka, so that further 
review of the family history is not here de- 
manded. 

Jose])h S. Hubka was born in Pawnee coun- 
ty, Nebraska, in the year 1871. and was reared 
to the sturdy discipline of his father's fami 
properties in Pawnee and Gage counties, the 
while he made in his youth good use of the ad- 
vantages afforded in the public schools. When 
he had attained to the age of twenty-five years 
his father gave to him his present homestead 
place, which comprised one hundred and sixty 
acres, and to the area of the same he has since 
added until he now has a valuable farm prop- 
erty of four hundred and thirty-four acres, 
improved with good buildings and devoted to 
diversified agriculture and stock-growing. 

At the age of twenty-five years Mr. Hubka 



assumed connubial responsibilities, by his mar- 
riage to Miss Frances \'avruska. who was 
born in Marshall county, Kansas, and they 
became the parents of four children : Ernest 
was a member of the class of 1917 in the 
University of Nebraska ; Latimer is attending 
the local schools ; Elbert died at the age of 
seven years : and Elmer is the youngest mem- 
ber of the home circle. 

OSCAR J. HAL'PT. — The one hundred 
and sixty acres of excellently improved land 
that comprise the northwest quarter of Section 
20, Highland township, constitute the attrac- 
tive farm owned and operated by Mr. Haupt, 
who is one of the representative agriculturists 
and stock-raisers of the younger generation 
in his native county. He was born in High- 
land township. June 30. 1884. and is a son of 
Julius and Catherine (PfiefTer) Haupt, of 
whose six children the first, Matilda, died at 
the age of twenty years ; .Augusta is the wife 
of Henry Cramer, of Stockton. Kansas ; Rosa 
has supervision of the domestic economies 
and social amenities of the home of her broth- 
er Oscar J. ; Charles is a prosperous farmer 
in Clatonia township; Oscar J., was next in 
order of birth ; .Arthur is engaged in farm en- 
terprise in Highland township. 

Julius Haupt was born in S\vitzerland. Jan- 
uary 12. 1844. and was about nineteen years 
of age when he left that fair little republic and 
came to the United States. At Peoria, Illinois, 
he foutul employment at his trade, that of 
blacksmith, in the shops of the .Avery Manu- 
facturing Company, which was at that early 
jieriod conducting operations on a small scale. 
While he was thus engaged, was solemnized, 
at Peoria, the marriage of Mr. Haupt to Miss 
Catherine Pfieffer. who was born in Hessen, 
Germany. .April 17, 1844, and who was a young 
woman when she came to America, her father, 
Conrad Pfieffer. having later come to this 
country and having passed the closing years 
of his life in the home of his son Henry, in 
Gage county, Nebraska, where he died at the 
patriarchal age of ninety-three years. Julius 
Haupt and his wife came to Gage county 
about 1875, and here he obtained a homestead 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 



951 



of eighty acres, in Section 18, Hi,y;hlan(l town- 
ship. He endured his full share of the trials 
and hardships that fell to the lot of the pio- 
neers of this locality, but, with the devoted 
cooperation of his wife, he pressed forward 
until he achieved substantial ])rosperity. He 
was the owner of a valuable Gage county es- 
tate of three hundred and twenty acres at the 
time of his death, which occurred December 
30, 1916, his wife having ])assed away on the 
8th of November of the preceding year, and 
both having been charter members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Clatonia. 

Oscar J. Haupt early began to assist in the 
work of the home farm and after having prof- 
ited fully by the advantages of the district 
schools he completed a course in the Beatrice 
Business College. Soon afterward he began 
farming in- an independent way, and his en- 
ergy and progressiveness are bringing to him 
success in this great basic field of industry. 
In 1916 he purchased his present farm, to the 
improvements of which he has added material- 
ly, and as he remains a bachelor he is favored 
in having as the chatelaine of his pleasant 
home his sister Rosa. He is a stockholder of 
different corporations, is a Republican in pol- 
itics and he and his sister attend and support 
the Congregational church at Cortland. 

The father of Mr. Haupt gave to the utmost 
of his ability in fostering the civic and mater- 
ial development of Gage county, and in the 
early days commonly walked from his farm 
to Wilber to secure his mail. With hoe and 
spade he aided other pioneers in improving 
the roads of his township, and as a skilled ar- 
tisan at the blacksmith trade he found much 
demand for his services, specially in the pio- 
neer days. 

JOHN N. MUMFORD is a representative 
of one of the well known families of Gage 
county and concerning the family history ade 
quate mention is made on other pages, in the 
sketch of G. L. Mumford. He has gained sub- 
stantial place as one of the aggressive and 
successful exponents of agricultural and live- 
stock industry in his native township of Logan, 
where he was born June 3, 1880. It is inter- 



esting to record that Mr. Mumford resides 
upon the old home.stead upon whicli his father 
settled in 1865, in Section 8, Logan township, 
and that he has active charge of the fine farm 
estate left by his honored father. 

Mr. Mumford acquired his preliminary ed- 
ucation in the district schools and thereafter 
continued his studies in the public schools of 
the city of Beatrice until his graduation in the 
high school, as a member of the class of 1901. 
He has had no desire to sever his allegiance 
to the great basic indu.stries of agriculture and 
stock-growing and in his successful farm op- 
erations he now utilizes an area of three hun- 
dred and twenty acres, of which one hundred 
and sixty acres are individually owned by him. 
Mr. Mumford is found staunchly arrayed in 
the ranks of the Democratic party, and he is 
actively affiliated with Beatrice Lodge, No. 
619, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. 

In 1910 Mr. Mumford wedded Miss Flor- 
ence Thacker, whose father, John Thacker, 
was an early settler of Beatrice, where for 
many years he owned and conducted a drug 
store. Like her husband, Mrs. Mumford was 
graduated in the Beatrice high school, and she 
is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant 
home. They have no children. 

ANTON HURTZ, of Wymore township, 
has lived in Gage county for the past thirty 
years and is one of its representative, success- 
ful farmers. In Rhineland, Germany was es- 
tablished a home by Peter and Anna Mary 
(Roab) Hurtz, who tilled the soil and who 
there reared their sons and daugiiters, six of 
whom are living, as follows: Joseph is a farm- 
er in Sicily township. Gage county: .\nton 
is the immediate subject of this sketch ; Frank 
is a farmer in Wymore township; Jacob re- 
sides in Wisconsin, where he is a farmer; 
and Mary and John are residents of WyuKjre 
township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Peter 
Hurtz left the homeland with their children in 
1882 and sailed for the hospitable shores of 
the United States. For two years after their 
arrival they made their home in New York 
city, and before coming to Gage county, in 
1887, they lived for a short time in Chicago. 



952 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



95J 



In Gage county one hundred ^nd sixty acres 
of land, in Wyniore township, were purchased 
and here the family home was established, the 
parents having remained on this farm until 
they were called to the life eternal. Mr. 
Hurtz was eighty-three years old at the time 
of his death, his wife having passed away 
October 6, 1888. 

Anton Hurtz was born in Germany, and 
the year of his nativity was 1862. He learned 
the baker's trade before leaving the father- 
land with his ])arents. In New York he 
worked as a tanner and since his arrival in 
Gage county he has devoted his time to fann- 
ing. In this connection he has indeed much 
to show that he has been a successful farmer, 
for he owns in 1918 five hundred and thirty 
acres of well improved and valuable land. 

In 1892 Anton Hurtz married Miss Anna 
Paul, a daughter of John G. and Juliana 
(Walter) Paul, natives respectively of Zanes- 
ville, Ohio, and Germany. For a number of 
years John G. Paul followed farming indus- 
try in Illinois and in 1883 he came to Nebraska 
and located in Gage county, west of Blue 
Springs. There he continued to reside on his 
farm until he retired from active farming and 
removed with his wife to Beatrice. Of their 
children brief record is here given : John A. 
is deceased ; Anna is the wife of Anton Hurtz, 
subject of this sketch; Charles is living near 
Guthrie, Oklahoma ; Amanda remains with 
her parents ; Joseph is in the automobile busi- 
ness at Los Angeles, California; Rosa is the 
wife of George Krai, an insurance agent at 
Hastings, Nebraska ; Ellen is the wife of Floyd 
Churchill, a farmer near Pierre, South Da- 
kota. Mr. and Mrs. Paul are communicants 
of the Catholic church and their children also 
are members of that church. 

Anton Hurtz votes the Democratic ticket 
and has served his township in a highly 
satisfactory manner as a member of the town- 
ship board for four years, as well as a mem- 
ber of the school board of his district. A new 
barn has been built to accommodate the large 
amount of stock and cattle that Mr. Hurtz 
owns, and bis commodious and well built house 
provides an ideal home. The sons and daugh- 



ters have been reared in the faith of the 
Catholic church and are receiving the educa- 
tional advantages that shall fully fit them for 
their future careers. The children are as fol- 
lows : Julia Helena is attending college at 
Hastings, Nebraska ; John Albert is attending 
school at Beatrice; Amanda and Mary Kath- 
erine are attending school at Wymore ; Wil- 
liam Joseph, Karl Jacob, Walter George, and 
Francis are attending the district school ; and 
Paul, the youngest of the number, is still at 
home, awaiting his turn to attend school. Mr. 
Hurtz and his son Albert are members of the 
Knights of Columbus. 

ANTON OLTMANS, a retired farmer and 
honored citizen of Cortland, was a young man 
of twenty-four years when he immigrated 
from Germany to the United States and it has 
been entirely through his own ability and well 
ordered endeavors that he has achieved the 
goal of prosperity and well merited indepen- 
dence. He was born in East Friesland, Ger- 
many, March 18, 1842, a son of Dietrich and 
Margaret G. (Clausen) Oltmans, of whose 
nine children he was the second in order of 
birth; the eldest, Dietrich, Jr., still lives in 
Germany; Oltman is a prosperous farmer of 
Gage county, his homestead being in High- 
land township, to the west of Cortland ; Anne 
became the wife of John NefF and was a resi- 
dent of Logan, Illinois, at the time of her 
death ; Margaret is the widow of Jacob John- 
son and resides at Lincoln, Illinois; Hilda is 
the widow of Harm Van Horn and lives at 
Pekin, Illinois ; Jacob is a farmer near Lin- 
coln, that state, as is also George ; and Lubbo 
tnaintains his residence in Colorado. The sub- 
ject of this review came to America in 1866 
and about 1872 the parents and other mem- 
bers of the family joined him in Illinois, where 
both the father and mother passed the re- 
mainder of their lives. 

.\nton Oltmans was reared and educated in 
his native land and in 1866 he set forth for 
America. He made the voyage on a sailing 
ves,sel and while en route the ship sprung so 
serious a leak that all on board had to assist 
in the operation of the pumps, in order to keep 



954 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, XEP.RASKA 



the vessel from sinking, six weeks having 
ela])sed ere ^Fr. Ohmans disembarked in the 
port of New York city, lie thence proceeded 
to IlHnois, where he found work at chojjping 
wood, shucking corn, etc. He finally was en- 
abled to engage in independent farm enter- 
prise in that state, where he continued his res- 
idence until 1881, in February of which year 
he arrived in Gage county. Here he pur- 
chased, at the rate of seven dollars an acre, 
one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie 
land in Section 6, Highland township, four 
miles west of Cortland. On the place he built 
a frame house of one story, sixteen by thirty- 
two feet in dimensions, and he then turned 
himself vigorously to breaking his land and 
making it available for cultivation. With the 
passing of years he made the best of imi^rove- 
ments on his farm and by indefatigable in- 
dustry and good management achieved sub- 
stantial and worthy success. He remained on 
the farm until l'M4. since which time he has 
lived in well earned retirement, his attractive 
residence in Cortland being one of the modern 
homes of this village. Energ)- and stability 
liave marked his career and his course has been 
governed by those principles of integrity that 
ahvavs bring in their train the full measure of 
po])ular respect and good will, lie is now the 
owner of a valuable landed estate of seven 
hundred and twenty acres in Nebraska, the 
major part of the same being in Gage county 
As a loyal and appreciative citizen of the land 
of his adojjtion Mr. Oltmans gives his ])oliti- 
cal support to the Republican party, and both 
he and his wife are earnest members of the 
r^lethodist Euiscopal church. 

.Vpril 6, 1870, recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Oltmans to Miss Kate Rademaker, who was 
born in Friesland, Germany, April .^. 1849, 
and she was eighteen years of age when she 
cairie to America and established her residence 
at Pekin, Illinois, her widowed mother and 
others of the children having later come to 
this country. She is a daughter of Rient and 
Kate ( Ricken) Rademaker. who became the 
parents of one son and four daughters, all of 
the children having finally established homes 
in the United States and the loved mother hav- 



ing been a resident of Illinois at the time of 
her death. In conclusion is given brief record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Olt- 
mans: Diedrich A. is a progressive farmer 
in Highland township: Mrs. Katherine Poth- 
ast, a widow, resides in the city of Beatrice, 
this county; Margaret is the wife of William 
Lucke and they are residents of Colorado ; 
the fourth child died in infancy ; Rient H. is a 
prosperous farmer in Highland township; 
-Anton. Jr., is a salesman in one of the leading 
mercantile establishments in the city of Heat- 
rice : Folkert R. remains at the parental home ; 
Sophia is the wife of Theodore Nannen and 
they reside in the state of Iowa ; Jacob resides 
upon and has the active management of his 
father's old homestead farm, in Highland 
townshi]) ; and Theresa is the wife of Dr. R. 
A'. .Alldritt, of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

FRANK R. TILTON, a progressive far- 
mer of the younger generation in Filley town- 
ship, is a younger brother of Lloyd H. Tiltoii, 
who is individually mentioned on other pages, 
with due incidental record concerning the 
family, which has been associated with the civ- 
ic and industrial activities of Gage county for 
more than forty years. Frank R. Tilton was 
born on his father's old homestead farm, in 
Section 14. Filley township, November 30, 
1888, and is a son of the late Curtis Tilton, an 
honored ])ioneer of the county. After com- 
pleting the ciuTiculum of the district schools 
Mr. Tilton further fortified himself by taking 
a course in a business college in the city of 
Beatrice. He early gained familiarity WMth 
the various de])artments of farm industry and 
has now control of a well improved farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 25, 
Filley townshi]), eighty acres being owned by 
him and the pro|)erty being a part of the well 
improved landed estate left by his father. He 
is a Republican in his political adhercncv and 
he and his wife hold membershi]) in the Chris- 
tian church in the village of Filley. 

.August 27 . 1914, was recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Tilton to Miss Delia M. Saum, who 
was born at Warrensburg, Illinois, a daughter 
of Frank and Marv (Kerwood") Saum, now 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



955 



residents of Filley. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton have 
two children, — • DeVer and Le Vern. 

EMIL HUBKA was born July 3, 1882, on 
the fine farm that is now his home, in Section 
1, Sherman township, and he is a son of the 
late Albert Hubka, an honored pioneer to 
whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of 
this volume. Emil Ilubka has been from boy- 
hood actively associated with the operations 
of his present farm, and succeeded to the own- 
ership of the place, which comprises two hun- 
dred and forty acres, improved with good 
buildings and showing every evidence of thrift 
and good management. He is a Democrat in 
his political proclivities but has had no am- 
bition for public office of any kind. 

In 1907 was recorded the marriage of Air. 
Hubka to Miss Carrie Sikyta, who likewise 
was born and reared in this county, her father, 
Frank Sikyta. being a substantial farmer in 
Johnson county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hubka have five children, — Evelyn, Georgia, 
Emil. Jr. : Walter, and Marvin. 



HORACE M. MILLER has found in the 
village of Filley ample scope for the manifest- 
ing of his exceptional initiative and executive 
ability, in the management of the well ordered 
grain elevator, as local representative of the 
Central Granaries Company, of Lincoln. He 
is essentially one of the most vital and pro- 
gressive business men and loyal citizens of the 
village and his success in connection with the 
productive activities of life has been won en- 
tirely through his own ability and efforts. 

Mr. Miller was born in Campbell county, 
Tennessee, on the 18th of July, 1871, and is 
a son of John H. and Frances ( Shepherd) 
Miller, both of whom were born in the vear 
1849. — the former in Tennessee and the lat- 
ter in Virginia. The father is now a sub- 
stantial exponent of farm enterprise in Rich- 
ardson county. Nebraska, where he established 
his residence in 1884. He and his wife be- 
came the parents of nine children, of whom 
the subject of this sketch is the eldest; Charles 
resides at Rulo, Richardson county ; James 



is a drug clerk in the city of Chicago ; Robert 
is a telegraph operator and is now residing in 
New Mexico ; Jacob is associated in the work 
of his father's farm; Josephine is the wife of 
R. S'eymour Coupe, a farmer in Richardson 
county ; Laura is the wife of Louis C. Schnell, 
of r>oise, Idaho; Annie is married and lives in 
the city of Portland, Oregon; Bessie is the 
wife of Charles A. Conn, of Seattle, Wash- 
ington. 

John H. Miller was reared and educated in 
Tennessee and is a son of Ashby Aliller, who 
removed to that state from Virginia and who 
became a prosperous farmer : he was influen- 
tial in local politics and served many years as 
justice of the peace. James Shepherd, mater- 
nal grandfather of the subject of this review, 
was a native of Virginia and became a sub- 
stantial farmer in Tennessee, where he lived 
until his death. John H. Miller followed the 
business of brickmaking in his native state 
and in 1884 he came with his familv to Neb- 
raska and engaged in farming in Richardson 
county, where he and his wife still maintain 
their home. He is a Republican in politics, 
formerly served as a member of the Tennessee 
National Guard, at the close of the Civil war. 
and he and his wife hold membership in the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 

Horace M. Miller acquired his earlier edu- 
cation in the schools of his native state and 
was thirteen years old at the time of the family 
removal to Nebraska. Here he continued his 
studies in the public schools at Rulo, Richard- 
son county, and at that place he was there- 
after employed several years as clerk in a mer- 
cantile establishment. Thereafter he there 
served six years as assistant postmaster of 
Rulo, after which he learned the trade of tel- 
egraphy and for a time served as an operator 
for the Burlington Railroad. He then turned 
his attention to the grain business, at Rulo, 
where he remained until 1898, when he came 
to Gage county and took charge of the grain 
elevator at Filley, as representative of the Cen- 
tral Granaries Company, of Lincoln. He has 
since retained this position and has made an 
admirable record, few of the agents of this 
representative Nebraska corporafion having 



956 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



handled for it a larger amount of grain than 
has the popular agent at Filley. 

On the 1st of November, 1891. Mr. Miller 
wedded Miss Laura A. Rickabaugh, who was 
born in the state of Ohio, a daughter of Henry 
Ri:kabaugh, who came to Nebraska in 1886, 
but who later returned to Ohio, where he still 
resides and where occurred the death of his 
wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born 
nine children: .Maude A. is the wife of Clif- 
ford Armstrong, who is, in 1918, a student in 
a leading medical college in the city of Chi- 
cago ; Helen is a popular teacher in the schools 
of Gotthenburg, Dawson county, Nebraska : 
John is a student in the .Nebraska State .Nor- 
mal School at Peru ; and Ruth, Frederick, 
Gertrude, Robert. Howard and Mildred re- 
main at the parental home. Mrs. Miller is an 
active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church and is a popular figure in the leading 
social activities of her home community. 

Mr. Miller is past master of the local lodge 
of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and is 
affiliated also with the Modern Woodmen of 
America and the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen. His political allegiance is given to 
the Reiniblican party and he has given loyal 
and characteristically efficient service as a 
member of the village council of Filley, of 
which he was president for several terms, be- 
sides which he has been a valued member of 
the school board, of which he is serving in 
1918 as moderator. He has given to his chil- 
dren the best of educational advantages, two 
of the number having completed courses in 
the state normal school at Peru and another 
of them being there a student at the time of 
this writing, as noted previously. The same 
provision will be made for the higher educa- 
tion of the younger children, and in no one 
sense can paternal stewardship be shown more 
effectively than in this direction. 

J< >11.\ .\. HI'.\Ri). a representative farmer 
of Logan township, is a well known citizen 
who can c'aim the fine old lUickeye .state as 
the place of his nativity. He was born in 
Clark county. Ohio, on the 21st of December. 
18,^7. and in the .same county were born also 



his parents, Simon and Jane (.\nderson) Ep- 
ard. representatives of pioneer families of that 
section of Ohio and now venerable citizens of 
Colby, Kan.sas. the father having celebrated 
in 1917 his eighty-second birthday and the 
mother her eighty-first. This sterling couple 
came to Gage county about 1877, and Simon 
Epard here farmed on rented land for a num- 
ber of years. He then removed to Thomas 
county. Kansas, and took up a homestead farm 
near Colby, the county seat, in which attrac- 
tive little city he and his wife have lived re- 
tired for a number of years. From Ohio Mr. 
Epard removed to Illinois, and from the latter 
state he came to number himself among the 
pioneers of Nebraska. He and his wife be- 
came the parents of five sons and two daugh- 
ters, all of whom are living except one son : 
John, of this review, is the eldest of the num- 
ber : LoTi is a prosperous farmer in Logan 
township; Emma is the wife of John Gardi- 
ner, president of an insurance company in the 
city of Denver, Colorado ; Samuel is a pros- 
perous farmer in Thomas county, Kansas ; 
Darwin is engaged in the banking business at 
Colby, that county: and Nancy is the wife of 
John Gillespie, a farmer of the same county. 
Simon Epard still owns his valuable farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, in Thomas 
county, Kansas, as well as his residence prop- 
erty and other realty in Colby. He is a Dem- 
ocrat in politics and his wife is a member of 
the Christian church. His father, Samuel Ep- 
ard, was a native of Maryland, and became a 
pioneer settler in Ohio, and he passed the 
closing years of his life in Indiana. 

John Epard acquired his youthful education 
in the .schools of Ohio and Illinois and at the 
age of twenty-one years he came to Gage 
county. Nebraska, where for a number of 
years thereafter he farmed on rented land. He 
purchased forty acres in Logan township in 
the second year of his residence in the county, 
his profits from his farm operations the first 
season having been four hundred dollars. He 
is now the owner of a well improved and pro- 
ductive farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
in Logan township, as well as a half-section 
of land in Thomas countv. Kansas, near Col- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



957 



b_v. He is a Democrat in politics and takes 
loyal interest in community affairs, though 
never an aspirant for public office of any kind. 
Mr. Epard still permits his name to remain 
enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in 
Gage county. 

FRANK H. liROWN, who is a stockholder 
of the Farmers' Grain & Coal Company of 
Cortland and who has active management of 
this representative industrial corporation, has 
the distinction not only of being a native son 
of Nebra.;ka but also of being a scion of a 
family that was here founded in the early ter- 
ritorial era — nearly ten years prior to the ad- 
mission of the state to the Union. He was 
Iiorn at Cook, Johnson county, Nebraska, 
March 13, 1868, and is a son of Robert S. and 
Rachel (Bentz) Brown. Robert S. Brown was 
born on a farm near Thompson, Windham 
county, Connecticut, on the 2nd of November, 
1836, a son of James and Sarah (Shelly) 
Brown, who were representatives of families 
that were founded in New England in the 
colonial epoch of our national history ancT 
who were venerable citizens of Tecumsch, 
Johnson county, Nebraska, at the time of theif 
death. Reared on a farm and given the ad- 
vantages of the common schools of Connecti- 
cut, Robert S. Brown was seventeen years of 
age when he began his apprenticeship to the 
trade of blacksmith, in which he became a 
skilled artisan. In April, 1858, a few months 
after attaining to his legal majority, he ac- 
companied his parents on their removal to 
Nebraska Territory. From Brownville, Nema- 
ha county, they eventually removed to Johnson 
county, and there, in 1863, Robert S. Brown 
took up a homestead claim one and one-half 
miles northwest of the present village of Cook. 
He began the reclamation of his frontier farm 
but as a means of support continued to follow 
the work of his trade. He built a little log 
shop on the route of the old-time freighting 
line between Nebraska City and Beatrice, and 
here he did valuable service in shoeing the 
horses and doing repair work for the over- 
land freighters. In 1865 he hauled from St. 
Joseph, Missouri, with horse teams one of the 



first threshing machines brought into south- 
eastern Nebraska. His hearing became im- 
paired when he was a youth and this fact ren- 
dered him ineligible for service as a soldier in 
the Civil war. but as a workman at this trade 
he was able to do his part in furtherance of the 
Union cause, as he did much repair work and 
horseshoeing for the military forces operating 
in this section of the country. Robert S. Brown 
developed his homestead of one hundred and 
s'xty acres into one of the valuable farms of 
Johnson county and he continued to give to 
the same his active supervision until 1900, 
when he removed to the village of Cook, that 
county, where he is new living virtually re- 
tired, as one of the venerable and hon- 
ored pioneers of Nebraska and as one of 
the oldest exponents of the sturdy trade 
of blacksmith in the entire state, his work 
at his traile having been continued to 
a greater or less extent during his entire 
active career. His wife, who has been his 
devoted companion and helpmeet for more 
than half a century, was born in ( )hio, August 
12, 1843, and was a child at the time of the 
family removal to Nebraska territory, her 
father, John Bentz, having become one of the 
early settlers near Sterling, Johnson county, 
where he reclaimed a farm from the prairie 
wilds and where he passed the residue of his 
life. 

Robert S. and Rachel (Bentz) Brown be- 
came the parents of six children, all of whom 
were born on the old homestead farm in John- 
son county: Gustie is the wif^ of J. Y. Hunt, 
of Cook, that county ; Thaddeus B. died when 
about twenty four years of age ; Frank H., of 
this review, was the next in order of birth ; 
Lucy is the wife of Daniel Vliet, of Cook, this 
state ; William S. is engaged in the black- 
smithing business at Cortland, Gage county ; 
and Bert B. follows the vocation of electrician 
at Cook, Johnson county. 

Reared to the sturdy discipline of the fron- 
tier farm, Frank H. Brown grew strong of 
mind and physical powers, his early educa- 
tion having been gained in the district schools 
of Johnson county. He continued to be asso- 
ciated in the work of the home farm until his 



958 



HISTORY OF GAGH COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



marriage, in 1888. and thereafter he was en- 
gaged in independent farm enter])rise in liis 
native county until 1900. when he became as- 
sociated with the condiictint^ of a lumber busi- 
ness at Cook. In November, 1906. he came to 
Gage county and established his residence at 
Cortland, and here he has had since 1910 tiie 
management of the well equipped lumber 
yards of the Farmers" Grain & Coal Com- 
pany. A substantial and progressive business 
man and valued citizen, he commands uncjual- 
ified popular confidence and esteem. 

On the 21st of September. 1888. Mr. Brown 
wedded Miss l-"lora Godfrey, a daughter of 
John \V. and Sarah (Woods) Godfrey, who 
were born in Ohio and came from Illinois to 
Johnson county. Nebraska, in 1879. establish- 
ing their home near \'esta. The only child ot 
Mr. and Mrs. lirown is a daughter, Elsie M., 
who was graduated in the high school at Cook 
and who remains at the parental home, as a 
popular factor in the social life of the conv 
munity. 

In politics Mr. lirown accords allegiance to 
the Republi:an party, and he is ser\'ing in 
1917-1918 as master of Highland Lodge, No. 
194. Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, be- 
sides maintaining affiliation with the Modern 
Woodmen of America. 

HARRY E. SACKETT. — Gage county is 
signally favored in the personnel of its bar, 
and the representative lawyers here engaged 
in active practice are well ui)hoIding the pres- 
tige of their jircfession, both in character and 
achievement. He whose name initiates this 
paragraph has been engaged in the active gen- 
eral practice of his profession at Beatrice, 
judicial center of the county, since 1898, and 
is a member of the fimi of Sackett & Brew- 
ster, which controls a large and important law 
business, retains a representative clientage and 
has had to do with much important litigation 
in the various courts of this section of the 
state. This history properly accords recog- 
nition to Mr. Sackett as one of the able and in- 
fluential members of the Gage county bar and 
as a loyal and [progressive citizen of the city 
of Beatrice. 



Mr. Sackett was born on the parental home- 
stead farm near Warren, Trumbull county, 
Ohio, on the 10th of October. 1874, and is a 
son of Oliver P. and Mary (Evans) Sackett. 
the former of whom passed the closing years 
of his life at Beatrice. Nebraska, where he 
died in 1913, his loved and devoted wife hav- 
ing preceded him to the life eternal, and the 
family home having been at Cameron. Mis- 
souri, at the time of her demise. The late 
( )liver P. Sackett was born in Connecticut and 
was a scion of one of the sterling English 
families that was founded in New England 
in the early colonial epoch of our national 
history, his grandfather, Benjamin Sackett, 
having been a patriot soldier in the war of 
the Revolution. During the greater part of 
his long and useful life Oliver P. Sackett con- 
tinued his allegiance to the great fundamental 
industry of agriculture, and he was a success- 
ful farmer in ( )hio. whence he finally removed 
with his family to Clinton county, Missouri, 
where he continued his residence until 1903. 
In that year he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, here passing the residue of his life, 
as ])reviously noted. The original American 
])rogenitors of the Sackett family came to this 
country in 16vW, and in the early and later 
generations members of the family have stood 
exponent of sterling worth and lofty pa- 
triotism, the subject of this review being eligi- 
ble for membershi]) in the Society of the Sons 
of the American Revolution. 

Harry E. Sackett acquired his ])reliminary 
educational discipline in the public schools of 
Missouri, Ohio and Nebraska. With deep ap- 
preciation of the exacting demands in pre- 
paring himself for the legal profession, Mr. 
Sackett difl not falter in his ajjplication to 
technical study and finally was matriculated 
in the law department of the University of 
Nebraska, in which he was graduated as a 
member of the class of 1898. his reception of 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws being virtually 
coincident with his admission to the Nebraska 
bar. After his graduation Mr. Sackett began 
his professional novitiate at Beatrice, where 
he has continued in the practice of law during 
the intervening years and where he has de- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



959 




Harry E. Sackett 



960 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



velopeci a substantial practice of essentially 
representative order, the character of his 
clientele giving the best assurance of his abil- 
ity as a trial lawyer and well fortified coun- 
selor. He is senior member of the law firm 
of Sackett & Brewster, in which his confrere 
is Captain Charles L. Brewster. 

Mr. Sackett is a prominent figure in the 
local camp of the Republican party but has 
only once appeared as a candidate for public 
office not directly in line with his profession, 
he having given four years of specially effect- 
i\e administration in the office of prosecuting 
attorney of Gage county. His secure place 
in popular confidence and good will was shown 
in his election to the Nebraska state senate, in 
1907, and he proved one of the influential 
working members of the upper house during 
the legislative term for which he was elected. 
He was assigned to membership on important 
senate standing committees and introduced a 
number of bills that came to enactment as 
representative of wise legislation in behalf of 
his constituent district and the state at large. 
He has been influential in the councils and 
campaign activities of the Republican party 
in Nebraska, and in 1912 he was a delegate 
at large from this state to the Republican Na- 
tional Convention, held in Chicago. Mr. 
Sackett is a nienil)er of the directorate of the 
Beatrice Building & Loan Association. He 
and his wife are members of the Christian 
church in their home city, and he is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity, including the 
local commander)' of Knights Templars, as 
well as with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica and the Royal I lighlanders. 

On the 27th of September, 1899, was 
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sackett to 
Miss llemiina Reynolds, daughter of the late 
Dr. Hennan M. Reynolds, to whom a memoir 
is dedicated on other pages of this work, the 
Doctor having been one of the most honored 
and influential pioneers of Beatrice and the 
first mayor of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Sack- 
ett have three children, — Dean R., Harr)' E., 
Jr., and Mary Louise. 

GEORGE S. BURGER. — On his well im- 
proved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 



in Section 7, Grant township, Mr. Burger is 
proving specially successful and influential as 
a breeder of short-horn cattle of the best type, 
and through his activities he is doing much to 
raise the grade of cattle in the county that has 
represented his home since he was a lad of 
eleven years and in which he is a representa- 
tive of an honored pioneer family, a brief trib- 
ute to his father, John L. Burger, apj^earing 
elsewhere in this history and giving adequate 
data concerning the family. Mr. Burger is an 
active member of the Nebraska Short-horn 
Breeders' Association and from his fine herd 
of shorthorns he has made numerous sales for 
breeding purposes in Gage county. The lead- 
er of his herd is "Double Sultan," a son of the 
celebrated "\'ictor Sultan." He initiated his 
activities in thfe breeding of pure-bred short- 
horn cattle in 1907, has used the most careful 
methods and policies in the connection, an<l 
has become one of the leading exponents of 
this important phase of industrial enterprise 
in this section. He raises annually an average 
of about fifty head of the pure-bred short- 
horn stock and is known also as a successful 
grower of sheep. 

Mr. Burger was born in Grundy county, Illi- 
nois, on the 22d of May, 1866, about one 
year after the immigration of his parents from 
Gernianv to .\merica. and he is the first of the 
five children to have been born in the l'nite<l 
States. He gained his early education in the 
schools of his native county and. as previously 
noted, was eleven years of age when the fam- 
ily came to Gage county, in 1877. Here he 
was reared to manhood on his father's pioneer 
farm, in Clatonia township, and in the mean- 
while he profited by the advantages afforded 
in the schools of the locality. He continued 
to be associated in the work and management 
of the home farm until 1894, when he rented 
land from his father and initiated his inde- 
pendent activities as an agriculturist and stock- 
grower. About the year 1899 he purchased 
from his father his present farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, and the improvements 
which he has since made on the property mark 
it as one of the model stock farms of the 
county. — an attractive rural home that can 
not fail to challenge admiration and that gives 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



961 



every indication of thrift and prosperity. His 
success has been the direct result of indefat- 
igable energy and perseverance and in addi- 
tion to his fine homestead farm he is the owner 
of three hundred and twenty acres of land in 
Lincoln county, this state. He is one of the 
stockholders of the farmers' cooperative ele- 
vator company at Dewitt and is always ready 
to lend his influence in the furtherance of 
measures advanced for the general good of 
the community. He is independent in poli- 
tics and has served continuously since 1901 as 
a member of the school board of District No. 
149. Both he and his wife are communicants 
of the German Lutheran church. 

On the 25th of February, 1891, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Burger to Miss 
Anna B. Llrich, who was born in Illinois, July 
9, 1864, a daughter of Charles G. L'lrich, a 
sterling Gage county pioneer of whom inci- 
dental mention is made on other pages, especi- 
ally in the sketch dedicated to his son Edward. 
Mr. and Mrs. Burger have four children, — 
Albert F., Emma, Elmer and Erna, — all of 
whom remain at the parental home e.xcept 
Albert F., who is engaged in a garage at De- 
witt, Saline county. 

SAMUEL W'. BEAM, a retired farmer and 
venerable citizen of Beatrice, has been a resi- 
dent of Nebraska for somewhat more than 
thirty years and the prosperity which attends 
him represents the results of his productive 
farm activities in former years. A scion of a 
family that was early founded in Pennsylvania 
and that traces lineage back to German origin, 
^Ir. Beam was born in Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania, April 20, 1836, and is a son of John 
and Nancy ( Woolford ) Beam, both likewise 
natives of the old Keystone state, where the 
father became a substantial farmer and where 
he passed his entire life, the mother having 
survived him and having been in the home of 
one of her daughters, in Ohio, when she 
passed to the life eternal. Of the eight chil- 
dren the subject of this sketch is the eldest of 
the three now living; William is a farmer near 
Desler, Ohio ; and Rebecca, a widow, resides 
in the city of Fort \^^ayne, Indiana. John 



Beam was a member of the German Reformed 
church and his wife a communicant of the 
Lutheran church. He was a son of Christian 
Beam, who passed his entire life in Pennsyl- 
vania and whose parents were natives of Ger- 
many. 

Samuel \\'. Beam was reared on his fath- 
er's farm and gained his youthful education 
in the common schools of his native county. 
He continued his association with farm indus- 
try in Pennsylvania until 1870 when he re- 
moved to Ogle county, Illinois, where he rent- 
ed land and was actively engaged in farming, 
near Polo, for eleven years. He then pur- 
chased a farm of one hundred and twenty 
acres in Illinois, where he continued his activ- 
ities six years, and in 1887 he came to Ne- 
braska and rented a farm in Gage county. This 
farm, owned at the time by Frederick Bachle, 
continued as the stage of his productive labors 
for five years, at the expiration of which he 
purchased a half-section of land in Jefferson 
county. This property he developed into one 
of the valuable farms of that county and there 
he continued his residence until 1898, since 
which year he has lived retired in the city of 
Beatrice. 

The year 1861 recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Beam to Miss Ephia McKeefer, who likewise 
was born and reared in Pennsylvania, a daugh- 
ter of Jeremiah and Lydia (Rose) McKeefer. 
who were residents of that state during their 
entire lives. Of the remarkable and interest- 
ing family of fifteen children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Beam all are living except two : Mrs. 
Laura Staufifer resides in the state of Illinois ; 
Mrs. Louisa Graybill is a resident of Polo, 
that state ; Mrs. Lizzie Gilbert likewise lives 
in Illinois ; j\lrs. Orpha Hamilton is a resident 
of San Diego, California; Mrs. Annie Morris 
lives at Holmesville, Gage county, Nebraska ; 
Samuel is a successful farmer residing one-half 
mile south of Beatrice ; Mrs. Ella Will lives 
near Holmesville, this county ; Howard B. is 
a farmer near Holmesville; Mrs. Ida Elwood 
is the wife of a farmer in the same locality, 
Frank likewise is a farmer near Holmesville : 
Harry is associated with farm enterprise near 
Beatrice; Clara is the wife of H. E. Hill, of 



962 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Beatrice ; and Grant also remains in Gage 
county. The devoted wife and mother was 
summoned to eternal rest on the 6th of March. 
1905, she having been an earnest member of 
the Christian church, as is also Mr. Beam. 

Mr. Beam has been significantly loyal in all 
of the relations of life and has shown a high 
sense of personal stewardship. Lasting honor 
is his for the service which he rendered as a 
valiant soldier of the I'nion in the Civil war. 
In 1862 he enlisted in Company H. One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania \'olun- 
teer Infantry, with which he served nine 
months. — until the expiration of his term of 
enlistment. In 1864 he again enlisted and his 
service from this time forward covered a peri- 
od of eight months. He took part in the sec- 
ond battle of Bull Run, in 1862, and also in the 
battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 
as well as in various minor engagements. 
Under his second enlistment he particijiated 
in the battle of Bermuda Hundred, \"irginia, 
and in the battle of i'etersburg. He was cor- 
poral of his company during his first term of 
enlistment. He is affiliated with the Grand 
Army of the Republic and is a Republican in 
his political proclivities. 

J.VCOl! S. DELL is a pojndar member of a 
well known j)ii>neer family concerning which 
adequate mention is made on other pages, in 
the sketch of the career of his brother, Joseph 
C. Dell, and he himself is numbered among 
the reiiresentative exponents of a.gricultural 
and live-stock industry in the county that has 
been his home since his boyhood. Mr. Dell 
is the owner of an excellent farm of one hun- 
dred and twenty acres, in Section 15. Rock- 
ford township, a jiroperty which was pur- 
chased by him in 1904 and upon which he has 
made many modren improvements. He and 
his w-ife are prominent and zealous members 
of the Church of the Brethren, commonly des- 
ignated as the Dunkard church, and he is 
a|sistant pastor of the South Beatrice church 
of this denomination. 

Mr. Dell was born in Owen county, Indiana, 
May 11, 1868, and in the following year his 
parents removed to Iowa, where the familv 



home was maintained until 1876. when re- 
moval was made to Gage county. Jacob S. 
having been at the time a lad of six years. He 
was reared on his father's farm in Rockford 
township and after having profited by the ad- 
vantages of the old Rock school he was for 
two years a student in a school of higher aca- 
demic order at McPherson, Kansas. He has 
been an ordained clergyman of the Brethren 
church since 189" and has given earnest and 
effective service in thi' ministry. He is a 
broad-minded and progressive citizen. 

In 1905 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Dell to Miss Naomi Cullen. daughter of 
James K. Cullen. who was born in X'irginia 
and who came with his family to Gage county 
in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Dell have four chil- 
dren. — Pauline. Dwight, Dorothy and \"iolet. 

OLTMAN OLTM.\NS. who is living prac- 
tically retired on his attractive homestead farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 8. 
Highland township, is also the owner of a 
well improved estate of equal area in Nuckolls 
county. He came to .America as a young man 
with virtually no financial resources and 
through his own energi,' and ability has 
achieved substantial and worthv success. 

Mr. ( )ltmans was born in the province of 
Hanover. Germany. November 18, 1844. and 
there he was reared and educated. In 1866 
he was a soldier in the war between Germany 
and .Austria, and he saw four days' of specially 
active conflict with the forces opposed to the 
Hanoverian regiment of which he was a mem- 
ber. In 1866. shortly after attaining to his 
legal majority, he made the voyage to Ameri- 
ca on a sailing vessel, and the ship required 
seven weeks and three days to complete the 
trip across the .Atlantic. He was accompanied 
by his sister Hilda and soon after their arrival 
they proceeded to Logan county, Illinois, where 
he found employment as a farm hand. There 
he continued his active association with farm 
enterprise until the spring of 1880. when he 
came to Gage county, where he arrived in 
February of that year. He purchased cightv 
acres of unimproved land in Highland town- 
ship, and that constituted the nucleus around 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



963 



which he has developed his splendid Gage 
county farm of the present day. his farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres in Nuckolls 
county having been purchased in 1905 and one 
of his sons having active management of the 
same. With him success has not came as an 
accident but has been the result of earnest and 
persistent industry, so that he is the more ap- 
preciative of the gracious prosperity that is 
now his portion. He is fervently loyal to the 
land of his adoption, with realization of the 
fact that here he has found opportunities for 
winning independence and substantial suc- 
cess, and in both spirit and action he exempli- 
fies the true American ideals of citizenship. 
His political support is given to the Demo- 
cratic party, and he and his wife are zealous 
members of the German Methodist Episcopal 
church in their home precinct, he having been 
one of the organizers of the same. 

Miss Ella Decker was born in Germany, 
May 23, 1852, and she was a girl when she 
came to the United States. In Illinois, on the 
23d of March, 1875, she became the wife of 
Mr. Oltmans. and she has proved a true help- 
meet to him in the years that have marked 
his advancement toward the goal of prosper- 
ity. In conclusion is given brief record con- 
cerning their children : Richard is a resident 
of Texas; Rinehart has charge of his father's 
farm in Nuckolls county; Oltman Frederick 
i.s associated with his brother in the operation 
of the farm in Nuckolls county ; ^^'illiam and 
George are prosperous farmers in Highland 
township ; and Herman and Nettie remain at 
the parental home. 

FRANK C. CROCKER is another of the 
native sons of Gage county whose civic and in- 
dustrial loyalty is manifested in his successful 
activities as a representative of farm enter- 
prise, his well improved homestead farm be- 
ing situated in Section 16, Filley township, 
where he carries forward progressive and vig- 
orous work in the line of diversified agricul- 
ture and is proving specially successful also 
in the breeding and raising of cattle and swine 
of superior order. He was born in Filley 
township, on the 1st of Alay, 1877, and ade- 



quate data concerning the family history are 
given in the sketch dedicated to his father, 
Hiram P. Crocker, on other pages of this vol- 
ume. 

Mr. Crocker gained his preliminary educa- 
tion in the district schools, later attended the 
village schools at Filley and thereafter com- 
pleted a course in the Beatrice Business Col- 
lege. He has never wavered in his allegiance 
to the basic industries with which he became 
familiar in his boyhood, and has proved a 
m.ost successful and aggressive exponent of 
farm enterprise in his native county. 

In 1900 was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Crocker to Miss Dora Belle Bowen, who was 
born at Shawnee, Perry county, Ohio, a daugh- 
ter of Richard and Elizabeth (Morgan) Bow- 
en, who were born, reared, and married in 
Wales and who established their home in Ohio 
upon coming to the United States : in the ■80s 
they came to Gage county, Nebraska, and set- 
tled in Midland township, where the father 
engaged in farming and where both he and 
his wife pased the remainder of their lives. 
Of their nine children eight are living, Mrs. 
Crocker having been the fifth in order of birth. 
Mr. and !\Irs. Crocker have five children — 
Paul, Elton, Margaret, Harold, and Edith. 

'Sir. Crocker is a Republican in politics and 
he and his wife are active members of the 
Christian church in the village of Filley. He 
has attained to marked prominence and influ- 
ence as a successful breeder and grower of fine 
live stock and served five years as president 
of the Nebraska S'wine Breeders' Association, 
besides which he was for two years a member 
of the state live-stock commission, under the 
administration of Governor Moorehead, he 
having been influential in efTecting the estab- 
lishing of this commission or board, which 
has done much to advance the live-stock in- 
dustry in the state. Mr. Crocker's operations 
are conducted on the fine farm of three hun- 
dred and twenty acres which he recently pur- 
chased from his father, and upon an adjoining 
tract of three hundred and twenty acres that 
he rents. He is an extensive breeder of pure- 
blood Duroc- Jersey swine, his business in the 
handling of this fine type of swine being the 



964 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



largest of all private sales enterprises of the 
kind in the entire west and having given him 
wide reputation in farm industrial circles. He 
ships from his farm the finest types of Duroc- 
Jersey swine into all parts of the west, and 
has made this department of his farm enter- 
prise a specialty for fully fifteen years, lie 
feeds an average of more than one hundred 
head of cattle each year and he is a leader in 
advanced farm enterprise in this favored sec- 
tion of his native state. He and his family 
occupy the pleasant old homestead in which 
he was born and reared, and his progressivc- 
ness is shown not only in his individual ac- 
tivities but also in his insistent civic loyalty. 
About 1908 Mr. Crocker began zealous work 
to bring about legislative action for the pro- 
viding of a fund to be used in driving hog 
cholera from the state, and finally an ajijiro- 
priation of five thousand dollars was made by 
the legislature for this purpose. Later Mr. 
Crocker was ec|ually intluential in obtaining a 
legislative appropriation of fifteen thousand 
dollars to be used in the establishing and 
maintaining of a state laboratory in which a 
serum should be manufactured for application 
in rendering swine immune from the cholera. 
In short, it may consistently be said that no 
other man in the state has done more to fur- 
ther the swine industry within its limits than 
has he, and his efforts in the supjiression of 
hog cholera have been specially potent and 
beneficent. 



Here for the ensuing three years he was eni- 
ployerl at fami work in Hanover township, and 
thereafter he was engaged in independent fartii 
operations on land which he held under a 
Scully lease until 1905, when he purchased 
his present fine farm of two hundred acres, 
in Section 18, Filley township. Of the build- 
ings on the place when he bought the property 
there is remaining only the main part of the 
house, which he has so remodeled and im- 
proved as to make it one of the attractive 
rural homes of the township, besides which 
he has erected other farm buildings of model 
type, — all standing in evidence of his progress- 
iveness and good management as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower. For the first year 
of his residence in Gage county Mr. Wiese re- 
ceived wages of only sixteen dollars a month, 
and what he has achieved in the inter^-ening 
years is shown definitely in his ownership of 
his present valuable farm property. Mr. 
Wiese gives loyal support to the Republican 
l)arty and he served several years as treasurer 
of his school district. Both he and his wife 
are earnest communicants of the Lutheran 
church. 

In Johnson county, this state, was solemn- 
ized the marriage of Mr. Wiese to Miss Grace 
.Aden, who was bom in Adams county, Illi- 
nois, January 15, 1870, a daughter of Fokke 
and Anke (Behrens) Aden, now residents of 
Johnson county, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wiese have two sons, John and Frank, 



GERD B. WIESE is another of the repre- 
sentative farmers of Gage county who claims 
the district of Ostfriesland, Province of Han- 
over, Germany, as the place of his nativity, 
his birth having there occurred on the 19th 
of September, 1869, and his parents, Bohle 
and Sarke (Loschen) Wiese, having there 
passed their entire lives. In the schools of 
his native land .Mr. Wiese gained his early 
education and there also he gained his early 
experience in connection with agricultural 
pursuits. He was twenty-two years of age 
when he severed the home ties and came to 
the United States, in 1892, and in that year 
was recorded also his arrival in Gage county. 



JOHN L. FRERICHS is giving his atten- 
tion to the management of a well improved 
farm of one hunilred and si.xty acres, belong- 
ing to his father, in Section 29, Logan town- 
shi]), and his |)leasant home receives mail ser- 
vice on rural route No. 3 from the cit}' of 
Beatrice. He was born in Illinois. Jiuie 22, 
1881. and is a son of Lammert \\'. Frerichs, 
concerning whom individual mention is made 
on other pages of this work, so that further 
review of the family history is not required 
in the present connection. 

John L. Frerichs was about one year of age 
at the time of the family removal to Gage 
county, and here he was reared on his father's 
farm in Logan township, while his youthful 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



965 




Gerd B. Wiese and Family 



966 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



education was obtained in the public schools of 
the locality. For the past fifteen years he has 
been engaged in farming enterprise in an in- 
dependent way, and since 1906 he has resided 
on this farm, which has been improved with 
good buildings since he assumed control and 
which gives palpable evidence of thrift and 
good management. :\Ir. Frerichs is independ- 
ent in politics, is serving as township clerk, to 
which office he was elected in 1916, and is also 
a director of school district No. 115, both he 
and his wife being members of the Lutheran 
church. 

Mr. Frerichs chose as his wife Miss Fannie 
Schuster, daughter of Evert and Anna Schus- 
ter, and the three children of this union are 
Marie, Evert, and Willis. 

LAMMERT FRERICHS has all depart- 
ments of his farm enterprise well organized 
and is one of the progressive agriculturists 
and stock-growers of the younger generation 
ui I^ogan township, his well improved farm 
of one hundred and si.xty acres being situat- 
ed in Section 31 and being a part of the large 
estate owned by his father, L. W. Frerichs, 
of whom individual mention is made on other 
pages. 

I.ammert Frerichs attended in his youth the 
public schools and also well ordered German 
schools, and at the age of twenty-one years 
he began his independent operations on his 
present home place, his success being shown 
by the very appearance of the farm, which 
is kept up to the best modern standard. As a 
progressive citizen he gives his support to the 
cau.se of the Democratic party, and he and his 
wife are active comnnmicants of the Lutheran 
church. 

In 1909 Mr. Frerichs married Miss Cath- 
erine Jobman, who was born in Dawson coun- 
ty, this state, and whose father, John Tollman, 
now resides in the city of Reatrice. Mr. and 
Mrs. Frerichs have four children — Lammert, 
Jr., John, Pope, and Rcinliard. 



JOSEPH S. ST.\XEK.-In Section 24, 
Sherman township, is located the attractive 
and well ordered homestead farm of ;Mr. 



Stanek, who is a native son of Nebraska and 
a representative of a pioneer family of Pawnee 
county. He was born in that county, on the 
11th of May, 1871. and is a son of Anton and 
Anna (Kovanda) Stanek, both natives of Bo- 
henn'a, where they were reared to maturity, 
both having been young folk when they came 
to the United States. In 1867, the year that 
marked the admission of Nebraska to state- 
hood, Anton Stanek numbered himself among 
the pioneers of Pawnee county, where he re- 
claimed and improved a farm and met his full 
share of the hardships that fell to the lot of 
the early .settlers of Nebraska. He won suc- 
cess and prosperity through his industry and 
good management and continued his residence 
in Pawnee county until his death, his widow 
being now a resident of Humboldt, Richardson 
county. Of their six children the subject of 
this review is the eldest ; Albert is deceased ; 
Frank and James are engaged in farm enter- 
prise in Pawnee county ; Fannie remains with 
her widowed mother: and Annie is the wife 
of Frederick Fridley, of Humboldt, this state. 
Joseph S. Stanek was born in the pioneer 
dugout which at the time constituted the home 
of his parents, and was reared under the con- 
ditions marking the pioneer days, his early 
educational advantages having been those of 
the district schools. His father was killed in 
a railroad accident and Joseph S., as eldest of 
the children, thereafter assumed the manage- 
ment of the home farm and the providing for 
his mother and the other members of the fam- 
ily. At the age of twenty-nine years he en- 
.gaged independently in farm industry in his 
native county, and two years later he pur- 
chased his present farm and became one of 
the enterprising and industrious agriculturists 
of Gage county, his well directed energies 
having brought to him a generous success and 
liaving marked him as a thorough-going farm- 
er. He is independent in politics and gives his 
support to men and measures meeting the ap- 
proval of his judgment. He served ten years 
as a member of the school board of his dis- 
trict and is a citizen who commands high es- 
teem. 

At the age of twenty-eight years Mr. Stanek 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



967 



wedded Miss Anna IJuljka, danghter of Albert 
Ilubka, of whom mention is made on other 
])ag'es, and the one child of this union is a son, 
Lester. 

It may consistently be stated that the father 
of Mr. Stanek was a mason by trade, and that 
in the early period of his residence in Ne- 
braska he supplemented his income by work 
at his trade. In this connection he frequent- 
ly walked to Crownville and Lincoln to find 
employment at his trade, and he received com- 
pensation of five dollars a day, which he used 
in providing for his family. He assisted in 
the building of the state penitentiary in the 
city of Lincoln. He worked at intervals in 
Iowa also, and once when he and his partner 
were ready to cross the Missouri river they 
found the ferry out of commission, under 
which conditions they placed their clothing on 
their shoulders and swam the entire distance 
across the stream. In his pioneer home his 
wife used a coiTfee-mill to grind corn for food. 

In 1917 Mr. Stanek purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres of land in Saskatchewan, Can- 
ada, wdiere he will farm during the summer 
seasons, returning to Gage county, during 
tlie winter months. 

JOHN D. THORNBURG. — In the year 
that marked the admission of Nebraska to 
statehood Mr. Thornburg numbered himself 
among the pioneer settlers in Gage county 
and during the long intervening period of half 
a century he has continuously held precedence 
as one of the representative citizens and farm- 
ers of Midland township, where he is now the 
owner of a well improved landed estate of 
two hundred acres. He endured his share 
of the hardships and trials incidental to pio- 
neer life, did well his part in the furtherance 
of civic and material development and progress 
and is a sterling citizen to whom it is gratify- 
ing to accord recognition in this publication. 

Mr. Thornburg was born in Randolph coun- 
ty. Indiana, July 30. 1846, and is a son of 
Jolm L. and Harriet (Diggs) Thornburg, the 
former of whom was born in Ohio and the 
latter in Pennsylvania, their marriage having 
been solemnized in the Iloosier state. lohn 



L. Thornburg, who was born in the year 1821 
and whose death occurred in 1911, was reared 
and educated in Indiana and was a scion of 
a sterling pioneer family of that state. He was 
a son of Joab A. and Betsy (Holoway) Thorn- 
burg, the former of whom likewise was born in 
Ohio, his father, Isaac Thornburg, having been 
one of the very early settlers in the old Buck- 
eye state and having served as a soldier in the 
war of 1812. John Diggs, maternal grandfath- 
er of the subject of this review, was a native of 
England and became a pioneer settler in Ohio, 
to which state he removed from Pennsylvania. 
John L. Thornburg was a lad of seven years 
at the time of his parents' removal from Ohio 
to Indiana, where he grew to man's estate and 
where he continued his alliance with farm in- 
dustry until he removed with his family to 
Iowa. He thus became a pioneer of the 
Hawkeye state, as did he later of Nebraska, 
to which latter commonwealth he came in 
1869. He made Gage county his destination, 
purchased land in Rockford township and here 
he developed a productive farm. Eventually 
he sold the property and removed to Kansas, 
in which state he and his wife passed the re- 
mainder of their lives, theirs having been the 
distinction of being pioneers in each of three 
now opulent states of the west. Both were 
birthright members of the Society of Friends, 
to which gracious faith they adhered all their 
lives. In politics Mr. Thornburg was origin- 
ally an old-line Whig, but he espoused the 
cause of the Republican party at the time of its 
organization and thereafter supported its 
principles until his death. Of his nine children 
five are now living, — Mrs. Olive Moore, of 
Morgan county, Kansas; John D., the immed- 
iate subject of this sketch ; Mrs. Lydia Stapes, 
a resident of Iowa; Mrs. Rachel Fetrel, of 
Washington county, Kansas ; and Mrs. Cath- 
erine Henry, who maintains her home in the 
state of Idaho. 

John D. Thornburg was reared on the old 
home farm in Indiana and acquired his early 
education in the common schools of that state. 
He was eighteen years of age at the time of 
the family removal to Iowa, in 1864, and there 
he remained until 1867, when he came to the 



968 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTV. NEBRASKA 



new state of Nebraska and numbered himself 
among the pioneers of Gage county. He en- 
tered claim to a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Section 25, Midland township, 
and here he has resided during the passing 
years, which have brought to him a generous 
measure of success and prosperity, as well as 
inviolable place in the confidence and esteem 
of all who know him. On his embryonic farm 
he provided as his first domicile a rude dug- 
out of the type common to the early pioneer 
days, and later he manifested his enterprise, 
as well as his increasing prosperity, by erect- 
ing his present attractive residence, as well as 
other excellent farm buildings. He has been 
a vigorous and resourceful exponent of agri- 
cultural and live-stock industry in this section 
of the state and. as before stated, is now the 
owner of a fine farm property of two hundred 
acres. He has given special attention to the rais- 
ing of full-blood Red Polled cattle. Mr. Thorn- 
burg recalls that when he first established his 
home on his present farm his nearest neighbor 
was sixteen miles distant, and he has done his 
share in bringing about the marvelous chang- 
es that have been wrought in the intervening 
years. His courage has been on a parity with 
his ambitious purpose and he never faltered 
in the face of difficulties and reverses while he 
was striving to reclaim and develop his farm 
and to aid in civic and material advancement, 
his devoted wife having been his earnest help- 
meet and coadjutor. His political allegiance 
is given to the Republican party and his civic 
loyalty has been shown in his effective service 
as township assessor, of which ofifice he was 
the incumbent for two years, and as a member 
of the school board of his district. He has 
been for many years an active member of the 
Christian church, of which his wife likewise 
was an earnest adherent. 

In 1865 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Thornburg to Miss Mary E. Ford, who like- 
was born in Indiana. She was a daughter of 
Dr. R. and Elizabeth (Bricker) Ford, who 
were residents of Iowa at the time of their 
death. The supreme loss and bereavement in 
the life of Mr. Thornburg was that entailed 
in the death of his loved wife, who was sum- 



moned to eternal rest on the 22nd day of Oc- 
tober. 1915, and whose memory is revered by 
all who came within the compass of her gentle 
influence. Of their nine children six are liv- 
ing: -Alonzo U. is a prosperous farmer in 
Osborn county, Kansas ; Elvin A. is engaged 
in farm enterprise in the state of Oregon ; 
Rosanna is the wife of Elmer E. Phillips, of 
Custer county, Nebraska ; Frank \'. has active 
charge of his father's farm, in association with 
his younger brother, and is also the owner of 
a farm of ninety acres, in Midland township; 
Miss Pearl remains at the parental home; and 
Charles E. is associated in the work and man- 
agement of the home farm. 

CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. — The well 
ordered farm of Mr. Andersen comprises one 
hundred and sixty acres and is situated in Sec- 
tion 35, Hooker township. He purchased 
this property in 1884, the land having at the 
time been entirely unimproved, and with the 
passing years he has reclaimed the farm most 
efTectively and made it one of the valu- 
able places of Hooker township. He has pro- 
vided excellent buildings and unequivocal suc- 
cess has attended his activities as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower. Mr. Andersen is 
consistently to be designated as a pioneer citi- 
zen of Nebraska, in which state he has main- 
tained his home for nearly half a century and 
in which he has stood exponent of loyal and 
appreciative citizenship. His political support 
is given to the Republican party and he and 
his wife are earnest members of the Lutheran 
church. 

Mr. Andersen was born and reared in Den- 
mark, the date of his nativity having been 
September 2. 1842. He is a son of Nis and 
Eliza (Gissen) .\ndersen. the latter of whom 
(lied in Denmark. Nis Andersen came to the 
I'nited States in 1881 and he passed the re- 
mainder of his life in Illinois, his vocation in 
his native land having been that of a farmer. 
Of the six children the subject of this sketch 
is the younger of the two surviving, and An- 
drew is living retired in Bureau county, Illi- 
nois. 

Christian .\ndersen gained his early educa- 



I 

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



969 



tion ill the schools of his native land, and there 
he served on two dilTerent occasions as a mem- 
ber of the Danish army. He came to the 
United States in 1871, and for some time he 
fountl employment in the city of Chicago, af- 
ter which he was for seven years engaged in 
farming in Bureau county, Illinois, in which 
state he resided for a total of twelve years. 
In the autumn of 1884 he came to Nebraska, 
and here his energy, industry, and ability 
have gained to him substantial prosperity, he 
having been for many years one of the suc- 
cessful farmers of Gage county. 

In 1872 Mr. Andersen wedded Miss Mary 
C. Hendricksen, who likewise was born in 
Denmark, a daughter of Peter Hendricksen, 
who there passed his entire life. Mr. and 
Mrs. Andersen became the parents of six chil- 
dren and concerning them brief record is here 
given : Christina is the wife of T. Thomp- 
son, a farmer in Filley township; Matta is the 
wife of Harry Yohe, of the same township; 
Peter R., who is an active manager of his 
father's farm, married Anna Christiansen, 
whose death occurred November 29, 1915, and 
who is survived by three children — Marion, 
Howard, and Julia; Anna is the wife of Wood 
Lovett, of Johnson county ; Andrew is en- 
gaged in farming in Hooker township; and 
Millie is the wife of Carl Sorensen, of Filley 
township. 

AUGUST HASENOHR is another of the 
sterling citizens given to Gage county by the 
great empire of Germany, and in the state of 
his adoption he has through his own ability 
and energy so taken advantage of opportuni- 
ties as to win for himself substantial prosper- 
ity. He came to Gage county shortly after 
attaining to his legal majority and here he 
found employment at farm work. What the 
intervening years credit to him in achieve- 
ment is shown in his ownership at the present 
time of a valuable landed estate of six hun- 
dred and forty acres, — comprising two differ- 
ent farms in Gage county and one — of one 
hundred and sixty acres — near Dewitt, Sal- 
ine county. His fine homestead farm, com- 
prising one hundred and sixty acres, is one of 



the model places of Holt township and is sit- 
uated in Section 8, about four miles distant 
from the village of Pickrell, which is his post- 
office address. On this homestead Mr. Hasen- 
olir has made the best of modern improve- 
ments, his barn, thirty-six by forty-four feet 
in dimensions, having been erected in 1910, 
and the following year having recorded the 
erection of his handsome farm residence of 
twelve rooms. 

Mr. Hasenohr was born in the province of 
Westphalia, Germany, January 22, 1866, and 
is a son of Herman and Elizabeth (Saving) 
Hasenohr, who passed their entire lives in 
that section of Germany : of their seven chil- 
dren the subject of this review is the only one 
in the United States. 

August Hasenohr was reared and educated 
in his native province, where his father was a 
prosperous farmer, and in 1888, at the age of 
twenty-two years, he severed the ties that 
bound him to home and fatherland, in order 
that he might win for himself independence 
and prosperity in the United States. Soon 
after his arrival he came to Gage county, and 
for the first summer he was employed on a 
farm in Holt township. His previous exper- 
ience well fitted him for independent enter- 
prise as an agriculturist and stock-grower, and 
as his financial resources were not sufficient 
to justify him in purchasing a farm, he 
achieved the desired end to a certain extent 
by renting land near Pickrell, wliere he con- 
tinued farming under these conditions, and 
with cumulative success, until 1897, when he 
made his first purchase of land, — a farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 15, 
Holt township. There he continued his resi- 
dence until 1908, when he removed to his pres- 
ent homestead farm. With increasing pros- 
perity Mr. Hasenohr continued to make judi- 
cious investment in Gage county land, and he 
is at the present time the owner of a valuable 
and well improved Gage county estate of four 
hundred and eighty acres, as previously inti- 
mated in this article. He is one of the sub- 
stantial stockholders in the farmers' grain 
elevator at Pickrell, is a Republican in poli- 
tics, and is honored as a loval and liberal 



070 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



citizen, as well as a man of sterling character 
and worthy achievement. Both he and his 
wife are active communicants of the German 
Lutheran church. 

February 19, 1886, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Hasenohr to Miss Carolina Tesniann, 
and about two years later she accompanied 
him on his immigration to .Vmerica. She was 
born in W'estphalia, Germany, July 27. 1859, 
and has been to her husband a true companion 
and helpmeet during the years that have 
marked his steady advancement toward the 
goal of prosperity. Of the seven children of 
^Ir. and Mrs. Hasenohr the first two were 
born in Germany : William is now a success- 
ful farmer east of the city of Beatrice ; Anna 
is the wife of Henry Henke, of Otoe county, 
this state ; Theodore is a progressive farmer 
in Holt township and Frederick near Dewitt, 
Saline county : Lillie is the wife of Dick Hclm- 
ke, of Holt township: and Alfred and ( )>car 
remain at the parental home. 

BRUNO J. BUHR is the owner of a farm 
of one hundred and twenty acres, in Section 
24, Hanover townshi]). has been a resident of 
Gage county since he was two years of age 
and his present farm is a part of the excellent 
landed estate accumulated by his father, who 
was a sterling pioneer of the county. He gives 
his attention to diversified agriculture and 
stock-raising, and in his farm enterprise is dis- 
tinctly energetic and progressive, so that suc- 
cess conies to him as normal perogative. 

Mr. Buhr was born in Atchison county, 
Missouri, October 19, 1878, and is a son of 
John G. and Grace ( Holz ) Buhr, boih of 
whom were born and reared in Germany. In 
America their original home was in Illinois, 
where Mr. Buhr was engaged in Fanning for 
a few years, after which he removed to Mis- 
souri and continued in the same basic line of 
enterprise, as did he later, for one year, in 
Kansas. He came to Gage county about the 
year 1880, and after farming for a time on 
rented land he purchased one hundred acres 
in Hanover township, where he later bought 
an additional tract, of one hundred and twenty 
acres. He reclaimed his farm from the virgin 



prairie, made good improvements on the 
place and on the old homestead both he and 
his wife passed the remainder of their lives, 
both having been zealous members of the Ger- 
man Lutheran church. (Jf their eight chil- 
dren five are living: Annie, who resides on 
her farm in Filley township, is the w-idow of 
Albert Lukin ; John J. is a prosperous fanner 
in Logan township; Albert J. is a farmer in 
Norton county, Kansas ; Gerd is engaged in 
successful farm enteqjrise in Hanover town- 
ship; and the subject of this review' is the 
youngest of the number. 

Bnmo J. Buhr acquired his early education 
in the district schools and thereafter continued 
to be associated with his father in the manage- 
ment of the home farm, which he finally pur- 
chased, by acquiring the interests of the other 
heirs, in 1907. He permits nothing to deflect 
him from his close application to the work and 
management of his farm but is loyal and pub- 
lic-spirited as a citizen, his political support 
being given to the Democratic party and he 
and his wife being active communicants of the 
German Lutheran church. 

The year 1904 recorded the marriage of Mr 
Ruhr to Miss Grace Ackermann, who was 
born and reared in this county, a daughter of 
John and Geska (Schuster) Ackermann, who 
here established their home in the pioneer 
days. Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. 
Buhr all art' living save one and the names 
of the surviving children are here entered in 
respective order of birth : Grace, Geska, John, 
Tillie. Menna and Rosie. 

JESTUN O. McCLUNG was in the very 
l)rime of his vigorous and useful manhood 
when he was called from the stage of life's 
mortal endeavors, in 1892. at the age of forty- 
five years, and just prior to his demise he had 
l)urchased the farm of fifty-five acres, in Sec- 
tion 32, Filley townshi]). on which his widow 
still maintains her home. 

Jestun Otto McClung was born in Muskin- 
gum county. Ohio, on the 6th of September, 
1846, and was twelve years of age when his 
parents removed to Missouri, where he was 
reared to adult age and where he completed 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



971 




Mr. and Mrs. Tohx G. Buhr 



972 



HISTORY OF GAGE COl'XTV. NEBRASKA 



his school work. As a young man he came 
to Nebraska and leased a farm in Lancaster 
county. Later he was engaged in farming 
under similar conditions in Johnson county, 
and finally he came to Gage county, where he 
became a farmer on rented land in Filley 
township. He was industrious and progres- 
sive and his success was shown when he final- 
ly purchased a farm of his own, but his death 
occurred shortly afterward, before he had 
removed with his family to the place. He 
was a man of sterling character, commanded 
unqualified popular esteem and was a loyal and 
progressive citizen of the state and county of 
his adoption. His political support was given 
to the Republican party and he was a member 
of the Baptist church, as was also his widow, 
who now holds membership in the Christian 
church. 

After the death of her husband Mrs. Mc- 
Clung removed with her four sons to the 
farm which he had purchased, and here she 
has maintained her residence for a quarter of 
a century. Within this period excellent im- 
provements have been made on the farm, 
which is well managed and yields good re- 
turns. 

In Lancaster county, this state, the year 
1877 recorded the marriage of Mr. McClung 
to Aliss Albertina Krantz, who was born in 
Jefferson county, Wisconsin, a daughter of 
William Krantz. She was a child when her 
parents came to Nebraska and numbered them- 
selves among the pioneers of Johnson count}', 
and when she was but five years old her 
mother died. Her father later contracted a 
second marriage, and when Mrs. McClung 
was twelve years old she came to Gage county 
to make her home with the family of Lucius 
Filley, with whom she remained two years. 
In the meanwhile she had duly profited by the 
advantages of the pioneer schools, and after 
leaving the home of Mr. Filley she went to 
Lancaster county, where she met and finally 
became the wife of Mr. McClung, with whom 
she returned to Gage county. With all of 
maternal devotion she has reared her four 
sons, each of whom accords to her the fullest 
measure of filial love ant! solicitude and all 



of whom are now well established in life: 
Louis is a prosperous farmer in Sherman 
township ; John B. is a resident of the state 
of California; Guy is in Franklin county, Ne- 
braska : and Claton C. remains with his moth- 
er and has artive management of the farm. 

-Mrs. McClung's memory touches the pio- 
neer period in Nebraska history and she re- 
calls that when she was a child the Indians 
not infre(|uently called at the home of her 
father. In Gage county, as a girl, she as- 
sisted in fighting prairie fires, and she drove 
Mr. Filley's ponies to Beatrice when the pres- 
ent attractive city was a mere village with 
much of the present business and residence 
district marked by .sloughs and pond-holes. 
She remembers incidents relative to the trip 
which she made with her parents from Wis- 
consin to Nebraska, the journey having been 
made with wagon and ox team and a cow 
having been tied behind the wagon. In ford- 
ing a river en route the life of the cow was 
nearly sacrificed, as it narowly escaped drown- 
ing. Mrs. McClung finds pleasure in remi- 
niscences concerning the early days, especially 
in view of the fact that she has been a witness 
of the various stages of progress that have 
brought opulent civic and indu.strial prosper- 
ity to this section of the comonwealth. 

JOSEPH L. WEBIS. M. D., attained to 
more than local prestige in the exacting pro- 
fession that had been so signally dignified and 
honored by the services of his father, the late 
Dr. Joseph Luther \\'ebb, who was one of 
the leading pioneer physicians and most in- 
fluential citizens of Gage county and to whom 
a memorial tribute is entered on other pages 
of this publication, so that further review of 
the family history is not here demanded. It 
may be said, however, that few families have 
been more proniincntlv and worthilv identi- 
fied with civic and material dcvelojsment and 
jirogress in this favored section of Nebraska 
than that nf which the subject of this review 
is a popular representative. Though une- 
quivocal success had been his in the practice 
of his profession and as a factor in its edu- 
cational work. Dr. Josejih Lewis \\'ebb re- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



972> 



tired from active practice in the spring of 
1914, in order that he might give his personal 
supervision to the development and manage- 
ment of one of the large and valuable farm 
properties near his native city of Beatrice, 
and on this estate, in Riverside township, he 
now maintains his residence. In his farm en- 
terprise he is bringing to bear the most ap- 
proved scientific methods and the most mod- 
ern facilities, and his executive ability is such 
that he has made the farm a veritable model 
in general efficiency of operation, as it is also 
in its improvements, the while he is giving 
special attention to the raising of jnire-bred 
live stock and also the better types of graded 
stock. 

Dr. Joseph Lewis \\'ebb, third son of the 
late Dr. Joseph Luther \\'ebb and Kate Louise 
(Sheppard) Webb, was born at Beatrice, this 
county, January 25, 1884. His early educat- 
tional advantages were those afforded in the 
public schools of his native city, which was 
then a mere village, and he had also the fos- 
tering influences of a home of distinctive cul- 
ture and refinement. He prosecuted higher 
academic studies in Highland Park College, 
Des JNIoines, Iowa, and in Cotner LTniversity, 
at Lincoln, Nebraska. In preparation for his 
chosen profession he attended first the Lincoln 
Medical College, in the capital city of his na- 
tive state, and later the Bennett ]\Iedical Col- 
lege, in the city of Chicago, in which latter 
institution he was graduated as a member of 
the class of 1906 and from which he received 
his degree of Doctor of Medicine. After a 
period devoted to travel. Dr. Webb engaged 
in the practice of his profession at Hebron, 
judicial center of Thayer county. Nebraska, 
but later he returned to Chicago and became 
an attache of the general stafT of the JefTerson 
Park Polyclinic & Hospital, where he gained 
broad and varied clinical experience and where 
he remained thus engaged about two years, in 
the meanwhile having been retained to give 
courses of lectures before the students of his 
alma mater, Bennett I^Iedical College and also 
those of the Jelterson Park Hospital training 
school for nurses. After severing these rela- 
pany .A, Eighteenth Ohio \'olunteer Infantry, 



tions the Doctor again spent some time in 
travel and then he returned to Beatrice and 
became associated with his father in active 
general practice. His technical attainments 
here further brought to him recognition in 
connection with educational work in his pro- 
fession, as he was called upon to deliver lec- 
tures before the students of the Lincoln Med- 
ical College at Lincoln, Nebraska, and also 
those of the Mennonite Hospital Training 
School for Nurses, at Beatrice. As a prac- 
titioner he added to the prestige of the family 
name in Gage county, where his father had 
for many years held precedence as one of the 
leading physicians and surgeons of this sec- 
tion of the state, and finally, as previously 
noted, he withdrew from active professional 
work to give his attention to his farm inter- 
ests. The Doctor is a Republican in politics 
and his is a most vital interest in all things 
touching the welfare and advancement of his 
native city and county, his attitude being that 
of a broad-gauged and public-spirited citizen. 
August 16, 1905, recorded the marriage of 
Dr. Webb to IMiss Iva M. Gamble, of Beat- 
rice, she being a daughter of George W. Gam- . 
ble, a member of a well known pioneer family 
that early made settlement northwest of Be- 
atrice. Dr. and Mrs. Webb have three chil- 
dren, whose names and respective dates of 
birth are here indicated: Joseph Lewis, In, 
February 16. 1907; George Harold, February 
11. 1011; and Edna Katherine. September 8 
1914. 



JAMES FISHER is another of the ster- 
ling citizens who has won success and inde- 
pendence through long continued association 
with farm enterprise in Gage county, and his 
present attractive home farm, of one hundred 
and forty acres, is situated in Section 4, Sher- 
man township. 

Mr. Fisher was born in Bohemia, Germany, 
March 1, 1857, was there reared and educated 
and was twenty-two years of age when he came 
to the United States. He landed in the port of 
New York city and his financial resources were 
at such low ebb that he was compelled to bor- 
row twenty-four dollars to pay his railroad fare 



974 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. XEliRASKA 



to Nebraska. Upon arriving in this state he 
settled in Johnson county, where he was em- 
ployed for the following three months at farm 
work, with a compensation of but eight dollars 
a month. He was so frugal that he soon was 
able to pay the debt which he had incurred 
in coming to Nebraska, and after having 
worked about eight years as a farm employe 
he had saved one hundred dollars, besides hav- 
ing become the owner of a small house. He 
sold the house p.n.l v.ilh the one hundred dol- 
lars thus added to his savings he purchased 
a lease on school land, incidentally assuming 
a debt of two hundred dollars. After his mar- 
riage he continued his operations on this land 
eight years, and he then sold the lease and pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres in Filley 
township. Gage county. This was wild prai- 
rie land, in Section 1. and on the place he 
erected a house and other modest farm build- 
ings. There he continued his activities as a 
farmer and stock-grower for ten years, and in 
1910 he purchased his present well improvetl 
homestead farm, besides which he owns eighty 
acres in Filley townshi]) and. in 1917, gave a 
farm of eightv acres to one of his sons. Mr. 
F'ishcr endured his full share of the hardships 
incidental to pioneer life and recalls that in 
the carlv days he sold wheat for only thirty 
cents a bushel. After his marriage he and his 
wife occupied for some time a little frame 
house that was only fourteen by sixteen feet 
ill dimensions, and that afforded entirely in- 
adequate protection during the cold winters, 
the walls of the little dwelling being fre- 
quently covered with frost, so cold was the 
interior of the building. Mr. Fisher has been 
unremitting in his industry and, in the face of 
many handicaps, has achieved substantial suc- 
cess. 

In Johnson county was solemnized his mar- 
riage to Miss Anna Brush, who likewise was 
l)orn in Bohemia, and they have four children : 
I'rank. who is a successful farmer in I'"illey 
township is married and has two children ; 
Rudolph and his wife reside on another excel- 
lent farm in Filley township; Joseph, who is 
married and has one child, is a prosperous 
farmer in Sherman township ; and Helen is 



the wife of Frank Hubka, of Sherman town- 
shi]). they having one child. 

Mr. Fisher is a loyal citizen of the county 
and state in which he has found o])portuni- 
ties for the winning of independence and 
prosperity and though in a basic way he sup- 
ports the cause of the Democratic party he is 
not restricted by partisan lines in local affairs 
and gives his support to men and measures 
meeting the approval of his judgment. 

GEORGE M. STEECE is lawyer by pro- 
fession but has proved his versatility by his 
specially successful activities in connection with 
farm industry in Gage county, where he owns 
and operates a splendidly improved farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 25, 
Logan township. 

Mr. Stecce was born in Lawrence county, 
Ohio, on the 2d of July, 1852, and is a son of 
Archibald and Helen (Sterne) Steece, the 
former of whom was born in Ohio, in 1824 
and died in 1900. and the latter of whom was 
born in \'irginia. she having celebrated her 
eighty-seventh birthday anniversary in 1918 
and being still a resident of Gage county. 
The marriage of the parents was solemnized 
in Lawrence county. Ohio, where the father 
followed the trade of iron moulder, lie went 
forth as a valiant soldier of the I'nioii when 
the Civil war was i)recipitated on the nation. 
Ill response to President Lincoln's first call, 
he enlisted, in 1861. as a member of Com- 
pany A. Eighteenth Ohio \'olunteer Infantry, 
v.ith which command he proceeded to the 
front and continued in active service one year 
and four months, at the expiration of which 
he was given an honorable discharge, on ac- 
count of physical disability. After the war 
he continued his residence in Ohio until 1877, 
when he removed with his family to Benton 
county. Iowa, and in 1881 he came with his 
family to Gage county. Nebraska, where he 
purchased the homestead now owned by his 
son George ^L, the immediate subject of this 
sketch, who is the only child. On this farm 
Mr. Steece passed the remainder of his life, 
and he achieved success in connection with 
farm enterprise in this county. He was a 
Republican in politics, and was affiliated with 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



975 



the Grand Army of the RepubHc. his widow 
beiiii^ an earnest member of the Mctho<hst 
Episcopal church. Archibald Steece was a 
son of George Steece, who was born in Mar\'- 
land. and who became a successful manufac- 
turer of pig iron in Ohio, later following the 
same line of enterprise in Missouri, where 
his death occurred, the family lineage tracing- 
back to staunch Holland Dutch origin. Wil- 
liam Sterne, maternal grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this review, was born in Mrginia and 
removed thence to Ohio in 1847. He became 
a successful and influential exponent of the 
iron industry in the Buckeye state, where he 
])assed the closing years of his life. 

George ]M. Steece acquired his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of his native state 
and finally he entered the law department of 
tlie celebrated University of Michigan, at Ann 
.•\rbor, from which he received his degree of 
Bachelor of Laws upon his graduation as a 
member of the class of 1873. For two years 
thereafter he was engaged in the practice of 
his profession at Vinton, Iowa, and in 1881 
he accompanied his parents on their removal 
to Gage county, where he has since been in 
active charge of the farm purchased by his 
father. He has erected all of the present 
farm buildings, which are of model type, and 
is one of the successful agriculturist and stock- 
growers of the county. 

In 1S79 ;\Ir. Steece wedded Miss Eva Gam- 
ble, who was born in Wabash county, Indiana, 
a daughter George and Mary (Squire) Gam- 
ble, the former a native of Mrginia and the 
latter of Kentucky. ]\lr. and Mrs. Gamble 
finally removed with their family to Iowa, 
where the death of the latter occurred, and 
he was a resident of Colorado at the time of 
his death. Both he and his wife were of 
Scotch-Irish ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Steece 
have five children ; Lottie is the wife of Dav- 
ici Thompson, of Riverside township; Jessie 
J. is the wife of James C. Carmichael, who 
rents and operates the farm of Mr. Steece ; 
Louis is an agent for the Metropolitan Life 
Insurance Company, in the city of Beatrice ; 
Guv is engaged in farming in Logan town- 
shiji ; and Florence is the wife of C. Peter 



Jensen, likewise a farmer in this township. 

In politics ;\lr. Steece is a staunch Repub- 
lican, thoroughly fortified in his convictions 
concerning economic and governmental poli- 
cies, and he has held various township offices, 
including that of assessor, of which he is the 
incumbent in 1918. He passed one summer 
in Omaha as an attache of the meat inspec- 
tion service of the agricultural department of 
the government, and it should be noted that 
prior to coming to Nebraska he was for two 
years editor and publisher of the Benton 
County Democrat, at A'inton, Iowa. On his 
farm he gives special attention to the raising 
of pure-blood Jersey cattle. He is affiliated 
with the Modern Woodmen of America and 
he and his wiie are active members of the 
IMethodist Episcopal church. 



J. J. KING is one of the vigorous and suc- 
cessful farmers of Filley township, where he 
conducts operations as an agriculturist and 
stock-grower on three hundred and twenty 
acres of rented land, besides being the owner 
of his attractive little homestead farm!, of 
thirty acres, in Section 32, He is a son of 
Charles W. King, of whom specific mention is 
made on other pages, so that further review 
of the family history is not here demanded. 

Mr. King was born in Rock Island coimty. 
Illinois, on the 23d of March, 1871. and was 
five years of age at the time of the family re- 
moval to Gage county, Nebraska, where he 
was reared on a farm and received the ad- 
vantages of the local schools. As a young 
man he engaged in independent farming on 
rented land in Filley townshi]i, and in 1905 
he purchased his present homestead place of 
thirtv acres, upon which he continues to make 
excellent improvements from time to time. 
lie is a Republican in politics and he and his 
wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

In 1912 was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
King to Miss Emma Shelton, who was born 
in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, and who 
is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant 
home. Thev have no children. 



976 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'.XTV, NEBRASKA 



MARTIX FRITZEX makes each succes- 
sive year count in productive activity and cum- 
ulative prosperity in connection with the var- 
ied operations on the farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres which is his place of residence, 
in Section 21, Logan township, the property 
belonging to his father, Lammert Fritzen, an 
honored pioneer of the county. 

Martin P'ritzen was born in Adams county. 
Illinois, on the 26th of January, 1873, and was 
only a boy at the time of the family removal 
to Gage county. Nebraska, where he was 
reared on his father's farm and where he 
profited duly by the advantages afforded in 
the district schools of Logan township. .\t 
the age of twenty-four years he began farm- 
ing in an independent way, and his energy 
and good judgment have brought to him a 
generous measure of success in his operations 
as an agriculturist and stock-grower. He re- 
calls the conditions that obtained in the pio- 
neer period of Gage county history and as a 
boy he herded cattle over the prairies, when 
settlers were few and widely separated. Mr. 
Fritzen is a Democrat in politics and has been 
called upon to serve in the offices of justice 
of the peace and road supervisor, in each of 
which he acquitted himself with characteris- 
tic ability and fidelity. 15oth he and his wife 
are active communicants of the Lutheran 
church. 

In 1899 Mr. Fritzen wedded :\Iiss Ricka 
Buss, who likewise is a native of Adams coun- 
ty, Illinois, and they have seven children : An- 
nie, Lammert. Gerhard, Otto. Martin. Jr., 
Carl, and John, all of whom remain members 
of the ideal family circle of the parental home. 

WILLIAM R. JONES. — Though he has 
not advanced far beyond the psalmist's span 
of three score years and ten and has the men- 
tal and physical vigor that belies even this age, 
Mr. Jones has the enviable distinction of be- 
ing at the present time the earliest settler of 
Beatrice now living within its gracious borders. 
He was a lad of eleven years when he ac- 
companied his parents on their immigration 
to Nebraska Territon-, in 1857, and the fam- 
ilv home was in that year established in Gage 



county, — a full decade prior to the admission 
of the state to the Union. It can thus be 
realized that the memory of this honored 
pioneer compasses virtually the entire gamut 
that has been run in the development of this 
section of Nebraska from a prairie wilderness 
to a populous and opulent district of a great 
commonwealth, and it is gratifying to him 
that he has been able to play a part in the civic 
and industrial progress and upbuilding of Gage 
county. 

Mr. Jones was bom in Lawrence county, 
Ohio, on the 9th of September, 1846, and is 
a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Pethoud) 
Jones, the former of whom was bom in Gray- 
son county, X'irginia, of staunch Welsh line- 
age, and the latter of whom was bom in 
Lawrence county, Ohio, where her parents 
settled in the early pioneer days. The parents 
of Mr. Jones continued their residence in 
Ohio until 1855, when they started for the 
west. After remaining six months in Platte 
county, Missouri, they continued their journey 
to Jefferson county, Kansas, where they re- 
mained until September 1st, 1857. when, with 
the primitive equipment of team and wagon, 
they set forth on the overland journey to 
Gage county, Nebraska, which at that time 
was on the veritable frontier. Their first din- 
ner in this county was eaten while they were 
encamped on the banks of Blue river, and on 
the occasion of the ele\enth anniversary- of the 
birth of their son William R., of this review. 
Samuel Jones entered a pre-emption claim in 
what is now Midland township. Gage county, 
and here he eventually became the owner of 
three hundred and sixty acres of land, an ap- 
preciable part of which he brought under ef- 
fective cultivation. In 1860, however, he went 
to Nuckolls county, where he remained about 
one year, during which he operated a pioneer 
ranch on the overland stage route. He then 
returned to his Gage county farm and here, 
save for a short interval during which he con- 
ducted a liverv' business in the city of Lincoln 
he passed the residue of his life, his death 
having occurred in 1872, when he was but 
forty-six years of age. His widow survived 
him l)y more than a quarter of a centurv- and 



I i I.STORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



977 




William R. Joxes 



978 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEUKASKA 



was a resident of Idaho, at the time of her 
death, in 1900, she having been one of the 
revered pioneer women of Gage county. Her 
father, John Pethoud was the first person to 
make setilement in what is now Midland 
township, this county, where he established 
his home in April. 1857, a number of his des- 
cendants being still residents of the county 
and further data concerning the family ap- 
pearing in other articles of this publication. 

William R. Jones was reared under the in- 
vigorating discipline of the pioneer farmstead 
and his educational advantages after coming 
to Gage county were limited to the primitive 
schools maintained by the early settlers. At 
the age of twenty years he took unto himself 
a wife, and finally they established their resi- 
dence on a homestead which he obtained in 
Section 11, Midland township. He made good 
improvements on this farm and brought it 
into an e.xcellent state of productiveness. In 
1876 he sold this property and purchased land 
in Section 24 of the same township, where he 
eventually developed a fine landed estate of 
twd hundred and twenty acres and where he 
successfully continued his operations as an 
agriculturist and as a breeder and grower of 
the better types of cattle until 1897, since which 
time he and his wife have maintained theii 
residence in the city of Beatrice, their pleas- 
ant home being at 513 West Ella street. While 
on the farm Mr. Jones also gave special atten- 
tion to the Ijreeding of high-grade road horses, 
including those of standard breeding. For 
three years he also kept on his farm a well 
ordered dairy, from which he supplied milk to 
a representative list of patrons in Beatrice. He 
continues to hold possession of his fine farm 
properly and in his retirement is far from in- 
active, as he gives much of his time and at- 
tention to the buying of poultn,'. Though he 
celebrated in 1917 his seventy-first birthday 
anniversary Mr. Jones has the bearing and 
vigor of a man twenty years his junior, and 
the passing years have failed to implant a 
single gray thread in his abundant head of 
hair. His reminiscences concerning the early 
pioneer days are most graphic and of surpass- 
ing historic interest. Apropos of this state- 



ment the following brief record is specially 
worthy of reproduction in this article: 

"After the Indian massacre occurred on the 
Little Blue river Mr. Jones was among the 
first to witness the horrors of that awful scene 
and to aid in burying the unfortunate victims. 
As an old resident of the county he is most 
intimately acquainted with its history and no 
citizen has witnessed with greater satisfaction 
the gradual march of development and pro- 
gress. He is interested in all matters pertain- 
ing to church, school and state, and has given 
earnest support to measures advanced for the 
general good of the community." 

Mr. Jones has never wavered in his loyal al- 
legiance to tlie Democratic party and he has 
been long and prominently affilliated with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, through 
active membership in all of its branches. He is 
a member of the Knights of Pythias and the 
Improved Order of Red Men. Though he has 
been liberal and progressive as a citizen Mr. 
Jones has not been greatly afflicted with am- 
bition for public office, and his civic loyalty 
was the principal cause of his becoming a can- 
didate for the office of county sheriff, to which 
he was triumphantly elected in 1888 and in 
which he continued to give admirable adminis- 
tration for a term of two years. 

September 15, 1866, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Jones to Miss Hester .\. Henton, who 
was born near Des Moines. Iowa, November 
2.5. 18-K3, that city having then been little more 
than a frontier military post. She is a daugh- 
ter of the late James ^I. and Susan (Prim) 
Henton, the former a native of Tennessee and 
the latter of Illinois, and her parents were 
numbered among the earliest settlers of Polk 
county, Iowa. The father of Mrs. Henton 
erected and occupied the first house in Spring- 
field, the capital of Illinois. In 1855 Mr. Hen- 
ton came with his family to Nebraska and set- 
tled in Pawnee county, where he surveyed and 
defined the town of Table Rock. Both he and 
his wife passed the remainder of their lives 
in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Jones became 
the parents of ten children, and concerning the 
six now living the following brief record is 
available: Minnie L. is the wife of Ralph 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XEBRASKA 



979 



Lee, of Lincoln, this state; Susan is the wife 
of John Graves, of Fort Milton, Colorado; 
Riihama is the wife of John P. Vandel, of 
Bridgeport, Nebraska ; Hester A. is the wife 
of O. E. Carney, of Omaha ; Rebecca is the 
wife of Harry K. Davis, of Lawrence, this 
state; and Willie Ethel is the wife of B. R. 
Crone, of Beatrice. 

W1LLL\I\I L. COLLLNS has been a resi- 
dent of Gage county since 1885 and here has 
won for himself substantial prosperity through 
his effective association with the great and 
basic industries of agriculture and stock-grow- 
ing. His excellent farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres is situated in Section 31, Sherman 
township, and is equipped with good buildings 
and other improvements of permanent order, 
all of which represent the tangible results of 
his own efforts and enterprising policies. ]\lr. 
Collins is a scion of old and honored South- 
ern ancestry, both his paternal and maternal 
forebears having been prosperous planters, his 
grandfather on the paternal side having been 
Mahlon Collins, who passed his entire life in 
Virginia, and his maternal grandfather, John 
Woodruff having lived throughout his entire 
life in North Carolina. 

William L. Collins was born in Grayson 
county, ^"irginia, February 6, 1855, and is a 
son of John C. and Caroline (Woodruff) Col- 
lins, the former of whom was born in that 
same county, February 16, 1831, and the latter 
of whom was born in that part of Ashe coun- 
ty. North Carolina, that is now included in 
Alleghany county, the date of her nativity 
having been June 24, 1837, and her death hav- 
ing occurred February 14, 1913. her husband 
having survived her and his death having oc- 
curred November 7, 1915. Their marriage 
was solemnized in Ashe county and there ^Ir. 
Collins became a successful planter, both hav- 
ing remained residents of \'irginia until the 
close of their lives. Of their three children 
the subject of this sketch is the eldest ; Frank- 
lin P. is a successful agriculturist in Carroll 
county, Mrginia ; and Isaac R. came to Gage 
county. Nebraska, in the spring of 1917, he 
being now engaged in farming in the same 



township as is his brother. The mother was 
an earnest member of the Primitive Baptist 
church and was a woman of gentle and grac- 
ious personality. The father was a man of 
broad views, was the owner of a good farm 
property at the time of his death, and in 
politics he never wavered in allegiance to the 
Democratic party. 

In the schools of the historic Old Dominion 
state William L. Collins gained his youthful 
education and there he continued his alliance 
with agricultural enterprise until 1883. when 
he came to Nebraska and located in Richard- 
son county. There he remained until 1885, 
when he came to Gage county and purchased 
a farm of eighty acres, in Sherman towoshii). 
Later he purchased an additional tract of one 
hundred and sixty acres, which constitutes 
the area of his present attractive farm estate, 
the place having been entirely without im- 
provements when it came into his possession. 
He had the most limited of financial resources 
when he came to this county and by his well 
ordered activities as an agriculturist and 
stock-growers he has won place among the 
prosperous citizens and representative farm- 
ers of Sherman township. He is a Democrat 
in politics, has served as a member of the 
school board of his district and also as road 
supervisor, and both he and his wife are ac- 
tive members of the Evangelical church. In 
a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America and the Ancient 
Order of L'nited Workmen. 

November 20, 1879, recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Collins to Miss Polly Andrews, who 
likewise is a native of Grayson county, \'ir- 
ginia, and who is a daughter of John and 
Catherine Andrews. Mr. and Mrs. Collins 
became the parents of four children : Porter 
is engaged in independent farm enterprise not 
far from his parents' home ; Cora died at the 
age of twenty-one years ; John is associated in 
the work and management of the home farm ; 
and Lythia died at the age of five years. 

JOHN R. MONTGOMERY is the owner 
of eighty acres of well improved land in Sec- 
tion 13. Holt township, where he leases an 



980 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



additional tract of equal area, and where, in 
addition to raising the agricuknural products 
best adapted to this locality, he is giving 
special attention to the raising of fine Chester 
White swine, his breeding of this type of 
stock having been initiated in 1914. 

Mr. Montgomery was born in Sullivan 
county, Missouri, September 9, 1839. and is 
the eldest in a family of five children; James 
is another of the prosperous farmers of Holt 
township; Dr. William P., an able physician 
and surgeon, is now actively identified with 
farm enterprise in Holt township ; Caroline is 
deceased ; and Maude is employed in one of 
the leading hospitals in the city of Lincoln. 

John R. Montgomery is a son of Andrew 
L. and Mary (Beall) Montgomery, the for- 
mer of whom was born in Wayne county, 
Ohio, July 11, 1837, and the latter in the state 
of Illinois, in August, 1839. Andrew L. 
Montgomery and his wife were numbered 
among the territorial pioneers of Lancaster 
county, Nebraska, where they established their 
residence in 1864. Air. Montgomery entered 
claim to a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres, near the present village of Hick- 
n-an, and there he continued his activities as 
a pioneer fanner until 1870, when he came 
with his family to (jage county. He became 
the owner of a large landed estate in this 
county, where he and his wife still reside, 
and where he is still the owner of fully three 
hundred acres, the remainder of his land hav- 
ing been divideil among his children. He is 
a son of John and Mary (Shatow) Montgom- 
ery, who were born respectively in Maryland 
and Pennsylvania, and who passed the closing 
years of their lives in Ohio. Andrew L. 
Montgomery and his wife now reside in the 
village of Pickrell and are honored pioneer 
citizens of Gage county. 

John R. Montgomery was about four j-ears 
old at the time of the family removal to Ne- 
braska Territory and his early education was 
acquired in the pioneer s:hools of Lancaster 
and Gage counties. He early began to assist 
his father in the farm operations and since 
1895 he has conducted independent operations 
on his present farm, eighty acres of which 



was given to him by his father in May, 1914. 

On the 5th of January, 1887, Mr. Mont- 
gomery wedded Miss Celia Smith, who was 
born in Putnam county. Illinois, a daughter 
of Edward and Artie ( Wardlawj Smith, who 
now reside at Cortland, Gage county, Nebras- 
ka, the father having retired from the work 
of his trade, that of blacksmith. Mr. and 
Mrs. Montgomery have six children: Cecila 
is the wife of Fred Busboom, of Cozad. Daw- 
son county, this state ; Ralph is identified 
with farm enterprise in Holt township: Ho- 
mer resides in the village of Pickrell : Edward 
remains at the j>arental home; Mildred is the 
wife of E. Rudder, of Highland township; 
and Irene is the youngest member of the pii- 
rental home circle. 

In politics Mr. Montgomery is staunchly 
aligned in the ranks of the Democratic party 
and he has been influential in community af- 
fairs. In 1908 he was elected a member of 
the county board of supervisors, in which 
ppsition he served one term, besides which he 
served four years as clerk and treasurer of 
Holt township, his retirement from this dual 
office having occurred in 1917. He is af- 
filiated with the .\ncient Order of United 
Workmen and the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. 

THOMAS ACTON. — The life story of 
Thomas Acton is made specially interesting 
by reason of the fact that he came to the 
United States with scarcely a dollar in his 
possession but. after years of untiring dili- 
gence, has acquired more than an ordinary 
competence, not considering that he and his 
good wife have reared, given a good educa- 
tional advantages to and instilled high ideals 
ii: seven sons and four daughters, who are 
fast taking up their life work in their own 
homes, ready to enricli the conimunilics in 
which they live. 

Thomas .Acton was born in Ontario. Can- 
ada, and is a son of .Abraham and Elizabeth 
( Kidd) Acton, who were natives of the Emer- 
ald Isle and who in their early life come to 
Canada. Abraham .\cton was a son of Frank 
Acton, who remained in Ireland all of his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



981 



hfe. He and his son Abraham were active 
members of the Orangemen, that body of 
Protestant Irishmen which had for its pur- 
pose the overthrow of the CathoHc domina- 
tion in the civic and religious life of the Emer- 
ald Isle. Abraham Acton and Elizabeth 
(Kidd) Acton were the parents of five chil- 
dren, two of whom are living — George, of 
Summerfield, Kansas, and Thomas, the sub- 
ject of this review. Mrs. Elizabeth (Kidd) 
Acton passed away in 1844 and in 1849 Abra- 
ham Acton married the second time. Of this 
union seven children were born. 

In 1864 Air. Thomas Acton left Canada 
for the United States, and he. chose for his 
home the thriving city of Builington. Iowa. 
In Iowa he worked five years in logging 
camps, clearing the rich fertile soil ior the 
farmer who would soon follow with his im- 
plements of agriculture. From 1869 to 1885 
he operated a farm in Iowa, and he then re- 
moved with his family to Kansas, where he 
homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of 
land, in Logan county. 

In 1876, at Rockport, Missouri, culminated 
the romance of Thomas Acton and Letitia 
Patience — in their marriage and the joining 
of their lives "till death us do part." Sons 
and daughters came to them until eleven of 
them were gathered in the home, and con- 
cerning these children record is here offered : 
Gertrude is the wife of Albert H. Arneal. a 
farmer of Rawlins county, Kansas ; George 
is a farmer by occupation ; Winnie is the wife 
of D. D. Hannah, a hardware salesman, liv- 
ing at Hiawatha, Kansas ; Thomas is farming 
in Gage county; Mabel is the wife of E. C. 
Lasher, engaged in the nursery business at 
Hutchins, Kansss ; John remains on the farm 
with his father ; Arthur and Robert likewise 
are at home ; Nellie is a teacher in the Wy- 
more schools; Fred is attending school at Lin- 
coln, Nebraska ; and Frank is at home with 
his parents. The mother of this interesting 
family of children was born in Canada in the 
year 1859. 

In 1890 I\Ir. Acton came with his family to 
Island Grove township. Gage county, and 
purchased eighty acres of land — the nucleus 



around which so many additional acres have 
since been gathered. He is the owner of five 
hundred and forty acres of well improved 
land, the greater share of which is in a state 
of intensive cultivation. The home farm is 
improved with a commodious and modern 
house and the numerous other buildings which 
make a progressive farmer's place look like a 
small village. 

Mr. Acton and his family are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is in- 
dependent in politics, preferring that the pub- 
lic official should be the man best fitted for the 
office, irrespective of party affiliations. 

CYRUS P. JONES, who rents from his 
father's estate a farm of one hundred and six- 
ty acres, the southwest quarter of Section 21, 
Highland township, is one of the able and 
popular exponents of farm industry in his 
native county, is a member of the Gage' Coun- 
ty Fair Association and has been specially 
successful and prominent in the raising of 
jnire-bred and registered Poland-China swine, 
in which conection it may be noted that he is 
a valued member of the Poland-China Asso- 
ciation of Nodaway county. From his farm 
he has exhibited fine specimens of Poland-. 
China swine at the Gage county fairs and also 
at the state fair in the city of Lincoln, his 
last exhibit having been made in 1912 and he 
having received many premiums, including 
first, second, and'third prizes on his exhibits. 
In later years he has not made such displays 
of his fine stock, owing to the exigent de- 
mands made upon him in the management of 
his farm, but he continues as one of the coun- 
ty's extensive shippers of hogs, many having 
been shipped for breeding purposes into dif- 
ferent states of the union. 

Mr. Jones was born on the pioneer home- 
stead of his father in Highland township, and 
the date of his nativity was August 17, 1877. 
To his father, the late George H. Jones, a 
sjiecial memoir is dedicated on other pages, so 
that further review of the family history is not 
here demanded. Mr. Jones early began to 
aid in the work of the home farm and in the 
meanwhile profited by the advantages afford- 



982 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



cd in the district schools, after which he at- 
tended the high school at Cortland. In that 
village he thereafter clerked for a time in 
his father's general-merchandise store, but the 
vigorous life of the farm had greater appeal 
to him and after having been employed one 
year at farm work he rented land and en- 
gaged in farming in an independent way, in 
the meanwhile maintaining for the first year 
bachelor's hall on the farm. He has always 
taken much interest in fine live stock and as a 
grower of pure-bred I'oland-China swine he 
has used marked discrimination in selection 
of breeding stock, so that his success has been 
very pronounced in this interesting depart- 
ment of farm enterprise. He is a Republican 
in politics and he and his wife are members 
of the Congregational church, he having aid- 
ed in the organization of the church of this 
den(jmination in his home precinct. 

May 4, 1899, Mr. Jones wedded Miss Nettie 
Goodban, who was born in Highland tovvn- 
shi]), June 23, 1875. a daughter of John S. 
Goodban, who is individually mentioned else- 
where in this work. Mrs. Jones was grad- 
uated in the Cortland high .school and prior 
to her marriage was a teacher in a district 
school for one term. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
have five children, all of whom remain at the 
parental homes — Ethel V., Milford E., Clar- 
ence R., Neva F., and Howard I,. 

JOHN ACKERMAN. who holds secure 
status as one of the representative farmers of 
Logan township, with an attractive homestead 
in Section 9, wa.s born near Lebanon, Mis- 
souri. October 3, 1854, and is a son of Harmon 
and Franka ( Keiser) Ackerman. who came 
from Germany to America in the "40s and 
established their home in Missouri. In that 
state the father rented land and engaged in 
farming, but a few years later he removed 
with his family to .\dams county. Illinois, 
where he was similarly engaged at the time 
of the Civil war, in which he ser\-ed one year 
as a member of an Illinois regiment of volun- 
teer infantry. Of the five children of Har- 
mon and Franka (Keiser) Ackerman the sub- 
ject of this review is youngest of the three 



now living; Maggie is the wife of William 
Miller, a farmer near Sterling, Johnson coun- 
ty, Nebraska^ ; and Albert is a prosperous farm- 
er in the same county. The devoted mother 
of these children died at Lebanon, Missouri, 
and the father later contracted a second mar- 
riage, of the children of which six are living. 
Harmon Ackerman was a sincere member of 
the Lutheran church, as was also each of his 
wives, and in politics he was aligned with 
the Republican party. Through his own abil- 
ity and efforts he achieved independence and 
prosperity and he was the owner of a valuable 
farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in Liv- 
ingston count\\ Illinois, at the time of his 
death, which occurred in 1914, when he was 
eighty-eight years, seven months and seven- 
teen days of age. He reclaimed and improved 
his farm and was one of the venerable and 
honored citizens of Livingston county at the 
time when he passed from the stage of life's 
mortal endeavors. He was a son of Frank 
Ackerman, who passed his entire life in Ger- 
many. 

John Ackerman was reared on the home 
farm of his father and in his youth his edu- 
cational advantages were very limited. He 
did not, in fact, attend school until he had at- 
tained to the age of nineteen years, but in the 
great school of experience he has largely over- 
come the handicap of earlier years. Mr. Ack- 
erman continued his association with farm en- 
ter])rise in Illinois until 1877, when he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased six- 
ty-si.x acres of land, (^n this pioneer farm 
he erected a house and barn of modest type 
and finally he sold the property, for five hun- 
dred dollars. For the ensuing five years he 
farmed on land which he rented from Claus 
Zimmerman, and he then purchased,' at eight 
dollars an acre, a tract of eighty acres in Lo- 
gan township, this property being still owned 
by him. He purchased his present home place, 
for a consideration of thirty-two hundred 
dollars, and since that time he has expended 
fully seven thousand dollars in improvements 
of a permanent order. 

In 1877 Mr. .\ckcrman wedded Miss Geska 
Schuster, who was born in Germany, a daugh- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



983 



ter of Mena Schuster, she having been eight 
years old when the family came to the L'nited 
States and settled in Adams county, Illinois. 
Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Ack- 
erman the following brief record is entered : 
Frances is the wife of John Buhr, of Logan 
township; Mena is identified with farm activi- 
ties on his father's property ; Grace is the 
wife of Bruno J. Buhr, of Hooker township; 
Harmon is a resident of Hanover township ; 
and Hannah and Geska remain at the parental 
home. ]\Ir. Ackerman is an independent Re- 
publican in [lolitics and he and his wife are 
active communicants of the Hanover Lutheran 
church. 

FLOYD G. PLUCKNETT. — It is special- 
ly pleasing to accord in this volume recogni- 
tion to Mr. Plucknett, for he is a native of 
Gage county and a scion of one of its honored 
and influential pioneer families, besides having 
distinct precedence as one of the progressive 
and substantial exponents of farm industry in 
Grant township, where he is the owner of a 
finely improved farm of one hundred and 
eighty-five acres, in Sections 28 and 29. It 
was on this farm that he was born, and the 
date of his nativity was .\pril 6, 1891. He is 
a son of George .\. and Olivia (Benjamin) 
Plucknett and a grandson of the late William 
Plucknett, who was a native of England and 
who became a resident of Gage county, Ne- 
braska Territory, in 1861 : here he accum- 
ulated and developed one of the largest and 
most valuable landed estates of the county 
and was an honored citizen who did much to 
further the civic and industrial progress and 
ui)building of this favored section of the state. 
The subject of this review was but one year 
old at the time when his father was killed by 
accident, and his mother later became the wife 
of Michael Seidles, their home being now at 
Superior. Nuckolls county. Of the two chil- 
dren of the first marriage the one surviving 
is he whose name initiates this review, the oth- 
er child, a daughter, having died in infancy. 
Mr. and Airs. Seidles became the parents of 
four children, of whom three are living. 

Floyd G. Plucknett was about six years 
old at the time of his mother's second mar- 



riage and he was reared principally on the 
farm of his stepfather, in Nuckolls countq, 
his early educational advantages having been 
those of the public schools and he having con- 
tinued to assist his stepfather in the work and 
management of the farm in Nuckolls county 
until he had attained to the age of twenty 
years. For one year thereafter he farmed in- 
dependently on land which he rented in 
Nuckolls county and upon reaching his legal 
majority he came into his heritage, in his 
present farm, an integral part of the original 
landed estate of his paternal grandfather. He 
forthwith assumed control with marked ener- 
gy and progressiveness and his previous ex- 
perience admirably fortified him for success- 
ful farm enterprise. In 1911 he improved 
his farm by the erection of his modern house, 
and in the following year he erected a large 
barn, the place being now one of the model 
farms of Grant township and being the stage 
of his vigorous and successful activities as an 
agriculturist and stock-grower, in which lat- 
ter department he is giving special attention 
to the raising of pure-bred Poland-China 
swine. Returning to his native county in 
1910, Mr. Plu:knett is well upholding the 
prestige of a family name that has been sig- 
nally prominent and honored in the annals of 
Gage county history. His political allegiance 
is given to the Republican party and he and 
his wife hold the faith of the Protestant Epis- 
copal church, in which faith he was reared. 

December 25. 1910. recorded the marriage 
of Mr. Plucknett to Miss Julia Rosling, who 
was born and reared in Nuckolls county, and 
who is a daughter of the late William T. and 
Ada (Sage) Rosling. By this marriage one 
child was born, on January 23, 1918. Mr. 
and Mrs. Plucknett have an adopted daugh- 
ter. Gra:e M., who completes the immediate 
family circle in the attractive and hospitable 
home. Mr. Plucknett takes loyal interest in 
community afl'airs and in the general well-be- 
ing of his native count}-. \\'hile he has no 
ambition for public office he consented to ac- 
cept the position of road overseer, of which 
office he is the incumbent at the time of this 
writing. 



984 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



DICK OLTMAXS has won for himself 
distinct independence and prosperity since 
coming to Gage county, more than thirty years 
ago, and he is now well established as one of 
the substantial agriculturists and stock-grow- 
ers of Logan township, where he is the owner 
of an excellently improved farm estate of four 
hundred and eighty acres, his homestead being 
in Section 16. 

Mr. Oltmans was born in the eastern part 
of Germany, July 27, 1867, and i.'; a son of 
Diedrick and Elizabeth (Johnson ) Oltmans, 
who, now venerable in years, still maintain 
their home in their native land, though it has 
on two occasions been their privilege and 
pleasure to visit the home of their son Dick 
since he established his residence in Gage 
county. Of their ten children only four are 
living, Heye, eldest of the number, remaining 
in Germany; Dick, of this review, being the 
next younger: Maggie being the wife of John 
Heffling, a farmer in Hanover township, this 
county ; and Anton, remaining in Germany. 
The parents have been lifelong members of 
the Lutheran church. The subject of this re- 
view bears the full name of his grandfather. 
Dick Oltmans. who came from Germany to 
America many years ago and who passed the 
closing years of his life in the state of Illinois. 

Dick (Jltmans was in his youth afforded the 
advantages of the schools of his fatherland 
and was a vigorous lad of fourteen years 
when he came to the United States. In Logan 
county, Illinois, he found employment at fami 
work, and for some time he received compen- 
sation of only twenty-five cents a dav. In 
that state he continued to be employed bv the 
month as a fami hand until he came to Ne- 
braska and established his home in Gage 
county, in 1886. He here purchased a team 
and for the first season used the same in 
breaking land for others. The succeeding sea- 
son found him engaged in independent farm- 
ing on rented land, though he continued to 
work for others at intervals, in breaking land, 
in order to provide for his needs. In 1895 he 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres and 
by strenuous industry and good management 
he eventually paid for this propertv. He next 



bought and paid for an additional tract, of 
eighty acres, and with increasing prosperity 
he continued to make judicious investments in 
excellent farm land in Logan township until 
he now has a valuable farm estate of four 
hundred and eighty acres, as previously noted. 
He has erected good buildings on his home- 
stead and is one of the energetic and success- 
ful farmers of the county. 

In 1892 Mr. Oltmans married Miss Lena 
Frerichs, daughter of L. W. Frerichs, of 
whom individual mention is made on other 
pages, and of this union have been bom the 
following named children : Diedrick is mar- 
ried and is engaged in farming near the vil- 
lage of Pickrell; Lambert is fanning near 
Adams, this county ; Harmon is identified 
with farm enterprise near Pickrell ; Marie is 
the wife of George Meints, of Hooker town- 
ship: and Elizabeth, Ella, Wilhelm, Heye. 
Annie, and .\nton remain at the parental 
home. 

In politics Mr. Oltmans is a Democrat and 
he has served in various minor offices of local 
order. He and his wife are active communi- 
cants of the Hanover Lutheran church. 

ISAAC k. CL.\YTOX. — The subject of 
this record is one of those who have reached 
the goal after years of toil, labor and anxiety 
and all the attendant incidents of a busy life 
and have now retired from active service. 

Isaac Randolph Clayton is a native of Illi- 
nois, born at Trivoli. Peoria countv. .August 
10. 1844. His parents were Ezekiel and 
Phoebe ( Randoljjh i Clayton, the former of 
whom was bom in New York city and the 
latter in Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1839 
they drove overland with a team of horses and 
settled in Peoria county, Illinois. In 1868 
they moved to Canton, Illinois, where they both 
passed away. 

Young Clayton was reared on a fami in 
what was then a pioneer district in Illinois. He 
acquired a limited education in the district 
schools and early in life began to assist in the 
operation of the home farm. In Febraan,' 
1865, he enlisted in Company A, One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-first Illinois X'oluntcer In- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



985 




Mr. and Mrs. Is.\.\c R. Cl.wtom 



986 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



fanlry, with which he served one year in de- 
fense of the Union in the Civil war. There- 
after he was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
in Peoria and Stark counties, Illinois, until 
liS83, uhen he came to Gage county, Nebraska, 
and bought one hundred and sixty acres in 
Section 26 Sicily township. Not a furrow 
had been turned nor a stick in the way of im- 
provement. He arrived in the month of March 
and in five days had erected a house and 
moved into it. He assiduously set about im- 
proving and cultivating this tract and as the 
years passed he prospered. In 1912 he re- 
tired to Wymore, — the owner of two hun- 
dred and forty acres of valuable land. 

October 10, 1866, Mr. Clayton married 
Miss Emma Littell, who was bom in New 
York city, November 28, 1845, a daughter of 
Isaac F. and Addie (Gibson) Littell, natives 
of New Jersey and New York respectively. 
They became early settlers of Illinois where 
both passed away. 

Following is a brief record concerning the 
children of I\Ir. and Mrs. Clayton: Abbie, 
is the wife of W. I. Reed, a fanner of Sicily 
township; Hattie is the wife of Frank E. 
James, of Greeley, Colorado : Freeman F. is 
operating the old farm ; Phoebe is the wife of 
L. E. Kelley. an implement dealer at Wymore. 
Albert v<'as killed in a nmaway accident, and 
his widow, who was Miss .Mice Stevenson, re- 
sides in Linroln ; she has two daughters, — 
May is superintendent of schools at Mullen. 
Nebraska and Mabel is principal of schools 
at Alliance, Nebraska ; Charles, the youngest 
son of ^Ir. and Mrs. Clayton was killed by 
lightning, leaving a widow, who resides in 
Blue Springs with her daughter, the latter 
having been only ten days old when her father 
was killed. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton have 
twenty-five grandchildren and four great- 
grandchildren. 

In 1911 the people of Gage county, recog- 
nizing his ability, elected Mr. Clayton to rep- 
resent them in the lower house of the state 
legislature. He sened on the soldiers'-relief, 
finance and other committees. He strongly 
advocated in speech and ballot those measures 
he thought were for the good of the people 



and as firmly opposed those measures he con- 
sidered wrong. He took a firm stand in op- 
position to the bill permitting Sunday baseball 
and has never regretted any vote that he has 
cast. While living on his farm he served 
fourteen years on the school board, ten years 
as justice of the peace, two years as county 
supervisor, and one tenn as township treas- 
urer. Mr. Clayton is a firm believer in the 
doctrines of the Baptist church, of which he 
and his wife are members and in which he is 
serving as deacon. A stalwart champion of 
the cause of temperance, he has never taken a 
drink of alcoholic liquor nor played a game of 
cards. His sons and sons-in-laws all have the 
same record concerning these vices. Neither 
he nor his wife inherited a penny, and the 
success which has come to them is due entirely 
to their own perseverance and industn*-. They 
met with severe reverses during their early 
married life while living in Illinois and ir, 
Nebraska, and in the latter state they endured 
the hardships and privations incident to a 
pioneer countr}% but they met all obstacles un- 
flinchingly, and, with that determination and 
ambition which assure success, theirs has been 
a good fight, crowned with victory. They oc- 
cupy a beautiful home in \\ ymore, surrounded 
with all the necessities and many of the luxu- 
ries of life. Their happiest hours are when, 
once a year, a reunion of the family is held. 

Mr. Clayton wears the little bronze button 
signifying membership in the Grand Army 
Republic and he maintains pleasant relations 
with his old army comrades by membership in 
Coleman Post. No. 115. of Wymore. Thus 
we offer the life record of one xyho has meas- 
ured up to the highest sta'ndard of manhood, 
and it would not ))e possible to find a more 
respected citizen then he or a more highly es- 
teemed family than his. 

GEORGE F. BURGER. — In Section 19, 
Clatonia township, George Frederick Burger 
is the owner of two hundred and forty acres 
of land, besides which he has a landed estate 
of four hundred and eighty acres in Clay 
county, Kansas, the latter property being im- 
proved with two distinct groups of farm 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



987 



buildings and being under the direct manage- 
ment of his sons, Johit A. and Carl S. Rela- 
tive to the family history adequate record is 
given in the sketch of George S. Burger, on 
other pages of this work, and representatives 
of the name have played a worthy part in 
the social and industrial development of 
Gage county, where the family home was es- 
tablished in the pioneer days. 

George F. Burger was born in Bavaria, 
Germany, April 3, 1863, a son of John L. and 
Margaret M. (Rueter) Burger, and he was 
two years old at the time of the family immi- 
gration to America. He was reared and edu- 
cated in the state of Illinois and was fourteen 
years of age when he accompanied his parents 
to Gage county, Nebraska. He continued to 
assist in the work of the home farm until his 
marriage, in 1887, and thereafter he farmed 
oil land rented from his father until 1890, 
when he purchased a farm of one hundred 
and twenty acres near his present homestead 
in Clatonia township, his father having given 
him one hundred and twenty acres and he 
having purchased an additional one hundred 
and twenty acres. \\'hen he located on his 
present home farm the same had buildings 
representing an investment of about five hun- 
dred dollars, and since that time he has shown 
his progressiveness by making the liest of 
permanent improvements, including the erec- 
tion, in 1901, of a commodious and modem 
house of nine rooms, he having expended 
fully five thousand dollars in buildings and 
other improvements on the place, besides hav- 
ing shown equal progressiveness in the im- 
proving and developing of his farm property 
in Kansas, where he made his first investment 
in 1907. Mr. Burger has been recognized as 
a specially energetic and enterprising farmer 
and has given particular attention to the rais- 
ing of high-grade swine, of which he .ships 
an average of a carload each year. 

Mr. Burger is independent in politics, and 
he and his wife are communicants of the Lu- 
theran church. He is one of those vigorous 
men who have made full use of the advantages 
offered in connection with the development of 
the natural resources of Gage county, and is 



one of the substantial citizens of the county. 
April 15, 1887, Mr. Burger wedded ]\liss 
Minnie Ulrich, who was born in Illinois, 
Januar)' 20. 1867, a daughter of Charles Ul- 
rich, who became a pioneer of Gage county, 
other pages of this work giving interesting in- 
formation concerning the Ulrich family. Of 
the children of Mr. and Mrs. Burger the eld- 
est is Margaret, who is the wife of John 
Rehms, of Clatonia township ; John A. and 
Carl S. have charge of their father's exten- 
sive farm property in Kansas, as previously 
noted, and they have an efficient coadjutor in 
the person of their younger brother Walter; 
Anna is the wife of August Hinke, of Saline 
county ; and Herman and Edward remain at 
the parental home. 

IRA D. BONEBRIGHT, who conducts a 
well equipped general merchandise store in 
the village of Cortland and is one of the rep- 
resentative merchants and citizens of this 
thriving town, was born in Putnam county, 
Missouri, January 17, 1878, a son of Joseph 
and Barbara ( Stoneking) Bonebright. He 
was the fourth in a family of twelve children, 
the firstborn, Nevada, having died in child- 
hood: John S. is a prosperous contractor and 
builder at Cortland ; Henrj' C. ser\-ed as a 
soldier in the Spanish- American war ; Lillie 
is the wife of Bert J. Deming, of Cortland; 
Etta resides at Wichita, Kansas ; Mattie re- 
sides in the city of Des Moines, Iowa ; Zuna 
is the wife of Amos Larson, of Salt Lake 
City ; William A. resides in Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma ; and Anna, Garfield, and Charles 
are deceased. 

Joseph Bonebright, who was born July 11, 
1848, came with his family from Missouri to 
Gage county in 1883, and he established a 
draying business at Cortland. He was a sub- 
stantial and progressive citizen, a Republican 
in politics, and here served in the office of 
constable. He assisted in the construction ol 
the line of railroad through the village. He 
and his wife are now residents of Wichita, 
Kansas. His parents were natives of Penn- 
sylvania and became pioneer settlers in Put- 
nam county, Missouri, where they continued 



988 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



to reside iinlil their death, the father having 
been John Bonebright and the family name of 
the mother having been Roberts. The mother 
of the subject of this review was born at Ma- 
comb, McDonough county. Uhnois, January 
1, 1851. 

Ira D. Bonebright was a lad of about five 
years at the time when the family home was 
established at Cortland, and here he was af- 
forded the advantages of the public schools. 
From 1896 to 1911 he was associated with his 
father in the draying business and he then 
entered into partnership with John Bunte. 
with whom he has since been successfully en- 
gaged in the general merchandise business, 
each department of their well appointed es- 
tablishment being well stocked and the trade 
of the firm being of substantial and repre- 
sentative order. In addition to his activities 
in this field of enterprise Mr. Bonebright is a 
stockholder in the Farmers' Lumber Com- 
pany of Cortland and the Cortland Telephone 
Company. Liberal and loyal as a citizen, he 
is a supporter of the cause of the Republican 
party, he and his wife being members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church and he being af- 
filiated with the Masonic and Eastern Star 
fraternities. 

October 30, 1902, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Bonebright to Miss Ida H. Bunte, who 
was born at Davis, Stephenson county, Illi- 
nois, a daughter of Henry and Minnie 
(W'endt) Bunte, who came to Gage county 
about 1887. Mr. Bunte having thereafter been 
a principal in the mercantile firm of Smith & 
Company, at Cortland, for twenty years : his 
wife is deceased and he now resides in the 
home of his son John, who is associated with 
Mr. Bonebright in business, as j^reviously 
noted, the firm name being Bonebright & 
Bunte. Mr. and Mrs. Bonebright have four 
children — John .\., Norris F... Marvin A., 
and Carl P. 

GEORGE FOLKERTS is one of a very 
appreciable contingent of Gage county citi- 
zens who claim the fair district of Ost Fries- 
land, province of Hanover, Germany, as the 
place of their nativity, he having tiiere been 



born on the 18th day of April, 1874, a son of 
Cobus and Kate Folkerts, who there passed 
their entire lives. Mr. Folkerts was reared 
and educated in his native land and was sev- 
enteen years of age when he came to the 
L'nited States and found employment at farm 
work, in Champaign county, Illinois, as did 
he later in Kossuth county, Iowa. From the 
Hawkeye state he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, in 1895, and after having been for 
some time employed as a farm hand he en- 
gaged in independent farm enterprise on 
rented land. After the lapse of three years 
he purchased his present farm, of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, in Section 26, Logan 
township, and he showed his energy and pro- 
gressiveness by putting the buildings on the 
place into good order, the same having been 
permitted to become somewhat dilapidated. 
In addition to using this now well improved 
property in connection with his well ordered 
agricultural and live-stock enterprise Mr. 
Folkerts also uses a half section of land, in 
Logan township, which he holds under Scully 
lease. He owns a modern threshing outfit 
and operates the machine in the threshing of 
his own grain and that of neighboring farmers 
who assist him at threshing time. The enter- 
prising spirit and good judgment of Mr. Fol- 
kerts were shown distinctly in his providing 
of this independent threshing machine, as he 
never has to wait for service on the part of 
another and is thus able to thresh his grain 
at the most opportune time and to get the full 
returns from the crop. 

( )n September 19, 1898, was recorded the 
marriage of Mr. Folkerts to Miss Annie Foss- 
ler, a native of Nemaha county, this state, and 
a daughter of John Fossler. of whom mention 
is made on other pages. The four children 
of this union are Katie, John, Cobus, and 
Herman. 

Not only in his personal affairs is Mr. Fol- 
kerts alert and progressive, but also in his 
attitude as a citizen, and he gives his political 
support to the Democratic party. He com- 
mands uncjualified esteem and has served as 
justice of the peace, as has he also as school 
director of his district. His substantial sue- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



989 



cess represents the direct results of his own 
well directed endeavors and he is one of the 
representative farmers and citizens of Logan 
township. 

EDWARD G. CROOK, whose finely man- 
aged homestead fami is situated in Section 
23, Filley township, was bom in Franklin 
county, Virginia, on the 5th of February, 1871, 
and is a son of Robert T. and Elizabeth 
(Fisher) Crook, both likewise natives of the 
historic Old Dominion state. The mother 
died in Kansas, at the age of sixty-three years, 
and the father maintains his home in Gove 
county, that state, he having celebrated in 
1918 the seventy-second anniversary of his 
birth. The parents came to Nebraska in 1889 
and continued their residence in Gage county 
until 1894, and the following two years they 
passed at Paola, Kansas, after which they re- 
turned to Gage county. In 1908 Robert T. 
Crook established his residence in Gove 
county, Kansas, where he is the owner of an 
excellent farm and where he is now living 
virtually retired. His father, Edwin Crook, 
a prosperous planter in Virginia, attained to 
the patriarchal age of ninety-six years. Mr. 
Crook has never wavered in his allegiance to 
the Democratic jjarty and is an earnest mem- 
ber of the Dunkartl church, as was also his 
wife. Of their nine children all are living 
except one. 

Edward G. Crook acquired his youthful 
education in the public schools of Virginia 
and was a youth of eighteen years when he 
accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Nebraska. Upon attaining to his legal major- 
ity he found employment at farm work, by 
the month, and he was thus engaged for a 
period of five years. For seven years there- 
after he farmed on rented land in Gage 
county and he then purchased a portion of his 
present farm estate, of four hundred and 
eighty acres, which he has developed into one 
of the fine farm properties of Filley township 
and upon which he has erected various build- 
ings of model order. 

In 1897 Mr. Crook wedded Miss Minnie 
Erickson, a daughter of Peter Erickson, who 



established his residence in Gage county in 
1883 and whose death here occurred in 1900, 
he having become one of the prosperous 
fanners of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Crook 
have five children, all of whom remain at the 
l)arental home — George, Roy, Edward, Ma- 
bel, and Ever. 

Mr. Crook is a Democrat in politics, is af- 
filiated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica, and his wife is a member of the Christian 
church. He has through his own efforts and 
ability achieved substantial success, as he had 
naught of financial reinforcement when he 
initiated his independent career and assumed 
an appreciable indebtedness when he made 
the purchase of his original farm of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, the nucleus of his pres- 
ent fine landed estate. As an agriculturist 
and stock-grower he employs progressive 
ideas and policies and in the live-stock depart- 
ment of his fami enterprise he gives special 
attention to the raising of Poland-China swine 
of the best type. 

LEONARD GRIESER is a representative 
of that fine German element of citizenship 
that has contributed much to the social and 
material development and progress of Gage 
county and is one of the substantial fanners 
of Highland township, his estate comprising; 
five liundred and fifty acres and his home 
place being in Section 11, besides which he is 
the owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Lancaster county. 

]Mr. Grieser was born in the Kingdom of 
Bavaria, Gemiany, October 28, 1849, a son of 
Frederick and Mary (Kline) Grieser, of 
whose four children he is the eldest, the sec- 
ond being Mrs. Margaret Richards, of Chris- 
tian county, Illinois, where also resides the 
younger sister, Mrs. Catherine Neihard, John, 
the youngest of the children, having died in 
childhood. Frederick Grieser was bom No- 
vember 20, 1823, and he was a resident of 
Cortland, Gage county, at the time of his 
death, Febmary 26, 1904. In 1852 he immi- 
grated with his familv to the United States 
and established his home in Franklin county, 
Missouri, where he became a prosperous 



990 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



farmer and where he continued his residence 
until iSS4, v hen lie came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, where he hved ]iractically retircti until 
his death, their son Leonard, of this review, 
having leased one acre of ground from his 
farm as a home for his parents, and the site 
of their house being now marked by a fine 
evergreen tree, which constitutes a gracious 
memorial to them. .Mrs. Grieser was born 
March 5, ISIS, and preceded her husband to 
eternal rest by only a few months, her death 
having occurred in November. 1903 : both 
were earnest communicants of the Lutheran 
church and exemplified their Christian faith in 
their daily lives. 

Leonard (irieser was not yet three vears 
old at the time of the family immigration to 
.\merica and he was reared to manhood on the 
old homestead farm in Missouri, his educa- 
tional adva.nlages having been those of the 
common schools of the locality and period. 
He was but twelve years old at the time of the 
outbreak of the Civil war but before the close 
of the great conflict he had opportunity of 
manifesting his yotUhful loyalty to the Union, 
for in November, 1864, at Pacific. jNIissouri. 
he enlisted in Company IL Fifty-fourth Mis- 
souri Volunteer Infantry, with which he par- 
ticipated in a luimber of skirmishes and in 
suppressing the encroachments of the historic 
"bushwhackers" who infested Missouri. Mr. 
Grieser was one of the youngest soldiers in 
his company, ;md on one occasion while he 
was on picket duty an officer asked him if he 
coitld shoot. The youth replied by sugge.sting 
that the oflficer move to a point two hundred 
yards distant and he would show him his 
adeptness. The challenge was not accepted, 
for the officer realized tliat. like the average 
iViissourian of the day, the young soldier was 
certain to be a good marksman, .\fter the 
close of the war Mr. Grieser served a few 
months as locomotive fireman on the line of 
the Illinois Central Railroad, and he recalls 
that his duties were arduous, as wood was still 
used as fuel in the engines. He did not long 
deny allegiance to farm industry, however, 
and from 1868 until 1S77 he was engaged in 
farming in Christian countv, Illinois. In the 



latter year he lumibered himself among the 
pioneers of Gage county. Nebraska, his origi- 
nal farm, a part of his present landed estate 
in Highland township, having comprised one 
hundred and sixty acres and the locality hav- 
ing been jjractically an untrammeled ]jrairie, 
with no trees and with no settlement on the 
site of the present thriving village of Cort- 
land, the town site of which is partially on the 
farm of Mr. Grieser who was prominently 
identified with the founding of the village, 
worked zealously to compass this end and 
contributed ten acres as a part of the site of 
the embryonic village. Industry and good 
management have brought to him large and 
well earned prosperity, and he did his full 
share in furthering the civic and industrial de- 
\elopmenl of Highland township, endured the 
trials and responsibilities of pioneer life and 
has continued as one of the substantial agri- 
culturists and stock-growers of the county, 
besides which he has for many years given 
special attention to the drilling of wells, with 
a record of having drilled a greater number 
than any other one man in Nebraska. Though 
he has now retired from active labor in con- 
nection with farm operations he still continues 
his enterprise as a well driller, and has been 
identified with the same for fully thirty-five 
years. 

In leaving Illinois for the west Mr. Grieser 
and his wife set forth to establish a home in 
Texas, and they made the long overland jour- 
ney with a team and a covered wagon. En 
route they passed through Gage county and its 
judicial center, the town of Beatrice, being 
much impressed with the attractions and ad- 
vantages of this section of Nebraska. L'pon 
their arrival in Texas they were discouraged 
with the outlook and reverted with ajijirecia- 
tion to the conditions in Gage county, with the 
result that they soon started forth with their 
team and wagon with Gage county as their 
destination, their entire journeying having 
covered a period of six months and their 
arrival in Gage county on the return trip hav- 
ing occurred in .March. Mr. Grieser recalls 
many interesting incidents relative to the long 
and weary overland journcv made under 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



991 



primitive frontier conditions. Many nights 
while en route he sat up with his gun at hand, 
to guard his horses from attack by wolves, es- 
pecially in Indian Territory. His first eighty 
acres of land in Gage county was purchased 
from the railroad company, at the rate of six 
dollars an acre, and of the great changes that 
have since been wrought an idea is conveyed 
in the fact that in later years he has paid as 
much as one hundred and thirty-seven and 
one-half dollars an acre for some of the land 
now owned by him in Highlana township. 
His political allegiance is given to the Repub- 
lican party, he has sensed as clerk and assessor 
of Highland township and was for twenty- 
five years a member of the school board of 
District No. 55. At Cortland he is affiliated 
with the lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted 
Masons, in which he has passed the various 
official chairs, and in the city of Beatrice he 
is afTiliated with Rawlings Post, No. 36, 
Grand Army of the Republic. 

(3ctober 28, 1874, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Grieser to Miss Kate Kerr, who has 
proved his devoted companion and helpmeet 
during the intervening period of nearly half a 
century. Mrs. Grieser was born in Christian 
county, Illinois, April 7, 1859, her parents, 
John and Elizabeth ( Hopper) Kerr, natives 
of Kentucky, having been pioneers of Illinois, 
where they remained until their death, Mrs. 
Greiser being the younger of their two chil- 
dren and the elder, Cassius, having been a 
resident of Pana, Illinois, at the time of his 
death. Mr. and Mrs. Grieser have a fine fam- 
ily of six sons: Albert is one of the success- 
ful farmers of Highland township, where he 
owns eighty acres in Section 24 ; Oscar like- 
wise is a progressive farmer of the same town- 
ship, as are also Ernest and Harry, the former 
of whom has active charge of the old home 
farm ; Ralph is identified with farm enterprise 
in Lancaster county ; and Frank is similarly 
engaged in Highland township. All of the 
sons received good educational ad\antagcs 
and all but two are farming land owned by 
their father. 

Mr. Grieser is a substantial stockholder of 
the Bank of Cortland, of which he is vice- 



president and in the same village he is a stock- 
holder of the Farmers Elevator & Grain Com- 
pany. In a reminiscent way it may be stated 
that Mr. Grieser's first house on his Gage 
county farm was a little frame building only 
ten by fourteen feet in dimensions, and for 
some time no floor was provided except the 
earth. In the passing years he has made ex- 
cellent improvements on all of his farms and 
has been progressive and energetic in his ac- 
tivities as an agriculturist and stock-grower. 
In the early days he hauled his farm produce 
to Firth, Lancaster county, a distance of eight 
miles, and at one time he had no available 
money, so that lie was compelled to become in- 
debted to the owner of one of the mercantile 
establishments at Firth in the sum of sixteen 
dollars, which covered the purchase of food 
supplies that lasted the family during an en- 
tire summer, within which only twenty-five 
cents' worth of sugar was used in the home. 
Meat for the larder was supplied principally 
by the shooting of prairie chickens, which 
were plentiful along the roads and in the fields. 
Mr. Grieser frequently staked out his cows on 
the site of the present village of Cortland and 
at daylight he often stood with gun in hand 
before his pioneer house to protect the cows 
and calves from attack by wolves. He and his 
wife, in short, lived up to the full tension of 
pioneer life and it has been theirs to receive 
in later years gracious rewards for their 
earnest and honorable labors in the past. 

LEWIS H. LAFLIN. — There are few 
men living in our midst to-day who were on 
Gage county earlier than was Lewis H. Laflin. 
He has remained for sixty-one years on the 
farm upon which he now resides, in Johnson 
county. He came to this part of the country 
in May, 1857, — a full decade before Nebraska 
was admitted to statehood. These were the 
days when the Indian and the buffalo was still 
supreme upon the prairies, and when few 
white men dared to push the frontier line 
farther west. 

One of the resolute and valiant pioneers of 
Gage and Johnson counties, Nebraska, was the 
mother of Lewis H. Laflin. This noble woman 



992 



HISTORY OF" GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



came to this county in 1857. She was the 
widow of Parley Laflin, who was born near 
Rochester, New York, in 1799. Parley Laflin 
followed contracting and the lumber and mill 
business in the state of New York for many 
years. At one time he was employed on the 
construction of the old Erie canal. Finally 
he removed with his family to Illinois, and as a 
pioneer of that state he built his log cabin in 
the clearing made for the purpose, after which 
he turned his attention to tilling the soil. Mr. 
Laflin bought and sold cattle on a large scale. 
He frequently walked the distance of one 
hundred and fifty miles from his home in 
Rock Island county, Illinois, to Chicago, driv- 
ing his cattle ahead of him to the market. This 
was before Chicago had any stock yards to 
accommodate the incoming cattle. Mr. 
Laflin's death occurred in 1849. He and his 
devoted wife became the parents of four chil- 
dren, — Catherine E., George P., Lewis H., 
and Joseph K. George P. was a resident of 
Oklahoma at the time of his death, in 1905. 

In 1857, several years after her husband's 
death, Mrs. Laflin came with her children to 
Nebraska Territon.-. Here she entered a pre- 
emption claim, and the same now lies within 
the borders of Johnson county. She also 
owned land in Gage county, and the same is 
now a portion of the city of Beatrice, known as 
Croppey's Addition. For nearly twenty 
years this plucky woman labored to win her 
livelihood from the wild and unbroken prairies, 
and year by year she brought more of the 
land to productiveness. Her death occurred 
in 1886, in Johnson county. 

Lewis H. Laflin was born in Rock Island 
county, Illinois, August 21, 1842. He received 
the educational advantages the locality and 
period afforded, and these were meagre, as 
there were verj' few schools established. He 
was fifteen years old upon his arrival in Ne- 
braska and was just the right age to help his 
brave and determined mother. In 1860 he 
was freighting across the plains with an ox 
team, his route being from Brownvillc. Ne- 
braska, to Julesburg. Colorado. He was in- 
terrupted in his work by his responding to the 
call of patriotism when the Civil war menaced 



the integrity of the nation. In 1862 he en- 
listed in Company I, First Nebraska \'olun- 
teers, under Colonel Robert R. Livingston. 
This company was engaged in a number of 
battles. In August, 1864, Mr. Laflin was cap- 
tured by the Confederate General Shelby, at 
Grand Prairie, Arkansas. He was held as a 
prisoner of war for five months, and then, 
with other Union soldiers, was exchanged. 
Thereafter he continued in his country's ser- 
vice until the close of the war. He was hon- 
orably discharged October 24, 1865, at Fort 
Leavenworth, Kansas, after having served 
three years and eighteen days. After the sur- 
render of Generals Lee and Johnston, Mr. 
Laflin was in a number of skimiishes with the 
Indians. He returned to his home in John- 
son county, where he fanned, besides which 
he continued his work of freighting across 
the plains. Oxen were used in the summer 
work and horses in the winter. 

November 1, 1866, Mr. Laflin married Aliss 
.America K. Scott, who was born August 10, 
18-k> in -Anderson county. Kentucky. Her 
parents were Charles and Elizabeth Jane 
Scott, and they were the parents of six othei 
children, — John R, and James G. are de- 
ceased ; Elmer H., resides at Bruce, Wiscon- 
sin : Catherine E., the wife of E. S. Carnes. is 
deceased ; Margaret E. is deceased ; and Eliza- 
beth is the wife of Riley Antle, of Nebraska 
City, Nebraska. Mrs. Laflin spent many happy 
years with her husband and family, devoting 
all of her time to their care and comfort. Her 
death occurred on the 5th day of July, 1905. 
She was the mother of ten children, five of 
whom sun'ive her: Edith is the wife of D. 
AI. Lovett, of Johnson county ; Catherine re- 
mains at home with her father ; Guy F. resides 
in Johnson county ; Clay lives in Gage county ; 
and E. B., lives at Crab Orchard, Johnson 
county. 

Lewis H. Laflin bore his full share of the 
hardshi])s and labors incidental to pioneer life 
in southeastern Nebraska and pressed steadily 
forward toward the goal of worthy prosperity. 
To the original fami he added gradually, as 
his resources and opportunities justified, and 
he is to-day the owner of a valuable landed 




f.fitf^^.tf.U'Biiii'^'SSrfJVy 



^^ , ;^, ^p^ii^ 






HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



995 



estate, — one hundred and sixty acres in Gage 
county and four hundred and eighty acres in 
Johnson county. 

Mr. Laflin has at all times shown himself 
loyal and public-spirited as a citizen and he 
gives his allegiance to the Republican party. 
He has been influential in community affairs, 
served six years as a member of the official 
administrative board of Johnson county, and 
in 1873 he was elected representative of his 
constitutency in the lower house of the Ne- 
braska legislature, in which he made a char- 
acteristically excellent record of ser\-ice. He 
is affiliated with Lodge No. 175, Ancient Free 
& Accepted Masons, at Filley, and he has 
been for years an earnest and faithful mem- 
ber of the Baptist church. 

JOfIN T. DORN has effectively proved his 
energy and resourcefulness in connection with 
farm industry in Gage county and is the 
owner of a well improved fami of two hun- 
dred and forty acres, in Section 13, Logan 
township. Mr. Dorn was bora in Adams 
county, Illinois, September 16, 1864, and is a 
son of Thomas H. and Ock Johanna (Heren) 
Dorn, both natives of Friesland, province 
of Hanover, Germany, where their marriage 
was solemnized. L^pon coming to America the 
parents remained for a time in the city of New 
Orleans, Louisiana, and they then removed to 
Illinois, where the father engaged in fann en- 
terprise and threshing for a number of years. 
For a time thereafter he conducted a small 
general store in a rural district and also de- 
voted his attention to the reclaiming of a farm 
in Brown county, Illinois. He eventually be- 
came the owner of a farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres in the county mentioned, and in 
1882 he came to Nebraska and purchased two 
hundred and forty acres of land in Gage 
county, the only improvements on the place 
having been a little log house and a straw 
barn. lie developed the farm and his success 
was such that he and his devoted wife passed 
the closing years of their lives in well earned 
peace and prosperity. Of their ten children 
six are living: Herman is a resident of 
Franklin county, this state ; John T., of this 



review, was the next in order of birth ; Thomas 
is a farmer in Logan township, Gage county ; 
Jerusha is the wife of William Frerichs, of 
Franklin county ; George is engaged in fann 
enterprise in Filley township; Henry is a 
farmer in Franklin county. The parents were 
zealous members of the Lutheran church and 
the father was a Republican in his political 
adherency. 

John T. Dorn acquired his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of Illinois and Ne- 
braska and has been from his youth continu- 
ously associated with farm industry. For 
three years he farmed on land which he rented 
near Sterling, Johnson county, and he next 
rented a farm owned bv Claus Zimmerman, in 
Logan township. Gage county. With but lim- 
ited capital he showed his self-reliance by buy- 
ing, largely on credit, a farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres, of Julius Barnard, and after 
seeing his way clear toward the goal of inde- 
pendence he added to his farm property by 
purchasing of Charles Hughes a tract of eighty 
acres. He has made excellent improvements 
on his farm, including the erection of a mod- 
ern house, barn and other buildings, and he 
has shown marked discrimination in the di- 
recting of the various departments of his farm 
enterprise. He raises good grades of cattle 
and swine and in the season of 1917 he de- 
voted two hundred acres of his land to corn. 
His political support is given to the Republi- 
can party and he and his wife are active com- 
municants of the Hanover Lutheran church. 

In the year 1888 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Dorn to Miss Tena Agena, who 
was born m the state of Illinois and who is a 
daughter of Gade and Margaret (Ackemian) 
Agena, natives of Germany. Mr. Agena was 
a child of nine years when he accompanied his 
parents on their immigration to America and 
he was reared and educated in Illinois. His 
wife was five years old when her parents came 
to the United States. In 1876 Mr. Agena 
came to Nebraska and numbered himself 
among the pioneers of Gage county, where he 
rented a small farm the first year. Later he 
removed to Sterling, Johnson county, where 
he passed the remainder of his life. Mr. and 



996 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



Mrs. Dorn have eight children: Hanna is the 
wife of Ufka Harms, of Filley township: 
Margaret is the wife of Jerrj' W'alltnan, of 
Filley township; Thomas, who married Miss 
Etta Heits, is a farmer in Logan township ; 
and Gade J-, Lena, Frances Emma, Grace 
Lottie, and John remain at the parental home. 

JOHN L. BURGER —This venerable and 
honored pioneer citizen is now living virtually 
retired on the old homestead farm which has 
been his place of abode for forty years and 
which is one of the fine farm properties of 
Clatonia township. He reclaimed his land 
from the virgin prairie brought to bear daunt- 
less energy and determination and in further- 
ing his own advancement and prosperity he 
contributed his full share to the social and 
material development and upbuilding of the 
county. A sterling citizen who can look back 
upon many years of earnest and productive 
inilustrv'. he is specially entitled to recognition 
in this histor)-. 

John L. Bui'ger was born in the Kingdom 
of Bavaria, Germany, on the 24th of Septem- 
ber, 1836, was reared and educated in his 
native land, where his marriage was solemn- 
ized and where was born the first of his five 
children. 

In 1S65 Mr. Burger immigrated with his 
family to the United States and for the ensu- 
ing twelve years he was engaged in fanning 
in the state of Illinois. In 1877 he came with 
his family to Gage county, Nebraska, where, 
at the rate of ten dollars an acre, he purchased 
the farm now owned and operated by his son 
Leonard. No improvements had been made 
on the place and he erected as the family 
domicile a frame house of one stor}-, twenty- 
six feet square. He broke the prairie soil 
and with the successive years made each count 
in achievement and increasing prosperity. He 
made good improvements of a permanent 
order, including the erection of the present 
commodious house in which he remains with 
his son Leonard and the latter's family, and 
he had the satisfaction of reclaiming and de- 
veloping one of the valuable farm properties 
of Clatonia township. In 1897 he abated his 



more strenuous activities and in the gracious 
evening of a long and worthy life he is living 
virtually retired on his old homestead place. 
He assisted in the organization of the German 
Lutheran church at Clatonia, and is still one 
of the revered and active communicants of 
the same, his wife likewise having been zeal- 
ous in church work. 

In Bavaria, Germany, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr Burger to Miss Barbara 
Renter, who was there born on the 24th ot 
October, 1837, and their devoted companion- 
ship was sundered only when the loved wife 
and mother passed to eternal rest, her death 
having occurred September 8, 1907. Of the 
five children the eldest is Frederick, who is 
one of the substantial farmers of Clatonia 
township and who is the only one of the chil- 
dren born prior to the family immigration to 
the I'nited States ; George S. is individually 
mentioned on other pages of this volume: 
John and Leonard are prosperous farmers of 
Clatonia township: and Margaret is the wife 
of H. Luetkemier, a retired farmer of that 
township. 

WESLEY D. STEINMEYER. — One of 
the progressive farmers of the yoiniger gen- 
eration in his native county, ^Ir. Steinmeyer 
is gi\ ing his attention most vigorously to the 
operation of a fami of one hundred acres, in 
Grant township, and of the tract he rents 
eighty acres from his father, Frederick Stein- 
meyer, who is an honored pioneer citizen of 
the county, and who is individually mentioned 
in this publication, so that further review of 
the family histor)- is not demanded in this 
article. 

On the old homestead farm of his father, 
one nnle south of Clatonia and in the town- 
ship of the same name. Wesley D. Steinmeyer 
was born November 19. 1889, and after hav- 
ing profited by the advantages of the district 
schools he furthered his intellectual discipline 
by attending ihe high school in the village of 
Clatonia. He has from his boyhood been asso- 
ciated with the fami industry of his father 
and after his marriage he rented from his 
father eighty acres in Section 3 Grant town- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



997 



ship, besides which he utihzes an additional 
twenty acres which he rents from other per- 
sons. He keeps in conformity with the best 
modern and scientific poHcies in the various 
departments of farm enterprise and in this 
connection and as a loyal citizen he is fully 
upholding the prestige of a name that has been 
signally prominent and honored in the annals 
of Gage county history. His political alle- 
giance is given to the Republican party and 
he and his wife hold membership in the Ger- 
man Methodist church. 

October 2, 1912, recorded the marriage of 
Mr. Steinmeyer to Miss Mar}' Anna Oltmans, 
the fourth in order of birth of the seven chil- 
dren of Lubbo and Mary (Cieglowsky) Olt- 
mans, who now reside in the state of Colorado. 
Mrs. Steinmeyer was born at Hartsburg, Illi- 
nois, and in 1900 accompanied her parents, 
who are natives of Germany, on their removal 
to Nebraska, the family home being estab- 
lished on a farm in Lancaster county. Later 
Mr. Oltmans removed with his family to Wal- 
lace, Lincoln county, and in 1906 the family 
established a home in Colorado, where the 
parents have since resided. Mr. and Mrs. 
Steinmeyer have one child, Glenn Wesley, 
who was bora June 20. 1917. 

WILLIAM E. ROBBINS, who is now sec- 
retary of the Farmers' Grain, Lumber & Coal 
Company, which operates the large and well 
equipped grain elevator at Cortland and con- 
trols a substantial and important business in 
the handling of grain, coal, and lumber, is con- 
sistently to be designated as one of the most 
progressive exponents of agricultural and live- 
stock enterprise in Gage county as well as one 
of the influential and public-spirited citizens 
of this favored section of the state, he having 
represented Gage county as a member of the 
Nebraska legislature. He is the owner of 
three hundred and twenty acres of valuable 
land in Highland township, this fine estate 
comprising the west half of Section 27 and 
being eligibly situated fourteen miles north of 
Beatrice ; four and one-half miles southwest of 
Cortland; and six and one-half miles east of 
Clatonia. 



Mr. Robbins was born near Hastings, Mills 
county, Iowa, November 18, 1869, and is a son 
of Henry C. and Mary J. (Barrett) Robbins, 
of whose four children he is the eldest ; Jo- 
seph H., who now resides in Los Angeles, 
California, is the owner of the remaining half 
of Section 27, Highland township, Gage 
county, this entire section having been pur- 
chased by the honored father about thirty 
years ago : and Ralph E. and Frank A. still 
reside at Hastings, Iowa, as do also the ven- 
erable parents, who are numbered among the 
honored pioneer citizens of that section of the 
Hawkeye state. 

Henry C. Robbins, a scion of a sterling 
Scotch family that sent representatives to 
America many generations ago, was born at 
Nelsonville, Ohio, November 9, 1845, and he 
there became a prosperous miller and mer- 
chant. When the Civil war was precipitated 
he responded to President Lincoln's first call, 
by enlisting, in 1861, in Company A, Ninety- 
second Ohio V'olunteer Infantry. He served 
during virtually the entire course of the war, 
took part in many important battles, besides 
innumerable engagements of minor order, and 
was with Sherman on the historic march from 
Atlanta to the sea. After the close of the war 
he numbered himself among the pioneers of 
Mills county, Iowa, and he achieved remark- 
able success in connection with his well or- 
dered industrial and business activities in that 
state, where he accumulated a large amount 
of valuable land. His mature judgment led 
him also to make investments in land in Colo- 
rado and Nebraska, and at the present time he 
is still the owner of one thousand acres — - in 
Iowa and Colorado. He has been one of the 
most progressive, liberal, and influential citi- 
zens of Mills county, Iowa, where he and his 
wife still reside on their fine old homestead 
farm, though he is now living virtually retired. 
Mrs. Robbins was born June 1, 1852, in Iowa, 
where her parents were verj' early settlers. 
Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are zealous members of 
the Presbyterian church and his political alle- 
giance is given to the Republican party. 

On the old homestead farm which was the 
place of his nativity William E. Robbins was 



998 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



reared to adult age. and after completing the 
curriculum of the public schools he attended 
the Western Normal College at Shenandoah, 
Iowa, and also Tabor College, at Tabor, that 
state. In 1891 he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, where, as previously intimated, his 
father had become the owner of the entire 
area of Section 27, Highland township. Lo- 
cating on this land .Mr. Robbins eventually 
received through inheritance the west half of 
the section, and it may consistently be said 
that this he has developed into one of the 
finest farm estates in this section of Nebraska. 
In 1908 he erected on his farm a thoroughly 
modern house and barn, the house being of 
attractive architectural design and having nine 
rooms, the same being equipped with a system 
which supplies hot and cold nmning water 
throughout the building and also with its in- 
dependent gas-lighting plant. On the place 
Mr. Robbins has made many other noteworthy 
improvements of permanent order, including 
the setting out of both fruit and ornamental 
trees, and the farm is given over to scientifiG 
agricuhure of diversified order and to the 
raising of the best types of live stock, includ- 
ing short-honi cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. 
Mr. Robbins is a director of the Bank of 
Cortland, besides being one of the principal 
stockholders of the Farmers' Grain, Lumber 
& Coal Company, of Cortland, of which he is 
secretary. 

On the 22d of December. 1891, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of Mr. Robbins to Miss 
Nannie N^orton, who was born on a farm near 
Malvern, Mills county, Iowa, a daughter of 
Horace A. and Delilah (Tubbs) Norton, the 
former a native of the state of Ne\v York 
and the latter of Ohio. Mrs. Robbins and her 
twin brother, William, were born March 6, 
1868, the fifth in order of birth in a family of 
twelve children, of whom eight are living. 
Mr. and Mrs. Robbins have reared two chil- 
dren — a son and daughter — William Jean, 
and Lena. 

In a generic way Mr. Robbins is a staunch 
advocate of the principles of the Republican 
party, but in local affairs, where no specific 
issues are involved, he is not constrained bv 



strict partisan lines. He served three terms 
as clerk of Highland township and in the ses- 
sions of 1903 and 1905 he represented Gage 
county in the state legislature. He proved an 
active and discriminating legislator, introduced 
and championed a number of important bills, 
one of which, as enacted, has proved of great 
benefit to the citizens of Gage county, through 
the reducing of the expense of administering 
the various departments of county and town- 
ship government and thus bringing a reduc- 
tion also in the general taxes. It was largely 
through his determined and able elYorts that 
the legislature enacted what is known as the 
Ramsey bill, which compels the railroad com- 
panies traversing Nebraska to give on their 
lines sites for grain elevators wherever there 
is a legitimate demand for the same. Mr. 
and ]\Irs. Robbins are active members of the 
Congregational church of Highland and he is 
a member of its board of trustees. They are 
popular leaders in the best social activities of 
the community and delight in extending the 
hospitality of their beautiful home to their 
host of friends. 

DANIEL NICEWONGER, a retired far- 
mer and merchant residing in the village of 
Pickrell, is one of the substantial and honored 
citizens well worthy of .special recognition in 
this history, besides which he has the dis- 
tinction of being a member of one of the well 
known pioneer families of Gage county. He 
was born in Ogle county, Illinois, October 27, 
1866, a son of Jacob and Susannah (Mock) 
Nicewonger, and is the youngest in a family 
of five children ; Alexander was a resident of 
Nebraska at the time of his death and is sur- 
vived by five children ; .Mary is the widow of 
Zachariah French and remains in Ogle county, 
Illinois, she havmg become the mother of six 
children, of whom four are living; Jennie re- 
sides in the city of Omaha, is the wife of 
Theodore Wakenight and of her nine children 
seven are living: \\'illiani H. and his family 
reside in BufTalo county Nebraska, where he 
is a prosperous farmer, and he has two chil- 
dren. 

Jacob Nicewonger was born in Bedford 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



999 



county, Pennsylvania, September 1. 1827. and 
was one of the veneralile pioneer citizens of 
Gage county, Nebraska, at the time of his 
death, June 3, 1900. His wife, who was born 
in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, August 24. 
1832, died March 8, 1893, she having been a 
Dunkard in her religious faith and a member 
of a family that was founded in America in 
the early colonial period of our national his- 
tory. Jacob Nicewonger removed from the 
old Keystone state to Illinois and engaged in 
farming in Ogle county. There he remained 
until 1873, when he came with his family to 
Gage county, Nebraska, making the overland 
trip with team and covered wagon, and in 
numbering himself among the pioneer farmers 
of the county he purchased eighty acres of 
school land two miles southeast of the present 
village of Pickrell. He reclaimed and im- 
proved this farm, in Holt township, and in 
later years he purchased an additional eighty 
acres. About fifteen years prior to his death 
he retired from the active labors that had long 
been his portion and he passed the closing 
years of his life in the village of Pickrell. 

Daniel Nicewonger was about seven years 
old at the time of the family removal to Gage 
county, where he was reared on the pioneer 
farm and profited by the advantages offered 
in the district schools of Holt township. He 
continued to assist in the work and manage- 
ment of the home farm until after he had at- 
tained to his legal majority and he then began 
farm operations in an independent way. He 
continued as one of the successful exponents 
of farm industry in Holt township until 1891, 
when he became associated with his brother 
William H. in establishing a general merchan- 
dise business at Pickrell. The brothers built 
up a prosperous enterprise and continued their 
partnership about five years. Daniel Nice- 
wonger then purchased his brother's interest, 
after which he individually continued the busi- 
ness until 1901, when he sold the same. He 
has since lived virttially retired at Pickrell. 
He is a stockholder in the Dempster Manufac- 
turing Company. In 190.S he purchased eighty 
acres of land in Section 28, Holt township, 
and this property, for which he paid fifty-five 



hundred dollars, he sold in 1916, for a con- 
sideration of ten thousand dollars. Pie is the 
owner of two business buildings at Pickrell, 
as well as of his fine residence property in this 
village, where he is honored as a loyal and 
public-spirited citizen and where he has served 
for the past four years a? a member of the 
village board of trustees. Tie is a Republican 
in politics and he and his wife are active mem- 
bers of the United Brethren church, Mrs. 
Nicewonger being also a member of the war- 
time organization of the Red Cross in the city 
of Beatrice. 

April 12, 1S93, Mr. Nicewonger wedded 
yiiss Alta Robinson, who was born in Piatt 
county, Illinois, a daughter of Isaac and Isabel 
(Watson) Robinson, natives respectively of 
Ohio and Illinois. From Illinois Mr. and Mrs. 
Robinson removed to Missouri and from the 
latter state they came to Gage county in 1891, 
establishing their home at Pickrell, Mr. Rob- 
inson having been about seventy-four years 
of age at the time of his death and his ven- 
erable widow being now a resident of the city 
of Beatrice. Of their three children Mrs. 
Nicewonger was the second in order of birth ; 
Ernest is a resident of northwestern Canada 
and Carl is engaged in the teaming business 
at Beatrice. No children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Nicewonger, but they greatly 
enjoy extending the hospitality of their plea- 
sant home to the young folk of the community, 
as well as to their many friends of their own 
generation. 



LEWIS M. WARFORD. — In attempting 
to preserve the life records of the men of Gage 
county who have contributed to the welfare 
of the community in which they lived, mention 
should be made of Lewis M. Warford. In 
his passing from earthly activities, on the 1st 
of May, 1908, his family lost a loving husband 
and father and his neighbors a loyal citizen 
and good friend. 

Mr. Warford was born near Toledo, Ohio, 
October 8, 1849, and was a boy when his 
parents removed to Red Oak, Iowa. Here he 
was reared on a fann and attended the public 
schools. He engaged in farming pursuits and 



1000 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




<5 
2 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1001 



as a youth went to Andrew county, Missouri, 
where he remained until 1885, when he came 
to Gage county. In 1892 he purchased land 
in Section 10, Rockford township, which was 
his home until his death. 

Mr. Warford was united in marriage, Aug- 
ust 20, 1868, to Miss Sarah E. Dobbs, a daugh- 
ter of Russell L. and Cynthia (Hurst) Dobbs. 
Mrs. Warford was bom in Andrew county, 
Missouri, May 22, 1851, and is a cousin of 
Hugh J- Dobbs, the author of this history of 
Gage county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Warford became the parents 
of six children : Clarence T. of Curtis, Ne- 
braska; Sylvester P. of Lincoln, Nebraska; 
Fletcher L-, of Chappell, this state; May, the 
wife of LeRoy Brugh, of Midland township ; 
Eunice, the wife of Milo Brugh, of Beatrice; 
and one who died in infancy. 

Mrs. Sarah E. (Dobbs) Warford still re- 
sides on the home farm in Rockford town- 
ship and owns also a fann of one hundred and 
sixty acres in Cheyenne county, Kansas. She 
has long been an earnest member of the Chris- 
tian church, and still retains affiliation with 
the church of this denomination in Andrew 
county, Missouri, the place of her birth. Her 
husband was a Republican in politics. 

BENJAMIN C. ALBERT. — Farm indus- 
try in Gage county has many successful ex- 
ponents who can claim the county as the place 
of their nativity, and of this number Benja- 
min C. Albert is one. He is giving his 
energetic and effective activities to the man- 
agement of a fine farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres which he rents from his father, in 
Clatonia township, and on other pages of this 
volume is given an interesting review of the 
career of his father, Henry Albert, so that a 
repetition of the family data is not demanded 
in this connection. 

Mr. Albert was bom on the old homestead 
farm, in Clatonia township, August 16, 1880, 
and after having duly profited by the advan- 
tages of the public schools of the locality he 
completed a course in the Beatrice Business 
College, in which he was graduated as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1901. For one year there- 



after he held the position of bookkeeper in 
the office of the Duluth Van & Transfer Com- 
pany, in the city of Duluth, Minnesota, but his 
absence did not cause him to abate his appre- 
ciation of the attractions and advantages of 
his native state and county, as evidenced in 
his having returned to Gage county in 1903 
and having initiated independent enterprise as 
an agriculturist and stock-grower on his 
present fami. His success offers the best 
voucher for his ability and progressive policies 
in connection with farm enterprise and in his 
home county his circle of friends is limited 
only by that of his acquaintances. He is one 
of the stockholders in the farmers' co-opera- 
tive grain elevator at Clatonia, he is in- 
dependent in politics, and he is known as a 
liberal and public-spirited citizen. 

On the 11th of October, 1909, Mr. Albert 
wedded Miss Leona Gielday, of Lawton, 
Oklahoma. She was born in Lincoln, Ne- 
braska, and is a daughter of Joseph and Irene 
(Rutherford) Gielday, who were born in Ger- 
many, Mr. Gielday having come to Nebraska 
and having thereafter served a number of 
years as a locomotive engineer on the Burling- 
ton & Missouri River Railroad. He filed en- 
try on a timber claim in Red Willow county, 
this state, and there he died as the result of 
injuries received while in railway service, his 
widow being now a resident of Torrington, 
Laramie county, Wyoming. Mr. and Mrs. 
Albert have two children — Donald Henry 
and Morris Byron. 

POPE FRERICHS is a member of one of 
the well known families long identified with 
farm industn,' and civic advancement in Gage 
county, and he is well upholding the prestige 
of the name which he bears, as he is a pro- 
gressive and successful agriculturist and stock- 
grower, with operations staged on a farai of 
one hundred and sixty acres belonging to his 
father, in Section 14, Logan township. Of the 
family history due record is made on other 
pages of this work, in the sketch dedicated to 
L. W. Frerichs, father of him whose name in- 
troduces this paragraph. 

Pope Frerichs was born in Hancock county, 



1002 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Illinois, August 30, 1875, and was six years 
old at the time when the family home was es- 
tablished in Gage county. Here he was reared 
on his father's fami and gained his youthful 
education in the district schools. He has been 
engaged in independent farm enterprise since 
he was eighteen years of age and his fann is 
improved with good buildings. He utilizes 
also an adjoining tract of eighty acres, which 
he owns. 

In politics 'Sir. French is aligned in the 
ranks of the Democratic party and the popular 
estimate placed upon his character and ability 
was shown in his having been called upon to 
sen-e in the office of township clerk, of which 
position he was the incumbent seven years. 
Both he and his wife are active members of 
the Lutheran church. 

In 1900 Mr. Frerichs married Miss Matilda 
Zimmemian. daughter of Tamme Zimmennan, 
who is individually mentioned on other pages. 
Thev have no children. 



CURTIS O. MARTIN. — In Section 26, 
Nemaha township, resides Curtis O. Martin, 
who is one of Cage county's most prosjjerous 
farmers and who is the owner of six hundred 
acres of land in the county, all well improved. 
Mr. Martin was born December 12. 1868, in 
Marshall county, Indiana, a son of Jacob and 
Sarah E. (Groves) Martin. 

Jacob Martin, father of our subject, was 
a native of Ohio. He was born April 5, 1846. 
He received his early education in the public 
schools of his native state and as a young man 
he followed farming in that state. When the 
Civil war broke out Mr. Martin enlisted in 
the Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served 
for some time. After his term of service in 
the Union army he returned to Indiana and 
farmed until 1872, when he came with his 
family to Gage county, Nebraska. They came 
by train to Nebraska City and thence drove to 
a point one-half mile north of the town of 
Adams, Nebraska, where Jacob Martin rented 
what was known as the Stephen Disher fann. 
The same year he bought eighty acres in Sec- 
tion 14, Nemaha township, where he remained 
the balance of his life. Mr. Martin was a very 



successful farmer, and from time to time 
bought additional land until at the time of his 
death he was the owner of one thousand acres 
of good agricultural land. He passed away 
September 28. 1910. His wife was born in 
Indiana Januarj- 4. 1845, and died September 
3, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Martin were the par- 
ents of two children — Curtis O., the subject 
of this review ; and Harrj' I., w^ho resides in 
Sheridan, Wyoming. 

Curtis O. Martin received his education in 
the district schools of Nemaha township. Gage 
county, and assisted his father on the farm. 
Upon the death of his father he inherited six 
hundred acres of the estate. This he has 
greatly improved and he now owns one of the 
most valuable and well improved farm prop)- 
erties in the township. In politics Mr. Martin 
is a Republican, and he is now serving as town- 
ship clerk and as treasurer of the district 
school board. 

On March 2, 1904, was recorded the mar- 
riage of Curtis O. Martin and Miss Mae 
Gulp, a native of Ohio and daughter of An- 
drew J. and Sophia (Maddox) Cul]>. who 
also were natives of Ohio. The Gulp family 
came to Nebraska in 1888, and settled in Lan- 
cester county. Later they moved to Gage 
county. Mr. Culp passed away on April 13, 
1915, and his widow now makes her home in 
Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Martin are 
the parents of eight children, as follows : 
Thelma, Orville, Irene, Bethel, Kenneth, Har- 
old, Keith, and Glenn all at home. 

RALPH G. ELLIS has proved himself the 
possessor of those qualities of manhood which 
have enabled him to become one of the useful 
young farmers of Midland township. He is 
a native of Illinois, born in \\'oodford county, 
that state, in 1883. He is a son of Thomas 
and Laura J. (Billinger) Ellis, a record of 
whom is to be found on another page of thi» 
histor}^ 

Ralph G. Ellis was nine years old when 
he came with his parents to Gage county. His 
boyhood days were spent on the farm, where 
he received instrtictions from his father as to 
best methods of planting and caring for crops. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1003 



He attended the pulilic schools and also took 
a complete course at Beatrice Business Col- 
lege. On February 23, 1905, Mr. Ellis mar- 
ried Miss Lillian F. Wilson, a daughter of 
Robert and Mar>' (Reed) Wilson, a record of 
whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ellis have three children : Francis, 
Howard B., and Marion W. 

Mr. Ellis is the owner of one hundred and 
sixty acres of valuable land, is engaged in 
general farming and is meeting with success 
in his undertakings. He and his wife are 
members of the Baptist church and in politics 
he is a Republican. 

WILLIA:\1 F. CRANGLE. — At this time, 
during the greatest conflict the world has ever 
known, we honor more and more the remaining 
members of the famous old guard that saved 
our Union in the '60s. These men, who were 
then in the flush of their young manhood, and 
who fought to preserve the integrity of the 
nation, are to-day well past the three-score 
years and ten, but their hearts still beat with 
ardent loyalty and patriotism as they see the 
young men of the present generation respond- 
ing to their country's call. Mr. Crangle 
served all through the Civil war and made a 
record that shall ever reflect honor upon his 
name. He enlisted as a private in Company 
A, Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantrj-, 
and ere he was mustered out, in 1864, he had 
been promoted to the rank of corporal. He 
immediately re-enlisted in the Sixth Regiment 
United States Veteran Volunteers, in which 
he attained the rank of seargent and with 
which he served during the closing period of 
the war. He received his honorable discharge 
August 6, 1866. 

After these years spent in his country's 
service, ]\Ir. Crangle returned to Illinois, 
where he tilled the soil until 1873, when he 
received from the government a homestead 
in Adams county, Nebraska, near the little 
town of Glenville. He spent a few years of 
hard pioneer life there and then returned to 
Illinois, but in March, 1883, he came again to 
the fertile land of Nebraska, this time locating 
in Gage county. He purchased three hundred 



and twenty acres of land in Sections 23 and 
25 Rock ford township. This place was his 
home until he gave up active farming and re- 
tired, in 1905, to Beatrice, the county seat, in 
which city he now makes his home. 

Mr. Crangle is a native of Saxony, Ger- 
many, where he was born October 2, 1841, 
and he came to this country with his mother 
and step-father, Levi Ehrlich, in 1853. Mr. 
and Mrs. Ehrlich settled in Henry county, Illi- 
nois, where they passed the remainder of their 
lives. Mrs. Ehrlich died at the age of forty- 
eight years and her husband was sixty years 
of age at the time of his death. 

The marriage of William Crangle and ^Irs. 
Abby J. Sears, widow of Allen Sears, former- 
ly of Wisconsin, was solemnized March 3, 
1870. To this union were born six children: 
Lora E. is the wife of J. H. McKinney, of 
Springfield. Arkansas; Schuyler C. lives at 
^lankato, Kansas ; Fred N. is a resident of 
Blue Springs, Gage county ; Aurelia A. is the 
wife of J. B. Graves, of Ogden, Utah; Mina 
is deceased ; and Chester is a resident of 
Ogden, Utah. ]\Irs. Crangle passed to the 
life eternal November 11, 1891. 

August 25, 1893, recorded the marriage of 
Air. Crangle to Miss Anna Rothrock, daugh- 
ter of George and Catherine (Warwick) Roth- 
rock, natives of Indiana. This vmion has been 
blessed with three children, Lila E.. Bertha 
A., and Neta N.. all of whom are with their 
parents, in Beatrice. 

Politically Mr. Crangle votes the Republi- 
can ticket and is a member of the Grand Army 
Republic, Rawlins Post, No. 35 at Beatrice. 
He is a member of the Baptist church. 

FRED H. BARNES. — The men who are 
the sons of pioneers look with pride upon their 
ancestrj-, and it is well that they do, as all of 
the progress of the world has been stimulated 
by the pioneers — be they pioneers of a coun- 
trv or industry or principle. Fred Hall Barnes, 
whose life review we are scanning, is the son 
of Francis M. and Mary Jane (Dripps) 
Barnes. Francis Barnes was bom May 1. 
1833, in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and 
in 1842 he was taken to the city of St. Louis, 



1004 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTV. NEBRASKA 




Mr. and Mrs. William F. CR.^^•GLE 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1005 



Missouri, by his parents, William and Linda 
Barnes, who passed the remaining years of 
their life in that city. 

Francis M. Barnes attended the St. Louis 
public schools and laid the foundation upon 
which he built the structure of his life and 
principles. In 1854 he went to Kansas City, 
where he engaged in the transfer business, 
and in 1858 he came to Richardson county, 
Nebraska. Thereafter he was engaged in 
freighting from the Missouri river to the 
mountains until 1870, when he removed his 
home and family and settled at what is now 
the town of Barneston, which was named in 
his honor. Upon his arrival upon the Otoe 
Indian reservation lands he forthwith became 
aware of the fact that there were more red- 
skins than "pale- faces" and had soon estab- 
lished a trading ix>st to barter with the Indians 
for the things which they had in exchange for 
the beads and clothing which the white man 
had. He developed a prosperous mercantile 
and live-stock business. 

November 16, 1856, in Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, was solemnized the marriage of Francis 
Barnes and Miss Mary Jane Dripps, who was 
born at Bellevue, Nebraska, November 15, 
1827, the daughter of Major Andrew and 
Mary Dripps, the latter having been an Otoe 
Indian woman. Major and Mrs. Andrew 
Dripps moved to Missouri and purchased land 
which to-day is the site of the modern city of 
Kansas City. Mr. Dripps was associated with 
the men who banded themselves into a cor- 
poration to plat the land of his farm into lots 
and sell to the people who were rushing to the 
west. Mr. Dripps realized that this was a 
strategic point on the Missouri river for a 
thriving city, but it is possible to believe that 
he never had any Utopian ideas of Kansas 
City as it is today. Mrs. Mary Jane Barnes 
is now past ninety years old and has the dis- 
tinction of being the oldest living person born 
on Nebraska soil. Her home is made in 
Barneston, from which her companion passed 
away August 18, 1916, after sixty-one years 
of happy companionship. They were the par- 
ents of the following children : Gertrude died 
at the age of twelve years ; William is living 



retired at (nuhrie, (Jklahoma; Charles G. is 
retired and lives at Red Rock, Oklahoma; 
Enimett F. is a farmer near Ponca City, Okla- 
homa ; Katie is the wife of Lymond Dickie, 
Ottawa, Kansas ; and Fred Hall Barnes is the 
subject of this review. Of the parents fur- 
ther mention is made in the historical depart- 
ment of this volume — specially in connection 
with the record of Barneston. 

As intimated above, Francis M. Barnes was 
honored by the little city of Barneston being 
named in commemoration of himself. For 
many long years he was allied with all of the 
civic, religious, and social life of his commu- 
nity and was instrumental in giving his sup- 
port to many worthy causes. He was a char- 
ter member of the first lodge of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows organized in 
Kansas City and he was also an honored mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity. 

Fred Hall Barnes, the son of this illustrious 
couple who allied themselves with so many 
of the first things of our western country's 
history, was born near St. Deroin, in Richard- 
son county, Nebraska, July 2, 1868, and came 
with his parents to Gage county in 1870. He 
has grown up with the country and is familiar 
with all of the varying changes which have 
come during his life. The education which 
he received in the Barneston schools was sup- 
plemented by study at St. Benedict's College 
at Atchison, Kansas, and the Blake Private 
School at Beatrice. From the years 1892 to 
1898 he was connected with the bank at 
Barneston, first as bookkeeper and finally as 
president of the institution. He severed his 
connections with this business in 1898. He 
and his venerable mother have about four hun- 
dred acres of land in Barneston and Liberty 
townships and this is rented. 

The political sentiments of Mr. Barnes are 
in harmony with the principles of the Repub- 
lican jjarty. He was once elected town trea- 
surer, but did not accept the position. He is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity, including 
the chapter of Royal .\rch Masons, and also 
is identified with the Ancient Order of L'nited 
Workmen. 



1006 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



MICHAEL KRUEGER. — The stor>' of a 
nation is indissoliilily linked with and made up 
of the individual stories of the men who make 
up the composite whole. Likewise the histon- 
of one nation is linked with the historj' of 
another. The United States has been the 
haven of the poor and the oppressed, either 
religiously or economically, from the Old 
\\'orld. The Old World countries have been 
settled so long and their farming land culti- 
vated so intensively that there are no great 
opportunities for advancement for the indi- 
vidual persori, such as the L'nited States af- 
fords. That many men have attested to this 
is seen in the fact that millions of immigrants 
flock to our shores. 

The German immigrant is agriculturally in- 
clined and does his work in a highly produc- 
tive manner. One of these men who came 
here to secure a livelihood such as his native 
land could not give, was the late Michael 
Krueger. His birth date was October 3, 1S53, 
and he was bom in Stettin, Germany, where 
the first seventeen years of his life w'ere 
spent. In 1870 his parents and their children 
left their native land and located in Michigan 
City, Indiana, where they lived until coming 
to Nemaha township. Gage county, Nebraska. 

In Michigan City Michael Krueger worked 
in the car shops, then he removed to Syca- 
more, Indiana, where he was employed by a 
harvester company. But he was not content 
to work as a laborer, nor were his brothers, so 
they decided to come to Nebraska and buy the 
wild lands and go to fanning. Consequently, 
the year 1876 found the Krueger family on 
their way to Gage county, Nebraska. The 
land in Section 9, Nemaha township, was se- 
lected after many days of looking over the 
lands and their respective advantages through- 
out the country. They paid nine dollars an 
acre for the land and the three brothers. Gott- 
lieb, August, and Michael, decided to farm the 
land in partnership. Their father and mother 
also settled on this section, but the father was 
not able to farm, as he had lost his left leg. 

The one-room shanty was soon built and 
they had to prepare for the breaking of the 
land. Michael Krueger and his brother Au- 



gust went on foot to Kansas City, Missouri, 
to purchase a team of horses. They slept 
wherever night overtook them. In a haystack 
or strawstack was the best shelter from the 
wind and cold. Their journey home was not 
so long or tedious, as they were able to ride 
horseback. 

The parents of Michael Krueger were Au- 
gust and Dorothy (Doring) Krueger. They 
were both born in Germany and spent their 
latter years on their farm in Nemaha town- 
ship. August Krueger was born April 10, 
1812, and died in 1890. His wife was bom 
October 3, 1814, and died Febmary 22, 1886. 
They were the parents of the following chil- 
dren : William is deceased ; Gottfried married 
a sister of Mrs. Michael Krueger, and she 
lives in Nemaha township ; Mrs. Mary Amdt 
resides at Michigan City, Indiana ; Mrs. Min- 
nie Hanson lives in Orange, California ; 
Michael, with whom this sketch deals, is de- 
ceased ; August is living at Firth. Nebraska. 

In 1882 Michael Krueger married Miss 
Marie Ruter, and eight children were born to 
this union : William is living at Sidney, Ne- 
braska ; Carl resides in Nemaha township. 
Gage county ; John resides in Section 5, Ne- 
maha township; Anna is the wife of R. Wil- 
cox, of Nemaha township ; Michael remains 
in Nemaha township ; Maggie is at the mater- 
nal home ; Fred is nmning the home fann for 
his mother; and Katherine is likewise at 
home. 

The mother of this interesting family was 
born in Westphalia, Germany, October 22, 
' 1859. In 1881 she came to the United States 
in company with her sister, Mrs. Pape. They 
came to Gage county, where, in 1882, she mar- 
ried Mr. Krueger. Iler parents remained in 
their native land and after her mother's death 
her father. \MlIiam Ruter, came to Nemaha 
township, in 1885. Here he remained until 
his death, in 1911. He was born in 1820 and 
was an old man upon his arrival in this coun- 
try but lived to be ninety-one years old. He 
had a family of seven children, three of whom 
are in Nemaha township — Mrs. H. Pape, 
Mrs. Michael Krueger, and Mrs. Gottfried 
Kruesrer. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1007 



Airs. Michael Krueger is a very energetic 
woman and very businesslike. Her youngest 
son, Fred, is running the farm for her, and 
keeps good grade of cattle and hogs. In 1916 
Mrs. Krueger built a large bam, fifty by fifty- 
two feet in dimensions, and in this way they 
are able to accommodate a large number oi 
cattle and to store their hay. 

Mr. and Mrs. Krueger early professed the 
faith of the Lutheran church, of which they 
became communicants. They labored hard in 
this land of their adoption and at the time ol 
Mr. Krueger's death he owned eight hundred 
acres of land, which has been divided among 
the children. 



WIELIAAI M. KERK is a prosperous 
farmer in Nemaha township who came to Gage 
county when a mere lad, and who has become 
the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of 
well improved land. 

Youth is well said to be the springtime of 
life. It is then that the blood runs warm in 
the veins, when obstacles are met with the 
fresh courage that is ready to conquer them. 
If it were not for the yotuh in the world there 
would be no progress, and no new lands opened 
up, as middle age is content to remain in one 
place and condition. 

A\'illiam Kerk was bom in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, December 16, 1865, and is the 
son of John K. and Sarah (Fowler) Kerk. 
John Kerk was a farmer and bird-cage maker. 
Philadelphia, the city which was foimded by 
William Penn, was the birthplace and abiding 
place of John Kerk until 1877, when he went 
with his family to southern Texas, where he 
expected to farm. But death intervened and 
his life was snuffed out, in August, 1877, 
shortly after his arrival in Texas. He was 
born, in August, 1821, in Philadelphia, and 
was a son of a Gemian immigrant who had 
come to this country in the early part of the 
nineteenth centun,-. His wife, Sarah A. 
(Fowler) Kerk. was bom November 10, 
1837, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After 
her husband's death, in Texas, she took her 
family of nine children and returned to Phila- 
delphia. She lived to see her family as grown 



men and women in homes of their own, then 
she was called up higher. Her death occurred 
the morning after the sinking of the Maine 
in Havana harbor, in 1898. Her parents were 
emigrants from the Emerald Isle. 

William Kerk was a lad of eleven years 
when the big adventure of going to Texas was 
laid. This ended unhappily, but the lad Wil- 
liam had imbibed the wanderlust and was no 
more content to stay in prosaic Philadelphia. 
In 1882, when only seventeen years of age, he 
came to (lage county, Nebraska, and for a 
number of years he worked as a farm laborer 
in the vicinity of Cortland. Many a day has 
he shucked corn on the treeless prairie when 
the snow was knee-deep — and this for the 
nuuiificent sum of two and one-half cents a 
bushel. He also remembers the herds of 
sheep he cared for on the wild prairie for 
Frank Holt, in whose honor Holt township 
was named. 

In 1887 Mr. Kerk rented land in Nemaha 
township, north of Pickrell. and he farmed 
this land for three years, saving enough money 
to buy land for himself. He purchased his 
first land in Lancaster county, Nebraska, near 
Hickman. It was wild, uncultivated land and 
had no improvements on it. He had to build 
his own house, a shelter for his cattle and 
start the long, tedious task of turning wild 
land into broad, productive acres. This he 
accomplished, and for twenty-two years he 
lived on this farm. In 1912 he sold this farm 
and purchased his present farm, in Nemaha 
township. Gage county. He has made im- 
provements on the land to make it more com- 
fortable and useful for his work. In 1917 he 
purchased two hundred acres of land from 
Z. S. Branson, making five hundred and 
twenty acres of land that he is farming. 

The marriage of William Kerk and Louisa 
C. Koontz was solemnized March 2, 1888. 
Mrs. Kerk was born July 22. 1868, in Galena, 
Illinois. Her parents, Frank and Julia (Beal) 
Koontz, came to Lancaster county, Nebraska, 
in 1867 and homesteaded. They were asso- 
ciated with all of the early endeavors of de- 
velopment, taking an active interest in all 
things for the upbuilding of a great agricul- 



1008 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



tural county. W'lien the first railroad was 
built into Lincoln, Air. Koontz helped in its 
construction. This railroad was the Burling- 
ton, and it still continues its way into Lincoln, 
Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Koontz, who are 
now both deceased, were the parents of nine 
children. Louisa Koontz was born and edu- 
cated in Lancaster county and has been a de- 
voted helpmeet to her husband, aiding him in 
all of the ways in which a good woman knows 
how to assist. One child, Irene, born in 1911, 
is the light of their home. 

Mr. Kerk is a breeder of Hereford cattle, 
beginning his herd of thoroughbred stock in 
1916. His farm is very advantageously situ- 
ated, so that he is able to feed many cattle for 
the market. He has a spring of running water 
where the cattle can get pure, fresh water at 
all times of the year. This spring has been 
visited by the farmers during the drouths in 
years past, when their own wells refused to 
give water for their cattle. 

In politics, Mr. Kerk is an independent 
thinker, but he feels that Democratic prin- 
ciples are the truest. He is a man who. when 
a mere lad, grasped the opportunity of his 
day and has worked faithfully to overcome 
the obstacles which came in his way. 

THOMAS S. ELLIS. — In the death of 
Thomas S. Ellis, which occurred in Beatrice, 
May 7, 1915, Gage county lost one of its rep- 
resentative citizens and extensive land-owners. 
A native of New Jersey, he was bom in Som- 
erset county, and when four years old he was 
taken by his parents to Illinois, where he re- 
ceived a common-school and college education 
and became a farmer. He attended college at 
Naples, Illinois. 

On June 5, 1874, Mr. Kllis was united in 
marriage to Miss Laura J. Billinger, a daugh- 
ter of William and Sarah (McManus) Bil- 
linger. In 1S92 he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, and purchased land in Section 18, 
Midland township. He was successfully en- 
gaged in farming until his death. He pros- 
pered, and added to his land holdings, being 
the owner of four hundred and eighty acres. 
His parents were John and Mar>- Ellis, who 



came to Gage county in 1890, and the father 
passed away, at Beatrice, in December of that 
year, the mother's death occurring in Decem- 
ber, 1891. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Ellis became the 
parents of three children : John T. is a suc- 
cessful farmer in this county ; Ralph G. is a 
farmer in Midland township: and Mary E. 
resides in Beatrice. 

Mrs. Ellis makes her home in Beatrice, at 
822 North Eleventh street. She is a member 
of the Christian church. Mr. Ellis was a Re- 
publican in i)olitics and he devoted all of his 
active life to farm enterprise. 

William and Sarah (McManus) Billinger, 
parents of Mrs. Ellis, were united in marriage 
in the year 1841. He was born at Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, April 1, 1819, and his death 
occurred April 9, 1911. His wife was bom in 
Butler county, Ohio, October 1, 1819. After 
their marriage they removed to Illinois, the 
journey being made with a team and covered 
wagon. They settled in McLean county, that 
state, where i\Ir. Billinger was engaged in 
farming for some time. Removal was then 
made to Woodford county, Illinois, where he 
became a prosperous farmer and honored citi- 
zen. He and his wife were members of the 
Presbyterian church. Of their ten children 
si.x are living in 1918. 

ARTHUR C. SONDEREGGER, of Be- 
atrice, Nebraska, was born in Jefferson county, 
this state, on the 23d of October, 1888, and is 
a son of Carl Sonderegger, of whom mention 
is made on other pages of this volume. 

Arthur C. Sonderegger received his early 
education in the public schools of Jefferson 
county and later went with his brother Ernest 
to Eurojje, where they studied for two years, 
taking a special course in German and study- 
ing the nursery and seed business in Germany 
and Switzerland. L'pon returning to the 
United States Mr. Sonderegger became asso- 
ciated with his father and brothers in the 
nursen,' and seed business in Beatrice, where 
they own and conduct the Sonderegger Nurs- 
ery and Seed House, one of the largest of its 
kind in this part of the countn'- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1009 



On October 20, 1915, Air. Sonderegger was 
vmited in marriage to Miss Ruth Atwater, of 
Beatrice, she being a daughter of William At- 
water, who is engaged in the house-moving 
business in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Sonder- 
egger are the parents of one child, Phyllis. 
Mrs. Sonderegger is a member of the Presby- 
terian church and her husband of the Chris- 
tian church. They are very highly respected 
in the community in which they live, and are 
numbered among the influential families in 
this part of the state. 

HENRY JURGENS is the owner of a 
valuable farm property of eight hundred acres 
in Gage county and the same represents the 
tangible results of his own ability and energy 
as applied to agricultural and live-stock in- 
dustry, for when he established his residence 
in the county his financial resources were not- 
able only for their absence and at first he 
found employment at farm work. Such a 
story of success and advancement as has 
marked his career in Nebraska is a matter for 
general as well as individual satisfaction and 
pride. The fine homestead place of Mr. Jur- 
gens is situated in Section 11, Logan town- 
ship. He was born in Hanover, Germany, 
January 20, 1859, and is a son of T. H. and 
Annie (Duitsman) Jurgens, who were num- 
bered among the pioneer settlers of Gage 
county, where the father became a prosperous 
farmer and where he still resides, at the ven- 
erable age of eighty-four years (1918), his 
wife having passed to eternal rest several 
years ago. Of their five children four are 
living. Mr. Jurgens is a Republican in poli- 
tics and is an earnest member of the Lutheran 
church, as was also his wife. 

Henry Jurgens acquired his early education 
in the schools of his native land and has been 
a resident of Gage county since 1881. For 
three years he was here employed at farm 
work by the month, and for the ensuing five 
years he farmed on rented land. He then 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres, on 
which he was able to make partial payment, 
and with increasing prosperity he continued 
to buv more land until he now has one of the 



large and valuable farm properties of the 
county. On his homestead place he has erect- 
ed excellent buildings, including the spacious 
and attractive house, which he l)uilt in the 
year 1890. His estate is situated in Logan, 
Hooker, and Nemaha townships. Mr. Jur- 
gens is essentially liberal and public-spirited 
as a citizen, is an independent Republican in 
politics, and both he and his wife are zealous 
communicants of the Hanover German Lu- 
theran church, he having been a member of 
the building committee that had in charge the 
erection of the present fine church edifice. 

In 1884 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Jurgens to Miss Mary Kruse, who had 
come to this county in the preceding year 
She was born and reared in Germany and is 
a daughter of Martin Kruse, who there 
passed his entire life. In conclusion is given 
brief record concerning the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Jurgens : Thea has active charge 
of his father's farm in Hooker township ; 
Rena is the wife of John Ideus, of Logan 
township; Annie is the wife of Thomas 
Schuster, of Logan township; Theada is the 
wife of Christ Meints and they reside on her 
father's farm in Nemaha township ; Martin 
remains at the parental home ; Fannie is the 
wife of George Paben, of Logan township; 
and Grace and Henry are the younger mem- 
bers of the parental home circle. 

JOHN J. CLANCY is a farmer owning 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in Sec- 
tion 15, Elm township. He is of Irish paren- 
tage, his parents coming from Ireland. 
America has ever received of the best blood 
of the Old World and Ireland has given of her 
sons as liberally as the rest. 

John J. Clancy was bom in Mason county, 
Illinois, July 31, 1863, and is a son of John 
and Catherine (Devin) Clancy. John Clancy, 
Sr., was bom in County Waterford, Ireland, 
in 1831 and when twenty-two years of age he 
started to seek his fortune in the New World, 
arriving in Illinois in 1853. Before farming 
for himself he served his apprenticeship as a 
farm employe. His wife, Catherine (Devin) 
Clancv, came from the Emerald Isle when a 



1010 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




AIr. and Mrs. Henry Iurcexs 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1011 



young lassie and settled with her parents in 
Peoria, Illinois. After her marriage to John 
Clancy she remained his faithful companion 
until his death, which occurred in 1896, and 
she then came to Beatrice, Nebraska, spending 
the remainder of her days with her son John. 
She was born in 1821 and died in 1901. Mr. 
and Mrs. Clancy were members of the Catholic 
church. C)f the three children born to them, 
only John J., the subject of this review, sur- 
vives. 4 

John J. Clancy was born on the home farm 
in Illinois, received his early education in the 
rural schools and as a youth assisted his father 
on the fami. In 1888 he came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, settling in Elm township, where he 
rented his present farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres for twenty-five years. He pur- 
chased this land, from the Schock estate, in 
1914. He has made improvements on the 
farm, erected a large, modem barn and has 
otherwise made many other provisions to 
make his work more efficient. 

February 16, 1890, John J. Clancy took Miss 
Ella Hood as his wife. She was born in 
Mason county, Illinois, and is a daughter of 
Martin and Ellen (Horan) Hood. Her par- 
ents were both bom in Ireland. Her father, 
Martin Hood, was bom in 1829, in County 
Galloway, Ireland. He farmed in Illinois 
previously to his coming to Elm township, 
Gage county, in 1884. He spent his later 
years in Beatrice, where he died, in 1912, aged 
eighty-three years. His wife, Ellen ( Horan ) 
Hood, was born near Aughrim, County Gallo- 
way, Ireland, in 1835, and she died in 1893. 
They were devout. God-fearing, industrious 
people of the Catholic faith. 

Mr. and Mrs. John J. Clancy became the 
parents of two children : Guy T. remains at 
home with his parents, and Donald Martin is 
deceased. 

Mrs. Clancy was educated in the high school 
of Creston, Iowa, and the Business College of 
Beatrice, Nebraska. For six years prior to 
her marriage she taught school in Gage and 
JefYerson counties. 

Mr. Clancy is shareholder of the Farmers' 
Elevator Company at Diller, Nebraska. Out- 



side of this his interests have centered in his 
home and farm. He and his wife are com- 
municants of the Catholic church, and he votes 
the Democratic ticket. He is a successful 
farmer and a valued member of his com- 
munity. 

FRANK J. HUBKA, a progressive farmer 
living in Elm township, is a native of Ne- 
braska. He was bom in Pawnee county, and 
is a son of Bohemian parents, who came to 
the United States and settled in Pawnee 
county in the very earliest days for the set- 
tling of Nebraska. These parents, Albert and 
Mary (Kovanda) Plubka, are mentioned else- 
where in this volume. 

Frank J. Hubka was born December 28, 
1869, in Pawnee county, and received the edu- 
cation of the district schools. His early years, 
up to his marriage, were spent with his father 
in the tilling of the soil. In 1892 he rented 
land from his father, and by dint of hard 
labor and sacrifice he was eventually able to 
purchase land for himself. This was his 
present four hundred and eighty acres of land 
in Elm township. Gage county. At the time 
of this purchase he went into debt for seven 
thousand dollars, but he knew what Nebraska 
land was and knew that in a very short while 
he would be able to cancel his indebtedness. 
He stocked his farm with the well known 
Hereford cows and from every dollar's worth 
of com that he fed them he realized a good 
profit. In this way he has been able to meet 
his obligation and to broaden out his estate to 
include one hundred and sixty acres of land 
in Section 15, Elm township. On this broad 
acreage Mr. Hubka is enabled to feed many 
cattle for market every year. 

On the 13th day of Febraary, 1892, Frank 
J. Hubka married Anna Vavruska, who has 
shared with him, in his work and civic activ- 
ities, as well as all of his hardships and joys. 
Three children have come to bless their mar- 
riage : Emily is the wife of John S. Bures. 
living in Elm township ; Rudolph is at home : 
and Albert is attending business college at 
York, Nebraska, in 1918. 

Mrs. Frank J. Hubka was born ^larch 11, 



1012 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



1871, in Marshall county, Kansas, near Marys- 
ville, the county seat. Her parents, John and 
Katherine (Janacek) Vavruska, were natives 
of Bohemia, joining a great migration of their 
l^eople to this section of the countr)'. They 
were farmers, but are now retired, living in 
W'ilber, Nebraska. 

Mr. Hubka has taken more than a casual 
interest in his township. While he is kept 
very busy in the managing of his farm he is 
able to devote a portion of his time to the in- 
terests of the township at large. Upon his 
arrival in the township he was made a director 
of the school board of his district and he has 
filled that position all of these years. He at 
one time was the township clerk and for the 
past four years has served as township trea- 
surer. He is independent in politics, voting 
for the right man for the place rather than 
the j)arty's man. 

GEORGE \V. STEIN MEYER. — A native 
son of Gage county who is making good use 
of his opportunities and who is contributing 
in no small way to the development of the 
natural resources of this great state is George 
W. Steinmeyer. He was born in Clatonia 
township, December 29, 1877, a son of John 
H. Steinmeyer, of whom mention is made on 
other pages of this volume. He was reared 
on the farm, his early education being supple- 
mented by attendance at Wesleyan University, 
at Lincoln. On returning from school he be- 
came assistant cashier of the Fanners & 
Merchants Bank at De Witt. In 1905 he or- 
ganized and became cashier of the State Bank 
of Ilolmesville, continuing in that position 
untfl 1911. In 1910 he became associated with 
others in erecting and equipping the hydro- 
electric plant at Holmsville. which furnishes 
electricity to Wymore. Blue Springs, and Be- 
atrice. This concern has been under his 
supervision since it was established. This en- 
terprise is of inestimable value to the com- 
munities which it serves and the promoter, 
Mr. Steinmeyer, deserves much credit. 

October 14, 1915, Mr. Steinmeyer married 
Miss Hazel Phillips, daughter of J. T. Phil- 
lips, of Lincoln. 



Mr. Steinmeyer represented his county in 
the state legislature in 1915 and is a staunch 
Republican. Fraternally he belongs to the 
.\ncient Free & .\ccepted Masons, and the 
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. 

FRANK F. PAPE. — One of Gage county's 
prosperous tenant farmers is Frank F. Pape, 
residing on Section 7, Nemaha township, 
where he farms two hundred and forty acres 
of land. Mr. Pape was^om February 16, 
1883, in Gage county, Nebraska, and is a son 
of Henry and Charlotte (Rueter) Pape. He 
was the eldest of three children, his sister 
Lena, wife of William Hasenohr. living near 
Beatrice, and his brother, Charles, being at 
home with his parents. Henr\' Pape, the 
father of our subject, was born November 24 
1850, in Prussia, Germany, and is a son of 
Henry and Charlotte (Buschman) Pape. 
Henry Pape was a farmer and miner in his 
native land until 1880, when he immigrated to 
America, and settled in Gage county, Ne- 
braska, wliere he purchased eighty acres of 
railroad land, for which he paid ten dollars an 
acre. He had but little money and the pur- 
chase of this land put him pretty badly in 
debt, but by hard work and strict economy he 
was finally able to clear off the encumbrance, 
and from time to time he has bought addition- 
al farm land until at the present time he is 
the owner of three hundred and thirty-three 
acres of good agricultural land. Mr. Pape 
is also a stockholder in the Farmers Co- 
0])erative Association of Cortland, Nebraska. 
He made extensive improvements on his 
farms and in 1914 he retired. By a previous 
marriage, in 1874, to Margaret Schaffer, a 
native of Germany, who died in 1880, Mr. 
Pape had three sons : Henr}' and William, of 
Nemaha township, and Fred, in the implement 
business at Pickrell, this county. 

Frank S. Pape was educated in the district 
schools of Nemaha township, and assisted his 
father on the farm until he started farming on 
his own account. On December 25, 1913. Mr. 
Pape was united in marriage to Miss Marie L. 
Remmers, a native of Nemaha township. 
Gage county, and a daughter of John E. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1013 



Remmers, of whom a record will be found on 
other pages of this publication. Mr. and Mrs. 
Pape are members of the German Lutheran 
church, and in politics Mr. Pape is an inde- 
pendent voter. 

HIRAM P. CROCKER. — In this semi- 
centennial history of Nebraska and Gage 
county is is specially gratifying to accord 
merited recognition to the sterling and hon- 
ored pioneer citizen whose name initiates this 
paragraph and who is now living virtually re- 
tired. Mr. Crocker came to Gage county first 
in 1874, and in that year he here secured a 
tract of unimproved land, but not until two 
years later did he here establish his home. 
His financial resources when he located in 
the county were summed up in twenty-five 
dollars, aside from the landed investment, 
and he thus lived up to the full tension of pio- 
neer life during the period of reclaiming his 
land and bringing the same into eiTective cul- 
tivation. Further interest attaches to his 
career by reason of the fact that he is a scion 
of an honored family that was founded in 
New England in the early colonial period of 
our national histon'. 

The original American progenitors of the 
Crocker family were William and John 
Crocker, and the subject of this review is a 
lineal descendant of William Crocker. Wil- 
liam and John set sail from the south of Eng- 
land for America in the year 1634, and the 
little vessel on which they took passage lost 
its way and was greatly delayed in the voyage 
across the Atlantic. The brothers established 
their residence in the historic Cape Cod dis- 
trict of Massachusetts, and the name has 
long been one of prominence and influence in 
that section of the old Bay state. William 
Crocker married and reared a large family of 
children. He became one of the extensive 
land owners on Cape Cod and history records 
that the first law suit tried in that district was 
that in which he successfully brought charge 
against a man for stealing certain property 
from him. The culprit was convicted and his 
penalty was being flogged, the verdict of the 
court being in the application of a designated 



number of lashes to the back of the mal- 
efactor. Samuel Crocker, a grandson of Wil- 
liam, was a gallant soldier of the Continental 
Line in the war of the Revolution, in which 
he served as colonel of a regiment of Massa- 
chusetts troops. 

Hiram P. Crocker was born in Erie county. 
New York, on the 22d of July, 1839, and is a 
son of Oscar F. C. and Abigail (Weather- 
low) Crocker, both of whom passed their en- 
tire lives in the old Empire state, where the 
former was born July 10, 1810, and the latter 
about the year 1815, her parents having been 
of German ancestry. Oscar F. C. Crocker 
learned in his youth the trade of tanner, but 
eventually he abandoned the work of his 
trade to turn his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. Of the family of two sons and two 
daughters Hiram P., of his review, is the 
eldest, and he remained at the parental home 
until he had attained to the age of thirteen 
years, when he became a member of the 
family circle of his maternal grandfather, in 
the same township. He remained with his 
grandfather seven years, and in the mean- 
while continued to attend the common schools 
when opportunity afforded. This educational 
discipline was supplemented by a course of 
study in an academy at Yorkshire, Cattarau- 
gus county. New York. After leaving the 
academy he was for three years employed by 
the month, by tw^o of his maternal uncles, 
and he then assumed charge of his father's 
homestead farm. 

On the 6th of October, 1864, was solem- 
nized the marriage of Mr. Crocker to Miss 
Ella L. Cheney, who was bom at Holland, 
Erie county. New York, March 20, 1846, a 
daughter of Joseph and Sylvia E. (Pickard) 
Cheney. Mr. Cheney was born at Freedom, 
Cattaraugus county. New York, on the 28th 
of June, 1819, and his wife was bom in 
Springfield, Otsego county, that state, ]\Iarch 
5, 1824. His death occurred June 9, 1884. 

Soon after his marriage Mr. Crocker be- 
came actively associated with the management 
of the homestead farm of his father-in-law, 
and there he remained until 1869, when he re- 
moved to Warren county, Illinois. There he 



1014 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 




HiBAM P. Crocker 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1015 



continued to be engaged in farming until the 
spring of 1874, when he came to the new state 
of Nebraska and, after a survey of different 
localities, decided in favor of Gage county, 
where he purchased six hundred and forty 
acres of land in Section 16, Filley township, 
the township having then been known by the 
name of Mud Creek. After securing this 
property Mr. Crocker returned to Illinois, but 
in the spring of 1876 he came with his family 
to Gage county, where he rented a partially 
improved farm, near Beatrice, until he could 
prepare his own land for cultivation and there 
erect a house and other necessary buildings. 
Within the first year Mr. Crocker broke one 
hundred and thirty acres of the virgin prairie 
soil of his farm, besides erecting a small 
house in the spring of 1877, at which time the 
family home was here established. With the 
passing years he made each successive season 
give forth bounties from his farm, and de- 
veloped the place gradually tintil it is now one 
of the model farms of the county. In the 
winter of 1883-1884 he sold three hundred 
and twenty acres of the land, but he is still 
the owner of three hundred and twenty acres 
of finely improved farm land in Gage county. 
His character and ability have been so appre- 
ciated that he has been frequently impor- 
tuned to become a candidate for local office of 
public trust, but he has declined to give favor- 
able consideration to such overtures, though 
he has been an active and loyal supporter of 
the cause of the Republican party from the 
time when he cast his presidential vote, in 
support of Abraham Lincoln. He is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity, and his wife, who 
was his devoted companion and helpmeet for 
almost fifty years, was a zealous member of 
the Christian church, their gracious compan- 
ionship having been severed when the loved 
wife and mother was summoned to eternal 
rest, her death having occurred on the 30th of 
September, 1912. Mr. Crocker is now living 
retired and in his venerable years he resides in 
the home of his son Lloyd, at Beatrice, where 
he is accorded the fullest measure of filial so- 
licitude. Of the three children the eldest, 
Frank, resides upon and has charge of the old 



homestead farm ; Lloyd is individually men- 
tioned in an article immediately following this ; 
and Dr. Dorr Crocker is a representative 
physician and surgeon at Centralia, Wash- 
ington. 

LLOYD CROCKER. — In the foregoing 
context has been given a succinct review of the 
career of Hiram P. Crocker, father of him 
whose name introduces this article, and thus 
it is unnecessary to give further recapitula- 
tion of the family history. Lloyd Crocker 
has been a resident of Gage coimty from the 
time of his birth and in addition to having 
the distinction of being a scion of one of the 
honored pioneer families of this favored sec- 
tion of the state he has also made for himself 
secure vantage-ground as one of the repre- 
sentative members of the bar of his native 
county, with a large and important practice, 
and with residence and professional head- 
quarters in the city of Beatrice, the attractive 
capital and metropolis of the county. 

On the old homestead farm in Filley town- 
ship, this county, Mr. Crocker was bom on 
the 3d of December, 1879, and his boyhood 
and early youth were compassed by the in- 
vigorating influences of the home farm, the 
while he continued his studies in the public 
schools until he had completed the curriculum 
of the high school in the village of Filley. In 
pursuance of higher academic discipline he 
then entered Wesleyan University, at Lincoln, 
Nebraska, and in this institution he was 
graduated in 1902, with the degree of Bach- 
elor of Arts. In preparation for his chosen 
I)rofession he then was matriculated in the law 
department of the University of Nebraska, 
and in 1906 he received from this university 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws, with virtually 
concomitant admission to the bar of his native 
state. In July of the following year Mr. 
Crocker formed a partnership with Samuel 
Killen, with whom he was associated in prac- 
tice at Beatrice for the ensuing year. Since 
that time he has conducted an individual law 
practice, and has been concerned with much 
important litigation in the courts of this sec- 
tion of the state, with a record that marks him 



1016 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



as one of the resourceful trial lawyers and 
able counselors at the bar of Gage county. 
As a staunch supporter of the cause of the 
Republican party Mr. Crocker was with the 
minority organization in Gage county the year 
he ran for county attorney, and thus normal 
political exigency compassed his defeat, as it 
did also on the two occasions when he was its 
candidate for county judge. 

In 1906 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Crocker to Miss Maude Bowen, who was 
born in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, her 
father, Richard Bowen, a native of Wales, 
having become a prosperous farmer in Iowa, 
whence he eventually came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, where he was associated with the 
same fundamental industry' until his death. 
Mr. and Mrs. Crocker have three children — 
Rachel, Arlo, and Eloise. The family is one 
of prominence and distinctive popularity in 
the social activities of Gage county and its 
attractive judicial center. 

EILERT HARMS has, after years of 
tilling the soil and undergoing the privations 
necessary to own and operate the number of 
acres of land that he does, removed to Firth, 
Nebraska, and is successfully conducting a 
leading lumber business in this thriving town. 
The early years of Mr. Harms' life were spent 
in the crudest of surroundings and under the 
most simple conditions. A life of this kind 
always makes strong minds and bodies that 
are able to cope with the problems that con- 
front men. Eilert Harms' parents were Ger- 
man immigrants who came to this land of 
o])portunity in 1856. 1 hey settled in Peters- 
burg, Menard county, Illinois, remained there 
a few years and then started for the fertile 
lands of Missouri. They homesteaded land in 
Atchison county, where they remained the 
rest of their lives. Ten children were bom to 
them. Eilert, with whom this sketch directly 
deals, and Mrs. Fannie Johnson, living in 
Franklin county, Nebraska, are the only ones 
who survive. The parents. John O. and Ma- 
tilda ( Rodcmaker) Harms, were bom in Ger- 
many. John O. was bom in 1S25 and died in 
1907: his wife was born in 1826 and died in 



1906. They were industrious people, they 
reared a large family of children, and they 
labored to forward the march of civilization 
in Missouri. 

Kilert Harms was born in Menard county, 
Illinois, shortly after his parents' arrival in 
this land of opportunity. As a lad he went 
with his parents to Atchison county, Missouri. 
There was verj' little opportunity for educa- 
tion in those early days. There were no 
schools in these new districts and even where 
one was built, the boys were given ver>' little 
opportunity to attend. Mr. Hanns thus re^ 
ceived little education of the kind learned from 
books. He remained with his parents, learn- 
ing the art of farming at his own father's 
home, and when he decided on a vocation for 
himself he was equipped with the knowledge 
necessary to become a successful farmer. 

In 1881 Mr. Harms purchased land in Sec- 
tion 6, Adams township. Gage county, al- 
though he did not come to live on and improve 
his land until 1885. With a good, strong team 
of mules he made the journey and upon his 
arrival he built his shanty and bought the 
necessary implements for farming. When all 
this was done he had not money left to do any 
more. But his heart was young, his young 
wife was at his side to share his hardships 
and his joys, and they bravely set to work to 
win the wild lands to productivity. During^ 
all of the inten'ening years Mr. Hanus has 
continued to increase his land holdings, until 
to-day he owns six hundred and forty acres 
of land, in Gage and Lancaster counties. 

Eilert Hamis was married in August. 1884, 
to Anna Hackman, who was born December 
12, 1864, in Nemaha county, Nebraska. Her 
parents, who were of German birth, settled in 
Nemaha county when land values were low 
and when hard labor was required to gain the 
necessities of life. Mrs. Hamis' father, 
Charles Hackman, was born in Gemiany and 
died in 1865, in Nemaha county, Nebraska. 
His widow, Louisa Hackman, lives near Fil- 
ley. Gage county. 

Three children have been bom to Mr. and 
Mrs. Harms: Lulu is the wife of A. Kme- 
ger, on the old IiDnie place in .Adams town- 



irrSTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1017 



ship ; John E., who is in the lumber business 
at Firth, Lancaster county, married Miss 
Fannie Graff; Harry H., who resides in Lan- 
caster county, married Miss Goldie Burch- 
nian. 

These children have all received good edu- 
cational advantages. Mr. and Mrs. Harms 
wanted their children to have the opportunities 
of education which they were not able to get 
in their own youth. After finishing their work 
in the district schools the sons and daugh- 
ter were allowed to go to the high school. To 
do this properly and with the proper surround- 
ings Mr. Harms moved to Firth, in 1907, and 
gave his children every chance for advance- 
ment. When he first came to Firth he did 
not devote himself to any work outside of the 
supervision of his farms until 1911. when he 
purchased the business of the Farmers' Lum- 
ber Company, which he is now successfully 
conducting with his son, John E. Mr. and 
Mrs. Harms are members of the Lutheran 
church, which receives liberally of their sup- 
port. The principles of the Democratic party 
are upheld by the vote of \lr. Harms. 



JOHN G. WIEBE. — Among the pioneer 
business men of Beatrice who have been 
called from earthly activities mention should 
be made of John G. Wiebe. He was born in 
Germany, January 16, 1835. He came to 
America in August, 1876, and after a short 
stay at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, he came to Be- 
atrice, in 1877, and established himself in the 
lumber business. He conducted this enter- 
prise until his death, which occurred January 
20, 1911. The firm still retains the name of 
its founder. 

In April, 1864, Mr. Wiebe was united in 
marriage to Miss Lisette Penner, a native of 
Germa!iy, and a daughter of Andreas Pen- 
ner, the Penner family coming to America at 
the same time Mr. Wiebe did : they were mem- 
bers of the Mennonite colony which came to 
this country on account of religious persecu- 
tion. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Wiebe were born seven 
children, four of whom are still living: Mrs. 



Henry Wiebe, of Blakely township; Henry; 
Anna ; and Mrs. J. H. Penner, of Beatrice. 

John G. Wiebe was a good business man 
and a good citizen. His passing was a loss to 
his family and to the community. He was a 
devoted member of the Mennonite church and 
in politics was a Republican. His son Henrj' 
was born in Danzig, Germany, January 6, 
1871. He was educated in the Beatrice pub- 
lic schools and entered the lumber business 
with his father. He and William Hamm are 
now the owners of the business conducted 
under the title of the J. G. Wiebe Lumber 
Company. 

JOHN L. DAWSON. — When we hear 
the name of a famous general or a titled sol- 
dier our thoughts instantly revert to the in- 
spiring scenes of the particular battlefield on 
which he distinguished himself as a com- 
mander; but the honored title expresses still 
more than the military prowess and skill of 
the bearer — it is a still broader term and 
marks the loyal devotion and dauntless cour- 
age of thousands of brave men without whose 
daring deeds the title could never have been 
won. A general may possess military genius, 
but if his commands do not fall on the ears of 
tried and true men, men of intrejjid daring 
and unconquerable zeal, of devotion to cause 
and utter disregard of self, then his genius 
avails him naught. One of the bravest of the 
brave soldiers who helped maintain the honor 
of the famous generals during the Civil war, 
and forever placed a grateful Country under 
obligations to him because of his zeal in her 
behalf, is the gentleman in whose honor we 
write this sketch. He has distinguished him- 
self not only by his honorable and ardent 
career as a soldier but he has also proved 
himself in every sense a noble, patriotic, in- 
dustrious, intelligent, and progressive citi- 
zen — one whose name deserves to be handed 
down in history. 

Mr. Dawson was born on a farm in Stark 
county, Illinois, September 9, 1840. His par- 
ents were William and Amelia (Dorman) 
Dawson, the former of Irish descent and the 
latter a native of Maryland. They accompan- 



1018 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




I 



HIST(«Y OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



1019 



ied their respective parents to Ohio and there 
met and married. In 1836 they became pio- 
neer settlers of Henry county, Illinois, and 
later moved to Stark county, where they spent 
the remainder of their lives. They crossed 
the Illinois river at Peoria when that place 
contained but one store, a blacksmith shop, and 
a few shanties. Here John L. Dawson was 
reared and when a young man he responded to 
his country's call and enlisted, July 6, 1862, 
as a private in Company E, One Hundred and 
Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. For 
three years he served with this regiment and 
he was mustered out of service at the expira- 
tion of his term of enlistment, at Greensboro, 
North Carolina, June 30, 1865. Some of the 
important conflicts in which he participated 
were the siege of Knoxville and the engage- 
ments at Camp Arthur, Resaca, Utah Charge, 
Franklin, and Nashville. After the last 
named engagement his regiment was sent to 
Alexandria, near Washington, where they 
camped until they were transferred to Fort 
Fisher. There they remained until the close 
of the war. He was a good soldier, always 
found at his post of duty, and when the war 
was over he returned to his father's home in 
Stark county, Illinois. In that county he en- 
gaged in farming and became the owner of 
one hundred and forty acres of land. 

In 1888 Mr. Dawson came to Gage county, 
Nebraska, and purchased four hundred acres 
of land, in Wymore and Sicily townships. An 
orchard and a little shanty were the only im- 
provements, but he set himself to building and 
improving, and for twenty-eight years he suc- 
cessfully carried on his agricultural pursuits. 
He then retired to Wymore, where he now re- 
sides in a beautiful home, surrounded by the 
necessities and luxuries which he justly de- 
serves. 

In Stark county, Illinois, on the 2d of Feb- 
ruary, 1871, Mr. Dawson was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Taylor, a native of 
England. She is a daughter of Jacob Taylor, 
whose record appears elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson have become the 
parents of three children : William A., a 
furniture dealer of Wymore; Jacob S., a far- 



mer of Sicily township; and Ethel, wife of 
Charles Rossiter, of Wymore. 

The family attend the Methodist church, of 
which Mrs. Dawson is a member. In politics 
Mr. Dawson votes with the Republican party, 
which he considers to have always been the 
party of progress and reform. The lapel of 
his coat is adorned with the bronze emblem 
which signifies that the wearer not only served 
his country as a soldier but maintains associa- 
tion with his army comrades as a member of 
the Grand Army of the Republic. He be- 
longs to Coleman Post, No. 115, of Wymore. 
Like many other defenders of the nation in 
the Civil war, Mr. Dawson has felt the ef- 
fects of service. In his own words : "Six 
months at a stretch living on fat pork and 
hard tack did not do me any good." To those 
brave boys of 1861-1865 the nation owes a 
debt of gratitude that never can be paid. Mr. 
Dawson has been as loyal to duty and citizen- 
ship in days of peace as when he followed the 
stars and stripes on the battlefields of the 
South. 

THOMAS VASEY, a successful farmer 
of Sicily township, is a native of England, 
who immigrated to this country with his par- 
ents in 1883 and he has since become one of 
the influential farmers and citizens of Gage 
county. 

Thomas Vasey was born in Scarborough, 
England, January 9, 1857, and is a son of 
Thomas and Hannah (Dowsland) Vasey. 
Thomas Vasey, Sr., was born in England, No- 
vember 23, 1822, and his wife, Hannah 
( Dowsland ) Vasey, was likewise a native of 
England, where she was born October 17, 
1822. They had become the parents of eight 
children ere they left their native land to cast 
in their fortunes with the people of the United 
States. In the spring of 1883 they took pass- 
age for our shores, and after their arrival 
they remained in Illinois for the summer 
months : in the fall they located in Gage 
county, Nebraska, where Thomas Vasey, Sr., 
rented land. September 13, 1888, the loved 
wife and mother passed to the life eternal, 
and July 11, 1894, Thomas Vasey, Sr., was 



1020 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



laid to rest. Concerning their children the 
following brief record is consistently entered : 
William died in England ; Jane died in Okla- 
homa ; George is a farmer of Alma, Nebraska ; 
Frank is a retired farmer residing in Beatrice, 
Gage county, Dowsland is a farmer in Liberty 
township, this county ; Mary is the widow of 
David Akers and resides in Illinois ; John is 
in the dairj- business at Beatrice; Elizabeth is 
the wife of James Langdale, an employe of 
the Union Pacific Railroad, at Beatrice, and 
he has three sons in the war service in which 
the United States is taking prominent part ; 
and Thomas is the immediate subject of this 
sketch. 

Thomas Vasey received his education in 
the schools of England and attended the rural 
school of Holniesville for three months after 
his arrival in Gage county. April 6, 1897, he 
married Miss Cordelia Jones, who was born 
in Wales and who is a daughter of George U. 
and Anna (Cooper; Jones. Mr. Jones was 
born in the Cymrian district of Wales, July 
13, 1842, and his wife was born in Flint, 
Wales, the place of her nativity having been 
in Hope parish and the date of her birth July 
29, 1842. Their marriage was solemnized at 
Chester, Wales, September 10, 1865, and in 
1871 they came to the United States. Mr. 
Jones first located at Shenandoah, Schuylkill 
county, I'ennsylvania, where he remained ten 
years. He then removed to Racine, Wiscon- 
sin, but about si.x months later he located in 
Ohio, where, as a carpenter and builder he 
found employment in connection with work on 
the state capitol, in the city of Columbus. He 
continued his activities as a contractor and 
builder until he came to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, where he |)urchased land. He gradu- 
ally added to his landed estate, by buying land 
near W'ymore, and in this part of the county 
he passed the remainder of his life, his death 
having occurred November 13, 1906. Mr. 
Jones w-as a very well educated man and never 
ceased adding to his fund of knowledge by 
wide reading and keeping abreast of the times. 
In Wales, before he sailed for this country, 
he was contributing some of his original 
poetry and other writings to a local paper. 



He served Gage county in the legislature from 
1897 to 1901. His parents, Ellis and Jane 
Jones, were born in the town of Flint, Hope 
parish, and spent all of their lives in their 
nati\e land. His wife, Anna (Cooper) Jones, 
is a daughter of Captain \\'illiam Cooper, 
an Englishman, and Elizabeth (Davis) 
Cooper, who was of Welsh parentage. Mrs. 
Jones is still living and resides in the home of 
I^Irs. \'asey. 

No children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Vasey. Giving close attention to his 
fanning interests, Mr. Vasey does a general 
farming business on eighty acres, which he 
purchased in 1909 the same being in Section 
13, Sicily township. Mr. \asey has served for 
the past six years as road overseer. His po- 
litical views are in harmony with the tenets of 
the Republican party, which receives his vote. 
He is a member of the United Brethren 
church, while his wife is a member of the 
Presbyterian church. 

ARTHUR T. TART. — The business suc- 
cess achieved by Arthur T. Tart, proprietor of 
the "All Night'and All Day Garage," 112-14- 
16-18 North Seventh street, Beatrice, is an 
illustration of what can be accomplished by 
the individual who grasps the opportunities of 
his day. 

Mr. Tart was born August 9. 1873, in Kan- 
kakee, Illinois, and is a son of Stephen and 
Nettie (Hughes) Tart, of whose two children 
he is the firstborn ; the younger. Belle A., was 
born in 1874 and died in 1893. 

Stephen Tart, father of the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Alburg, Vermont, Decem- 
ber 6, 1839. He was a son of Peter and Ros- 
lia (Terrien) Tart. Peter Tart was descend- 
ed from French ancestors who. in the early 
history of the New \\'orld, when both religious 
and economic oppression in the Old \\'orld 
forced .so many to leave, came to Canada to 
live. After he had participated in the Revo- 
lutionary war in Canada Peter Tart came over 
into the United States. Suffering from a 
wound which he had received, he was cap- 
tured, but later he made his escape. For 
vears after the war he fanned in \'emiont. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1021 



The latter part of his life was spent in Kan- 
kakee, Illinois, where, just before rounding 
out a century of years, he passed to his re- 
ward. He was ninety-nine years of age and 
his wife ninety-eight at the time of their 
death. 

Stephen Tart, the father of Arthur T. 
Tart, received his early education in Bourbon- 
nais, Illinois, a French settlement two miles 
north of Kankakee. In 1861, when Civil war 
rent our nation in twain, he responded to the 
call to arms. He was a member of Battery I, 
First Illinois Light Artillery-, having enlisted 
at Chicago. In the battle of Shiloh he was 
wounded, but later he was able to again ren- 
der active service in the preservation of the 
integrity of the nation. 

After the war Stephen Tart engaged in the 
hotel business, which he successfully con- 
ducted. Politics soon absorbed a good deal 
of his time and attention. In 1889 he was 
elected county assessor and collector in Kan- 
kakee county, Illinois. He was a staunch Re- 
publican, faithfully voting that ticket. De- 
cember 6, 1870, he married Miss Nettie 
Hughes, a daughter of Henry Hughes, at 
Joliet, Illinois. Mrs. Tart was born in New 
York city, in 1852. In 1901 Mr. Tart re- 
moved with his family to Beatrice, Nebraska, 
and here his death occurred in 1906. His 
wife survives him and is living with her son 
Arthur. Mrs. Tart is a member of the 
Episcopal church. She is a sister of Charles 
Hughes, in whose biography, on other pages, 
is given a full account of the Hughes family. 

Arthur T. Tart was reared in Kankakee, Ill- 
inois, where he received his early education in 
the parochial schools. Later he supplemented 
this discipline by attending a private college in 
Bourbonnais, Illinois. When he was twenty 
years old he was a traveling salesman for a 
wholesale merchandise firm of Lynn, Massa- 
chusetts: this was in 1893. From 1898 to 
1901 he was employed by the government, in 
the forest- reserve department. 

As early as 1883 Mr. Tart had been to 
Beatrice, Nebraska, to visit his uncles, Charles 
and Edward Hughes. In 1901, when contem- 
plating a change in his business life, he lo- 



cated at Beatrice, with his parents. At- this 
time he was employed as a salesman for a 
hrm in Kansas City, Missouri. 

June 30, 1904, recorded the marriage of 
Arthur Tart to Miss Emily E. Floyd, of Good- 
land, Kansas. She was the mother of two 
children, Arthur F. H. and Henry S., who 
are at home with their father. Mrs. Tart's 
death occurred in 1910. Louise Floyd, the 
sister of Emily Floyd, both daughters of H. 
H. and Amanda (Mahan) Floyd, became the 
wife of Mr. Tart in 1915. She was born at 
Abilene, Kansas. One child, Emily Isabelle, 
has come to bless this union. 

Arthur T. Tart has had long years of ex- 
perience as a salesman, having traveled and 
sold goods in every state in the L'nion. His 
experience along this line made him see 
the possibilities of an all-night and all-day 
garage, and in August, 1916, he opened the 
first all-night garage in Beatrice, where his 
dream of success in this line of enterprise has 
been realized. Lie installed an all-night force 
and soon demonstrated the fact that night 
work was as important as day work. He has 
a large building, one hundred by one hundred 
and forty feet, fronting on North Seventh 
street. In this he is able to meet all the needs 
of his patrons as to storage, repairs, gasoline, 
accessories, etc. He carries a well stocked 
line of accessories and electrical goods. 

Mr. Tart is an independent voter, exercising 
his franchise in support of the man and not 
the party. He is affiliated with the Modern 
Woodmen of America, the Elks, and United 
Commercial Travelers. He is a member of 
the Episcopalian church. 

Mr. Tart is well known for his many ex- 
cellent qualities, his genial disposition, and 
sound business principles. He saw the oppor- 
tunity and grasped it, and he now has a well 
established business that is worthy of his 
time and talent. 

JOSEPH LEGGETT. — The late Joseph 
Leggett was one of the gallant soldiers of the 
Union in the Civil war, was an early trans- 
continental freighter, was a successful far- 
mer in Gage countv. and was a valued citizen 



1022 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 





Mrs. Joseph Legcett 



loSF.Plt Leggett 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1023 



of his coniiniinity. The story of the pioneers 
of the west is an interesting one, full of 
thrills, and marked hy as many blood-curdling 
scenes as those dejiicted in any moving-picture 
play, so dear to the hearts of the "movie 
fans." 

Mr. Leggett, in his work as a freighter from 
Omaha to Salt Lake City, Utah, drove a good, 
sturdy team of oxen. Most of the time on his 
journeys to and from Salt Lake City he had 
only the elements to contend with — the op- 
pressive heat in summer and the severe cold 
and the snow storms in winter. But occa- 
sionally the Indians interfered with the white 
man's trespassing on their happy hunting 
grovmds. It was a band of this sort of In- 
dians that surprised and captured Mr. Leg- 
gett on one of his journeys, just as he was 
reaching the top of the mountains. He made 
his escape from them in a very novel manner. 
They were taking him. on foot back to their 
camp, and when they came to a ravine he 
pretended that he did not know how to cross, 
motioning them that they should go first. 
This they did, without any questions, and ere 
they knew what had happened he had shot 
three of them. The other two raced for their 
lives, and Mr. Leggett was left to find his way 
back to his wagon and oxen. Again, on an- 
other occasion, an Indian furtively stole upon 
him while he was feeding his oxen in a grassy 
meadow. They looked into each other's eyes 
at the same moment. The Indian wounded 
Mr. Leggett in the arm before he could 
reach for his firearm, but, nevertheless, the life 
of the Indian was the forfeit, as Mr. Leggett's 
aim was true and deadly. Such experiences 
as these were of common occurrence in the 
early days, and Mr. Leggett loved to recount 
them. 

Joseph Leggett was born in Ohio, February 
20, 1841. His parents, Joseph and Mahala 
(Pufifunbarger) Leggett, had crossed the 
mountains from Maryland to farm the fertile 
lands of Ohio, where they reared seven chil- 
dren in their, pioneer home. Joseph Leggett 
was the third child and was reared with his 
brothers and sisters in the old Buckeye state, 



where he acquired his joulhful education in 
the common schools of the period. 

When the Civil war rent our nation asunder 
Air. Leggett responded to the call of patriot- 
ism and fought throughout the conflict that 
])reserved the Union. After the war he es- 
tablished his residence in Illinois. 

The marriage of Joseph Leggett to Eliza 
C. Magee was solemnized at Springfield, Illi- 
nois, February 3, 1870. They settled on a 
farm, and they continued to ])ursue agricul- 
tural activities in Illinois until their coming 
to Gage county, Nebraska. Upon their arrival 
here, October 9, 1883, they purchased eighty 
acres of land in Glenwood township, three 
miles northwest of Odell. This was wild 
prairie land, and here they made their home 
for a number of years, reclaiming the wild 
prairies to fruitfulness and improving their 
farm with a good house, barn, and other build- 
ings. When Mr. Leggett sold this farm he 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Sec- 
tion 4 of the same township, and here he con- 
tinued his farm operations until his retirement 
l(i Odell, in 1908. In this village his death oc- 
curred the 26th day of August, 1910. 

Mrs. Eliza C. Leggett, the widow of Joseph 
Leggett, was bom in Chillicothe, Ohio, Au- 
gust 23, 1853. Her parents, Ezekiel and 
Elizabeth (Grey) Magee, were born and 
reared in Ohio and thence removed to Illinois 
in 1856. Mrs. Leggett was a small child at 
the time of this removal and she was reared 
and educated in Illinois, where she remained 
until she came with her husband to Gage 
county, Nebraska. 

Mrs. Leggett is spending many hours a day 
knitting for our soldiers boys "somewhere in 
France." In this connection it is interesting 
to note that she did knitting for the "boys in 
blue" during the Civil war. Her half-brother 
and an uncle, James Grey, fought in defense 
of the Union. Her uncle was captured by the 
enemy and was incarcerated in Andersonville 
Prison, where so many soldiers were starved 
to death. He finally succeeded in making his 
escape from the prison by swimming for five 
miles up a stream. When his escape was 



1024 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, XEBRASIC\ 



him, but they went down stream instead of up, 
noted, posses of men were sent to recapture 
and thus he was enabled to get a good start 
of his captors. 

Eight children were bom to Mr. and Mrs. 
Leggett: George H., who was born Novem- 
ber 26, 1872, is living at Diller, JelYerson 
county; Joseph L., who was bom February' 1, 
1874, resides at Odell, Gage county ; James 
W., bom May 1, 1877, is living at Elk City, 
Kansas ; Ida M., born May 3, 1879, is the wife 
of F. Novotny, of Elm township; Nina O., 
born August 23, 1881, if the wife of Edward 
Novotny, of Elm township; Truda A., born 
October 7, 1883, is the wife of George Safifell, 
of Elm township ; Emma, bom March 25, 
1885, became the wife of William Novotny, 
and is now deceased ; and Everett, bom Jan- 
uary 14, 1890, lives at Fairbur>% Jefterson 
county. 

Mr. Leggett w^as a Democrat in politics and 
was always a loyal and public-spirited citizen. 
Mrs. Leggett is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

HENRY E. HARMS. — Agriculture is the 
foundation of all prosperity, and among the 
men of Adams township who are following 
every requirement as tillers of the soil, men- 
tion should be made of Henry E. Harms, who 
owns and operates one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Section 14. He was four 
years old when brought to Gage county, and 
his boyhood days were spent on a fami in 
Hanover township. After he became a man 
he worked as a laborer in Adams for six 
years. He then became a fanner on Bear 
creek and successfully tilled the soil as a 
renter, carefully saving his earnings until he 
was able to purchase his present farm, in 
1909. This is one of the well improved famis 
in this section of the county, and the modern 
house and other substantial buildings have all 
been put here bj' the present owner. 

Henrj' E. Harms was born in Holt county, 
Missouri, May 24, 1877, and is a son of Weike 
and Mary (Thieman) Harms, natives of Illi- 
nois. The mother died in Missouri. The 
father came to Gage county in 1881, and was 



a farmer in Hanover township until his death, 
in 1884, at the age of forty-two years. Weike 
Harms was married three times and became 
the father of seven children — John, de- 
ceased; Henry E., of this sketch; Herman, a 
resident of Johnson county, Nebraska ; Eilert, 
of Oklahoma; John, of Chase county, Ne- 
braska ; Louise, deceased ; and a daughter who 
died in infancy. 

Henry E. Harms completed his arrange- 
ments for a home of his own by his marriage, 
on October 14, 1897, to Miss Johanna Rapp, 
who was bom in Iowa, a daughter of Garret 
and Dina (Klein) Rapp, the former a native 
of Holland, the latter of the state of Iowa : 
they were early settlers in Gage county, where 
they still make their home. The home of Mr. 
and Mrs. Henr}' E. Harms has been made 
happy by the birth of four children, as fol- 
lows : Weike, Garret, Fred, and Henry. 

IMr. Harms is a good fanner and a good 
neighbor. His prosperity has come to him 
through his own eiTorts and, with a good wife 
and fine children, he has ever}' reason to be 
a happy man. 

WILLIAM HAMM. — The business inter- 
ests of Beatrice have a worthy representative 
in the gentleman whose name introduces this 
review and who is senior member of the J. G. 
Wiebe Lumber Company. .A. native of Ger- 
many, he was born .April 11, 1859. His par- 
ents were Peter and Emily (Siemens) Hamm, 
who came from their native land in 1880 and 
were making their home in Beatrice at the 
time of their death, which occurred Novem- 
ber 26, 1882, both being sufifocated by coal 
gas. The father was bom in 1820, and was 
a merchant in Germany. The date of the 
mother's birth was July 30, 1832. They were 
parents of five children : Agatha, William, 
and John, all unmarried, reside in Beatrice ; 
Emily is the wife of Dr. S. K. Mosiman, 
president of Bluffton College, at Bluffton, 
Ohio; and Helen is the wife of William Pen- 
ner, of Gage county. 

The paternal grandparents of William 
Hamm were William and Catherine (Goosenl 
Hamm, who lived and died in Germanv. The 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1025 



maternal grandparents were C. W. and 
Amalie (Thiessen) Siemens, and they too 
died in Germany. 

The subject of this sketch was reared and 
educated in his native land, where also he 
gained experience in the general merchandise 
business. In 1879 he came to America and in 
1880 he entered the employ of J. G. Wiebe. 
After seven years of faithful service he was 
made a member of the firm. In 1900 J- G. 
A\'iebe retired from business and his son, 
Henr\' Wiebe, succeeded him as a member of 
the firm, William Hamm and Henry \Mebe 
being now sole proprietors. Out of deference 
and respect to the founder of the business the 
firm name remains the same as it has been for 
over forty years. Mr. Hamm is familiar with 
all phases of the lumber business and is a 
valued member of commercial life of his 
adopted city. His religious belief is that of 
the Mennonite church, which was the church 
of his fathers. In politics he is a Republican. 

CHARLES C. SONDEREGGER, of Be- 
atrice, was born in Jefterson county, Ne- 
braska, April 15, 1877, and is a son of Carl 
Sonderegger, of whom mention is made on 
other pages of this historj'. The subject of 
this sketch was educated in the public schools 
of JefTerson county, and after leaving school 
he engaged in the nursery business with his 
father, in Beatrice, where they now have a 
large nursery known as the Sonderegger 
Nursery and Seed House. This nursery is 
one of the largest in the state, and they enjoy 
a very prosperous business. 

November 8, 1904, Mr. Sonderegger was 
united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Jones, 
who was bom in Winterset, Iowa. She is a 
daughter of Morris Jones, who came with his 
family to Nebraska a number of years ago 
and settled in Saline county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sonderegger are the parents of two children : 
Carl, born April 4, 1909, and Morris, born 
February 21, 1912. Mrs. Sonderegger is a 
member of the Methodist church and her hus- 
band of the Christian church. He is a mem- 
ber of the Benevolent & Protective Order of 
Elks and of the Beatrice Commercial Club, 



having served on the official board of the last 
named organization for four years. In poli- 
tics Mr. Sonderegger is a Republican, but he 
has no desire for political office, preferring 
to devote his entire time to the nursery and 
seed business. 



JOHN HEETLAGE, who owns and oper- 
ates a splendid farm of eighty acres in Sec- 
tion 17, Adams township, is in every respect 
a self-made man. A native of Germany, he 
was born November 30, 1861. His parents 
were Meinert and Fannie (Beurkmeyer) 
Heetlage, and both passed their entire lives 
in Germany. Of their five children three are 
still living. John was the only one of the 
family to come to America. He left his na- 
tive land in 1883 and after two years spent in 
Michigan he came to Nebraska and worked 
as a farm hand, later renting land and engag- 
ing in farming. In 1901 he bought his present 
farm. A nice house and other farm buildings 
which he has erected make this a desirable 
place to live. 

On the 16th of llnrch, 1890, Mr. Heetlage 
was united in marriage to Miss Dena Van 
Engen, who was born in Holland, a daughter 
of Garret and Gertrude (Shoemaker) Van 
Engen. To this union have been born three 
children. Marion, Grace, and Frederick, the 
son being deceased. The family are members 
of the Dutch Reformed church at Pella, Ne- 
braska, the teachings of which are the guiding 
motives of their daily life. 

Mr. Heetlage casts his vote for the Repub- 
lican party. A stranger in a strange land, 
with willing hands and determination to suc- 
ceed, he has even.' reason to be proud of his 
own accomplishment as well as of the land 
where such achievements are possible. By 
industry and good management he has arrived 
at a position in the affairs of his adopted 
country which commands for him the respect 
and esteem of all who know him. 

HARRY T. F. DAVIS. — The late Harry 
Davis was a successful and representative 
farmer of Elm township, where from his 
vouth he gave himself vigorously and loyally 



1026 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




Mr. and Mrs. H.\rry T. F. D.wis 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1027 



to the basic industries of agriculture and stock- 
growing. In 1889 Air. Davis first rented from 
his father the farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Section 6, Elm township, and in 1893 
he purchased one hundred arid sixty acres in 
Section 7. He continued to farm these two 
tracts of land until 1905, when he sold the 
land in Section 7 and purchased the land which 
he had previously rented and which had been 
owned by his father. In connection with ag- 
ricultural enterprise Air. Davis was an ex- 
tensive buyer and feeder of cattle, which he 
sent by the carload to the city markets. He 
remained actively in charge of his farm until 
his death, which occurred August 14, 1907. 

Mr. Davis was bom March 5, 1867, in 
Utica, New York, and was a son of Edward 
F. and Helen (Ferguson) Davis. (See 
sketch in this volume for complete history of 
this family.) Harry Davis was nine years old 
when his parents moved to Beatrice, Nebras- 
ka. In the public schools of Beatrice he re- 
ceived his early education, and he was well 
known to the older settlers. In his youth he 
built a sand boat — said to be the first one 
launched upon the Blue river at Beatrice. 

The marriage of Mr. Davis and Gladys 
Lillie was solemnized October 20, 1894, and 
concerning their children the following record 
is given: Hazel is the wife of W. Patton, a 
farmer living at Diller, Jefferson county ; 
Ruth, who is a graduate of the Diller high 
school, is teaching school near Odell, Gage 
county, at the time of this writing; Elizabeth, 
a graduate of the Diller high school, remains 
at home : and Fay is attending school at Steele 
City, Jefferson county. 

Mrs. Gladys (Lillie) Davis was born June 
8, 1873, in Ogle county, Illinois, and is a 
daughter of Jacob and Maria (Harleman) 
Lillie. Jacob Lillie was born in 1836, in Penn- 
sylvania. He was a cabinetmaker and after 
locating at Rochelle, Illinois, he built a shop 
for his headquarters in making furniture, cof- 
fins, and wagons. He was an expert painter 
and found use for his talent outside of the 
shop. In 1878 there came to Mr. Lillie the 
lure of nature and a desire to go back to the 
soil. Accordingly he and his family started 



across the prairies with team and a covered 
wagon, to locate in Gage county. I lis fann 
was in Section 1, Elm township, but he lived 
only one year after his arrival. He was a well 
known member of the Masonic fraternity. 
Upon his death his widow, Mrs. Maria Lillie, 
was left with her children in a strange coun- 
try and among strangers, but she remained to 
see them all grown to maturity and established 
in homes of their own. She was bom in 
Pennsylvania, in 1832, and died in 1898, aged 
sixty-five years. Three of her four children 
are living: Dexter Lillie, of McDonald, Kan- 
sas, owns in that locality an entire section of 
land and is well known as a breeder and 
grower of thoroughbred live stock ; Stella is 
the wife of Fred Reynolds, who is employed 
in machine shops at Steele City, Nebraska; 
and Gladys is the widow of the subject of this 
memoir. 

Mr. Davis took loyal interest in community 
affairs and was a Republican in politics. Mrs. 
Davis holds to the Lutheran faith and is a 
communicant of Trinity Lutheran church in 
the city of Beatrice. 

FERNANDO HOYLE, a successful farm- 
er of Logan township, was born in Dupage 
county, Illinois, September 15, 1872. His 
parents, William and Sarah (Mommart) 
Hoyle, were natives of Pennsylvania. His 
father was bom in 1827 and died in Gage 
county, Nebraska, in 1891. His mother was 
liorn in 1831 and died in Gage count}', Ne- 
braska, in 1911. William Hoyle moved from 
Pennsylvania to Illinois many years ago and 
in 1876 came to Gage county, Nebraska, with 
his family, in a covered wagon. He settled in 
Midland township, where he bought one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land and later eighty 
acres additional, all of which he owned at the 
time of his death. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle were the parents of 
ten children, six of whom are now living: 
Mary, wife of S. T. Turner, of South Dakota ; 
Ezra, of Beatrice; Fannie, wife of Isaac 
Stewart, of Alvin, Texas : Fernando, of Be- 
atrice; Ira, of Oklahoma; and Emory, of 
Sioux Citv, Iowa. 



1028 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Fernando Hoyle was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Gage county. He has always 
followed fanning, renting land for several 
years. Some years ago he purchased eighty 
acres of land in Midland township, but this 
he later sold, and bought one hundred and 
sixty acres in Section 32, Logan township. 
This farm he has improved, building a good 
house, barn and other farm buildings. 

In 1898 Mr. Hoyle was united in marriage 
to Miss Grance Ilileman, a native of Tecum- 
seh, Johnson county, Nebraska. Mrs. Hoyle 
was bom February 24, 1876, and is the daugh- 
ter of Milton and Delphine (Hudson) Hile- 
man. 

Milton Hileman was born in Pennsylvania, 
moved to Indiana many years ago and from 
there to Illinois, whence he later came to Ne- 
braska. Mr. and Mrs. Hileman now make 
their home in Colorado. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fernando Hoyle became the 
parents of five children, three of whom are 
living : Theodore, born March 4, 1904 : 
Vivian, born February 13, 1908; and Evelyn, 
born March 19, 1914. Roland and Eunice are 
deceased. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hoyle is a 
Republican. He served as clerk of Logan 
township two years and has been a member of 
the school board for the past nine years. He 
is a very successful farmer — one who by 
honesty, economy, and hard work has pros- 
pered. 

HENRY ESSAM, a farmer of Riverside 
township, was born in Fulton county, Illinois, 
April 13, 1861, and is a son of James Essam, 
a sketch of whom is to be found elsewhere in 
this volume. 

Henry Essam attended school in Fulton 
and Schuyler counties, Illinois, and later in 
Gage county, Nebraska. He came to Ne- 
braska with his parents w^hen a youth of nine- 
teen years and remained at home until 1887, 
when he went to Colorado, where he took a 
pre-emption claim. After proving up on this 
land he returned to Gage county, Nebraska, 
and farmed his father's land. In 1902 Mr. 



Essam bought eighty acres on Section 1, 
Riverside township. This land was at one 
time owned by Rev. A. I^. Tinkham, a pioneer 
Methodist preacher who came to the county 
at a very early date. On this farm Mr. Tink- 
ham built a small house of hand-hewed timber 
and native lumber, and the building is still 
standing. Mr. Essam has greatly improved 
the farm, has built a new house and other 
buildings and now owns one hundred and 
ninety-eight acres of land. 

Henry Essam married Miss Josie Curry, of 
Schuyler county, Illinois, and to them was 
born one daughter, Susan, who is the wife of 
Roy Barnard, a prosperous farmer in Mid- 
land township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Essam are members of the 
Christian church. In politics ]\Ir. Essam is a 
Democrat, and he has been a member of the 
school board for several years. He is one of 
Gage county's good, substantial farmers, and 
through his own efforts and the assistance of 
a good wife he has been blessed with pros- 
perity. 

JAMES R. C. FIELD. — The historv- of 
the city of Beatrice would be incomplete with- 
out due recognition of the men who have been 
its public servants. The man who is specially 
fitted by temperament and education to fill a 
position of public trust, creditably and ap- 
])roved by all, is a rare one. but when he does 
till his office with a high degree of efficiency 
the public shows its appreciation by re-electing 
him to the same position. This efficiency has 
been demonstrated by James Field, as he has 
been a familiar figure in the city hall of Be- 
atrice for many years. 

Mr. Field is a descendant of the staunch 
and sturdy men who came over in the May- 
flower and gave to the world their ideas of 
freedom, both religiously and economically, 
and who fought that democracy might live. 
He was born in Bran ford. Connecticut. July 
12, 1844, and is a son of Danford and Lu- 
cretia (Griswold) Field. Danford Field was 
bom in Killingworth, Connecticut, in 1805. 
In his youth he learned the shoemaker's trade, 
which he followed until he took up famiing. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1029 



His death, in 1891, in Connecticut, was the 
end of a long, useful life of eighty-six years. 
His wife died in 1876. at the age of sixty-six 
years. They were the parents of thirteen 
children, three of whom are living, namely : 
Virginia, of Clifton Springs, New York ; Har- 
riet, widow of Elmer Hurst, at one time a 
very prominent lawyer of Rock Island, Illi- 
nois ; and James R. C, with whom this sketch 
directly deals. 

James R. C. Field received his early educa- 
tion in Branford, Connecticut, and as a boy 
help)ed his father on the farm. For two years 
previously to 1866, when he came west to 
Rock Island, Illinois, he clerked in a store. 
Upon his arrival in Rock Island he drove a 
notion wagon and he was so successful in his 
work that for nine years he continued in this 
enterprise. At the end of that time he was 
employed in his imcle's store, where he re- 
mained until his coming to Gage county, Ne- 
braska, in 1883. He purchased land in Glen- 
wood township but lived at Odell, Nebraska, 
from which place he was able to conduct his 
farming operations. In 1890 he removed to 
Beatrice, and since then has continuously 
made his home here and been intimately asso- 
ciated with civic affairs. 

In October, 1874, Mr. Field was united in 
marriage to Jennie E. Campbell, who was bom 
January 21, 1853, and is a daughter of W. L. 
and Martha A. Campbell. Of this union five 
children were born : Bert C. is a traveling 
salesman, living at Sterling, Colorado ; Charles 
A. is engaged in the manufacture of gasoline 
engines, at Jackson, Michigan; Martha is the 
wife of Ellsworth Jones, of Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma; Harry C. died April 28, 1897; and 
Jennie M. died in infancy. 

Mr. Field is a Republican voter and he is 
noted for his integrity and upright conduct 
in every official capacity in which he has 
served his fellow men. He has been a mem- 
ber of the city council and the school board, 
and he was the city water commissioner from 
1904 to 1911. He faithfully served in this ca- 
pacity and then was elected city commissioner. 
He is affiliated with the Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons and the Independent Order of 



Odd Fellows. In the latter organization he 
has held every office in his local lodge. 

HARVEY M. SMETHERS, of Beatrice, 
was born in Lee county, Illinois, March 15, 
1863. The sketch of his brother, P. J. 
Smethers, elsewhere in this volume, gives due 
data concerning the family. 

Harvey M. Smethers received his education 
in Illinois and after coming to Nebraska he 
attended the public schools of Gage county. 
In 1885 he located in Beatrice, this county, 
where he clerked in a store for one year. He 
engaged in the general merchandise business 
with W. J. Dunnick, under the firm name of 
Smethers & Dunnick. After a short time Mr. 
Dunnick sold his interest in the business to A. 
H. Brubaker, and the business continued in 
the name of Smethers & Brubaker for one 
year, when Mr. Smethers sold his interest in 
the enterprise and engaged in farming. He 
continued farming operations only a short 
time and then returned to Beatrice and en- 
tered the hardware and implement business. 
Later he engaged in the pump and wind-mill 
business, which he later sold, and thereafter 
he was employed by the Dempster Mill 
^Manufacturing Company for many years, as 
traveling salesman. Upon severing his con- 
nection with the Dempster Mill Manufactur- 
ing Company, Mr. Smethers went to \\'yoming, 
where he was engaged in drilling for oil, for 
about two years. He then returned to Be- 
atrice and became manager of the Dempstei 
Mill Manufacturing Company's retail depart- 
ment, which position he has occupied for the 
past twelve years. 

In December, 1887, Mr. Smethers was 
united in marriage to Margaret Rosella Dun- 
nick, daughter of George F. Dunnick, a far- 
mer in Kansas, where Mrs. Smethers was 
bom. Mr. Dunnick later came to Nebraska 
and resided in Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. 
Smethers became the parents of three chil- 
dren: Lillian Eunice is the wife of Clyde A. 
Scott, of Omaha, Nebraska ; Bertha Grace 
died in childhood ; and Harvey Donald died 
at the age of ten years. The wife and mother 
passed away in 1891. In 1893 Mr. Smethers 



1030 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1031 



wedded Alda Millie Randall, daughter of 
Charles Randall, who was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, and who came to the west and 
settled in Kansas many years ago : there he 
engaged in farming and later he came to Ne- 
braska, where he now makes his home in Be- 
atrice. Mr. and Mrs. Smethers have no chil- 
dren. They are members of the Christian 
church and Mr. Smethers is a Democrat in 
his political allegiance. 

J. M. BURNHAM. — For thirty-four years 
the subject of this record has been editor and 
publisher of The Wynwrean, at Wymore, 
Gage county. 

He is a native of Ogdensburg, New York, 
and is a son of C. A. and Mary J. (Ellison) 
Buniham, also natives of the Empire state. 
The father loyally defended the Stars and 
Stripes as a soldier for three years in the 
Civil war, and was promoted to the rank of 
captain. After the war he became a resident 
of Monona county, Iowa, where he became an 
extensive dealer in cattle. His last days were 
spent in Wymore, Gage county, Nebraska, 
where he had lived retired after 1882. His 
wife is still living and is making her home 
with her son J- M.. of this review. 

J. M. Bumham received his education in 
the schools of Iowa. In 1882 he came to Wy- 
more and began his newspaper career, being 
employed first on the Leader, and later on the 
Wymore Reporter. He associated himself 
with The JVymoreaii when that paper started 
and, as above stated, has edited and published 
it for the past thirt}--four years. 

The IVyiiiorean is published weekly and its 
owner enjoys a liberal patronage from the 
people of Wymore and surrounding territory. 
The ofiflce of The IVyinorcaii is equipped with 
a full complement of printing material for a 
general job-printing business and the ordi- 
nary modern inventions connected with the 
"art preservative." 

Mr. Bumham married Miss Luella R. Ake, 
of Muscatine, Iowa, and they are the parents 
of one son, E. M. 

Mr. Burnham is a Republican in politics, 
and however much he may differ in views 



with the readers of his paper in political senti- 
ment, all are compelled to acknowledge and 
respect and sincerity of its principles. 

WILLIAM WOLLENBURG. — The late 
William Wollenburg, whose death occurred on 
the 22d of December, 1915, was a young man 
when he came with his wife from Wisconsin 
to Gage county, more than forty years ago, 
and here his sterling character and productive 
ability made him a valued factor in the fur- 
therance of social and industrial progress. He 
became one of the successful agriculturists 
and stock-growers of Blakely township, was 
influential in the communal life, commanded 
unqualified popular esteem, and achieved 
large and worthy success, his widow and two 
of his children now maintaining their resi- 
dence on his old homestead farm in the town- 
ship mentioned. 

Mr. Wollenburg was born in Brandenburg, 
Germany, June 14, 1850, a son of Christian 
and Ricka (Holmichal) Wollenburg, of whose 
nine children he was the fifth in order of 
birth: of the children three daughters and one 
son are now living. Mr. Wollenburg acquired 
his early education in the schools of his native 
land and was a youth of seventeen years when 
he came with his parents to America, the fam- 
ily home being established in Wisconsin, where 
his father and mother pased the remainder of 
their lives. After his marriage William Wol- 
lenburg continued his activities as a farmer in 
Wisconsin until 1877. when he came with his 
wife to Gage county, Nebraska, and estab- 
lished his residence on the farm where his 
widow now lives — the northeast quarter of 
Section 4, Blakely township. This now well 
improved and valuable farm of one hundred 
and sixty acres he purchased at the rate of 
ten dollars an acre, and in a conservative way 
the valuation at the present time is fully one 
hundred and fifty dollars an acre. The land 
was raw prairie at the time when he acquired 
the same and with the passing years he made 
the best of improvements on the property, in- 
cluding the erection of the substantial build- 
ings and the setting out of many fine trees that 
are now of goodly size. As a citizen Mr. Wol- 



1032 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



lenburg manifested his stewardship in hberal- 
ity and progrcssiveness, supported generously 
educational and religious activities and took 
loyal interest in public affairs of a local order. 
He was a zealous communicant of the Lu- 
theran church, as is also his widow, and he 
aided generously in the erection of two 
churches of this denomination in Blakely 
township. That distinctive success attended 
his well ordered endeavors is shown in the 
fact that at his death he was the owner of a 
landed estate of six hundred and forty acres, 
a portion of which is in Jefferson county. He 
was a specially progressive farmer, a leader 
in community affairs, and upon retiring from 
his farm, in 1909, he removed with his wife to 
Plymouth, Jefferson county, where he had 
purchased an attractive residence property and 
where he became a substantial stockholder in 
the Plymouth State Bank. There he remained 
until his death, after which his widow returned 
to Gage county and established her home on 
her present fine farm. 

In the year 1874 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. W'ollenburg to Miss Wilhelmina 
Mayer, who was born in Wurtemburg, Ger- 
many, October 18, 1848, a daughter of Jacob 
and Katherine (Schmidt) Meyer. She came 
with her parents to the United States in 1860 
and the family home was established in Dodge 
county, Wisconsin, where the parents passed 
the remainder of their lives. Mrs. W'ollen- 
burg is the youngest of the three children, her 
brother, Charles, being now a resident of Kay 
county, Oklahoma, and her sister, Reicka. be- 
ing the wife of Philip Boiler, of Dodge county, 
Wisconsin. Jacob Meyer was bom July 18, 
1788, and his death occurred in 1875. By his 
first marriage he became the father of three 
children, — Jacob, Louis and Katherine, all of 
whom are deceased and the last named of 
whom was the wife of Frank Kuhn. The 
second wife, Katherine, niother of Mrs. Wol- 
lenburg, was bom in 1805, and passed to the 
life eternal in 1867. In conclusion of this 
brief memoir is given the following record 
concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Wol- 
lenburg: Helena is the wife of Michael Esch. 
a farmer near McCook, Redwillow countj', 



Nebraska ; William is a representative farmer 
of Jefferson county; Minnie is the wife of 
Daniel Esch, a prosperous farmer near Hoag, 
Gage county ; Carl is conducting successful 
fann enterprise in Blakely township ; Clara 
remains with her widowed mother; IVIar)' is 
the wife of Joseph Scheve, who is mentioned 
elsewhere in this volume ; and Henry has the 
active charge of the old home farm, where 
he resides with his mother and his sister 
Clara, all being active members of the Luth- 
eran church and all popular in the social life 
of the community. 

GEORGE F. HARPSTER. — The state ol 
Pennsylvania includes the land deeded to Wil- 
liam Penn when King Charles of England 
owed him such a large debt he could pay it no 
other way. This transaction also afforded a 
means of getting rid of a bothersome sect, the 
Quakers, or members of the Society of 
Friends, who were getting altogether too 
powerful in England. King Charles believed 
he was sending away only the scum of his em- 
pire to the New World, but no better blood 
and better citizens have come to people our 
shores than the Quakers who settled in Penn- 
sylvania. From this line of sturdy folk came 
the forbears of George Harpster, who was 
born in Knoxville, Marion county, Iowa, 
October 14, 1858. His parents, Frederick and 
Mar)' A. ( Yarger) Harpster, were both na- 
tives of Pennsylvania and their parents in 
turn were born in Pennsylvania. Frederick 
Harpster was the son of George Harpster, 
whose birthplace was the forenamed state 
and who eventually secured and farmed gov- 
ernment land in Seneca county, Ohio. The 
perilous joumey to the Buckeye state was 
made on foot, and the family drove their 
cattle ahead of them. They started with a 
number of milch cows, but ere they arrived 
they had only one cow as an adjunct in 
starting their fanning operations. We can 
see from this incident what a perilous journey 
it was. George llaq)ster and his good wife 
spent the rest of their lives on their land in 
Seneca county, Ohio, where they were laid to 
rest. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1033 



Frederick Harpster, the father of George F. 
Harpster, was born in the Keystone state and 
endured the hardships of pioneer life in Ohio. 
It was in that state that he married Mar}' A. 
Yarger, who was bom in Pennsylvania, a 
daughter of G. F. and Benivel Yarger, whose 
migrations were from their birthplace in 
Pennsylvania to Ohio and thence to Indiana, 
where they passed the remainder of their 
lives. -Mr. Yarger was a tailor, and plied his 
trade at Carey, Ohio, but farmed after his re- 
moval to Indiana. 

In 1857 Mr. and -Mrs. Frederick Harpster 
moved to Knoxville, Iowa, where he followed 
his trade, that of tinner, and later he moved 
to Glasgow, Iowa, where he was employed in 
the same way. It was here, in 1862, that he 
died. Two children, Mrs. George Harris, and 
George F., the subject of this sketch, were his 
only children. The second marriage of Mrs. 
Harpster was to Casper Zennan and the two 
surviving children of this marriage are Frank, 
who is employed by a publishing firm in To- 
ledo, Ohio; and Flora, wife of A. L. Taylor, 
a harnessmaker living in New York. Their 
mother is making her home with them. 

After the death of his father George F. 
Harpster lived with his mother and stepfather 
until 1871, when he came to Blue Springs, 
Nebraska. From Marysville, Kansas, the 
journey was made in the old-fashioned double- 
teamed stage. Mr. Harpster remained two 
years on the farm in Gage county and then 
went to Ohio, where he remained until 1880, 
when he again came to Blue Springs, where 
for fourteen years he was employed by the 
Roderick Brothers in their general merchan- 
dise store. Pie then engaged in business for 
himself, for five years, being thus established 
at Glenwood, Iowa. With three hundred dol- 
lars to start on in the way of money, but with 
a good deal of energy and self-reliance, Mr. 
Harpster purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land near Blue Springs in 1890, and 
to this he has added from time to time until 
he now has two hundred and eighty-five acres. 
He has continued to prosper and has now a 
nice home, with commodious buildings on his 
farm, close to the city of Blue Springs. 



In ISSl the marriage of Mr. George Harp- 
ster and Ida -Miller was solemnized. She is a 
daughter of John and Electa ( Shattuck) Mil- 
ler, natives respectively of Germany and Ver- 
mont : they were married in Waukon, Iowa, 
and in 1882 homesteaded in South Dakota, 
where they remained until their death and 
where they are both laid to rest. Mrs. Harp- 
ster was born in Waukon, Allamakee county, 
Iowa, July 6, 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Harpster 
have three children: Myrtle is at home with 
her parents; Bert is living at Dawson, Ne- 
braska ; and Leafy is the wife of Perry 
Schoenholz, of St. Paul, Minnesota, where he 
formerly was employed as superintendent of a 
baker}', but is now the manager of the Puri- 
tan Milk Company. 

Mr. Harpster is affiliated with the -Ancient 
Free & Accepted Masons, while he and his 
wife are both members of the Order of the 
Eastern Star and members of the Presbyterian 
church. His political views are in harmony 
with the principles of the Republican party, 
he is a valued citizen and is definitely worthy 
of the title of self-made man. 

WENDEL KNOCPIEL is a prosperous 
farmer of Lincoln township, where he is 
farming three hundred and twenty acres of 
land, in Sections 23 and 24. Mr. Knochel was 
born November 21, 1859, in Erie county, 
Pennsylvania, and is a son of Michael and 
Mary ( Bage) Knochel. They were both born 
in Germany and they both came to this coun- 
trs' two or three years before their marriage. 
They were married in Erie county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where they lived, tilling the soil, until 
1871, when they removed to Logan county, 
Illinois. The rich, fertile lands of Nebraska 
attracted them, and in 1880 they purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in Lin- 
coln township, Gage county. Michael Knochel 
spent the remainder of his days at this home, 
and his death occurred June 11. 1912. His 
wife, who was born in 1831, survives him, be- 
ing now eighty-seven years old. She resides 
at Beatrice, and is a member of the Catholic 
church, as was also her husband. 

The vear 1880. when Mr. and Mrs. Michael 



1034 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASKA 



Knochel came to Gage county, their oldest son, 
Wendel, had just passed his majority. He 
helped his parents on the farm until his mar- 
riage to Elizabeth Eckstein, which occurred 
September 23, 1896. She was born in Rulo, 
Richardson county, Nebraska, June 24, 1866. 
Her parents, Henrj' and Christina (Rieff) 
Eckstein, were natives of Germany. Henry 
Eckstein was seventeen and his future wife, 
Christina RiefF, was eight j'ears old when 
they left Germany. They were married in 
Indiana, and came to Rulo, Richardson county, 
Nebraska, in 1865. Mr. Eckstein plied his 
trade as a carpenter until his death. Three 
children were bom to this union — Henry, 
Jacob, and Elizabeth, and Jacob is now a suc- 
cessful farmer in Elm township, Gage county. 
After the death of Mr. Eckstein, which oc- 
curred in 1866, his widow returned to Indiana, 
where she married Theophilus \'an Hessche. 
a widower with two daughters. To this union 
seven children were born. Mrs. Eckstein- Van 
Hessche died July 18, 1911. 

Mr. Knochel devotes his entire time to his 
farming and is ever ready for the newest and 
best ways of doing things. By his marriage 
two children, Grace and Clement, have come 
to bless his home. Mr. Knochel and his fam- 
ily are members of the Catholic church. In 
politics he votes the Democratic ticket. 

ANTON BEZA. — There seems to be a 
law of continuity of events that brings mem- 
bers of the same foreign nation to certain por- 
tions of a state or county in America. There 
is a continuity of relationships that brings 
these people to one spot. The people from 
Bohemia have settled in great numbers near 
and in Odell, Nebraska, and it is to be sup- 
posed that the law forenamed has had much 
to do to draw one after the other of the same 
nationality to this favored portion of Gage 
county. 

Anton Beza, a general merchant of Odell, 
Nebraska, is a son of Bohemian parents. He 
was born May 27, 1891, in Ashton. Sherman 
county, Nebraska. His parents, Vincent and 
Mary (Suchanek) Beza, have lived in Ne- 
braska for nearly forty years, having emi- 



grated from their birthplace in Bohemia. \'in- 
cent Beza was bom in 1857 and all of these 
years has plied his trade of wagonmaker, 
learned in the homeland. His wife was bom 
in 1867 and thus on the date of her marriage, 
in 1883, she w-as only sixteen years of age. 
They were married in St. Paul, Nebraska, and 
five children have been bom of this union. 
The children have all received liberal educa- 
tional advantages, in the city of Ashton, Ne- 
braska. Two of the sons entered the serv'ice 
of the United States, ready to give of their 
life blood, if need be, to protect the land and 
principles of their adoption, in connection 
with the great world war. Vincent F. is a 
merchant in Bellwood, Nebraska ; Marie L. 
is clerking in a department store at Fullerton, 
Nebraska ; Leon R., of the United States medi- 
cal corps at Camp Funston, Kansas, was re- 
cently discharged on account of physical dis- 
ability ; Anton is the subject of this sketch ; 
Alphonso is on the United States dreadnought 
".North Dakota," now located "somewhere 
across the seas." 

Anton Beza received his education in the 
Ashton public schools and was graduated from 
the high school in 1904. He has since lived 
the life of the average American youth. First 
he clerked for two years in Ashton ; then he 
went from place to place, clerking in different 
stores. The little city of Filley, where he 
worked for Mr. E. W. Starlin, was one of the 
places he was thus employed previously to his 
finding the place and the conditions that so 
pleased him as to lead him to make a perma- 
nent location and establish himself in business. 
He first opened a grocery store in Odell, but 
he has added to his store until now he includes 
general merchandise. 

The marriage of Mr. Beza to Eleanor 
(Singleton) Porter was solemnized Septem- 
ber 29, 1913. One daughter, \'elma M.. aged 
three years and six months (1918), has come 
to bless their home. Mrs. Beza was born July 
5, 1882, in Glenwood township, this county, 
and is a daughter of John W. and Sarah F. 
Singleton. (See historj' of this family in an- 
other portion of this volume.) Her first 
marriage, to Porter Collins, was in 1903, and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1035 



two children were born to them — Esther, 
aged thirteen )'ears, and Dorothy, aged eleven 
years. These two Httle girls are in the home 
of their stepfather and are receiving their 
education at Odell. 

Mr. and Mrs. Beza attend the Methodist 
church. Mr. Beza is a member of a Western 
Brotherhood Association of Bohemians, known 
as the Z. C. B. J. He is a Democrat in poli- 
tics. 

WILLIAM T. DAY has proved himself 
one of the resolute and self-reliant men who 
can master opposing forces in life and wrest 
from the hands of fate a goodly measure of 
success and prosperity, the while ordering a 
course in such a way as to merit and receive 
the confidence and good will of men. Mr. 
Day has been a resident of Gage county since 
the year 1887 and has here accumulated 
through his own ability and efforts one of the 
fine farm properties of the county. He was 
left an orphan when he was only three years 
of age and has made his own way in life since 
he was a lad of ten years. It may well be 
understood that under such conditions his 
early educational advantages were limited, but 
his alert mind and determined purpose have 
enabled him to overgpnie largely this youthful 
handicap, for he has profited greatly from the 
lessons learned in the stern school of exper- 
ience. He is one of the representative ex- 
ponents of farm industry in Bamston town- 
ship and is a citizen who fully merits recog- 
nition in this histor)'. 

W^illiam T. Day was born near Fredericks- 
town, Missouri, on the 1st of March, 1863, 
and is a son of Charles and Sarah Ann (Mc- 
Crary) Day. Charles Day was a native of 
the state of Pennsylvania and became a resi- 
dent of Missouri prior to the Civil war. He 
was a fanner in Missouri and had previously 
owned land and been engaged in agricultural 
pursuits in Tennessee, where he resided a 
number of years and where he became the 
owner of a number of slaves. He was a 
Democrat in politics and he and his wife held 
membership in the Baptist church, he having 
passed the closing year of his life in Mis- 



souri and his wife having died in Tennessee. 
They became the parents of six children and 
of the number the subject of the review is the 
only one living in Nebraska. 

William T. Day was taken as a child from 
Missouri to Tennessee, the former home of 
his parents, and there he was reared to adult 
age, his educational advantages, as previously 
stated, having been somewhat meager. He 
early learned the dignity and value of honest 
toil and became one of the world's productive 
workers while he was still a youth. In 1887 
Mr. Day came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
at the time of his arrival in this state his 
capitalistic resources were represented in the 
sum of only one hundred dollars. There is 
a generous measure of lesson and incentive in 
the record of his achievement since that time, 
for he has pressed steadily forward and has 
reached the goal of independence and sub- 
stantial prosperity. In Bamston township he 
is now the owner of the fine Riverside Ranch, 
which comprises two hundred and fifty-three 
acres and is one of the splendidly improved 
and valuable farm properties of Gage county, 
the place being devoted to diversified agricul- 
ture and to the raising and feeding of cattle 
and hogs, of which Mr. Day makes appreci- 
able market shipments each year. The beau- 
tiful family home is a throughly modern house 
that was erected by Mr. Day in the year 1915, 
on the banks of the Blue river, and the other 
farm buildings are of excellent order, the 
home farm being in Section 12 of the town- 
ship mentioned. 

In furthering his individual advancement 
and success Mr. Day has also been mindful of 
his civic responsibilities and has given his co- 
operation in the advancing of measures and 
enterprises projected for the general good of 
the community. His political allegiance is 
given to the Repiiblican party but he has not 
been a seeker of public office of any kind. He 
is a member of the Baptist church and his 
wife is a member of the Methodist church but 
as there are no churches of these denomin- 
ations in their home district they attend and 
support the Presbyterian church. 

In May, 1884, was solemnized the marriage 



1036 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY. NEBRASKA 



' .-^ . . - ^ 


5^/ -5 






^^^HH^^H^^K^^^x/. B M^^ ?\^ C 


^. 


,- - 2^ 'ft " Lj y.<BiiHy.:^i^iB— 


^B 




L^- 




3|T " 




~ t 


i -wi^.'V. ^' 


ft t V 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1037 



of Air. Day to Miss Sarah liarman, who was 
born in Claiborne county. Tennessee, on the 
9th of January, 186S. Of this union have 
been born fourteen children, and of the num- 
ber all are living except three : Lulu is a 
popular teacher in the village schools at 
Adams ; Julia is the wife of B\Ton Saylors, 
of Rosalie, Thurston county ; Charles is a 
successful farmer in Gage county ; William L. 
was residing at University Place, this state, 
at the time when he entered the United States 
navy, for service in the great European war; 
Jesse was a student at Iowa College, Grin- 
nell, Iowa, but in the spring of 1918 he too 
became a member of the United States na\'y, 
he being stationed at the time of this writing 
at the training quarters at Charleston, South 
Carolina ; John, Silas and Roy and Ray 
(twins) are at the parental home ; Leona died 
at the age of thirteen years; Darline and Es- 
telle are at home and are attending school ; 
Henry E. died at the age of fourteen months ; 
and one child died in infancy. 



J. W. BRIDENTHAL. — When Gage 
county land was fast being peopled by the 
farmers coming from low-a, Illinois, Indiana, 
Ohio, and various other eastern states, as well 
as foreign countries, a family by the name of 
Bridenthal came and set up their home in our 
midst. Of J. W. Bridenthal. the head of this 
family, it was said : "Of the countless num- 
bers who have gone to settle up the new west 
few have been more enthusiastic, more thor- 
oughly absorbed with the thought that they 
were working for the future as well as foi 
their own interests than has the gentleman of 
whom mention is here made." As the years 
have progressed it would seem that this were 
a prophecy of a life purpose fulfilled — a life 
which has so lately been drawn to a close. 

J. W. Bridenthal was born at Chambers- 
burg. Pennsylvania, April 28, 1836, and died 
December 7, 1917. In 1845 the parents ol 
Mr. Bridenthal left their fanning interests in 
Pennsylvania and removed to Wayne county, 
Ohio, where he received the education the 
locality and period alTurded. In comparison 
with the opportunities of to-day, these were 



meager indeed. In his early manhood he 
started a slow process of getting farther and 
farther west, being located in different coun- 
ties of Indiana and Illinois, and in 1884 he 
made his last removal, arriving in Gage 
county on the 4th of April that year. 

In Warren county, Illinois, where he had 
lived from 1860 until his coming to Gage 
county in 1884, he met the companion of his 
many useful and happy years. This compan- 
ion, who was Miss Eleanor Butler, was born 
in Plymouth, Marshall county, Indiana. Her 
parents, Isaac and Ann 1^. (Jones) Butler, 
were natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania 
respectively. Their married life commenced 
in Ohio, and after there continuing to make 
their home for some time, they moved to In- 
diana. Later, in 1864, they removed to War- 
ren county, Illinois. In this county they 
passed the remainder ot their lives and there 
both were laid to rest. 

The marriage of J. W. Bridenthal and Miss 
Eleanor Butler was solemnized at Plymouth, 
Marshall county, Indiana, on the 26th of 
October, 1860, and for over fifty-seven years 
their lives were spent in happy companion- 
ship. Six children were born to them, four 
of w-hom are living, as follows: Lake, a 
farmer residing in Wymore, was for some 
years a banker in the city of Wymore. one of 
the most attractive in Gage county : Mae, the 
w'ife of C. W. Robertson, who for twenty-tive 
years operated a dry-goods and grocery store 
in Wymore, is now living at Lincoln, this 
state ; Charles, a traveling salesman for the 
great wholesale house of Sprague. Warner & 
Company, of Chicago, resides in Minneapolis, 
Minnesota; Richard, for many years an em- 
ploye of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
Railway Company, married Mary Owens and 
resides in Wymore, their one child being Ken- 
neth D. ■ 

When Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Bridenthal 
arrived in Gage county they purchased land 
in Sicily township and there they continued 
their farming operations until 1904, when they 
moved to Wymore, where Mrs. Bridenthal 
still makes her home. Mr. Bridenthal voted 
the Democratic ticket and for a number of 



1038 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



years served his comniunily as county super- 
visor, he haviiif,' Ijeen for some time the chair- 
man of the county hoard of supervisors. His 
Hfe was an exceptionally unselfish one, and its 
greatest distinction was that he was always 
thinking of others and not how much he 
could get by giving the minimum in return. 
Such a life leaves its benignant impress upon 
many loving friends and relatives, as well as 
upon the community in general. 

NORTON S. CALLAND — \Yar is some- 
times inevitable, and cruel and heartless as its 
ravages are known to be, it is sometimes the 
only resort by which the rights of a people 
can be protected and maintained. When the 
cause is in and for the right, then to partici- 
pate in it becomes most honorable and praise- 
worthy. We have always taken great pleasure 
in giving credit where credit is due, and we 
never fail to recognize and appreciate the im- 
measureable honor due to those whose valor 
gained for us the national integrity which we 
now enjoy. In the gentleman whose name 
introduces this record we find another one of 
those brave and valiant men who went forth 
in defense of the Union in the climacteric 
period of the Civil war am! wlmni it is our 
delight to honor. 

Mr. Calland is a native of the Buckeye 
state, his birth having occurred in Noble 
County, Ohio, May 7, 1S45. 1 lis parents were 
Robert and Nancy (Caple) Calland, the for- 
mer of whom was born in Scotland and the 
latter in Ireland. They were among the early 
settlers of Noble county, ( )hio, where the 
father took up a homestead and where he 
and his wife spent the remainder of their 
lives. Robert Calland was twice married and 
became the father of fourteen children — ten 
by the lirst marriage and four by the second. 
1 Ic was a local ])reacher in the Wesleyan 
church, but after the war he became identi- 
fied with the Methodist l'"])iscop.il church. He 
was a Republic.m in irolitics and served as 
justice of the peace for twenty years. He 
was a successful man and ow'ned four hun- 
dred acres of land. The paternal grandpar- 
ents of Norton S. Calland died in (~)hio and 



the maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Caple. 
also passed away in Noble county, Ohio. 

Norton S. Calland spent the days of his 
boyhood on a farm in his native county and 
acquired his education in the schools of Sum- 
merfield. He was only a lx)y when the dark 
cloud gathered and the Civil war broke upon 
the nation. Watching the course of events, 
his patriotic si>irit was aroused, and in Au- 
gust, 1862, though not yet eighteen years of 
age, he enlisted in Company D, Ninety-second 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and for two years 
and ten months he followed the flag in defense 
of the Union, .\mong the many engagements 
in which this regiment jjarticipated, some of 
the more important ones were those of Chicka- 
mauga and Missionary Ridge. Mr. Calland 
was with Shemian when the famous "march 
to the sea" was inaugurated. After leaving 
Atlanta Mr. Calland was detailed on a forag- 
ing campaign, and while thus engaged and 
detached from the Union army, he was cap- 
tured by the enemy, March 3, 1864. He was 
held a ])risoner until the 2d of the following 
.\pril. He spent twenty-one days in Salisbury 
I'rison and seven days in Libby Prison. The 
horrors of those |>ens have never been ex- 
aggerated. The suffering was awful, unmiti- 
gated by a gleam of humanity on the ])art of 
their captors, and made the lives of the weary 
victims a'wretched mockery. Nauseous food, 
impure water, crowded and vermin-infested 
qu.arters. contributecl to disease and death, 
which took away many a valiant Union sol- 
dier. Mr. Calland was fortunate enough to 
be held but a short tiiue. .After serving his 
country two years and ten months he returned 
to his native county and took up the peaceful 
])ursuit of farming. 

In March, 1870, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Calland and Miss Sarah M. 
Houston, a native of New York state. Their 
home has been blessed by the birth of seven 
children, six of whom are living — Cora, a 
widow, residing in S])okane, Washington ; 
Charles, a railroad employe at San Francisco, 
California: Kirby, a large land-owner in 
South Dakota; I''dward, a farmer of Gage 
count\-; .\lma, the wife of Perrv Black, of 



HISTORY f)F GAGR COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1039 



Grand Island, Nebraska; and Mabel, ihe wife 
of Jolin Greenwood, of Parsons, Kansas. 

In 1882 Mr. Calland came to Nebraska and 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of un- 
improved land in ilifjhland township, and 
until 1897 he devoted his energies to the im- 
provement and cultivation of this tract. He 
conducted his agricultural operations on a 
very large scale, as he leased two thousand 
acres of land and became one of the most ex- 
tensive farmers of Gage county. He met 
with marked success, and in 1897 he retired to 
Beatrice, where he has since made his home. 

The religious views of Mr. Calland coincide 
with the teachings of the Methodist church, 
of which he is a member. In ])olitics he has 
always been a Rc[)ui)lican. 

Mr. Calland is one of those who can doubly 
api)reciate the jjatriotism manifested by the 
young men of America at the present time, 
when they are giving themselves earnestly to 
making U]) the fine national army for the coun- 
try's ])articipation in the great luir()])ean war. 
This attitude can but recall vividly to bis mind 
the time when, as a boy of seventeen, he 
subordinated all personal interests to respond 
to the call of patriotism, by tendering his ser- 
\ices in defense of the Union. To these men 
of to-day, as to the boys of 1861 to 1865, the 
country owes a debt of gratitude it can never 
repay. 

ARTHUR GRONl',. — The story of Ar- 
thur Grone's early life is definitely connected 
with that of his father, |ohn Grone, who was 
born in Bremen, Germruiy, ( )ctober 14, 1824. 
John (^.rone sailed from tiiat land of many 
Germanic states, with as many rulers and op- 
pressors, to the free land of the United States, 
which is united under one chosen ruler, the 
president. He was a lad of fourteen when, in 
com])any with an aunt, he landed in New York 
city. During the next eight years he spent his 
time in learning the language and customs of 
the new land. He was for some time an ap- 
prentice to a tailor. In 1846 this fearless 
young man made his way to the wilds of Wis- 
consin. .\mongst her virgin forests the bear 
and tile wolf were stalking their prey, the deer 



blithely fleeing from an imaginary foe; but 
the a<lvent of the settlers soon struck terror to 
these denizens of the forest. Mr. (irone par- 
ticipated in many a chase of the deer and 
bear, bearing them triuiuphantly to his home. 
Only one other white settler was in the valley 
where he lived : the other inhabitants of those 
])arts were the Indians, who still lived in theii 
tepees and followed their nomadic ways. 
.\mong these surroundings of nature in her 
jjurity and strength, Mr. Grone reared a fam- 
ily of fourteen children. The mother of this 
large and interesting family was Wilbelmina 
( Albertus ) Grone, who was born in Germany, 
August 11, 1835, and who came to the United 
v^tates when a yoinig girl. She was her hus- 
band's companion and hei|)niect for many 
years, and the gracious ties were broken only 
by death. 

John Gront' removed wilb his family to 
Iowa in 1874, and in 1886 they came to farm 
in Fillmore county, Nebraska. The farming 
activities of Mr. and Mrs. John Grone covered 
nearly a half-century and were brought to a 
close in 1894, when they retired and moved to 
Bruning, Thayer county, Nebraska, where 
the death of Mrs. Grone occurred, August 14, 
1906. Mr. Grone i)assed away October 9, 
1917, at a patriarchal age. 

Arthur Grone was born in Sauk county, 
Wisconsin, .^ugust 1, 1867, and was the tenth 
in order of birth of the ft)Urteen children born 
to his parents. 1 ie was a young man upon iiis 
arrival with bis iiareius in Nebraska. He 
spent the following twenty years farming dif- 
ferent rented tracts of Land, in (lilVcrenl lo- 
calities, the last tract of land thus rented 
having been owned by his father, in l'"illmore 
county. It was here he made a good start to- 
ward the success shown in his ownership of 
bis i)resent fine landed estate. He ])urchased 
two Innidred and forty acres of land in Elm 
township, Gage county, in 1906, and in the 
following year he came to make his home on 
these broad acres. lie has remodeled his 
house and barn to meet the needs of his home 
and his farming operations. He is raising 
high-grade Poland-China hogs, which, when 
put n|)on the m.irket, will bring two dollars 



1040 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, NEBRASIC\ 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



104] 



for every dollar's worth of corn he has fed 
them. 

Mr. Grone was married September 18, 1889, 
to Frances J. Clark, who was born December 
17, 1871, in Macedonia, Pottawattamie county, 
Iowa. Her parents, Ellis P. and Marj- E. 
(Cisna) Clark, were born in Kentucky and 
Ohio respectively. The father was bom in 
1838 and died May 24, 1913. The mother was 
born in 1852 and died July 22, 1900, in He- 
bron, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Clark went to 
Iowa during the great Chicago tire of 1871. 
From 1886 to 1889 they farmed in Norton 
county, Kansas, and they then moved to 
Thayer county, Nebraska. After several other 
changes they finally adopted Nebraska as their 
home, and here their death occurred. They 
were the parents of eleven children. Mr. and 
Mrs. Grone have four children : Alma M. is 
the wife of E. Dougherty, living in Bruning. 
Nebraska: Florence is the wife of L. Rich- 
ardson, of Elm township. Gage county ; and 
Frank and Violet L. remain at the parental 
home. 

Mr. Grone is a Democrat in politics and has 
served as road overseer. He is affiliated with 
the Woodmen and his wife holds membership 
in the Methodist Episcopal church. 

WILLIAM J. DOBBS, who is living re- 
tired in the city of Beatrice, is a representa- 
tive of one of the most prominent and hon- 
ored territorial pioneer families of this sec- 
tion of Nebraska and proper review of the 
family history is given on other pages, both in 
a specific way and in connection with the gen- 
eral histor}' of the county, prepared by Hugh 
J. Dobbs, a younger brother of the subject 
of this review. The family home was es- 
tablished in Gage county in the early terri- 
torial days and the name of Dobbs, as repre- 
sented in the various generations, has been 
one indicative of large and benignant influ- 
ence in the annals of Gage county. Thus it 
is specially gratifying to be able to incorpor- 
ate in this volume an individual, though neces- 
sarily brief, review of the career of \\'illiam 
J. Dobbs, who was a lad of eleven years at 



the time the family home was established in 
Gage county, — nearly sixty years ago. 

Mr. Dobbs was born in Taney county, 
Missouri, April 16, 1848, a son of Fidillo H. 
and Mary Jane (Shullenbarger) Dobbs, con- 
cerning whom proper record is given else- 
where in this work. Mr. Dobbs gained his 
rudimentary education in Missouri and, as be- 
fore stated, was eleven years of age at the time 
of the family immigration to Nebraska Terri- 
tory, in 1859. He was reared to manhood 
under the conditions and influences of the 
pioneer farm of the frontier, his father having 
obtained land in Rock ford township. Gage 
county, and having there instituted the recla- 
mation and development of a fann at a time 
when settlers were few and widely separated 
and when Indians were still much in evidence 
in this section. William J. Dobbs attended 
the primitive schools maintained by the early 
settlers, and was signally favored in being 
reared in a home of refined influences. In 
1868 he took up a homestead of one hundred 
and twenty acres, in Rockford township, and 
with the passing years he well upheld the 
honors of the family name both as a success- 
ful farmer and as a broad-minded and pro- 
gressive citizen. He developed one of the 
valuable fanu properties of Gage county and 
remained on his old homestead until 1901. 
when he retired from the active labors and 
responsibilities that had so long been his por- 
tion. For three years thereafter he resided 
in the village of Blue Springs, and he then 
removed to the city of Beatrice, where he and 
his wife now occujjy their beautiful home, at 
1001 r^Iarket street, where they delight to wel- 
come the hosts of friends they have drawn 
about them during their many years of resi- 
dence in this county. Mr. Dobbs still owns 
a well improved landed estate of two hundred 
and sixty-nine acres in Gage county, and he 
long held precedence as one of the most ag- 
gressive and successful exponents of agricul- 
tural and livestock industry in Rockford town- 
ship. Though he has had no ambition for 
public office of any kind he has been liberal 
in the support of measures and movements 



1042 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



advanced for the general good of his com- 
munity and of the county, and has given his 
allegiance to the Republican party, both he 
and his wife having been for many years 
active members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

In the year 1873 Mr. Dobbs wedded Miss 
Clara Richards, who was born in the state 
of Pennsylvania, a daughter of William and 
Jane (Trowbridge) Richards, the former a 
native of Ohio and the latter of West Vir- 
ginia. In 1859 Mr. Richards came with his 
family to Nebraska Territory and he was 
numbered among the early settlers of Pawnee 
county. — • a sterling pioneer who contributed 
his full quota to the development and progress 
of southeastern Nebraska. In conclusion is 
given brief record concerning the children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Dobbs : Dora is the wife of 
E. E. Tombaugh, of Hereford, South Dakota • 
Burton H. is a resident of Beloit, Wisconsin ; 
Luella is the wife of Charles Cavett, of Blue 
Springs, Gage county; Kate is the wife of H. 
H. Dann, of Beatrice; Alice is at home; and 
Chester B. is in the United States Marine 
service, being at Paris Island at the time of 
this writing, in the spring of 1918. 

DAVID H. MICHAEL. — The village ot 
Liberty, Nebraska, has for its postmaster a 
HKin who has been very successful in his farm- 
ing operations during his twenty years' resi- 
dence in Gage county. Mr. Michael came 
from Warren county, Illinois, in which county 
he was born. October 24, 1852. His parents, 
David K. and Cynthia (Lieurance) Michael. 
were born in North Carolina and Ohio re- 
spectively. The parents of Mr. and Mrs. 
David K. Michael had migrated from their 
respective states and were early pioneers of 
Illinois, giving their lives in the reclaiming of 
the wild fertile lands to productivity. In their 
adopted state of Illinois these young people 
met and were joined in holy wedlock. In 
1852 David K. Michael went to California, 
where he remained three years, but he dis- 
covered, as did many another, that the gold 
did not grow on the trees and that the soil 
of his adopted state, Illinois, would still yield 



her treasures of wheat and corn. Upon his 
return he purchased land, and he continued 
his farming pursuits the rest of his life. His 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Michael, left 
Illinois and moved to Missouri, arriving there 
during the great pro-slaverj- agitation in that 
state, before the Civil war, and there they 
passed the remainder of their lives. 

Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
David K. Michael, three of whom survive 
them, as follows : David H., the subject of 
this review ; Perrj', a fanner in Pawnee 
county, Nebraska ; and Douglas, likewise a 
resident of that county. The mother. Cynthia 
( Lieurance) Michael, was the daughter of 
Elijah and Eliza Lieurance, who had tilled the 
soil in Ohio prior to their removal to Warren 
county, Illinois. 

David H. Michael made good use of his op- 
])ortunities for education, for, after finishing 
his high-school work, he attended Abbingdon 
College, in Knox county. Illinois. 

In 1874 Mr. Michael was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Angie Sailor, who was bom May 
8, 1853, in Knox county. Illinois. In the 
Buckeye state a hotiie had been established by 
the union of Jeremiah and Priscilla (Mason) 
Sailor, who were natives of that state, but not 
content with their op])ortunities in their natal 
state they established their home in Knox 
county, Illinois. They were tillers of the soil 
and lived happy, useful lives, giving sons and 
daughters to the world to carry on the march 
of civilization. 

Mr. and Mrs. David H. Michael have four 
children, all of whom received educational ad- 
vantages fitting them for their duties in the 
world. The firstborn is Ethel, who is the wife 
of J. F. Spence, an employe in the government 
printing office, Washington, D. C. ; KathrA-n is 
assistant postmaster at Liberty. Nebraska ; 
Mabel remains at the parental home ; and Van 
D. is fanning. 

In 1892 Mr. Michael, with his wife and 
family, came to Pawnee county. Nebraska, and 
for a number of years he rented land, but tht 
rich soil of Pawnee county soon gave such 
returns for his labor that he was enabled, in 
1900, to purchase eighty acres of land in that 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEIiRASKA 



1043 



county. Later he added another eighty acres. 
He finally sold his land holdings in Pawnee 
county and moved to Missouri, but there he 
remained only a few months. Upon his re- 
turn he purchased three hundred and twenty 
acres in Liberty township. Gage county, and 
he still retains the ownership of this property. 
Mr. Michael has taken a keen interest in 
political affairs and is a staunch supporter ol 
the Democratic party. In 1915 he was ap- 
pointed postmaster at Liberty and his second 
daughter is assistant postmaster. With his 
family he attends and supports the Christian 
church. 

RUPERT C. PEAR.SON. — The Hfe rec- 
ord of Rupert C. Pearson is one of varied 
activities and he is interested in and manager 
of the Adams Mercantile Company, in the 
thriving village of Adams. Mr. Pearson was 
born at Indianola, Iowa, August 7, 1859. His 
parents were Allen and Nancy (Henderson) 
Pearson, the former born in Indianapolis, In- 
diana, in 1819, and the latter born in Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, in 1826. The father was a 
farmer until 1874, when he came to Nebraska 
and engaged in the hardware and lumber busi- 
ness at Sterling, Johnson county, where he 
remained until his death, in 1892. There his 
wife passed away, in 1882. They were the 
parents of thirteen children six of whom are 
living. 

Rupert C. Pearson was reared under the 
parental roof and after coming to Nebraska 
he attended school at Sterling for a short 
time, after which he became identified with 
his father's business. In 1878, he entered the 
hardware business on his own account, con- 
ducting the same for about nine years. In 
1890 Mr. Pearson came to .Adams, Nebraska, 
and bought grain for the Norcross & Wore 
Company. Later he engaged in mercantile 
business, and for a time he was cashier of the 
Farmers' State Bank. He was also interested 
in ranches in the western part of the state. 
For the benefit of his wife's health he moved 
to California, and there he was in the fruit 
business for a time. In 1913 he returned to 
Adams and assumed the management of the 



Adams Mercantile Company, with which he is 
still identified. 

In November, 1884, Mr. Pearson married 
Miss Carrie Grey, a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in 1855. She was the mother of one 
son, A. Grey Pearson, who has served four 
years in the marine corps in the service of his 
country. Mrs. Pearson was called to her final 
rest in 1914. 

Mr. Pearson is a member of the Presby- 
terian church, and in ijolitics is a Democrat. 
Fraternally he belongs to the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen 
of America. In 1898 he enlisted in Company 
I, Second Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, and 
with the command he saw some months of 
service in the war with Spain. Mr. Pearson 
is a loyal, progressive citizen and has done 
much to advance the interests of his com- 
munity. He has erected three residence 
properties in Adams, and any worthy cause 
has his endorsement. 

HENRY H. SACHTLEBEN. — Among 
the prosperous farmers of Nemaha township, 
Gage county, mention should be made in this 
publication of Henry H. Sachtleben, who 
makes his home in Section 14 of that town- 
ship. Mr. Sachtleben is the owner of nine 
hundred acres of land, all in Gage county, and 
all of this he has accumulated through his own 
efforts, having started life as a poor boy. Mr. 
Sachtleben was born September 16, 1853, in 
the province of Hanover, Germany, and is a 
son of John and Minnie (Mollman) Sacht- 
leben. He is one of a family of six children, 
as follows : Wilhelmina Kramer, of whom 
record will be found on other pages of this 
volume; Henry H., of this review; Hennan, 
of Menard, Illinois ; Maggie, deceased ; Mrs. 
lennie Steinman, of Republic county, Kansas; 
and Lizzie, deceased wife of H. Penterman. 

John Sachtleben was born in Germany, 
about 1839, and died in 1890. In 1868 he left 
Germany and came with his family to America. 
He settled in Illinois, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life. His widow later came to 
Gage county, where she died in 1903, at the 
age of seventv-seven vears. Mr. and Mrs. 



icm 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Sachtleben were members of the Lutheran 
church. 

The subject of this review worked as a farm 
hand in IlHnois, and attenc'ed school in that 
state. His father being a poor man, it be- 
came necessar>' for him to make his own way 
from his boyhood. In the spring of 1885 Mr. 
Sachtleben came to Nebraska and settled in 
Nemaha township, Gage county, where he 
bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
in Section 14, this being his present home 
farm. At the time of purchase only ninety 
acres of this land were under cultivation, and 
Mr. Sachtleben set to work improving the 
property, making extensive improvements on 
the land itself as well as by erecting new build- 
ings, and from time to time he has bought 
more land until at the present time he is the 
owner of nine hundred acres of land in Gage 
county, all well improved. Mr. Sachtleben is 
numbered among the very successful farmers 
of the county. He is also interested as a stock- 
holder in the Earmcrs' Elevator Companies at 
Cortland and Firth, Nebraska. He is also 
vice-president of the Firth Bank. In politics 
Mr. Sachtleben is an independent Democrat, 
and he and his family are members of the 
Lutheran church. 

On March S, 1883, occurred the marriage 
of Mr. Sachtleben to Miss Lizzie Vesselmann, 
who was born in Germany, January' 20, 1862, 
a daughter of Henry and Mary (Middlekamp) 
Vesselmann, natives of Germany, where they 
passed their entire lives. Mrs. Sachtleben 
came to America in 1879 and settled in Illi- 
nois. Mr. and Mrs. Sachtleben are the par- 
ents of five children, as follows: John, a 
farmer in Nemaha township; Minnie, wife of 
C. Jutson, of Nemaha township: Harry, at 
home: limma, wife of William Packard, liv- 
ing near Cortland, Nebraska ; and Carl, at 
home. 

GEOGRE \\'. SriEr.EL. — The metro- 
politan facilities of the city of Beatrice are 
definitely enhanced by the well ordered auto- 
mobile garage and salesrooms of Mr. Spiegel, 
who has provided his establishment with the 
best equipped repair and service departments 



and who has developed a large and substantial 
business in the handling of the celebrated 
U\erland automobiles, for which he is dis- 
tributor in this section of the state, his an- 
nual business now showing an average aggre- 
gate of about five hundred thousand dollars 
and his establishment showing at all times a 
large assortment of the Overland cars, so that 
he is able to make quick deliveries in connec- 
tion with sales. He has brought to bear in 
the enterprise a dynamic energy and progres- 
siveness and is one of the most successful ex- 
ponents of the automobile industry in south- 
eastern Nebraska. 

^Ir. Spiegel was born in the city of Fort 
Dodge, Iowa, on the 4th of June, 1881, and 
is a son of Emil F. and Mary (Gunther) 
Spiegel, who were born and reared in Illinois, 
where their marriage was solemnized. In 
1878 the father purchased a tract of land near 
Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he developed a valu- 
alile farm property and where he became a 
substantial and influential citizen. He is now 
li\ing virtually retired in the city of Los 
Angeles, California, his wife having passed to 
the life eternal in April, 1916, a zealous com- 
municant of the German Lutheran church, of 
which he also is an active adherent, his politi- 
cal allegiance, fortified by well ordered con- 
victions, being given to the Republican party. 
Of the two children the subject of this review 
is the younger, and Edward ^^'. is associateo 
v.ith the Peters Pump Com])any, of Kewanee, 
Illinois. Frederick Spiegel, grandfather of 
the subject of this sketch, was born and reared 
in Germany, where he learned the miller's 
trade. In 1865 he established his residence in 
Illinois, after having been compelled to borrow 
sufficient money to defray the cost of his voy- 
age to America, and by his ability and well 
directed efforts he gained definite independ- 
ence and prosperity, both he and his wife hav- 
ing passed the remainder of their lives in Illi- 
nois. 

Frederick Gunther, maternal grandfather 
of Mr. Spiegel, came from Gemiany to Amer- 
ica and established his residence in Illinois in 
1870. A mason by trade, he there turned his 
attention eventually to the manufacturing of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



1045 




George W". Spiegei, 



1046 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



brick, in wiiich line of enterprise he was en- 
gaged eighteen years. In 1880 he engaged 
also in the manufacturing of pumps and wind- 
mills, at Kewanee, and from a small incep- 
tion he developed this into one of the large 
and important manufacturing industries of 
that section of Illinois. He continued as the 
executive head of the business until his death 
and the large plant and business, basing op- 
erations upon a capital of two hundred thou- 
sand dollars, are still owned by the members 
of his family, the products of the factor)' be- 
ing now shipped to all parts of the United 
States and Canada. 

George W. Spiegel is indebted to the pul;- 
lic schools of Kewanee, Illinois, for his early 
educational discipline, and there he was 
graudated in the high school, as a member of 
the class of 1898. Thereafter he was for ten 
years a traveling representative and salesman 
for a leading piano house, and within this 
period he efficiently covered territor>' in Illi- 
nois, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Kansas and 
Colorado, with an admirable record for suc- 
cessful salesmanship. 

In 1908 Mr. Spiegel associated himself with 
the \\'yllis-( )verland .\utomobile Company by 
taking a position in its sales agency in the city 
of Lincoln, Nebraska. There he remained 
until June, 1913, when he came to Beatrice and 
established his present agency for the same 
company. Mr. Spiegel is a young man of 
marked progressiveness and his activities 
along this line touch not only his own busi- 
ness but also mark his attitude as a loyal and 
public-spirited citizen. He is actively affili- 
ated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, in which he has passed the various of- 
ficial chairs, and he is a member also of the 
United Commercial Travelers' Association. 

In 1907 was recorded the marriage of Mr. 
Spiegel to Miss Anna Monroe, who was bom 
in the state of W'isconsin and who has the dis- 
tinction of being a lineal descendant of James 
Monroe, fifth president of the United States. 
Mrs. Spiegel is a daughter of Rev. Michael 
Benson, who has been for more than half a 
century pastor of the First Methodist church 
at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and who, at the 



venerable age of seventy-eight years, is serving 
in 1917-18 as president of the Wisconsin Min- 
isterial Association. Mr. and Mrs. Spiegel 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church in their home city and are popular 
figures in the representative social activities of 
the community. They have one son, Frederick 
G., who was born in the year 1911. 

JACOB HEYEX. — The people of Filley 
township have every reason to be proud of the 
fine farms that are to ne found so plentifully 
scattered over its broad acres, and its repu- 
tation as an agricultural and stock-raising dis- 
trict is enviable. Among those who have done 
not a little to maintain a high standard in this 
respect is the subject of this sketch. 

It was in 1904 that Mr. Heyen came to Gage 
county and purchased his present farm. It 
was originally known as the King farm, hav- 
ing been developed by Charles W. King, an 
early settler of Gage county. Mr. Heyen ha.*^ 
erected a new house and new banis and has a 
very fine property, the farm consisting of two 
hundred and eighty acres. 

Mr. Heyen is a native of Missouri, bom in 
-Atchison county, October 28, 1870. His par- 
ents were Heye J. and Grace ( Folkerts) 
Heyen, natives of Germany. The mother is 
deceased. The father makes his home with a 
daughter in Gage county. Jacob Heyen is the 
oldest of four children, three of whom are 
living. A sister. .Anna, is the wife of W. G. 
Coo]ier, residing in Nemaha township. His 
brother, Frank, resides in .Atchison county, 
Missouri. One child, likewise named Frank, 
died in infancy. 

Our subject was reared in his native county 
and acquired his education in the public 
schools. He followed mercantile pursuits in 
I.angdon, Missouri, before coming to Gage 
county. 

February 27 , 1895, Mr. Heyen was united in 
marriage to Miss Hiebe Cooper, and of this 
union have been born five children. Their 
names are: George. Matilda, Juanita, Hemiie, 
and Frank. 

Mr. Heyen devotes his energies to general 
farming and stock-raising and is one of the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1047 



prosperous men of his adopted county. The 
family are members of the German Lutheran 
church and Mr. Heyen exercises his right of 
franchise in support of men and measures as 
advocated by the Democratic party. 



of teaching prior to her marriage. Mr. Brj-- 
son is meeting with success in his farming 
operations and readily gives his endorsement 
to those projects which have to do with the 
uplift of his community. 



GUY R. BRYSON is operating a farm in 
Adams township and is meeting with success. 
He is a native of Ohio, his birth having oc- 
curred in Athens county, October 17, 1879. 
He is a son of David W. and Elizabeth ( Bor- 
der) Bi-yson. The father was born in Athens 
county, Ohio, February 1, 1837. During the 
Civil war he sened in the home guards. He 
was a farmer all his life. In 1880 he came to 
Gage county and engaged in fanning land 
where the town of Adams now stands. He 
passed away, in Adams township, September 
17, 1882. Mr. Bryson was a member of the 
Methodist church. In 1856 he married Miss 
Elizabeth Border, who was bom in Ohio, De- 
cember 28, 1832. She now makes her home 
with her son Guy. She has reached the age 
of eighty-four years, is enjoying good health 
and finds employment and pleasure in piecing 
quilts. She became the mother of ten chil- 
dren, as follows: Lois, wife of Nat. Shaw, of 
Adams, Nebraska ; Mrs. William E. Bryson, 
of University Place, Nebraska ; Florence, de- 
ceased ; Mrs. Alary Applebee, of Maryville, 
Missouri ; Elmer A., of Chicago ; Archibald 
C, of Adams; Herbert, of Lincoln, in the 
United States railway mail service; Harry, 
deceased ; Mrs. Bertha Dixon, of Adams ; and 
Guy R. 

Guy R. Bryson came to Gage county with 
his parents when a child. He was reared on 
a farm and wisely chose agriculture as an 
occupation. On June 13, 1901, he married 
Miss Marie De Young, a native of Iowa, and 
a daughter of John and Clara (Post) De- 
Young, natives of I^Iolland, and Iowa respec- 
tively. Mr. De Young came with his family 
to Nebraska in 1897, settling in Lancaster 
county. Later he conducted a hardware store 
in .Adams, Gage county, and he and his wife 
are now residents of Emporia, Kansas. Mrs. 
Bryson attended the State Normal .school at 
Peru, Nebraska, and followed the profession 



JOHN A. REULING. — When a truly 
able and gifted man finds his niche in the 
world of business and finance, his success is 
certain and definite. There is no miscalcula- 
tion about his being adapted to his surround- 
ings — a really successful person becomes 
more so when he has found the proper line of 
endeavor in which to exercise inherited and 
developed talents. Truly successful men are 
those who have studied themselves and their 
aptitudes, physical, mental, and moral, and 
when they have found their vocation they are 
successful in it because of their love for and 
knowledge of it. John A. Reuling, successful 
financier and business man, is one who has 
found his true potential and developed himself 
and his powers to the fullest extent. 

John A. Reuling, president of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Wymore, was bom in Musca- 
tine, Iowa, August 23, 1866, a son of John A. 
and Louisa (Schnier) Reuling, both natives 
of Germany. John A. Reuling, Sr., came to 
the United States when a boy of fourteen 
years and located at Burlington, Iowa, where 
he leamed the baker's trade and finally en- 
gaged in business. Later he moved to Mus- 
catine, Iowa, where for many years he carried 
on a very successful business. The time that 
prosperity smiled tipon him with no uncertain 
smile was when two railroads were being 
built through Muscatine and brought many 
laborers and artisans of every sort to the little 
village. The railroad service made the little 
village grow and prosper, and Mr. Reuling's 
business prospered accordingly. He had 
started at the lowest rung of the ladder and 
through persistent effort, hard work and 
snatching opportunity by the forelock, he re- 
tired from business with more than an ordi- 
nary- competence. 

In Iowa Mr. Reuling married Miss Louisa 
Schnier, who was bom in Germany and who 
came to Iowa with her native-born Gemian 



1048 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



parents. Eight children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Keuling, as follows : James R., a retired 
capitalist, living at Muscatine, Iowa ; George 
W., a grocery merchant in Muscatine, Iowa ; 
John A., subject of this sketch : Walter E., 
professor in the machinerj' department of the 
University of Michigan; Anna M., wife of J. 
W. Page, an assessor at Joplin, Missouri ; 
Lucy E., wife of E. R. Reinement, in the dr\'- 
goods business at Muscatine; Nellie and Ella 
are single and live at Muscatine, Iowa. Mr. 
and Mrs. Reuling were members of the Lu- 
theran church and the Democratic party re- 
ceived the vote of Mr. Reuling. He was a 
self-made man and a public-spirited citizen, 
who took a lively interest in all movements 
for civic betterment. He served on the Mus- 
catine city council for some time. Both he 
and his wife died and were laid to rest at 
Muscatine, Iowa. 

John A. Reuling, with whom this sketch 
deals, received his education in his native city 
and was there graduated from the high school 
in 1885. The first work Mr. Reuling tried 
after starting work for himself was in a com- 
mission house, but he did not remain long 
with this concern, his ambitions being along 
a different line. In his home town he was 
then employed by a successful jeweler, who 
taught him the trade, and for twenty years 
Mr. Reuling devoted his entire energies to 
this work. He was in Fort Scott. Kansas, for 
some time and then came to \\'ymore, Ne- 
braska, in 1891, and started a jewelry store. 
This business he continued until 1910. In 
1902 he became interested in the Wymore 
State Bank, of which corporation he was vice- 
president. When the institution was reorgan- 
ized as a national bank and incoqjorated as the 
City National Bank, he was elected its presi- 
dent. In 1910 the City National Bank and 
the First National Bank corporations com- 
bined under the corporate name of First Na- 
tional Bank, and Mr. Reuling discontinued 
his jewelry business to devote his entire time 
to his banking business, as the presidciU of 
the First National Bank. The building in 
which they did business was completely de- 
stroyed by tire in 1914. 



In 1893 Mr. John Reuling and Sara E. 
Deemer were united in marriage. Mrs. Reul- 
ing is a daughter of John .A. and Elizabeth 
(Erwin) Deemer. Her parents moved to 
Iowa from Indiana, where Mr. Deemer was 
engaged in the lumber business. His eldest 
son, Horace E. Deemer, was elected to the 
sui)reme court of Iowa, in which capacity he 
distinguished himself. No children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Reuling. Mrs. Reuling 
was brought up in the gentle faith of the So- 
ciety of Friends and still remains a member of 
the organization. Her husband was confirmed 
in the Lutheran church and is still a communi- 
cant of same. Politically he allies himself 
with the Republican party and he has ser\'ed 
three terms as mayor of W^ymore, also one 
term as the city treasurer. 

The First National Bank of Wymore, of 
which Mr. Reuling is president, has a capital 
of $50,000, with undivided profits and surplus 
of $16,000. the average deposits being 
$500,000. He devotes his entire time to his 
banking interests but during this time of the 
world war he has effected an organization 
which has for its goal the supplying of funds 
for the war and for army supplies. He is also 
chairman of the Gage County Bankers' Pa- 
triotic Association, organized in the fall of 
1917. 

Mr. Reuling was the .*irst president and one 
of the organizers of the Farmers' Grain, Lum- 
ber & Coal Company ot Wymore, also presi- 
dent of the Building & Loan .Association. He 
is affiliated with the York Rite bodies of the 
Masonic fraternity and also with the Mystic 
Shrine. He has sen'ed as master of his Ma- 
sonic lodge, as high priest in his local chapter 
of Royal Arch Masons, and as thrice illus- 
trious master of the council of Royal & Select 
Masters. He is a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is trea- 
surer of his lodge, and is also a member of 
the Modern Woodmen of America. 

ARCHIE C. HITT. — The late Archie C. 
Hitt was l)orn in Delaware county. New York, 
May 13. 1848. The Empire state was the 
home of the Hitt family for many years, his 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1049 



parents, Samuel and Jeannette (Campbell) 
Hitt, were likewise born in Delaware county, 
tbe former on the 16th day of September, 
1812, his death occurring- July 10, 1883, in 
Odell, Nebraska. The mother was born May 
15, 1812. and died January 7, 1877. Samuel 
Hitt was a lumberman in the early days when 
he lived in Delaware county. That county 
to-day hears the lumberman's ax no more, as 
it is densely settled and covered with factories 
of every sort. But the men like Mr. Hitt 
blazed the way that the factory might in its 
turn be raised. In this county was solemnized 
the marriage of Samuel Hitt and Jeannette 
Campbell, and their three children were there 
born. In 1855 they removed to Ogle county, 
Illinois, and there Mr. Hitt engaged in farm- 
ing. In that county they laid the wife and 
mother to rest, in 1877. In 1883 the father 
and sons came to Gage county, Nebraska, lo- 
cating in Odell. Shortly after their arrival 
Samuel Hitt passed to the life eternal, his 
death occurring on the 10th day of July, 1883. 
Of the three children the following brief rec- 
ord is offered : Mary J. is the wife of H. 
Price, living in Paddock township, this county ; 
Archie C. is the subject of this memoir; and 
George B. has later mention in this sketch. 

Archie C. Hitt was married to Etta Shafer 
in Ogle county, Illinois. She was born De- 
cember 5, 1859, in Delaware county. New 
York, a daughter of I.yman and Jane 
Shafer. Her father likewise was engaged 
in the lumber business in New York. He 
later farmed in Ogle countv, Illinois, and also 
farmed for some time in Mississippi, going to 
the latter state in 1898. In 1907 he came to 
Beatrice, Nebraska, where he made his home 
until his death, September 6, 1914. Mr. 
Shafer was born in 1829, and his wife, Mrs. 
Jane Shafer, was born in 1837:' she makes 
her home with her oldest daughter, Mrs. 
Archie Hitt. 

In 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Archie Hitt came to 
Elm township, Gage county, and purchased 
one hundred and .sixty acres of land, in Section 
24. Mr. Hitt pursued his farming operations 
on this land until his death, May 18, 1899. 
Four children came to bless this home, as 



follows : Jennie is the wife of Frank J. Kauf- 
man, of Elm township; Alvin also resides in 
this township; Cora is the wife of H. L- 
Raney, living south of Wymore, this county : 
and Archie D. is at home with his widowed 
mother. When Mr. Hitt died he left a burden 
of debt on the farm. His widow, with the 
children, did the farm work and paid the in- 
debtedness. She even worked in the field to 
compass this worthy end. 

George B. Hitt, the brother of Archie Hitt, 
was born in Delaware county. New York, 
January 6, 1850, and is now engaged in farm- 
ing one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Section 24, Elm township, just south of the 
Archie Hitt fami. The two brothers worked 
constantly in partnership and since Archie's 
death George Hitt has helped Mrs. Hitt with 
her farming and makes his home with her and 
her family. 

George Hitt's early life was spent in Dela- 
ware county. New York, and Ogle county. 
Illinois, and since then he has farmed the 
present land, with the exception of one year, 
1883-1884, when he farmed in Marshall 
county, Kansas. Mr. Hitt has never married. 
He votes the Republican ticket and takes an 
active interest in all local civic affairs. 

WILLIAM M. EBY, who is living retired 
on his farm in Glenwood township, was born 
in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, January 18, 
1847. His father, Moses Eby, w'as likewise a 
native of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, 
where he was born November 11, 1826. In 
1850 Moses Eby became a pioneer settler in 
La Salle county. Illinois, where he located on 
a farm near where the city of Mendota was 
afterward built. He was a successful fanner 
and his last days were spent at Freeport, Illi- 
nois, where he passed away in 1908. at the age 
of eighty-two years. The maiden name of his 
wife was Sarah Haak. She was bom in Le- 
banon county, Pennsylvania, and passed away 
at the old home in La Salle county, Illinois, 
December 9, 1876. They were the parents of 
five children. William M. is the eldest, be- 
sides being the only son ; two daughters, Ade- 
line and Ida died in young womanhood ; and 



1050 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 







I 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLXTY, NEBRASKA 



1051 



the two surviving daughters are Airs. George 
lietz. of Princeton, Illinois, and Mrs. Philip 
Betz, of Storm Lake, Iowa. 

^^'illiam M. Eby was three years old when 
the family settled in Illinois, where his boy- 
hood days were spent in the usual manner of 
frrm lads of that period — attendini;' the public 
schools and assisting in the work of the 
farm. On reaching manhood he purchased 
land and engaged in farming in an independent 
way. He continued his farm enterprise in 
Illinois until 1885, when he came to Ne- 
braska. The first year he spent in Odell, and 
in 1886 he bought his present fann, upon 
which he has lived continuously since that 
timej The improvements on the place were of 
a very primitive order, but these were replaced 
with the buildings that now adom the prop- 
erty and which are among the best in the 
township. Though this farm has always been 
his home he has rented his land year after year 
for sixteen years, in the meanwhile he con- 
ducted a general merchandise store at Lan- 
ham, and since severing his connection with 
mercantile pursuits he has lived retired. 

While a resident of Illinois Mr. Eby was 
united in marriage to Miss Malinda Eckert, at 
native of La Salle county, that state. She 
was bom May 7, 1852, a daughter of Jonas 
and Nancy (Erb) Eckert, who were natives 
of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and who, 
in 1849, became residents of La Salle county, 
Illinois, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives. I\Ir. and Mrs. Eby became the 
parents of seven children : Ed is in the em- 
ploy of the United States postoffice depart- 
ment, as clerk in the postoffice at Lincoln, Ne- 
braska ; Ida is the wife of Ed Jeffreys ; Wil- 
liam is deceased; Mrs. I. E. Faulder lives in 
Riverside township; Henry is a resident of 
Beatrice; Laura is the wife of Clarence Ruyle, 
of Bookwalter, Nebraska ; and one child died 
in infancy. 

Mr. Eby came to Glenwood township when 
conditions were far different than those of the 
present day, and in the work of transforma- 
tion he has taken an active interest and part. 
He is a Republican in politics and has served 
as treasurer of his township, but the emolu- 



ments of public office have had no attraction 
tor him, and close application to his own af- 
fairs has brought him the success that enables 
him to put aside the active work of former 
years and enjoy a well earned rest. 

FRANK STRAUCH was horn in Germany 
on the 28th of June, 1S54. a son of Karl and 
Elizabeth Strauch. Karl Strauch was born in 
Germany in 1828, and died January 1, 1892. 
His wife was born in 1S31 and died in 1881. 
They became the parents of ten children, three 
of whom are still living : Frank, of Bameston, 
Nebraska, is the immediate subject of this 
sketch ; Agnes first wedded August Walters, 
who died many years ago, and she is now the 
wife of August Dierich, their home being in 
Germany ; and William is a farmer in Ger- 
man)-. 

Frank Strauch came to the United States 
and arrived in Burlington, Iowa, on May 15, 
1881, with only forty dollars in money. He 
stayed in Iowa only a short time and then 
came to Nebraska, where he worked on farms. 
By hard work and strict economy he saved 
three hundred dollars, and in 1883 he came to 
Gage county and bought eighty acres of land 
on the Otoe Indian reserv'ation, making, out 
of his savings, a small pavment on this land. 
Mr. Strauch improved this property and made 
the farm his home for twenty-five years. In 
1899 he retired, and he has since made his 
home at Bameston, this county. 

( )n January 23, 189+. Mr. Strauch was 
united in marriage to Miss Ida X'olkmer, 
(laughter of Ferdinand and Caroline (Rei- 
schel) \'olkmer, who came to the United 
States from Germany in 1881. On their 
passage over they were shijnvrecked and had 
some very thrilling experiences. Ferdinand 
\'olkmer settled in Burhngton, Iowa, and for 
many years worked for the Chicago, Burling- 
ton & Quincy Railroad Company. 

Frank Strauch and wife have no children. 
They are members of the Catholic church. 
Mr. Strauch is a Democrat and served as 
township assessor of Liberty township in 1899 
and 1900. The township was always consid- 
ered strongly Republican, but Mr. Strauch was 



1052 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



elected on the Democratic ticket, which goes 
to show his standing in the community in 
which he lives. Mr. Strauch has never had 
the advantages of an Enghsh eehication, but 
through hard work and study has educated 
himself. 

ISAAC KILER, a retired farmer, living in 
Bameston, has been allied with the agricul- 
tural life of Gage county for the past thirty- 
five years. He is now enjoying the rest earned 
after years of hard labor, in winning the wild 
prairie to fertility and helping to build up a 
great agricultural commimity. 

Isaac Kiler was born February- 13, 1844, in 
Richland county, Ohio, and is the son of John 
and Elizabeth ( Hassinger) Kiler. John Kiler 
was bom in Germany, in If^lS, a son of John 
Kiler, a Gentian farmer who came to Rich- 
land county, Ohio, in 1819, and endured all the 
vicissitudes of the early sailing-ship voyage, 
rude log cabins and the felling of the forests 
to make a home and clearing a space of ground 
for the growing of grain for the sustenance of 
life. These staunch and brave men who en- 
dured the hardships of those early years of 
our nation's history gave to their posterity 
Lrain and brawn to build up the nation which 
is to-day the vital exponent of the democracy 
man. In these rude surroundings, and close 
to the things of nature, John Kiler, Jr., grew 
to manhood and he then took as his wife 
Klizabeth Hassinger, who was a native of 
Ohio, bom in 1824. In 1848 they moved, with 
rude ox team, over hill and valley to the state 
of Michigan and again built the log cabin, in 
the clearing of the pine forests of Michigan. 
Sons and daughters to the number of eight 
came to bless them, but ere they had reached 
manhood and womanhood the wife and mother 
passed away, in 1858. Leaving the remains of 
his loved companion and selling his property, 
Mr. Kiler moved with his family to Benton 
county, Iowa. Three children of this family 
are living, as follows : Mrs. Greenly, a widow, 
residing in Belle Plaine, Iowa ; Isaac, subject 
of this sketch ; and William, a farmer near 
Dodge City, Kansas. 

lohn Kiler was married the second time, to 



Miss Sarah Shaver, who bore him five chil- 
dren, four of whom are living, as follows : 
lona, residing m the state of Washington ; 
John, a farmer near Superior, Nebraska ; 
Charles, a traveling man : and Mrs. Nettie 
I.utz, living in Washington. The last days of 
John Kiler were spent in the home of his son 
Isaac, of this sketch, and he i)assed away 
January 1. 1889. 

Isaac Kiler received his early education in 
Michigan and Benton county, Iowa. He 
hcl])ed his father on the farm until his mar- 
riage, in 1870, to Miss Clara Severance, who 
was bom in Marion county, Ohio, a daughter 
of Frank and Elizabeth Severance. Mr. Sev- 
erance died in Michigan, where he was a farm- 
er, and his wife died at the home of her 
daughter. Mrs. Kiler. Five children of this 
family are living: Emily, the widow of Wil- 
liam Smith, resides at McCook, Nebraska ; 
Phila is the wife of Charles Smith, a painter 
at Beatrice, Nebraska; Lucy is the wife of 
T. S. Jones, a breeder of stock at W'essington 
Springs, South Dakota ; E. W. is employed by 
the Burlington Railroad, in W'yoming ; and 
Clara is the wife of Isaac Kiler, subject of 
this sketch. 

In 1883 Isaac Kiler and his family came to 
Gage county and here he purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, in Liberty town- 
ship. This land had never had a furrow 
turned nor been the habitation of a white 
man. Mr. Kiler and his wife made the im- 
provements and continued their farming op- 
erations until they retired, in 1906. One child, 
P. M., was born to Mr. and Mrs. Kiler and 
he is now operating the farm in Liberty town- 
ship, lie married Frances Gallogly, and they 
have two children, Thelma and Bemice. 

Isaac Kiler is one who started with no 
money but with much of ambition and deter- 
mination to succeed and make the most of his 
opportunities. In connection with his fami 
in Liberty township, Mr. Kiler owns one hun 
dred and sixty acres of land in Kansas. He 
loves to review the early day experiences and 
he tells of the trip he made from Council 
Bluffs, in April, 1864, with a lot of horses 
that he took overland to Salt Lake Citv, 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1052 



arriving — after many long vvearv- days and 
nights on the trackless plains, under the 
stars — June 1, 1864, in Salt Lake City, and 
in Sacramento. California, June 28th. There 
were no hospitable roofs under which he could 
remain at night, but only the broad, virgin, 
country with not a human habitation in sight 
for miles and miles. Then there were the 
hostile Indians and the wild animals constant- 
ly stalking the venturesome traveler. Before 
returning to Iowa, Mr. Kiler worked for two 
and one-half years in the lumber yards and 
saw mills. 

The politics of Mr. Kiler are in accord with 
the Republican party and he and his wife are 
valued members of their community. 

EDWARD NOVOTNY, a farmer of Elm 
township, was born in this township July 15, 
1884, and is a son of John and Rose Novotny, 
all of whose four children are living. John 
Novotny was bom in Bohemia, as was also 
his wife. He retired from active farming and 
is now living in Wymore, this county. 

Edward Novotny has spent all of his life 
in the county of his birth. He received his 
education in the rural school of district No. 
118, and has learned the art of fanning in the 
hard school of experience. He has learned 
nature's whims and is able to make his broad 
acres yield their treasures of wheat and corn. 

On the 23d day of August, 1881, in Sanga- 
mon county, Illinois, was bom Nina A. Leg- 
gett, who became the wife of Edward Novot- 
ny, their marriage having been solemnized 
July 17, 1903. Mrs. Novotny is a daughter of 
Joseph and Eliza C. (Magee) Leggett. (See 
the sketch of Joseph Leggett for a complete 
history of this family.) After their marriage 
Mr. and Mrs. Novotny came to their present 
farm, in Elm township, and they have labored 
together toward the goal of success and inde- 
pendence. Six children have come to bless 
their union, and all remain at the parental 
home, their names and respective dates of 
birth being here noted : Hilda E., September 
14, 1905; Lila M., October 21, 1907; Muriel 
A., March 6, 1910; Lawrence E., October 24, 



1912; lona E., July 13, 1914; Donald L., De- 
cember 28, 1915. 

Mr. Novotny is a Republican and has served 
effectively as a member of the school board, 
of which he is now the treasurer. He is a 
shareholder of the Odell Farmers' Elevator & 
Lumber Company, and also is interested in 
the local telephone company. Mr. Novotny 
received from his father the one hundred and 
sixty acres of land which he owns, as his share 
of the estate. He is a successful farmer and 
is interested in all of the civic developments 
of his locality. 

FREDERICK KRACKE, SR. — This pop- 
ular pioneer citizen of Gage county was 
another of the sturdy young men who came 
to this section of Nebraska in the early days 
and by indomitable energy and perserv^erance 
pushed forward to the goal of large and well 
merited success. Upon coming to the county, 
from Iowa, in 1879, he purchased, at the rate 
of twelve dollars an acre, one hundred and 
sixty acres in Section 31 Clatonia township, 
onlv two acres of the tract having been broken. 
On this pioneer farm he and his brother Her- 
man continued their vigorous operations four 
years, and he then married and purchased the 
eighty acres that constitutes his present finely 
improved and attractive homestead place, in 
Grant township. In 1885 he erected on this 
farm a frame house of two rooms, and this 
later gave place to his present commodious 
and modern residence. He continues to hold 
secure place as one of the representative fann- 
ers of this county, where he is now the owner 
of three hundred acres, in Section 6, Grant 
township, besides which he owns one hundred 
and sixty acres in Jefferson county, two 
hundred acres in Saline county, and one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in the San Luis valley of 
Colorado. He is specially prominent in Gage 
county industry as a breeder of fine Durham 
cattle and Chester White swine. Of all that 
he has achieved through personal ability and 
energ)' it is sufficient to say that when he ar- 
rived in the United States, as a German youth 
of sixteen years, his financial resources were 



1054 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 





HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1055 



summed up in a single gold piece of twenty 
dollars, while at the present time he is the 
owner of a valuahle landed estate aggregating 
over one thousand acres in area. 

Mr. Kracke was born in the province of 
Hanover, Germany, December 23, 1853, and 
there he received the advantages of the ex- 
cellent national schools. In 1870, at the age 
of sixteen years, he severed the gracious home 
ties and set forth to seek his fortunes in the 
United States. For the first two years he 
worked on a farm in Ohio, and he then went 
to Jackson county, Iowa, where he was simi- 
larly employed for the ensuing seven years, his 
wages at the start having been but ten dollars 
a month. At the expiration of this period he 
came to Gage county, Nebraska. He is presi- 
dent of the Fanners' Co-operative Elevator at 
Dewitt, Saline county and is one of the sub- 
stantial and influential citizens of this section 
of the state. 

Reverting to the family history it may be 
noted that Mr. Kracke is a son of Frederick 
and Mary (Oldman) Kracke. both of whom 
passed their entire lives in Germany, where 
the father was a farmer. Frederick Kracke 
was born in 1812 and died in 1889; his wife 
was bom in 1818 and died in 1886, both hav- 
ing been devout communicants of the Luth- 
eran church. Of the children William, Henry 
and Dorothy (Mrs. Michaelis) died in Ger- 
many ; Herman now resides at Clatonia, Gage 
county; the subject of this review was the 
next in order of birth ; Dietrich resides near 
Plymouth, Jefiferson county ; Margaret, who 
became the wife of Henry Kracke, died in 
Germany, as did also .Sophia (Airs. Bucholz) ; 
and August still resides in his native land. 

On the 12th of March, 1884, Mr. Kracke 
married Miss Adeline Meyer, who was boni 
in Hanover, Germany, December 4, 1866, a 
daughter of Cord and Martha (Boese) l^ieyer, 
with whom she came to America in 1882, the 
family home being forthwith established in 
Gage county, where her parents passed the 
remainder of their lives, the father having 
become a prosperous farmer of Clatonia town- 
ship. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kracke 
Benjamin and Frederick, Jr.. are progressive 



farmers of the younger generation in Grant 
township, and Werner is similarly engaged in 
Saline county; Lena is the wife of George 
Huneke, of Saline county ; and the younger 
children, who remain members of the gracious 
home circle, are Gustav, Herman, Emil and 
Emma. 

Loyal in all ways to the land of his adop- 
tion and appreciative of the opportunities here 
aflforded him, Mr. Kracke has shown this in 
his civic liberality and progressiveness. He 
is a staunch supporter of the principles of the 
Republican party and while he has no ambi- 
tion for office he was elected assessor of Grant 
township in 1909. He held this position two 
years and then resigned, on account of im- 
paired health. For fully fifteen years past he 
has been a valued member of the school board 
of District No. 149, and he has at all times 
been found ready to give his influence and co- 
operation in the support of measures and en- 
terprises advanced for the general good of the 
community. He and his wife are zealous 
communicants of the Lutheran church and 
their pleasant home is known for its generous 
hospitality and good cheer. 

EDWARD G. RATHBUN left the distinct 
imprint of his life upon Gage county history. 
He was a farmer who combined with his prac- 
tical business affairs that rare, upright char- 
acter that helped to mould the nation's life. 
Mr. Rathbun was a son of Job B. and Maria 
(Brown) Rathbun. Job B. Rathbun was 
born in Steuben county. New York, and was 
reared to manhood in his native state. After 
his marriage to Maria Brown they remained 
for a short while in their home county, but 
they were soon located in Ogle county, Illi- 
nois, tilling the soil, their home being near the 
thriving little city of Rochelle. In 1871 they 
traversed the prairies to seek newer fields of 
labor, and located this time in Johnson county, 
Nebraska. They later moved to De Witt, 
where Mrs. Rathbun's death occurred, in 1S81. 
Mr. Rathbun was an extensive land-owner, 
having at one time owned three thousand 
acres of land. This great acreage was accu- 
mulated from the hard labor of Mr. Rathbun 



1056 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



and his wise use of the fertile lands of his 
adopted state, where he remained until his 
death. He was the father of seven children, 
only three of whom are living: Fannie is the 
wife of Charles Ojers, of Lincoln township, 
who is individually represented on other 
pages of this volume; Clarence resides at De 
Witt, Nebraska ; and the address of Charles 
E. is unknown to members of the family in 
Nebraska. 

Edward G. Rathbun, the subject of this 
memoir, was bom December 25, 1863, in 
Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois, and when just 
a lad he participated in the great adventure of 
crossing the plains in a covered wagon and 
sleeping under the stars. His early years 
were spent in Johnson county, Nebraska, and 
in 1880 he came to Gage county to till some 
of her fertile soil. 

It was in this county, February 27, 1887, 
that he married Nellie E. Whipple. After 
their marriage he fanned one hundred and 
sixty acres of land northeast of Ellis, Ne- 
braska, and he and his young wife shared to- 
gether the vicissitudes of the early fanners on 
unbroken land. In 1892 they purchased land 
adjoining the village limits of Ellis, in Section 
20, Lincoln township. He continued to add 
to liis land holdings until he had several hun- 
dred acres. Mr, Rathbun iiassed away Jan- 
uary 7, 1913. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun became the parents 
of eight children, as follows : Edna is the 
wife of Rev. J. H. Bankson, of Reynolds, 
Nebraska; Olive died in infancy; Stella is 
the wife of H. C. Clausen, of Anderson, In- 
diana; Julia is the wife of C. L. McClure, of 
Ellis, Nebraska, fanning the home place; the 
next child, a son, died in infancy; Viola is the 
wife of L. A. Peckham, living near Pawnee 
City, Nebraska ; Rose and Rulo remain at 
home with their mother. Mrs. Rathbun, the 
mother of these children, was bom March 23, 
1870, near St. Charles, Illinois, and is the 
only child of Frank and Mar\- (Vinecke') 
Wliijiplc. At the age of fifteen years Mrs. 
Rathbun came to Beatrice, Gage county, where 
she remained in the home of her maternal 
grandfather, Benjamin \ineckc, until the time 



of her marriage. Mrs. Rathbun is the owner 
of 137 acres of land in Lincoln township and 
is also a shareholder in the Ellis Fanners' 
Grain Elevator. She is a member of the 
^lethodist church, and she and her husband 
donated to the Methodists of ICllis the lots for 
the erection of their house of worship. They 
were also very zealous in the organizing of the 
church and always gave liberally of their 
means in the support of church work. 

The Prohibition party received the support 
of Mr. Rathbun's vote. In his early years the 
Republican party had received his vote, but he 
realized that the prohibition principles were 
of high value to the community and the coun- 
try and gave to it his staunch allegiance. He 
was affiliated with the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. 

D.WID M. BINDERNAGEL is an ener- 
getic farmer living in Lincoln township. He 
is interested in the breeding of Duroc-Jersey 
hogs and is known through the county as the 
man who took first and second prizes on his 
Duroc-Jersey sows which he exhibited at the 
Gage county fair. He also was awarded a 
silver cup for the best litter of pigs. He has 
made a specialty of breeding Duroc-Jersey 
swine since 1914 and has a strain of hogs that 
has taken national prizes. 

Mr. Bindemagel is a native Gage county 
boy, and was born in Section 36, Blakely town- 
ship, November 10, 1876. His parents, Philip 
and Margaret (Marshall) Bindemagel, reside 
in the city of Beatrice, and are specifically 
mentioned elsewhere in this volume. 

Mr. Bindemagel received his education in 
the niral school of his district and attended 
the high school at Beatrice for a short time. 
His farming operations for himself began 
in 1907. when he rented his present farm from 
his father. He has made improvements, in- 
cluding the erection of a modem house and 
good bams. At the present time he is farm- 
ing one hundred and ninety acres of land — 
one hundred and sixty acres from his father's 
estate and thirty acres from that of his father- 
in-law. Harvey O. Mason. 

March 6, 1912, David M. Bindemagel mar- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1057 



ried ]\Iiss Gertrude ^I. Mason, who was bom 
July 23, 1890, in Lincoln township, this county. 
She is a daughter of Haney O. Mason, whose 
personal and family record is given on other 
pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Binder- 
nagel have one child, Marjorie Rose, born 
IMarch 4, 1913. 

The school directors of his district feel 
themselves fortunate to have Mr. Bindernagel 
on their board. He has served a number of 
times as road overseer. In politics he is a Re- 
publican, and he and his wife are conuuuni- 
cants of the Trinity Lutheran church. 

GEORGE BAKER. — The storj- of what 
has been accomplished by George Baker dur- 
ing nearly forty years of residence in Gage 
county demonstrates that Nebraska is still a 
region of opportunities. From a boy with 
twenty-five dollars in his pocket to the status 
of a citizen owning two hundred and eighty 
acres of valuable land, is a summary of the 
life and achievement of Mr. Baker. His fine 
landed estate is located in Gage and Jefferson 
counties and all of the land is under intensive 
and eltective cultivation, his home farm being 
in Elm township, Gage county. 

George Baker was bora in the state of 
Michigan and is a son of John and Elizabeth 
(Hable) Baker, both natives of Germany. 
John Baker was born in the year 1827 and 
upon inuiiigrating from Germany to the United 
States he settled in Michigan. In Berrien 
county, that state, he wedded Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Hable) Neice, who was born in Grossbeck, 
Germany, jMarch 27, 1830, and whose first 
marriage was solemnized in her native land. 
As the wife of Mr. Neice she became the 
mother of three children — William and Petei 
Neice, of Gage county, Nebraska, and Mary, 
who is the wife of George Rynerson, of South 
Dakota. After the death of her first husband 
Mrs. Neice became a resident of Berrien 
county, Michigan, where, as above noted, she 
became the wife of John Baker. Under crude 
conditions John Baker thereafter conducted 
farming operations in Michigan, of which 
state he was a pioneer. He died in 1887 and 
George, subject of this sketch, is his only son. 



George Baker was born on his father's farm 
in Berrien county, Michigan, August 3, 1865, 
and left the parental roof when he was four- 
teen years of age. In 1879 he came to Gage 
county, Nebraska, where he lived with his 
two half-brothers, \\'illiam and Peter Neice. 
In 1888 Mr. Baker rented eighty acres of land 
upon which the plow of man had never turned 
a furrow. He rented this tract from his 
mother, who had purchased it after her hus- 
band's death. It was on this farm tliat Mr. 
Baker suffered all of the labors, hardships, 
and privations which gave him the experience 
to become a good farmer. He built a small 
house and bought a team to break the land. 
The second year of his stay he had eighty 
acres planted in corn, and the yield was only 
one-half bushel of corn. In the succeeding 
winter he had to borrow money to buy corn 
for his horses. The following year he put in 
his crop again, expecting mother nature to 
yield a good crop, and she did. He made his 
start with his herd of cattle by taking hay to 
the markets at Beatrice and exchanging it for 
six head of calves. Thus, little by little, was 
the foundation laid for success and the ac- 
cumulating of his broad acres and well im- 
proved home. Mr. Baker's mother kept house 
for him for twelve years, spending her last 
days in his home, where her death occurred 
in 1908. 

June 13, 1894, Mr. Baker married Miss 
Emma Dewey, and they have three children : 
Harry, born Januarj' 27, 1897 ; Nellie, born 
January 31, 1903; and Hattie, bora April 28, 
1908. The children are all at home with their 
parents. Mrs. Emma Baker was born on a 
farm near Roseville, Illinois. She is one of 
the five daughters bora to I. B. and Mary J. 
(Sponge) Dewey. Her father was born 
October 12, 1837, in Jefferson county, New 
York. He was a veteran of the Civil war, in 
which he served three years and three months 
in defense of his country's integrity, .\fter 
the w ar he followed agricultural pursuits until 
his retirement to a home in Beatrice, in 1S95. 
Mr. Dewey came to Nebraska in 1880, and his 
death occurred December 7, 1910, at Hutchin- 
son, Kansas. He was a second cousin of Ad- 



1058 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



miral Dewey, of Spanish- American war fame. 
His wife, Mrs. Mar)' ( Sponge j Dewey, was 
bom December 9, 1839, in Anderson county, 
Indiana. 

^Irs. Emma (Dewey) Baker was educated 
in the Fairbury public schools and at one time 
she was a pupil of Dr. Hepperlen, of Beatrice, 
when he taught the rural school near Ply- 
mouth, Nebraska. Mr. Baker is a Republi- 
can and loyally supports the party ticket. He 
is affiliated with the Modern ^Voodmen of 
America. He is a shareholder of the grain 
elevators located at Diller and Harbine, Ne- 
braska. 

HENRY \V. EHMEN, who is one of the 
progressive agriculturists and stock-raisers of 
Hanover township, is here the owner of a half 
section of land, all in one body, and the three 
hundred and twenty acres, in Sections 27 and 
28, constitute one of the model farms of the 
county. 

Mr. Ehmen was born in Adams county, Illi- 
nois, July 22, 18G6, a son of William and 
Ehmke (Johnson) Ehmen, both natives of 
Germany, where the former was boni May 25, 
1845, and the latter on the 19th of September, 
1841, their marriage having been solemnized 
at Golden, Adams county, Illinois, and Mrs. 
Ehmen having been a young woman when she 
came from Germany to the United States. 
William Ehmen was twelve years old when he 
accompanied his parents to America and was 
reared to manhood in the state of Illinois. 
There he continued his active association with 
farming until 1869, when he came with his 
family to Gage county and numbered himself 
among the pioneer fanners of Hanover town- 
ship, where he developed a good farm and 
where he continued to reside until his- death, 
February 14. 1906. His widow remains with 
her son John on the old homestead, she 
being a devout communicant of the Lutheran 
church, as was also her husband. Of their six 
children Henry W. of this review, is the eld- 
est; Trinke became the wife of Wilke T. Jur- 
gens and her death occurred several years ago ; 
Minnie is the wife of Harm DeBuhr, of Han- 
over township ; Jennie is the widow of John 



W. Parde and resides in Hanover township ; 
Ida is the wife of Bernard H. S'iefkes. of 
w-hom mention is made on other pages ; and 
John has the management of his father's old 
home farm. 

Henry W". Ehmen was three and one-half 
years of age at the time of the family removal 
to Gage county, and here he was reared on 
the pioneer farm, the while he made proj)er 
u.se of the advantages afforded in the district 
schools of Hanover township. His father ac- 
cumulated a large landed estate and when the 
subject of this review was twenty-six years of 
age he purchased of his father a farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres. On the place was a 
primitive house, fourteen by sixteen feet in 
dimensions, and this Mr. Ehmen remodeled 
and equipped as his original domicile. He 
now has on the farm a large and modem 
house, besides other excellent farm buildings 
that likewise indicate his thrift and progres- 
siveness. His political support is given to the 
Republican party and he and his wife are 
active members of the Lutheran church. 

In 1892 Mr. Ehmen wedded Miss Tina 
Parde, daughter of William and Theda Parde, 
residents of Hanover townshij). Mrs. Ehmen 
was born at Golden, Adams county, Illinois, 
and was thirteen years old when the family 
came to Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Ehmen 
became the parents of nine children, seven of 
whom are living: Tete is the wife of Henry 
F. Schuster, of Logan Township ; and ^^'il- 
liam. Katie, Henry, Minnie, Grace and John 
remain at the parental home. 

FRED W. FRISBIE. — The Frisbie fam- 
ily has kept a record of the family tree from 
the beginnings of their family in the New 
\\'orld, w hen Edward Frisbie, a native of Den- 
mark, traversed the seas in the latter part of 
the seventeenth century- to cast his lot with 
the colonists in America. This family here 
established itself in the early history of this 
nation and has taken an active part in the up- 
building of its industrial and civil institutions. 

Fred W. Frisbie, a descendant of this long 
line of American ancestors, was bom April 8, 
1875, in Cook county, Illinois. He is a son of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1059 




Mr. and Mrs. W ii.i.i \m I-jimh- 



1060 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



\\'illiam and Lihbie (Peet) Frisbie. who have 
been prominently identified with the agricul- 
tural and social life of Elm township, Gage 
county, Nebraska. William Frisbie is a son 
of Frederick and Polly (Ludington) Frisbie, 
who were natives of New York and moved to 
Lorain county, Ohio, in 1843. Later they re- 
moved to Cook county, Illinois, following 
agricultural pursuits in both of these states. 
Frederick Frisbie was married three times, 
and his third wife, Polly (Ludington) Frisbie, 
was the mother of William Frisbie. These 
good people were laid to rest in Cook county, 
Illinois. Their son William was bom Novem- 
ber 21, 1827, at Hannibal. New York, and 
shared with them their migrations to Ohio 
and Illinois. November 9. 1852, he married 
Mar)' Ann Smith, to whom no cliildren were 
born, and whose death occurred many years 
ago. The marriage of William Frisbie and 
Libbie Peet was solemnized September 13, 
1870. in Cook county, Illinois. Six children 
were born of this imion, and three of the num- 
ber are living, namely : Albert, residing in 
Elm township. Gage county ; William, living 
in Jefferson county, near Diller : and Fred W., 
the subject of this sketch. The three deceased 
are Charles, Marguerite, and Emma. Emma 
was the wife of Elmer Greider and left two 
children. 

^^'illiam Frisbie farmed in Cook county, 
Illinois, irany years and there accumulated a 
considerable acreage of fertile land. In 1878 
or 1879 he made several trips through Kansas 
and Nebraska, looking for a new location for 
a home, and in 1883 he moved to Elm town- 
ship, Gage county, upon the pwrtion of land 
that suited him better than any other lands he 
had investigated. A small one-room house ac- 
commodated his family in those early years, 
but as prosperity smiled upon him he added 
to the original stmcture. which is situated on 
the old trail running northeast and southwest 
from Beiitrice to Diller. Mr. Frisbie's last 
days were sjient in this home and he was called 
to his reward April 8, 1906, the birth anniver- 
san- of his son Fred W., subject of this 
sketch. His wife, Mrs. Libbie (Peet) Fris- 



bie, was born in Sullivan, Ohio, May 20, 1844, 
and died May 12, 1903. 

Fred W. Frisbie is now farming the old 
homestead, of which he came into possession 
in 1905. He has spent the greater part of his 
life on this farm and is conducting a general 
farming business. He has high-grade Short- 
horn cattle and Duroc-Jersey and Hampshire 
hogs. He has made improvements on the 
farm, building two new bams, a silo, and a 
hay bam. 

December 24, 1901, Fred W. Frisbie mar- 
ried Miss Zaidee Dowling, who was born May 
11, 1882, in Scott county, Iowa. Her par- 
ents, James C. and Mary W. (Madden) 
Dowling, were bom in London, England, and 
Iowa, respectively. Mr. Dowling was a farm- 
er in Iowa for many years but in 1881 he 
and his wife went to Colorado, where they 
spent their remaining days. After their death, 
their daughter Zaidee came to live with her 
maternal grandfather, Henrj' Madden. After 
finishing her education she taught school until 
her marriage to Mr. Frisbie. Of this union 
have been bom six children, all remaining at 
home with their parents. They are : Ralph, 
Nellie, Leonard, Donald, Nomian D., and 
Helen Elizabeth, the last named having been 
bom March 28, 1918. 

The [jolitics of Mr. Frisbie are in accord 
with the principles of the Republican party, 
he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and is affiliated with the Modern 
Woodmen of America. 



JOHN E. ANDERSON. — Sweden is a 
land of long, cold winters and short, cool sum- 
mers, where the fjords and glaciers combined 
with the mountains make a scenery pictur- 
esque and grand. It is not the grandeur of 
Italy with its sunshine and flowers but the 
grandeur of nature in its sterner moods. 
From this land of Sweden has come the man 
whose name heads this review, and he was 
bom May 13, 1862. His father, Andrew An- 
derson, was a mechanic and carpenter and 
lived his life in his native northland, as did 
also his wife, who was called to eternal rest 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1061 



when her son John E., of this sketch, was a 
lad of seven years. Although he had no 
mother to guide and comfort him, the lad's 
father was both mother and father to him. 
Of the seven children, three are living in 
Gage county, namely : Anton, who is farming 
in Elm township ; Charles, who makes his 
home with his brother Anton ; and John, who 
is the subject of this review. Peter, Amanda, 
and Tilda (a widow) are still in Sweden. 

In 1882 John E. Anderson took passage 
upon an ocean liner for the United States and 
upon his arrival he worked in the coal mines 
of Pennsylvania. A portion of the following 
year he spent in railroad constrviction work 
in Michigan, and also, from Odell, Nebraska, 
he assisted in the construction of the railroad 
line running south into Kansas. After this 
work was finished he was employed by John 
Fitzgerald, on his ranch, which is now owned 
by Frank Hubka. For the munificent sum of 
twenty dollars a month, he built fences, hauled 
lumber, helped in the building of the house, 
bam, etc., besides breaking wild prairie land. 

November 28, 1889, John E. Anderson mar- 
ried Elizabeth Kroschewski, who was born in 
Germany, in 1868, and who made the journey 
to this country with an older sister, in 1884. 
They came directly to Gage county, where 
both married. The older sister is Mrs. Witt- 
kowski. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have 
been bom eight children all of whom are 
under the parental roof — Charles H., Bertha, 
Mary, Amanda, Alice, Martha, Cecelia, and 
Orin J. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ander- 
son worked for three years for David Fitz- 
gerald, the former as a laborer and the latter 
in the home. After leaving this employment, 
Mr. Anderson rented land in Elm and Sicily 
townships. In 1899 he rented one hundred 
and sixty acres of land in Section 1, Elm town- 
ship and in 1901 he purchased the same, this 
place having since continued to be the family 
home. At the time when Mr. Johnson pur- 
chased this land it did not seem a very prom- 
ising investment, with its cockle-burrs, sun- 
flowers, etc. But the years have passed and 
Mr. Anderson has won the land to fertility 



and profitable productiveness. Mr. Ander- 
son's family are of the Catholic faith and he 
is a supporter of the political principles of the 
Republican party. 



ROBERT S. JONES was born in Gage 
county, Nebraska, November 7, 1882, record 
of the family history appearing in the sketch 
of John S. Jones, elsewhere in this volume. 

Mr. Jones was educated in the district 
schools of Gage county and the Wymore high 
school. He has always followed farming. On 
vSeptember 5, 1906, Mr. Jones was united in 
marriage to Miss Ella A. Jones, who was bom 
at Barrett, Kansas, a daughter of O. R. and 
Amanda Jones. O. R. Jones came to Gage 
county many years ago and at one time owned 
the land on which the town of Wymore now 
stands. Several years ago he sold his Gage 
county land and moved to Kansas, where he 
owned fifteen hundred acres of land, and 
where his death occurred in 1913. His widow 
still makes her home in that state. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Jones are the par- 
ents of four children whose names and respec- 
tive ages, in 1918, are here noted: Kenneth, 
eight years ; Gertrude, six years ; Willard, four 
years ; and Elizabeth, two years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Jones are members of the Methodist 
church. He is a Mason, and in politics is a 
Republican. Mr. Jones has served on the 
school board for six years. He is the owner 
of three hundred and twenty acres of land in 
Banieston township, and sixty acres near Wy- 
more, where he makes his home. Mr. Jones 
does a general fanning business, raises cattle 
and live stock of all kinds, and buys and ships 
stock. He has made a success of life, and is 
one of Gage county's prosperous farmers. 

HURAM LACY. — With no unusual ad- 
vantages at the beginning of and no spectac- 
ular phases during his career, Huram Lacy 
has reached the goal of success and is to-day 
one of the men of affairs in Gage county. His 
natal day was April 25, 1850, and the place of 
his birth was in the ferry house at Daven- 
port, Iowa, on the ground where Colonel 



1062 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




X 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1063 



Davenport lived and where his murder oc- 
curred on July 4, 1845. 

Mr. Lacy's father, Huram Lacy, Sr., was a 
native of Kentucky and became a river man 
on the Mississippi. At the time of the birth 
of his son he was operating a ferry at Daven- 
port. His death occurred in Henry county, 
Iowa, in 1857. The maiden name of the 
mother of our subject was Anna Workman 
and she was a native of Tennessee. After 
the death of her husband she and her children 
became residents of Kansas, and in 1863 they 
came to Richardson county, Nebraska. Her 
last days were spent at the home of her son 
John near Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Huram Lacy, the subject of this review, 
spent his boyhood days in Kansas and Ne- 
braska, and at the age of twenty-one years he 
became a fanner in Richardson county, Ne- 
braska. In 1877 Mr. Lacy came to Gage 
county and purchased eighty acres of unim- 
proved Indian land, in Section 2, Paddock 
township, and on March 4, 1878, he located 
on this farm, which has since continued the 
stage of his activities. His first home was a 
small frame shanty now used for the shelter 
of stock. His present commodious frame 
house is among the best in the township. Mr. 
Lacy is the owner of three hundred and six 
acres of valuable land, — -an evidence of his 
success in his chosen calling. 

September 16, 1873, Mr. Lacy was united 
in marriage to Miss Frances Johnson, who 
born at St. Joseph, Missouri, a daughter of 
Alexander and Mary Johnson, both of whom 
have been deceased several years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lacy became the parents of thirteen chil- 
dren : Mattie, James. Craig, Alice, Mary and 
Alexander are still under the paternal roof ; 
Joseph is in the national army and in the 
spring of 1918, was located at Camp Fre- 
mont, California; Adra is the wife of L. C. 
WykofF, of lola, Kansas; Bertha is the wife 
of E. A. Gaukel, Red Oak. Iowa; Roy, 
married and in tlie employ of the liurling- 
ton Railroad, lives at Wymore, Gage county; 
W. J. is in the national army at Fort Riley. 
Two children died in infancy. 

Mr. Lacv is a member of the Christian 



church at Wymore. In recent years Mr. Lacy 
has voted the Democratic ticket. He has 
served his township in an official capacity on 
several occasions, doing efficient service as a 
member of the school board, road overseer 
and township assessor. His name is on the 
membership roll of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows at Wymore; and he is a member 
also of the Knights & Ladies of Security. 

Mr. Lacy located on his farm in the same 
year that the land in that part of the county 
was opened for settlement. There were no 
district schools in his locality at that time and 
no houses nearer than Blue Springs. In all 
the work of development and progress he has 
contributed his full share, and he is possessed 
of those qualities of heart and mind which 
make his place in the community an enviable 
one. 

JOHN C. HOOD, a representative farmer 
of Elm township, was born April 15. 1869, in 
Mason county, Illinois. He is a son of Martin 
and Ellen (Horn) Hood, of whose seven chil- 
dren four are living, namely : Thomas, a resi- 
dent of Fremont county, Iowa ; Ellen, the 
wife of John J. Clancy, of Elm township, 
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- 
ume; John C, the subject of this review; 
Dora, the wife of A. J. Jamison, a farmer in 
Elm township. An adopted daughter, Mag- 
gie Brown, is now the wife of James Long, of 
Sicily township. The deceased children were 
ilary, Lizzie and Julia. 

Martin Hood was born November 29, 1836, 
in Ireland and in 1850, with two brothers, he 
left the Emerald Isle and located at New 
Orleans. Thence they went to Peoria, Illi- 
nois, where Martin worked as a grader on the 
constniction of a railroad. By frugal habits 
and the saving of his earnings he was soon 
enabled to purchase land near Peoria, Illinois. 
He farmed also at Chillicothe, Illinois, and in 
Mason county, that state. Finally he went to 
Union county, Iowa, where he remained less 
than one year, and then, in 1882, he came to 
Beatrice, Nebraska, where he was located until 
he purchased the old home farm in Section 9, 
Elm township. Twelve dollars an acre was paid 



1064 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



for this land, which the plow of rruin had never 
touched, and now, after years of toil and labor 
it is worth ten times that amount. In 1900 
•Mr. Hood retired from active farming and 
removed to Beatrice, where he passed away 
May 27, 1913. His wife, Mrs. Ellen (Horn) 
Hood, was born in County Galloway. Ireland, 
October 31, 1831. Coming to America with 
her sisters, in 1847, they chose as their home, 
Peoria, Illinois, where she met and married 
Martin Hood, with whom she shared many 
long years of happy companionship. Her life 
was drawn to a close Februar}- 24, 1893. These 
good people were devout members of the Cath- 
olic church and gave liberally of their time 
and means in support of the church. 

When John C. Hood was thirteen years old 
his parents came to Gage county. Here he at- 
tended the district schools and he completed 
his education by attending the business col- 
lege at Janesville, \\'isconsin, where he pur- 
sued his studies of telegraphy and typewriting. 
For three months he was employed by the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- 
pany, but lie had to resign his position because 
of the financial stress of President Cleveland's 
administration, which caused so much panic 
in financial circles and big corporations. Mr. 
Hood returned to his father's farm, and since 
that time he has continued his farming op- 
erations. After his parents" death he was ap- 
portioned his share of the estate and he has 
since purchased eighty acres from his sister 
Ellen, (Mrs. John J. Clancy.) 

At Beatrice, Nebraska, July 4, 1899, was 
solemnized the marriage of John C. Hood to 
Miss Katherine Madden, who was bom May 
15, 1877, in St. Joseph, Missouri, and who was 
a daughter of Michael and Bridget (Murray) 
Madden, natives of Ireland. Michael Madden 
was a bridge contractor and he continued his 
residence at St. Joseph until his death. Mrs. 
Katherine (Madden) Hood passed to the 
life eternal on the 25th of May, 1912, and she 
is survived by three children, who remain with 
their father on the fann, and whose names and 
respective dates of birth are here noted: La- 
vina, March 31, 1900; Mildred, April 11, 1901 ; 
Dvle, July 1, 1906. 



In politics Mr. Hood is independent, — he 
votes for the right man instead of merely the 
party candidate. His religious faith is that 
of the Catholic church and his fraternal asso- 
ciation is with the Knights of Pythias. 

ERNEST L. SONDEREGGER was bom 
in Jefferson county, Nebraska, March 9, 1885, 
and is a son of Carl Sonderegger. whose rec- 
ord appears on other pages of this volume. 
Ernest L. Sonderegger received his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of Jefferson 
county, and in the Beatrice Business college. 
He later went to Germany and Switzerland, 
where he studied Gemian and also gained ex- 
pert knowledge of the nursery and seed busi- 
ness. After retuming to the United States 
Mr. Sonderegger became associated with his 
father in the seed business in Beatrice, and he 
has continuously followed that business. The 
Sonderegger Nursery & Seed Company is one 
of the largest and most complete of its kind 
in the country, and controls a verj' large busi- 
ness, there being a heavy demand for the con- 
cern's nursery stock, and seeds being shipped 
almost to all parts of the world. 

October 15, 1913, Mr. Sonderegger was 
united in marriage to Miss Helen Loeber, of 
Beatrice. She is a daughter of a former 
banker of Hebron, this state. Mrs. Sonder- 
egger was educated in the Beatrice schools and 
is a graduate of the high school of this city. 
She was at one time a teacher in the public 
schools. 

In politics ^Ir. Sonder^ger is an independ- 
ent Republican, but he has had no desire for 
public office. He devotes his entire time to 
the nurser\' business, having charge of the 
seed department. Mr. and Mrs. Sonderegger 
are menil)ers of the Christian church of Bea- 
trice. 

EMERY S. ELLIS, whose well improved 
farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, is sit- 
uated in Section 16, Midland township, has 
been a resident of Gage county from his boy- 
hood days and is a representative of one of 
the prominent, honored and influential pioneer 
families of this section of the state, his father 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEimASKA 



1065 




Emery S. Eixis 



1066 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY, XEBRASKA 



having at one time been the owner of three 
thousand acres of land in Gage county and 
having conducted extensive operations in the 
raising and shipping of live stock as well as 
along agricultural Hues. The eldest in a fam- 
ily of three sons and two daughters, Emery S. 
Ellis was bom in \\'oodford county, Illinois, 
on the 6th of August, 1867, and he is a son of 
Joseph and Margaret (Miller) Ellis, the for- 
mer of whom was born in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, on the 3d of April, 1S44, and the latter 
of whom was bom in Butler county, Ohio, in 
1840, she having been a daughter of Alexander 
and Eliza Miller and having been a young 
woman at the time of the family removal to 
Illinois, where was solemnized her marriage 
to Joseph Ellis, who was at the time a gallant 
young veteran of the Union service in the 
Civil war. 

Jose])h Ellis acquired his rudimentan,- edu- 
cation in his native land and was about eight 
years old when, 1852, he came with his par- 
ents, John and Mary (Nettleton) Ellis, to the 
L'nited States, and settled in the state of New 
Jersey, whence, in 1857, removal was made 
to Illinois, his parents having been mem- 
bers of sterling old families long established 
in Yorkshire, England. Upon the removal to 
Illinois the family settled in Woodford county, 
where John I-'llis purchased and developed a 
good farm and where he and his wife passed 
the remainder of their lives, the father having 
been a comnumicant of the Church of Eng- 
land and later of the American representative 
of the same faith, the Protestant Episcopal 
church, while the mother was a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. Joseph 
Ellis attended school in \ew Jersey and was 
about thirteen years old at the time of the fam- 
ily removal to Illinois, where at the age of 
seventeen years he showed his distinctive loy- 
alty to the land of his adoption by enlisting, 
in August, 1861, as a member of Comjjany B, 
Forty-seventh Illinois \'olunteer Infantrj-, 
which was assigned to the Army of the \\'est 
and with which he participatetl in many en- 
gagements, including the battle of Corinth, 
Mississippi, in wliich Mr, Ellis received a 



severe wound in the right arm. After leav- 
ing the hos])ital he rejoined his regiment and 
took part in the battle of Vicksburg, he hav- 
ing been jjresent at the capitulation of that 
city. Thereafter he took part in the battles 
at Lake Chicot. Arkansas, and Tupelo and 
Abbeyville. Mississippi, and after having 
served gallantly and faithfully for three years 
and two months he received his honorable dis- 
charge, in October, 1864, at Springfield, Illi- 
nois. It may consistently be noted at this 
point that in later years, after his removal to 
Gage county, Nebraska, he became an active 
and honored member of the post of the Grand 
Army of the Republic at Dewitt, Saline 
county, a village not far distant from his 
homestead farm in Gage county. 

After the close of the war Mr. Ellis con- 
tinued his association with farm enterprise in 
Illinois until 1872, when he came to Nebraska 
and numbered himself among the pioneers of 
Gage county. He first purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in Grant town- 
ship, and as a grower and shipper of cattle he 
gradually increased the area of his landed es- 
tate until he became the owner of fully three 
thousand acres, his average annual shipment 
of cattle to the eastern markets having for a 
term of years been about twenty carloads. He 
made the best of imjjrovements upon his farm 
property and made his homesteail ])lace one 
of the model farms of the county. In grad- 
ually limiting his live-stock operations he dis- 
posed of much of his land, but he continued 
to be recognized as one of the most substan- 
tial and influential representatives of farm in- 
dustry in the county, commanding unequi- 
vocal popular esteem and having become a di- 
rector of the People's Bank of Beatrice, of 
which his brother John was president. Mr. 
Ellis was unswerving in his allegiance to the 
Republican party. He died March 25, 1915, 
and his widow now maintains her home in the 
city of Beatrice. Of their four children who 
attained to maturity the subject of this review 
is the eldest, as previously noted: Frank O. 
resides in the city of Beatrice, where he is en- 
gaged in teaming: Harry O. is a resident of 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL-XTV. XEBRASKA 



1067 



Kansas City. Missouri; Laura E. is the wife 
of Frank Sankey, of Harbine, Jetlerson 
county. 

Emer)- S. Ellis, the immediate subject of 
this review, was a lad of five years when he 
accompanied his parents on their removal to 
Gage county and here he early gained practical 
experience through his association with his 
father's extensive operations as an agricul- 
turist and stock-grower, the while he duly 
availed himself of the advantages of the local 
schools. Fie has wisely continued his active 
identification with farm enterprise during the 
long intervening years and is one of the pro- 
gressive and successful agriculturists and 
stock-growers of Midland township, his well 
improved farm comprising the southwest 
quarter of Section 16. He raises good grades 
of cattle and swine in connection with his agri- 
cultural operations, is a vigorous and well 
poised business man and both as a fanner and 
a liberal citizen he is fully upholding the pres- 
tige of a name that has been significantly 
prominent and honored in connection with 
the annals of Gage county. He has never 
manifested any ambition for political prefer- 
ment but is aligned staunchly in the ranks of 
the Republican party. He is affiliated with 
the Knights of Pythias and both he and his 
wife hold membership in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

On the 9th of March, 1898, was recorded 
the marriage of Mr. Ellis to Miss Caroline 
Moshel. daughter of Ludwig Moshel, concern- 
ing whom individual mention is made on other 
pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis have 
an interesting family of five children and all 
remain, in 1918, members of the gracious home 
circle, namely: Edith Fl, Caroline M., Kath- 
erine L., Bertha 1,. and Lulu E. 

FRED J. WOODS, M. D., of Barneston. 
who has here been established in the practice 
of his profession for more than twenty years, 
was bom near Springfield, Illinois, March 22, 
1867, and is a son of James and Henrietta 
(Thumbles) Woods, both now deceased. 
James Woods was born in Indiana, in 1813. 
and for a number of vears he made his home in 



Illinois, where he followed the trade of cab- 
inetmaker. In 1808, with a covered "prairie 
schooner," Mr. Woods took his family and all 
of his earthly possessions and started across 
the plains of Iowa. He crossed the Missouri 
river into Nebraska, to locate in (3toe county, 
near the present village of Dunbar. In those 
early days, after the close of the civil war, 
there was a great deal of unrest amongst the 
]>eople of the United States and the new state 
of Nebraska was just being peopled by the 
^sturdy and courageous men and women who 
dared to brave pioneer hardships. After 
farming for some time in Otoe county Mr. 
Woods removed to Syracuse, that county, 
where he died in 1873. His wife, Henrietta 
(Thumbles) Woods, was born in Germany, 
in 1823, and their marriage was solemnized in 
Illinois, where ten children were l)orn to them. 
Five of the children are living, namely : George 
H., a Civil war veteran, now residing in 
Louisville, .\ebraska : Eva. the wife of George 
Creighton, a retired farmer at Livingston, 
Wyoming; Augusta, wife of J. R. Raney. living 
near Lincoln, Nebraska ; Laura, wife of W. R. 
Parkins, operating a fruit ranch at Kerman, 
California; and Dr. Fred J., with whom this 
sketch deals. The parents were strong re- 
ligious characters, and reared their children in 
the way that they should go, believing that "as 
the twig is bent the tree inclines." They were 
members of the IMethodist church. Mrs. 
Woods passed to her reward in 1917. having 
attained the venerable age of ninety-four years. 
Hers was a life spent in Christian service, and 
her memory rests as a benediction upon the 
lives which were so near and dear to her. 

Dr. Fred J. Woods received nuich of his 
early education in the schools of Weeping 
Water. Nebraska, and the high school at 
Syracuse, Otoe county. In preparing for his 
chosen profession he entered the Lincoln 
.Medical College, in the capital city of Ne- 
braska, and in the same he was graduated in 
1897, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
Soon after his graduation he came to Barnes- 
ton, where he has been established in success- 
ful practice during the intervening years and 
where his abilitv and character mark him as 



1068 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1069 



one of the representative physicians and sur- 
geons of Gage county. 

January 4, 1891, at Aubury, Nebraska, was 
solemnized the marriage of Dr. Woods to Miss 
Rose Schuli, who was boni March 10, 1868, 
in southern Missouri, and who is a daughter 
of Dr. H. I. and Lydia (Reynolds) Schuli, 
tlie fonner born in Indiana and the latter in 
Alissouri. Dr. Schuli is now retired from 
active work and resides at Auburn, Nebraska. 
He practised medicine in Missouri until 1888, 
when he came to Auburn, Nebraska, where he 
continued the work of a successful physician 
imtil 1903, when he retired. His wife died 
June 29, 1913. They had seven children, three 
of whom are living: John C, farmer and at- 
torney, of Clinton, Oklahoma ; Laura, the wife 
of G. H. Walters, Lincoln, Nebraska, a book- 
keeper in the employ of the Nebraska Loan & 
Investment Company ; and Rose, wife of Dr. 
W^oods, of this review. Doctor Schuli was in 
service in the commissary department during 
the Civil war. 

Dr. and Mrs. Woods have two children : 
Hope is the wife of Luther E. Jones, who is 
engaged in the hardware and automobile busi- 
ness in Densmore, Canada, and they have 
three children. Dean, Dale and Katheryn. The 
younger child of Dr. and Mrs. Woods is 
Harold, who is now attending the Nebraska 
State Medical College, at Omaha, and is in his 
junior year (1918.) 

Dr. Woods is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, including the lodge of Ancient Free & 
Accepted Masons, the Chapter of Royal Arch 
Masons, and the Commandery of Kinghts 
Templars. He is affiliated also with the Royal 
Neighbors, the Modern Woodmen of America 
and the Royal Highlanders. He is a member 
of the Nebraska State Medical Society. The 
political views of Dr. Woods are well forti- 
fied, he has served as Mayor of Barneston. 
and in 1914 he was a candidate for state 
senator on the ticket of the Progressive party. 

HENRY FOCKEN, whose civic and in- 
dustrial status is indicated by his ownership 
of four hundred acres of valuable Nebraska 
land, has been a resident of Gage county since 



1883 and has here won his jiresent independ- 
ence and prosperity entirely through his own 
industry and well ordered activities in con- 
nection with farm enterprise. In Section 17 
Highland township he has a well improved 
landed estate of two hundred and forty acres, 
and three miles south of Cortland lie owns 
a well improved farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres. 

In the picturesque district of East Fries- 
land, Prussia, Germany, HenrA- Focken was 
born January 11, 1846, a son of Henry and 
Hilka (Barthles) Focken, the former of whom 
passed his entire life in Germany. In 1873 
the widowed mother, in company with one 
daughter, came to America and joined her son 
George, who was then a resident of Logan 
county, Illinois, and who is now deceased, 
there being only two living of the family of 
seven children, — Henry, of this review, and 
John, who remains in Germany. The father 
was fifty-nine years of age at the time of his 
death, in 1869, and the mother passed the 
closing years of her life in Illinois, where she 
died in 1881, when about sixty-two years of 
age. 

Henry Focken was reared and educated in 
his native land and was an ambitious and 
sturdy young man when, in 1873, he came to 
the United States and settled in Illinois. There 
he found employment at farm work and final- 
ly he began independent operations as a farm- 
er in Logan county, that state. After having 
been thus engaged four years he came, in 
1883, to Nebraska, and purchased from the 
railroad company one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Highland township. Gage 
county, he having paid nineteen dollars an 
acre for this projierty, — the nucleus of his 
present large landed estate in that township. 
-Applying himself earnestly and indefatigably. 
and carefully conserving his financial returns, 
Mr. Focken reclaimed his original farm to 
cultivation and with increasing prosperity 
made judicious investments until he accumu- 
lated his present valuable landed estate in this 
coimty. His first house was a rude pioneer 
shack which long since gave place to his pres- 
ent commodious and attractive farm house, 



1070 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY, XEHRASKA 



and he has made excellent improvements on 
all of his farm property, including the erection 
of good buildings and the providing of other 
facilities that denote thrift and prosperity. On 
his original homestead, which is still his place 
of residence, he set out trees that are now of 
large diameter and add materially to the at- 
tractions of the place. His political support 
is given to the Democratic party and he and 
his wife are members of the German .Method- 
ist church. 

On the 24th of April, 1879, .Mr. Focken 
married Miss Deborah Rocker, who came 
from Germany to America on the same ship 
as did her future husband, their acquaint- 
anceship having been formed on the voyage 
Of their children Henry, Jr., is a prosperous 
farmer in Holt county; John is similarly en- 
gaged in Highland township. Gage county: 
George resides at Hallan, Lancaster county; 
Martin is associated in the work and man- 
agement of his father's home fami ; and 
Hulda, Lacetta and Edward likewise remain 
members of the parental home circle. 

WILLIAM PALMER. — In the early days 
of Nebraska historj- men were of the opinion 
that the vast rolling jjrairies were primarily 
available only as a range for vast herds of 
cattle, and the cattle industry became one of 
great importance and volume. Incidentally 
was developed a branch of enterprise in which 
the .state can still claim precedence, — that of 
buying cattle in large numbers for the eastern 
markets. One of the many men who have 
dealt extensively in the feeding, buving and 
selling of cattle is William Palmer^ who is 
well known throughout this section of the 
state and at the nearby' markets of Omaha, 
St. Joseph, Missouri, and Grand Island. He 
is at the present time (1918) selling his herd 
of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle, prepara- 
tory to retirement from active work. 

•Mr. Palmer was born January 27, 1863. in 
Marshall county, Kansas, where his parents, 
David and Sarah (Jemmerson) Palmer were 
then conducting a roadhouse and ranch on the 
trail from St. Joseph. .Missouri, to Pike's 
Peak. Colorado. .Many weary travelers spent 



a night or two at the Palmer roadhouse, re- 
freshing themselves and their animals, and re- 
maining only long enough to be able to con- 
tinue their wild rush to the gold fields of 
Pike's Peak. Visions of wealth and affluence 
glittered before their eyes, but many a man 
came back with a broken heart, after a fruit- 
less search for the elusive metal. David Pal- 
mer was a native of Indiana, and was a son of 
Eli Palmer, who came to Nebraska in a very 
early day. his death occurring in 1867. Mrs. 
Da\id Palmer likewise was bom in Indiana 
and was a daughter of G. F. Jemmerson. who 
was born in England and who came as a pio- 
neer to Nebraska, where he passed awav in 
1878. 

The marriage of David Palmer and Sarah 
Jemmerson was solemnized at Nebraska City, 
Nebraska, and their home for some time, as 
before mentioned, was in Marshall county, 
Kansas. In 1863 they came to Gage county 
and purchased land, Mr. Palmer here con- 
tuiumg his pioneer farm enterprise until he 
met a tragic death, by accidentally drowning 
in the Blue river, June 23, 1876. Five chil- 
dren were born to them, as follows : David, 
is a farmer of Rocky Ford, Colorado; Fan- 
nie is the wife of W. C. Evans, a traveling 
man, and they make their home at Bameston, 
Gage county; Flora is the wife of Scott Mc- 
Farland, a retired fanner, living a at Barnes- 
ton : Nettie is the wife of C. M. McNew, a 
farmer of Shroyer, Kansas ; and William is the 
subject of this review. 

The early days of William Palmer's life 
were spent amongst the crude but stirring and 
romantic surroundings of the early pioneer 
days, when the sod house and the ox-drawn 
vehicle were common sights. The wild rush 
of the gold-seekers also made its impress 
upon his young mind, but these experiences 
were all "stones of the fates," projected to 
mould a life in a certain direction. In very 
early boyhood William Palmer was selecting 
cattle for their fitness as beef or milk quali'- 
ties. this foreshadowing his predilection of the 
later years. 

In 1883 the holy bonds of marriage joined 
the lives of William Palmer and Miss Ella 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. XEl'.RASKA 



1071 



Evans. She passed to her reward in 1900. 
leaving two children. Roy W.. who is an elec- 
trical engineer in Arizona, and Lnla, who is 
the wife of Frank Condefer. a member of the 
police force of Los Angeles, California. The 
second marriage of Mr. Palmer was solemn- 
ized in 1903, when Mrs. Minnie V. Livery 
l)ecame his wife. Her maiden name was Min- 
nie Mayne. and she was horn at Tiffin. Seneca 
county, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Mary 
( Kaul ) Mayne, the former a native of Mary- 
land and the latter of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Mayne early became a merchant in Ohio and 
in 1869 he and his wife became pioneer set- 
tlers of Gage county. Nebraska, where he took 
up a homestead. Both he and his wife died 
at Blue Springs, this county. 

With three hundred and fifty acres of land 
in Liberty township. Gage county, and four 
hundred acres of land in Washington county, 
Kansas, it is plain to be seen that Mr. Palmer 
has loved his work and has proved that with 
determination to succeed a man can start with 
nothing and acquire a substantial competence. 

JOHN W. JONES, deceased, was born in 
Denbighshire, Wales, December 20, 1854, and 
died December 28, 1917. Mr. Jones was edu- 
cated in Wales, and in 1880 came to America, 
settling in Gage county, Nebraska. He and 
his brother came to Nebraska as bachelors and 
bought eighty acres of land in Gage county. 
At the time of his death John W. Jones was 
the owner of six hundred and eighty acres of 
land and he left each of his children a farm 
of eighty acres. 

In 1885 Mr. Jones was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary Humphreys, a native of Wales. 
Mrs. Jones was the daughter of Richard and 
Jane Humphreys, both of whom died in Wales. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jones became the parents of 
four children : John D., Robert H., Thomas 
C. and Jennie E.. wife of H. D. Lloyd. All re- 
side in Barneston township. The parents were 
members of the Welsh church, of which Mr. 
Jones was a deacon for about eighteen years. 
Mr. Jones was a Republican in politics. For 
a number of years he was president of the 
Farmers' Lumber, Grain & Coal Company. He 



was a self-made man and accumulated a nice 
estate. 

Thomas C. Jones was born in Gage county 
and received his education in the Wymore 
.schools, graduating from the liigh school of 
that place. He has always followed farming, 
and recently he has greatly improved his farm 
building a fine new house about three years 
ago. 

In 1913 Thomas C. Jones was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary R. Jones, daughter of 
John R. Jones, who came to Gage county in 
1880, and who here became the owner of 
four hundred and eighty acres of land. 

Thomas C. Jones and wife are the parents 
of two children: Mary Eleanor and Lucile 
Jane. The family are members of the Welsh 
church. Mr. Jones is a Republican, and he is 
president of the Farmers' Union. At one time 
Mr. Jones served as manager of the Farmers' 
Shipping Association. He now buys, feeds 
and sells cattle and hogs quite extensively, 
shipping mostly to the market at St. Joseph, 
Missouri. Mr. Jones is the owner of one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Barneston 
township. 

CHARLES A. WIBLE is a son of a Civil 
war veteran. Robert 15. Wible. who farmed in 
Elm townshij). Robert B. Wible was born 
October 1, 1843, in Pennsylvatiia and was a 
son of Andrew and Sarah ( Kilbourgh ) Wible, 
who were farmers in Illinois, to which state 
they removed from Pennsylvania, where 
Andrew Wible had located upon his arrival 
from Germany, his birthplace : he was born 
December 30, 1816, and in 1856 removed to 
Illinois, where his death occurred June 24, 
1890. 

Robert B. Wible enlisted in the Civil war, 
in the teamster service, and was faithful to his 
duty during the entire war. After the sword 
and musket had been laid aside by the nation 
and the plow was again placed in the furrow 
Mr. Wible went to Nodaway county, Mis- 
souri, where for fourteen years he followed 
his agricultural activities. In 1882 he came 
to Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased land 
five miles southeast of Ellis, where he re- 



1072 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



mained until his retirement : he then removed 
to Beatrice, in 1902, and he passed away Aug- 
ust 7, 1909. His widow still resides in Bea- 
trice. In Nodaway county, Missouri, October 
27, 1878, Robert B. WMe was united in mar- 
riage to Clara Martin, who was born in that 
county, Februar>' 1, 1861, a daughter of John 
and Mary (Pitman) Martin. John Martin 
died at Elk City, Kansas, and his widow is 
now living in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Mr. and 
Mrs. Robert B. \\'ible were the parents of two 
children : Emma was born July 26, 1879, and 
is the wife of Jesse Pearce, who is fanning 
the old W'ible homestead: and Charles A. is 
the immediate subject of this sketch. 

Charles A. Wible was bom July 23, 1882, 
in Elm township, and was educated in the dis- 
trict school. July 21, 1902, he married Miss 
Barbara Grabber, who was born March 22, 
1885, in Gage county. Her parents were 
Joseph and Barbara (Stuber) Grabber, who 
were married in April, 1872. Mr. Grabber 
was born January 28, 1834, and died January 
3, 1918, at his daughter's home. Mrs. Grab- 
ber was born March 15, 1849, and died Sep- 
tember 13, 1908. Mrs. Charles A. Wible was 
the seventh in a family of eleven children. 
Mr. and Mrs. Wible are the parents of four 
children: Emma, Charles, Clara, and Doro- 
thy. Mr. Wible is renting one hundred and 
twenty acres of land from his mother and is 
doing a general farming business. In poli- 
tics he classifies himself as an independent 
Republican. His views are influenced by the 
character of the man and not the party which 
he follows. Mrs. Wible is a member of the 
Catholic church. 

HENRY A. LaSELLE. — In the year 
1867, which marked the admission of Ne- 
braska as one of the sovereign states of the 
Union, this venerable and revered citizen of 
Beatrice established his home in the beautiful 
little city in which he still resides, though at 
that time the capital of Gage county was a 
mere straggling, frontier village. Prior to 
this, as a youth. Judge LaSelle had gained in- 
timate experience in connection with pioneer 
life in the west and before coming again to 



this portion of our national domain he had 
given to his native land the loyal and valiant 
service of a patriot soldier of the Union dur- 
ing virtually the entire period of the Civil 
war. In the midst of the clamour and devast- 
agon of the great European war in which the 
United States has become involved at the time 
of this writing, it is grateful to revert to the 
strong and noble young men who went forth 
in defense of our national integrity and honor 
when the Civil war was precipitated, and to 
mark with renewed appreciation the lofty pa- 
triotism of those who went forth in that strug- 
gle, especially in view of the fact that each 
year records a definite loss in the ranks of the 
now venerable citizens who had been soldiers 
of the Union in the historic conflict between 
the states of the north and the south. 

Judge LaSelle, a man of strong intellect- 
uality and marked ability, contributed in the 
early days to the march of development and 
progress in Nebraska and he has continued 
the exemplar of high-minded and liberal civic 
ideals during the long inten-ening period. 
Though the year 1918 has recorded the eigh- 
tieth anniversary of his birth, he has the verve 
and enthusiasm of a man many years his 
junior and does not consent to divorce himself 
from practical business activities and effective 
communal service. He still gives his atten- 
tion to well ordered real-estate operations and 
since 1910 has been the incumbent of the of- 
fice of justice of the peace. Even these few 
preliminar}- statements give assurance that this 
honored pioneer is one specially entitled to 
recognition in this histor)' of Gage county and 
the state of Nebraska. 

Henry A. LaSelle was born in Madison 
county, New York, on the 5th of August, 
1838, and is a son of Mason A. and Dorcas 
( Conant) LaSelle, both of whom passed their 
entire lives in that county, where the respec- 
tive families were founded in the pioneer 
period of the history of the Empire state, be- 
sides which both found representation in the 
colonial settlement of America. Mason A. 
LaSalle gave his entire active life to the basic 
industry of agriculture and was one of the 
venerable and honored citizens of bis native 



i 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1073 




Henry A. LaSelle 



1074 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. XEBRASKA 



county at the time of his death, which occiired 
March IS, 1.S75, his devoted wife having 
passed to eternal rest in the year 1866. Of 
their six sons and five daughters, five are now 
hving. and of the number the subject of this 
review was the fourth in order of birth. 

The childhood and early youth of Henry A. 
LaSelle were compassed by the invigorating 
environment and discipline of the old home- 
stead farm in Madison county, New York, and 
his district-school education was supplemented 
by a course in Hamilton Academy, at Hamil- 
ton, Xew York. In 1856, at the age of eigh- 
teen years, Mr. LaSelle initiated his pioneer 
experience in the great west, as in that year 
he located in Fayette county, Iowa, where he 
assisted in the original development work of a 
new farm, besides finding requisition for his 
services as a teacher in the pioneer schools, 
this being his initial service in the pedagogic 
profession. In 1859 he returned to his native 
state, where he added to his scholastic re-in- 
forcement by continuing his studies for two 
years in the historic ( )neida Conference Sem- 
inary, at Cazenovia. Thereafter he continued 
to give his attention principally to teaching, 
until there came to him the opportunity of 
voicing his ardent jjatriotism in direct military 
service after the Civil war had been precipi- 
tated on a divided nation. 

In iVugust, 1862, Mr. LaSelle enlisted as a 
private in Company D, One Hundred and 
Fourteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, 
commanded by Colonel Elisha B. Smith, and 
with this gallant regiment he lived up to the 
full tension of vigorous campaign activities 
incidental to the operations of the Depart- 
ment of the Ciulf. .\lways to be found at the 
post of duty, he was made a non-commissioned 
ofiFicer and in his earnest and efficient service 
gained the unequivocal commendation of his 
superior officers, the while he had the con- 
fidence and respect of his comrades in arms. 
He was finally assigned to detached commis- 
sary duty in the city of New Orleans, where 
he had charge of thirteen hundred men, but 
near the close of the war he rejoined his regi- 
ment, while it was in service under General 
Hancock in the Shenandoah vallev of \'ir- 



ginia. -\fter the assassination of President 
Lincoln the regiment proceeded to the na- 
tional capital, were it was assigned to guard 
duty during the period in which the assassin, 
Booth, was captured and tried, and finally it 
was Mr. LaSelle's privilege to participate with 
his regiment in the Grand Review of the vic- 
torious L'nion troops in Washington, after the 
close of the war. He then returned with his 
comrades to Xew York state, and there, in the 
city of Elmira, he received his honorable dis- 
charge in June, 1865. As a soldier he par- 
ticipated in General Banks' expedition to the 
Gulf of Me.xico and in the Tcche campaign 
to the west of Xew ( )rleans. With his com- 
mand he was continuously under fire for forty- 
two days, incidental to the siege and final 
capture of Port Hudson, and he took part also 
in the battle of Donaldsonville and in the 
Franklin expedition to Sabine Pass, in the 
meanwhile partici])atiiig in numerous engage- 
ments of minor order. 

Mr. LaSalle passed the winter of 1865-1866 
in the city of Xew York, but in the early spring 
was called home to the bedside of his dying 
mother, who passed away March 20, 1866. 
In April, 1866, Mr. LaSelle again set forth 
for the west, and he first located at St. Joseph, 
Missouri, where he passed a^out one year, 
giving his attention to railroad Kvork and real- 
estate operations. In the meanwhile he 
visited Xebraska. wliicii was soon to pass from 
territorial to state regime, and |in this sojourn 
he entered claim to a tract pf government 
land near Beatrice, Gage county, the future 
city having at that time been a little frontier 
hamlet with about twenty buildings, a few of 
ihem ])rimitive business establishments. In 
addition to his homestead claim Mr. LaSelle 
secured land by purchase also, and besides 
making provision for the improving of hia 
land he purciiascd a stock of general mer- 
chandise an<l engaged in business as one of 
the pioneer merchants of Beatrice, where he 
continued operations in this line about fifteen 
years, his store having stood on the site now 
occupied by the depot of the Chicago, Bur- 
lington & Quincy Railroad. In 1882 Mr. La- 
Selle initiated operations in the real-estate 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV, Xl-.IIRASKA 



1075 



business, and through this medium he assisted 
in bringing many desirable settlers to this sec- 
tion of the state, besides contributing in a gen- 
eral way to civic and industrial progress. He 
still continues a representative of this line of 
enterprise, but does not attempt to carry on 
operations as actively as in former years. As 
before noted, he has served since 1910 as jus- 
tice of the peace, and he has made the office 
justify its name. A man of broad mental 
ken, he decides each case according to the dic- 
tates of justice and equity and without fear 
or favor, so that very few of his rulings have 
met with reversal by courts of higher juris- 
diction. 

Judge LaSelle cast his first presidential vote 
in 1860, for Abraham Lincoln, and when on 
furlough from service in the Civil war, in 1864. 
he voted for the martyred president again, on 
the occasion of his second election. Since that 
time he has never failed to support every presi- 
dential candidate of the Republican party and 
thus all of the presidential candidates of the 
party save its very first. General John C. 
Fremont, has found him aligned as a staunch 
supporter. He perpetuates the most gracious 
memories and association of his military career 
by retaining affiliation with Rawlins Post. 
Grand Army of the Republic, in which noble 
patriotic organization at Beatrice he has been 
an influential and honored member during 
virtually the entire period of its history. He 
has been for many years a zealous member of 
the Presbyterian church, as was also his wife. 

In the year 1875 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Judge LaSelle to Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Campbell) Crawford, widow of William G. 
Crawford, of Council Bluft's, Iowa. She was 
born in Brown county, Ohio, and was a 
daughter of Martin M.and Sarah R. (Walker) 
Campljell. .\fter her first marriage she and 
her husband resided for a time in Nebraska, 
in the territorial days, and Mr. Crawford 
served as a member of the territorial legisla- 
ture in 1857-1858. Soon thereafter Mr. and 
Mrs. Crawford established their residence at 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he continued in 
the practice of his profession until his death, as 
one of the representative members of the bar 



of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford became 
the parents of one daughter, Kittie C. The 
Crawfords were neighbors and close friends 
of the late General Grenville M. Dodge, and 
upon the completion of the Union Pacific 
Railroad Miss Kittie C. Crawford accom- 
panied the Cjeneral over the line to the Pacifi: 
coast, as guest on his private car, besides which 
General Dodge also entertained Mrs. Craw- 
ford and her husband, Judge LaSelle. after 
her second marriage. Of this second union 
no children were born, but the closest of ties 
link Mr. LaSelle and his stepdaughter, who 
has ever accorded to him the utmost filial af- 
fection. The supreme loss and bereavement 
in the long and useful life of Judge LaSelle 
came when his gracious and devoted wife was 
summoned to eternal rest, her death having oc- 
curred January 11, 1916, and her memory be- 
ing revered by all who came within the sphere 
of her gentle and kindly influence. 

JAMES M. HOWE, a prosperous farmer in 
Section 8, Liberty township, was born May 22, 
1885, near Tuscola, Illinois, and is a son of 
^^'il!iam and Harriet (Lester) Howe. 

W'illiam Howe was born in Bourbon countv, 
Kentucky, in 1828, and died in 1892. He was 
a farmer, and at the time of the gold excite- 
ment in California he went to that state, in 
1850. There he prospered for a time, return- 
ing to Illinois with about four thousand dol- 
lars. Mr. and Mrs. Howe became the par- 
ents of eight children, as follows: James M., 
the subject of this review; John S., of Miles 
City, Montana ; Perry, of Tuscola, Illinois ; 
Etta, wife of James Drennen. of Osceola. 
Iowa: Effie, wife of J. C. Reed, professor of 
schools at White City, Wisconsin ; Charles, 
a farmer near Champaign, Illinois ; Leona, 
wife of W. H. Joseph, of Tuscola, Illinois; 
and Lora, wife of William Robertson, an at- 
torney at Mount \'ernon, Ohio. 

William Howe was a Republican and for 
several 3ears was supervisor for his district. 
1 le came to Illinois in very moderate circum- 
stances and was a very successful fanner. The 
.American progenitors of the Howe familv 
were natives of P'ngland and came to .America 



1076 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



and settled in Kentucky about the time of 
Daniel Boone. 

James M. Howe was educated in the public 
schools of Tuscola, Illinois, and remained in 
that state until 1883, when he came to Ne- 
braska and settled in Gage county. In 1883 
he was united in marriage to Miss Lulu Long- 
shore, of Kansas. She was bom in Madison 
county, Iowa, a daughter of Samuel Long- 
shore, who was a harnessmaker by trade and 
who was a captain in the Civil war, during the 
entire period of which he valiantly sensed, he 
having enlisted in 1861. 

Mr. and Mrs. James M. Howe are the par- 
ents of five children : Ethel, wife of Roy 
Palmer, a civil engineer living in Los Angeles, 
California ; Roy W., on his father's farm ; 
Merle, wife of Charles H. Stoll, an attorney 
of Long Island, New York ; and Frank R., 
now (spring of 1918) located at Camp Dick. 
New Jersey. Frank R. Howe is a graduate 
of Plattsburg, New York, training camp and 
also of Manhattan, Kansas, Military' School. 
He is now a lieutenant and expects to go to 
France in the aviation corps. He was em- 
ployed in the National City Bank of New York 
for about two years. James B., the young- 
est of the children, is attending school and 
living at home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Howe are members of the 
Presbyterian church. He is a ]\Iason, belong- 
ing to the lodge of the Ancient Free & Ac- 
cepted Masons at Bameston and to the Chap- 
ter of Royal Arch Masons and the Council of 
Royal and Select Masters at Wymore, this 
county. He served as supervisor during 
1890-1891 and 1892. In 1883 Mr. Howe 
bought one hundred and sixty acres of gov- 
ernment land, and he has added to this from 
time to time until he now owns eight hundred 
and eighty acres. He has improved this land. 
has erected a fine farm home and good farm 
liuildings and docs a general farming business. 
He is president of the Commercial Bank of 
Bameston. 

JOHN E. JONES a pioneer and successful 
farmer in Section 8, Barneston township, was 
born in Wales, .\ugust 30, 1854, son of Evan 



and Martha (Jones) Jones, both of whom 
passed their lives in Wales, where Mr. Jones 
was a fanner and well-to-do citizen. Mr. and 
Mrs. Evan Jones had six children, as follows: 
Richard G., a stock man in Alberta, Canada ; 
Edward C, a farmer in Alberta, Canada ; Jane 
married and living in Wales; John E., of 
this sketch ; and two others, who live in W'ales. 

John E. Jones was educated in Wales, and af- 
ter coming to .America attended school in Iowa, 
where he established his residence in 1872. 
He worked on farms and in 1879 he came to 
Gage county, where he bought one hundred and 
sixty acres of land, for which he paid the Gov- 
ernment three and one-half dollars an acre. 
This land is in Section 8, Bameston township, 
where he now makes his home, and he has de- 
veloped the properly into a valuable farm. 

In 1891 Mr. Jones was united in marriage 
to Miss Sarah A. Jones, and further record 
concerning her family will be found in the 
sketch of John S. Jones, elsewhere in this 
volumn. 

Mr. and Mrs. John E. Jones are the parents 
of three children, — Amwell E., county agent 
of Jew-ell county, Kansas. E. G., now in Lin- 
coln college, learning telegraphy with the in- 
tention of soon going into the army as oper- 
ator ; and Evan, in Wymore high school. 

Mr. Jones and family are members of the 
\\'elsh church, and in politics Mr. Jones is a 
Republican. He is now the owner of two 
hundred and forty acres of land, wdiich he has 
accumulated by his own effort, and he has on 
the property good buildings and other im- 
provements. 

ISAAC REID — The subject of this record 
was bom in Whiteside county, Illinois. De- 
cember 13, 1859. His parents George and 
Rachel (Gibler) Reid, were natives of Ohio, 
in which state their marriage was solemnized. 
Soon after this event they became residents of 
\N'hiteside county. Illinois, where the father 
purchased a farm, and there they made their 
home until 1877, when they came to Gage 
county, Nebraska. Here Mr. Reid became a 
successful fanner, spending the rest of his 
days in Island Grove township. He and his 



HISTDKV UF GAGE CUL'XTY, NEBRASKA 



1077 



wife were memljers of the Methodist church 
and in poHtics he was a Repubhcan. He served 
in various township officers, inchiding those of 
justice of the peace and road overseer. Of 
the seven children live are still living : Chris- 
tian, a farmer of Island Grove township ; Wil- 
liam, a resident of Thomas county, Kansas; 
John, of Phillips county, Kansas ; Isaac, sub- 
ject of this sketch ; and James, of Oklahoma. 

Isaac Reid was a young man of eighteen 
years when the home was established in Ne- 
braska and his education had been acquired 
in the public schools of Illinois. On reaching 
manhood he became an independent farmer 
and he is to-day the owner of one hundred and 
twenty acres, with good improvements, all of 
which have been placed here by him. He does 
general farming and is meeting with deserved 
success. His farm is in Island Grove town- 
ship. 

February 6, 1896, Mr. Reid was united in 
marriage to Miss Beryl Avison, who was born 
in Sangamon county, Illinois, a daughter of 
George and Ann Elizabeth (Ayre) Avison, 
natives of England, the former bom in Lin- 
colnshire and the latter in Yorkshire. The 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Reid has been blessed 
with one child, George, who is still under the 
parental roof. The members of the family are 
all members of the Christian church and all 
active workers in the same. In politics Mr. 
Reid is a Republican and he has rendered ef- 
ficient service as a member of the school board 
and as road overseer. Mr. Ried is a progres- 
sive and public-spirited in citizenship, success- 
ful as an agriculturist and can always be relied 
upon to give his support to any worthy cause. 

|0?1N FRITZEN was seventeen years of 
age when he came with his parents to Gage 
countv and in here initiating his independent 
career as a farmer virtually his sole equipment 
consisted of a team of horses that had been 
given to him by his father. Of his achieve- 
ment in the intenening years tangible evi- 
dence is given in his ownership of a well im- 
proved farm estate of four hundred acres, in 
Logan township, his home place, comprising 
two hundred and forty acres, being in Section 



15, and the remaining constituent portion ol 
his estate being the farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in Section 21, in the same town- 
ship, which is operated by his older son. 

Mr. Fritzen was born in Brown county, Illi- 
nois, on the 28th of February, 1865, and is a 
son of Lammert and Sophia (Rines) Fritzen, 
the former of whom was born in Friesland. 
Province of Hanover, Germany, and the lat- 
ter of whom was likewise a native of Ger- 
many, their marriage having been solemnized 
in Brown county, Illinois. Lammert Fritzen 
was reared and educated in his native prov- 
ince and was sixteen years of age when he 
came to the United States and settled in 
Brown county, Illinois. There he continued 
his association with farm enterprise until 
1882, when he came with his family to Ne- 
braska and rented a fami in Gage county. 
Later he purchased a farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, in Logan township, and this he 
developed into one of the excellent farms of 
that township. After his retirement from the 
farm he established his residence in the city 
of Beatrice, and he is now living in the home 
of his son John, of this review, vigorous and 
alert in both physical and mental powers and 
constantly finding opportunity to do active 
work about the farm, though he celebrated in 
1917 the seventy-seventh anniversar\' of his 
birth, his loved wife having passed away at 
the age of sixty years, a lifelong member of 
the Lutheran church, of which he likewise is 
a zealous communicant. His parents, John 
and Etta (Boden) Fritzen. passed the closing 
years of their lives in Gage county. 

John Fritzen acquired his early education 
in the public schools of Illinois and there 
learned in his youth the varied details of farm 
industn,-. After coming to Gage county he 
assisted in the work of his father's farm, do- 
ing effective service in connection with its 
reclamation and development, and at the age 
of twenty-two years he began independent op- 
erations as a farmer, as previously intimated 
in this article. When lie became the owner 
of his present fine homestead farm the build- 
ings on the place were of insignificant order, 
but he has erected a modern house, bams and 



1078 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLWTY, XEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE CUfXTV. XHliRASKA 



1079 



other buildings that mark the place as being 
one of the best improved farms of Logan 
township. The old house is now used as a 
granary and the original prairie stable that was 
on the place is still standing. Mr. Fritzen has 
been an energetic and successful agriculturist 
and stock-grower, has had no desire to extend 
his influence along political lines or to serve 
in public office, but he has been loyal and lib- 
eral in support of measures projected for the 
general good of the community and is inde- 
pendent in his political attitude. His civic 
loyalty caused him to give effective service 
when he was called upon to assume the po- 
sition of school director, and the same was 
true in connection with his service as road 
overseer in his township. Both he and his 
wHfe were reared in the faith of the Lutheran 
church, of which she was a devoted member 
until her death, June 13, 1905, and of which 
he continues an active adherent. 

In 1894 Mr. Fritzen married Miss Marie 
Frerichs, who was born in Illinois and reared 
in Gage county, Nebraska. She is a daughter 
of L. W. Frerichs, of whom specific mention 
is made on other pages. She is survived by 
six children : Lammert J., as before intimated, 
has the active management of the second farm 
owned by his father in Logan township ; Wil- 
liam is associated in the management of the 
homestead place: Sophia is the wife of Fred- 
erick Lineman, a farmer in Hanover town- 
ship: and Marie, Lena and John, Jr., remain 
at the paternal home. 

JOHN A. McMURR.AY. — The home of 
Mr. and Mrs. John A. McMurray has been 
established in Section 15, Liljerty townsliip, 
for the past thirty-five years and while they 
have contributed of their best to the r-gricul- 
tural and social growth of the community, 
they have also grown in the esteem and 
friendship of their fellows. They have reared 
a family of six children, five of whom are 
living and honorably filling their places in 
life. The firstborn was William, who was 
called to his eternal home at the age of fif- 
teen years : Lawrence was the next in order 
of birth and he is a prosperous farmer of Lib- 



erty township: Frances is the wife of J. R. 
Spicer, a merchant of Beatrice: George is a 
farmer of Liberty township: and .\ruthr is 
farming one-half mile east of his father's 
home place. 

John A. McMurray was born I'chruary 14, 
1842, in Washington county, New York, the 
place of his birth being the old homestead of 
his parents, William and .Maria (Taylor) Mc- 
.Murray. The old homestead is now owned 
by William M. McMurray, the only other liv- 
ing son of the five children b(jrn to this 
couple. William McMurray was born in 
Washington county. New York, the son of 
Francis McMurray, a scion of Scotch- Irish 
ancestors who came to this countrv when 
General George Washington was president of 
the new republic and who established a home 
in. Washington county, Xew York, where the 
family tree has Jjeen continuously represented 
to this day. William .Mc.Murrav, the father 
of John A. McMurray, became a very suc- 
cessful farmer and left to his sons a heritage 
that helped them to their success in life. He 
married Maria Taylor, the daugiiter of John 
Taylor, wdio was born in Ireland and who 
came to Washington count)'. Xew York, 
where he famied and where his death occured. 
John Taylor was only eighteen years of age 
at the time of his coming and here he married. 
His daughter, Maria (Taylor) McMurray, 
and her husband spent their lives on the home- 
stead in Xew York. 

John A. McMurray was educated in the 
schools of ArgA'le, Xew Y'ork and in the 
Argyle Academy. In 1862 he was united in 
marriage to one who has been his loved com- 
panion for more than fifty-six years, — Mary 
J. McFadden, who was born in Argjde, New 
York, the only child of Isaiah and Margaret 
(McFadden) McFadden, who are long since 
deceased. In 1867, Mr. and Mrs. McMurray 
left their friends and relatives in the old Em- 
pire state and cast in their lot with the farm- 
ers of Jasper county, Iowa. There they con- 
tinued their fanning operations until 1883, 
when thev came to Gage county, Xebraska, 
and established their home on Section 15, Lib- 
erty township, where Mr. .McMurray pur- 



1080 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTV. NEBRASKA 



chased from the government three hundred 
and twenty acres of land. The scenes and 
condtions of that day were quite different from 
those which meet their gaze to-day. Xo more 
do the sod houses grace the soil, but well built, 
modern houses ; no more the oxen, but the 
automobile ; no more the wild prairie, but now 
the broad fields of waving grain. 

Mr. and. Mrs. McMurray are members of 
the Congregational church and for many years 
Mr. McMurray has been a stalwart of the 
Republican party, retaining the same political 
views as his father before him. He is a mem- 
ber of the district school board and with his 
good wife is enjoying the esteem and friend- 
ship of their associates of many years in Gage 
county. 

BENJAMIN KROOS is a prosperous 
farmer of Riverside township, where he is 
the owner of four hundred and twenty acres 
of land. He was born in Westphalia, Ger- 
many, May 8, 1859, and is a son of Stephen 
and Elizabeth (Leiwesmeier) Kroos, who 
])assed their entire lives in their native land, 
where the father was a farmer. Stephen 
Kroose was born in 1810 and died in 1877; 
his wife was born in 1824 and died in 1902. 
They were devout members of the Catholic 
church. Of the six children born to them two 
have established their homes in the United 
States, — Benjamin, the subject of this 
sketch, and Henry, who lives in Oklahoma 
City, Oklahoma. Joseph, Anna, Stephen and 
Mary still live in their native country. 

Benjamin Kroos was educated in his native 
land and at his father's side he learned the 
art of intensive farming. When he arrived 
in the United States, in 1881, he very easily 
procured work as a farm hand in Logan 
county. Illinois. In 1886 he came to Gage 
county, where he farmed on rented land until 
1890, when he purchased the Moses farm, in 
Section 36, Riverside township. In 1893 he 
sold this land and purchased land in Thayer 
county, where he was engaged in farming 
until 1896, when he returned to Gage county. 
For four years he rented land in Lincoln town- 
ship. In 1900 he purchased his present farm, 



of four hundred and twenty acres, and since 
then he has confined his efforts to the upbuild- 
ing of a large, well cultivated fann property. 

May 6, 1889, Benjamin Kroos married Miss 
Lina Grabber, who was bom in Illinois, Jan- 
uary 2, 1868. She is a daughter of Joseph 
and Lena ( Simon ) Grobher, the fonner of 
whom was bom in 1834 and died January 3, 
1918, at Charles Wible's home. The mother 
was bom in 1834 and died June 12, 1871. 
Joseph Grabber was married the second time, 
to Barbara Stueber ( See Charles Wible sketch 
for further historj'.j Mr. and Mrs. Kroos 
became the parents of five children : Amelia 
died at the age of four years ; and George, 
Lewis, Joseph and Elizabeth are at the par- 
ental home. The children have received good 
educational advantages, and the three sons are 
helping their father with his extensive farming 
operations. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kroos and family are mem- 
bers of the Catholic church at Beatrice, and 
his political views are in harmony with the 
[irinciples of the Republican party. 

RENKEN LEXERS was a lad of seven 
years at the time when his father immigrated 
to America from the picturesque province of 
Friesland, in the extreme northeastern part 
of the Province of Hanover, Germany, where 
he was born July 12, 1851. Little could the 
wide-eyed boy have anticipated that destiny 
had it in store for him not only to become a 
pioneer of Gage county, Nebraska, but also 
to achieve here secure vantage-ground as one 
of the substantial farmers and valued citi- 
zens of Logan township, w'here his admirably 
improved farm, of one hundred and sixty 
acres, is situated in Section 10. Mr. Leners 
is a son of Renken and Etta (Schwers)) Len- 
ers, the latter of whom died in Germany. 
Renken Leners, Sr., came to America in 1858 
and settled in Adams county, Illinois, where 
he acquired land and eventually became a suc- 
cessful farmer. There he continued his resi- 
dence until his death. 

He whose name initiates this article ac- 
quired his early education in the schools of 
Illinois, where also he became familiar with the 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1081 




Mr. and Mrs. Ren'ken Leners 



1082 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



various details of farm work. In 1878, in 
company with his younger brother, John, he 
came to Gage county, and in shipping their 
household goods the two received an aggre- 
gate rebate of cost in the sum of thirty dol- 
lars. The brothers divided this sum. and the 
amount received by Renken represented at the 
time his sole cash capital, though his posses- 
sions included three mules, some hogs, a feu- 
chickens and a small assortment of tools and 
implements, all brought from Illinois. He 
had rented before coming to Gage county a 
tract of land in Hanover township, the same 
having been owned by a man residing at 
Galesburg, Illinois. In a primitive pioneer 
home he installed his household goods" and 
with his wife and their three children to spur 
his efiorts, he vigorously prosecuted his activi- 
ties as a pioneer farmer, with determination 
to win independence and definite prosperity. 
When he finally purchased his present farm 
the land was raw prairie, and he has developed 
the place into one of the fine farm properties 
of the county. His first plow was purchased 
of John Wagner, at Beatrice, and before tak- 
ing it home he made a trial of the implement 
by plowing along the road by the site of the 
present Beatrice National Bank on the one 
side and the Paddock hotel on the other. At 
that time there were no buildings there, and 
Court -street was like a countrv' road. He 
had his share of hardships and reverses in- 
cidental to pioneer life, with losses by drought 
and grasshopper scourge, but he was not to 
be dismayed and pressed forward earnestly 
to the goal of prosperity. He has aided in 
the general progress of the county along civic 
and industrial lines and has been at all times 
firmly entrenched in popular confidence and 
good will in his home community. His politi- 
cal support is given to the Republican party, 
he served twenty-five years as school director 
of his district, and both he and his wife be- 
came earnest communicants of the Lutheran 
church while still in youth. He has been a 
trustee and treasurer of the church for 
twenty-five years. 

In Adams county, Illinois, was solemnized 
the marriage of Mr. Leners to Miss Amanda 



Schuster, who was born in Germany. January' 
21, 1849, and the supreme loss and bereave- 
ment in his life came when his devoted wife 
was summoned to eternal rest, on the 26th of 
January. 1915. They became the parents of 
nine children: Renken. Jr., remains at the 
paternal home; Maggie is the wife of John 
Fossler, of Logan township: Menne died at 
the age of five years: John K., the maiden 
name of whose wife was Emma Fossler. is a 
farmer in Logan township : Etta is the widow 
of Martin Kaspers and is housekeeper for 
her father — she has a daughter, .\manda, 
born January 19, 1905 ; Menne. who is a far- 
mer in Logan township, married Miss Sarah 
Cramer; and three died in childhood. 

JOHN L. GERDES. — In East Friesland, 
Germany, the family home of Gerd and Trin- 
lae (Janssen) Gerdes was established, and 
there Gerd Gerdes plied his trade of shoe- 
maker, bending over his bench day by day. 
Many of his friends and acquaintances were 
leaving the homeland for the shores of Amer- 
ica, where it was said there were vast fertile 
lands to be tilled and won to cultivation if one 
were willing to work hard and long. Mr. 
Gerdes decided that, with his sons' help, he, 
too could win a better living in the New World. 
Consequently, in 1869. they had settled on a 
farm in Missouri, and until his death he there 
tilled the soil. His wife, Trintae (Janssen) 
Gerdes, bore him seven children, four of whom 
are living: Teta is a widow and makes her 
home with her brother Gerd, who is a farmer 
of Barneston township; Tena is the widow of 
John Helmrics and lives in Barneston town- 
shij) : and John L. is the subject of this sketch. 

John L. Gerdes was born March 10. 1848, in 
East Friesland, Gemiany, and was a young 
man of twenty-one years when his parents es- 
tablished their home in Missouri. He helped 
with the farming of his father's land and later 
])urchased land for himself. This he farmed 
until his coming to Gage county, in 1883. In 

1882 he had purchased one hundred and 
twenty acres in Barneston township, and in 

1883 came to improve it and make it yield its 
treasures of wheat and corn. 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1083 



In 18S6 Mr. Gerdes chose as his wife Miss 
Grace Boschen, who is a native of Germany 
and who came to this country in 1886. They 
are the parents of ten children: Gerd L., the 
firstborn, is at the parental home, as is also 
John O. ; Liibbe operates one of his father's 
farms ; Henry, Fred, Tena, WiUiam, Carl. 
Ida, and Marie are all under the parental roof 
and taking their share of the burden of tilling 
the soil and at the various other responsi- 
bilities of the farm and the home. 

Mr. Gerdes and his family are members of 
the Lutheran churcli and the local edifice, 
dedicated to the worship of God, is on five 
acres of land donated by Mr. Gerdes. In 
politics Mr. Gerdes follows the lead of the 
Democratic party and he has served as a mem- 
ber of the school board of his district for 
twenty years. 

Mr. Gerdes, exemplifies the fact that a man 
can become more than ordinarily well-to-do 
if he is made of the right stufT and is willing 
to sacrifice present pleasure for future good. 
From time to time Mr. Gerdes has added to 
his original purchase of one hundred and 
twenty acres and he is now the sole owner of 
four htmdred and thirty-five acres in Gage 
county and two hundred acres in Kansas. The 
days when he established his home in Gage 
county were the days of hard struggles against 
the whims and caprices of nature and the 
loneliness of the pioneer days. He is now 
enjoying the fruits of those early days of 
labor, and his posterity will not only enjoy 
them also but will be able to carry on his 
work with newer methods and greater oppor- 
tunities for service to mankind. 

WIENS BROTHERS. — Jacob and Frank 
Wiens are two energetic young farmers, joint- 
ly operating three hundred and twenty acres 
of land in Sections 24 and 25, Lincoln town- 
ship. They are specializing in dairying and 
the feeding of beef cattle for the market, and 
are the rising dain' farmers of their township. 
They are the sons of Peter and Anna (Jan- 
sen) Wiens. Peter Wiens is a native of Ger- 
many, where he was born October KS. 1850, 
and his wife was born June 9, 1860. In 1888 



Mr. Wiens with his young wife and their two 
children came across the Atlantic and cast in 
their lot with the many other immigrants of 
German extraction in Gage county, Nebraska. 
L^pon his arriv.il in the county he was em- 
ployed by his brother-in-law, Jacob Claassen, 
as a laborer on the farm. Later he rented 
land until he was able to purchase one hun- 
dred and seventy-eight acres, in Blakely town- 
ship, where he is now doing a general farming 
business. Since the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. 
Wiens in this country nine more children have 
been born to them, and all of the eleven chil- 
dren are living: John is a farmer in Midland 
township; Mary is the housekeeper for her 
brothers Jacob and Frank ; Jacob is one of 
the two subjects of this sketch ; Peter is living 
in Hubbell, Thayer county; Herman resides at 
Bayard, Morrill county ; Frank is the associate 
subject of this review ; and Henry. Agatha. 
Ernest, Gerhard, and Anna are at home with 
their parents. 

Jacob \\'iens was born September 25, 1887. 
in Riverside township, and his brother Frank 
was born September 24, 1893, in Saline county, 
Nebraska. The brothers received the educa- 
tional advantages of the rural schools and 
German parochial schools, and they became 
experienced farmers by helping their father 
in his farming operations. The farmer is the 
most necessary individual in our social organi- 
zation, as we are constantly in need of food 
and clothing and the farmer is growing the 
food for the men who are tuming his raw ma- 
terials into the manufactured articles. These 
two young men are doing the share of the work 
most necessary, "behind the lines," for the 
conduct of the great world war in which we 
are engaged. They are Republicans in poli- 
tics and are members of the Mennonite church. 

JOHN R. SIBLE. — As one of the many 
thrifty Bohemian farmers who have settled in 
I'.lm township. Gage county, John R. Sible 
nierils representation in this histor)-. Mr. 
Sible was bom March 6, 1874, in Johnson 
county, Iowa, and came to Gage county with 
his parents when he was a child of four years, 
so it can well be said that he is essentiallv a 



1084 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Gage county man. His parents, Frank and 
Anna (Sible) Sible, are natives of Bohemia 
and are farming land in Section 27, Elm town- 
ship. Frank Sible was born in Bohemia, May 
28, 1843, and is a son of Joseph and Katie 
Sible, who left their native home, among the 
Slavonic peoples of central Europe, and cast 
in their fortunes with the farming people of 
lohnson county, Iowa. When they retired 
from active farming their home was made in 
Iowa City, Iowa, from which place they were 
called to the life etemal. 

In 1879 Frank Sible came with his family 
to Gage county, Nebraska and purchased one 
hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Elm 
township. He built a board shanty and con- 
structed a sod bam for his cattle and beasts 
of burden. He and his wife were willing to 
deprive themselves of comforts and luxuries 
for the present, that the future might bring 
greater ease and prosperity. They are to- 
day enjoying the fruits of their frugality and 
labors of those early years. Their marriage 
was solemnized in 1870, in Iowa. Mrs. Sible 
is a daughter of James and Josephine Sible, 
who were natives of Bohemia and had tilled 
the soil in Iowa ])rior to coming to Gage 
county, where they passed the remainder of 
their lives. They have three sons, — Frank, 
living at Odell ; John, the subject of this re- 
view ; and George, likewise a resident of Gage 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sible have re- 
tired from active farming and now reside in 
the village of Odell. They have, as the years 
have passed, added to their land holdings until 
now they own four hundred acres of land. 
Both are members of the Catholic church. 

John R. Sible spent his boyhood and young 
manhood in the home of his parents and heljjed 
in the winning of of the wilderness to produc- 
tivity, lie is now oi)eraling one hundred and 
twenty acres of his father's landed estate. He 
has made extensive improvements on his farm 
and each year is feeding great numbers of 
cattle for the market. 

November 22, 1899, recorded the marriage 
of John R. Sible and Miss Bessie Kunc and 
they became the parents of four children, of 
whom the second child is deceased. The 



others — Mabel. Irma. and Sylvia — are re- 
ceiving ^11 of the educational advantages of 
the public schools. Mrs. Sible was born in 
Bohemia, June 28, 1876. Her parents are re- 
tired farmers living at W'ilber, Nebraska. She 
is a daughter of Frank and Anna (Broz) 
Kunc, who came from Bohemia and who set- 
tled in Johnson county, Nebraska, about 1893. 
They continued their farming operations until 
their retirement to Wilber. 

The political views of Mr. Sible are inde- 
pendent, that is to say that the character of the 
man that is put up by either party has more 
weight in gaining Mr. Sible's vote than the 
]«rty that is vouching for his eligibility to the 
office. With the members of his family he 
holds to the faith of the Catholic church. 

MATTHEW W. RYAN, superintendent ol 
schools at Bameston, Nebraska, was born in 
Port Henr>-, New York. April 23, 1880. He 
is the son of Patrick B. Ryan and Margaret 
( Clean,-) Ryan. 

Both Patrick B. Ryan and Margaret Cleary 
came from Ireland with their parents in 1835 
and settled in New York state, where they 
received their early education and where they 
were married. Patrick B. Ryan moved with 
his family to Gage county, Nebraska, in the 
\ear 1883 and settled on a fami two miles 
west of Liberty, where he resided until the 
time of his death, in 1915. Margaret Ryan 
is still living and makes her home with her 
son Matthew. Of their children five are liv- 
ing: Mrs. P. Carver, of Burchard, Nebraska ; 
Mrs. M. J. Carver, of Bassett. Nebraska, 
Mrs. Tim Rawley. of Barneston ; Mrs. George 
Humphrey, of Fairbun,-, Nebraska; and 
Matthew W. Ryan, of Barneston, Nebraska. 

In 1911 Matthew W. Ryan was married to 
Jessie Irwin, of Hubbell, Nebraska. They 
have one boy, Irwin, now three years of age 
( 1918). Mr. Ryan is the owner of his father's 
old homestead, but devotes his entire time to 
his profession. 

Matthew Ryan was educated in school dis- 
trict No. 126, Gage county, was graduated 
from the Liberty high school, and in 1907 was 
graduated from the Peru State Normal. He- 



HISTORY OF GAGE COLWTY, NEBRASKA 



1085 



was then superintendent of schools at Greeley, 
Nebraska, for three years. Later he attended 
two years at the Nebraska State University. 

CLARENCE L. SHAFER. — That Gage 
county offers splendid inducements to those 
who wish to engage in agricultural pursuits is 
attested by the fact that many of her native 
sons have chosen to remain within her bor- 
ders and by improving their opportunities 
have been rewarded with success. Among 
this number mention should be made of the 
gentleman whose name introduces this record. 

Clarence L. Shafer was born on the farm 
which is now his home, his natal day being 
September 17, 187L His parents were D. W. 
and Mar)- (Spitznale) Shafer, the former of 
whom was born in Ohio, and the latter in 
Virginia. 

In 1867, the year that Nebraska became a 
state, D. W. Shafer came west, making the 
trip in true pioneer style, in a covered wagon, 
and he established a home in Gage county. 
He took a homestead of one hundred and sixty 
acres, eighty of which lay in Gage county and 
eighty in Pawnee county. As we hear the 
few early settlers recount the story of pioneer 
times, marked by hardships and privations, it 
is only just to such men that a record be 
made of their achievements and success. 
From a wild and unbroken prairie D. W. 
Shafer developed a good farm. He reared a 
family of eight children, and made his home 
on the old farm as long as he lived, his death 
occurring here June 24, 1911, at the age of 
sixty-eight years. He was born July 8. 1843. 
His wife, who was born December 22, 1849, 
passed away October 24, 1912. Both were 
members of the Christian church and were 
people of real, genuine worth. Of their eight 
children seven are living: Auta is the wife of 
Leon Doty, and they reside in Pawnee county : 
Cora is the wife of Rev. Sherman McClure, 
who is a minister of the Christian church, now 
located at Deming, New Mexico, and who for 
two years was state evangelist for Nebraska ; 
Clarence L., the subject of this review, was 
next in order of birth; O. D. is a farmer near 
Belgrade, Nance county, Nebraska ; John is a 



i:rofessor in the schools of Grand River, 
Iowa; Estella is the wife of Thomas Thomas, 
a farmer at Litchfield, Nebraska ; and Lois is 
the wife of Orva Ripley, of Beatrice, Ne- 
braska. 

Clarence L. Shafer was reared on the farm, 
attended the public schools in the acquire- 
ment of an education, this being supplemented 
by his attending Cotner University, of Beth- 
any, Nebraska, for one year. He chose for 
a life work the calling to which he had been 
reared and as a boy under the instructions of 
his father began learning the best methods of 
tilling the soil, planting, cultivating, and har- 
vesting crops, so that as he reached man's 
estate he was well fortified for becoming a 
farmer on his own account. He is the owner 
of a valuable tract of three hundred and sixty 
acres, eighty of which are in Gage county, the 
balance lying across the line in Pawnee 
county. Aside from raising the cereals best 
adapted to soil and climate, he deals in regis- 
tered Hereford cattle, and both branches of 
his business yield him substantial income. He 
is progressive and practical in his methods 
and on his place are to be found three sets of 
farm buildings. 

As a companion and helpmeet Mr. Shafer 
chose Miss Lora Freel, a native of Missouri, 
who passed away in 1901. leaving two chil- 
dren: Opal, the wife of Rus.sell Welsh, on 
one of ^Ir. Shafer's farms in Pawnee county; 
and Hubert, still at home engaged in farm- 
ing for himself. Mr. Shafer's second mar- 
riage was with Miss Alma Paulsen, a native 
of Davenport, Iowa, and they have four chil- 
dren : Dale, Glenn, Ivvelyn, and John. 

The family arc members of the Christian 
church and in jiolitics Mr. Shafer is inde- 
pendent. 

FREDERICK D. KRITER, a successful 
farmer and one of the old-time residents of 
Paddock township, is a sterling citizen who 
well merits recognition in this history. Mr. 
Kriter was bom in Lake county, Illinois, No- 
vember 14, 1860, a son of George Kriter, who 
was a native of Alsace-I^orraine. When a 
young man of thirty-two years of age George 



1086 



HISTORY OF GAGE COL'XTY. NEBRASKA 




HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, XHP.RASKA 



1087 



Kriter came to America and settled in Lake 
county, Illinois, where he worked at his 
trade — that of carpenter. He was employed 
in Chicago when the population of that city 
was numbered by thousands instead of the 
millions of to-day. From Illinois Mr. Kriter 
moved to Minnesota, and in that state enlisted 
in a regiment of Minnesota volunteer infantry, 
with which he served three years in the Union 
army during the Civil war. He was in sev- 
eral battles and received injuries which com- 
pelled him to enter a hospital at Washington, 
D. C, where his family joined him later. 
Among the earliest recollections of llie sub- 
ject of this sketch are those of the two win- 
dows in the room where they stayed in Wash- 
ington and from which they could hear the 
roar of cannon. One daughter was bom dur- 
ing the family's stay in the capital city. After 
the war Mr. Kriter returned to Minnesota, 
where he joined his brother-in-law on a farm 
near Fairbault. During the last three years 
of their residence in Minnesota the grass- 
hoppers destroyed their crops, and Mr. Kriter 
moved with his family to Marshall county, 
Kansas. They were very poor and Mr. 
Kriter and family worked at anything to be 
found. On the anniversary of Mrs. Kriter's 
birthday they came to Gage county, Nebraska, 
June 14, 1880. and here he took s(]uatter's 
claim to forty acres of land in Section 10, 
Paddock township. On the day of their ar- 
ri\al the family planted some tomatoes and 
other garden truck and prepared to make their 
home. Their tirst abode was a tent, which 
was later Ijlown away in a wind storm. They 
tlicn built a dug-out, on the south slope of i 
hill where the present house stands. Too poor 
to buy the land, they held squatter's sover- 
eignty for two years. Then they were able to 
enter the land and make a payment on the 
same. A better house was later erected and 
as soon as circumstances justified such action 
Mr. Kriter bought an additional forty acres, 
adjoining his original farm. Here he made 
his home until his death, which occurred when 
he was fifty-five years of age. He had, in the 
meanwhile, taken a homestead in Kansas, but 
he died before he had proved up on the prop- 



erty. His son proved up on the land by com- 
plying with the law in regard to duration of 
abode on the property. 

George Kriter was united in marriage to 
Barbara Erb, who likewise was born in Al- 
sace-Lorraine and who had come to America 
with her parents when a child. She had the 
experience of being left alone with a family 
of children while her husband was witli the 
army at the front. She shared with him the 
hardships of the early pioneer days, aided 
in establishing their home, and became one of 
Gage county's pioneer women. Here she re- 
sided until the time of her death, at the age 
of forty-nine years. For many years Mrs. 
Kriter and her husband were members of the 
Lutheran church, but before her death she 
joined the Methodist church. Mr. and Mrs. 
Kriter were the parents of seven children, as 
follows : Frederick D. ; Emma, wife of A. N. 
Horn, of Emporia, Kansas ; Lena, wife of 
Daniel Wagner, of Quincy, Kansas: Edith, 
deceased wife of Thomas Bloomfield ; Charles, 
who died at the age of twenty-four years; 
George, of Oklahoma; and Mary, wife of E. 
C. Marks, of Emporia, Kansas. 

Frederick D. Kriter accompanied his par- 
ents on their several removals and was a 
young man of twenty when they came to Gage 
county. At the age of twenty-one he found 
employment with the Union Pacific Railroad 
for about three months, and he then became a 
member of a construction crew engaged in 
building the Burlington Railroad. He was 
one of the gang who, on that memorable Sun- 
day, drove the last spike of the line extending 
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
from the Missouri river to Denver, Colorado. 
After two years of this work Mr. Kriter pur- 
chased eighty acres in Section 11, I'addrKk 
townshij), adjoining his father's farm. For 
thirty-five years he has been one of the suc- 
cessful farmers of the township, .\fter the 
death of his parents he purchased the interest 
of the other heirs and Ijecame the owner of 
the old home place. This he further im- 
proved, and the present buildings have all been 
erected l)y him, replacing the humbler ones 
erected by his father. ?klr. Kriter is to-day 



1088 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



the owner ot rive hundred and twenty acres of 
valuable land, which places him among the 
men of affluence in his adopted county. 

For companion and helpmate Mr. Kriter 
chose Miss Lillie Baughman, who was bom 
at Effingham, Illinois, a daughter of Philip and 
Jemima Baughman, now deceased. To this 
union seven children were born : Nellie is the 
wife of Frank Fulton, of Wymore, this 
county ; George, Minnie, and Luella are at 
home; Elsie is the wife of Earl Slocum, of 
Diller, Nebraska ; and Fred and Jesse are at 
the parental home. Mr. and Mrs. Kriter are 
members of the Methodist church and in 
politics ]\lr. Kriter is a Republican. He has 
served fourteen years as member of the school 
board of his district, and has filled also the 
position of road overseer. At Wymore he is 
a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, including the adjunct organization, 
the Daughters of Rebekah, and also of the 
Knights & Ladies of Security. By industry 
and careful management Mr. Kriter has 
achieved success, and his support for a worthy 
cause can always be relied upon. 

RICHMOND KIVETT. — One of the 
earliest settlers of Gage county was Richmond 
Kivett. who was called from his labors March 
6, 1880. In the year 1867 Mr. and Mrs. Rich- 
mond Kivett came to Gage county and settled 
on a homestead in Section 24, Liberty town- 
.ship, and Mrs. Kivett has continuously made 
her home ujion this same land since those far- 
away pioneer days. 

Richmond Kivett was born May 16, 1834, 
in Tennessee, and August 24, 1856, he mar- 
ried Miss Nancy Johnson, who is a daughter 
of William and Elizabeth (Sharp) Johnson, 
the former boni in Georgia Purchase and the 
latter in Tennessee. They farmed in Tennes- 
see, where -were born their children, three of 
whom ar living — -Mrs. Kivett, the widow of 
the subject of this memoir; William H., re- 
tired and living in Missouri; and Elizabeth, 
the widow of Joseph Vittoe, residing in Colo- 
rado. 

For some time prior to establishing his 
home in Gage county Richmond Kivett farmed 



in Teimessee, where he also operated a saw 
mill. He came with his family to Gage county 
and homesteaded one lumdred and sixty acres 
in Liberty township. His sons and daughters 
grew to maturity upon Gage county soil, par- 
ticipating in the young life and duties of their 
associates. They are as follows: Milton and 
Alvis, who are at home, operating the farm 
for their mother, are not married ; Rosanna 
is the wife of E. H. Lynch, residing in Ore- 
gon ; Rhoda is the wife of L. S. Dalton, a 
farmer of Randolph, Nebraska ; Nathaniel C. 
is a large cattle man of Austin, Nevada ; 
Henry Sherman is a farmer near Freedom, 
Nebraska; Bertha E. is the wife of I. M. 
Fisher, residing near Liberty, Gage county ; 
and Nathan R. is a cigar maker at Wilber, 
Saline county. 

Richmond Kivett added to his land holdings 
as the years of his residence in Gage county 
increased, and at the time of his death he 
owned one hundred and sixty acres of land. 
He was a Republican in politics and was a man 
who was loved by all his neighbors and 
friends. He did not live to see the progress 
that time has made in the county, but his sons 
have taken the burden where he laid it aside 
and have continued to add to the material and 
civic wealth of the county. They have re- 
placed the crude sod house with a home of 
substantial proportions and conveniences and 
have provided the other necessary fami build- 
ings, to accommodate their growing herds of 
cattle and their productions of wheat and 
com. Their mother, with the days of youth 
gone by and the sunset side of life still so 
bright and joyous, is still their housekeeper, 
still their guide and counselor. For over a 
half century she has made Gage county her 
home, her interests have been tangibly coti- 
nected with the interests of the county and she 
has always taken a keen interest in all of its 
affairs. 

HARRY H. DARNER. — One of the suc- 
cessful farmers of Island Grove township is 
the subject of this record and he has been a 
resident of Gage county for thirty-four years. 

Harr/ H. Darner was born in Washington 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1089 



county, Iowa, December 6, 1858, a son of An- 
drew and Jane (Haywood) Darner. The 
father was a native of the Buckeye state, born 
near Zenia, Ohio, April 17, 1817, while the 
birth of the mother occurred in New Jersey, 
December 13, 1817. They were united in 
marriage in Ohio and became residents of 
Washington county, Iowa, in 1848. In early 
life Mr. Darner was a carpenter, and he 
worked at that trade until 1861, when he pur- 
chased a fann and turned his attention to 
agricultural pursuits. In 1884 he came to 
Nebraska, establishing his home at Blue 
Springs, Gage county. He passed away at the 
home of his son Harry H., November 14, 
1900. The mother was called to her final rest 
June 9, 1897. They were members of the 
Baptist church and in politics he was a Demo- 
crat. He was a successful man and was self- 
made. Of the eight children four are living: 
Amelia is the wife of Robert A. Wilson, of 
Blue Springs ; Sarah is the wife of J. F. Rob- 
ertson, a government- inspector, residing at 
South Omaha; Charles J. is a farmer in Clay 
county, Kansas; and Harrv' H. is the subject 
of this sketch. 

Harry H. Darner was reared on a fann in 
his native county, attended the district schools 
and became a farmer. In 1884 he came to 
Gage county, and at Blue Springs he found 
emploxment as a teamster. He finally pur- 
chased eighty acres of land in Island Grove 
township, his resources being at such a low 
ebb that he was obliged to buy on time. By 
industry and good management he has suc- 
ceeded in making his tract one of the valuable 
fanns of the township. He has erected excel- 
lent buildings and made other good improve- 
ments and is engaged in general farming. He 
has extended the area of his acreage by an 
additional purchase and is now the owner ot 
a quarter-section of land. 

February 25, 1899, Mr. Darner was united 
in marriage to Miss Lena Sandritter, a daugh- 
ter of Henry and Margaret (Yetter) Sand- 
ritter, natives of Germany, who came to Gage 
county in 1868 and took up a homestead in 
Blakely township : a number of years later 
they moved to Blue Springs, where their last 



days were spent. Mr. Sandritter was bom in 
Waldolph, Baden, Germany, May 17, 1830. 
He came to America in 1854 and resided in 
Illinois until coming to Nebraska. He was a 
stone mason by trade and among other struc- 
tures in Gage county which he helped to build 
is the Burwood hotel at Beatrice. In 1861, 
at Peoria, Illinois, he enlisted for service in 
the Civil war, and he rendered valiant aid as 
a soldier of the Union until 1865. He died at 
Blue Springs, November 6, 1903. His wife 
was bom at Volmer\'elen, Germany, in 1S37, 
and passed away November 17, 1913. 

Mr. and Mrs. Darner have two children : 
Alabel is the wife of R. L. Ernhart, a farmer 
of Island Grove township, and they have three 
children : Neva, Hope, and Wayne. Pearl L. 
is the wife of L. W. Hinnenkamp and is the 
mother of one child, Neta. 

Mr. Darner and his family are members of 
the Evangelical church and in politics he is a 
Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Damer were the 
first members of the Zion church and in the 
same he was class leader for many years. He 
is one of the tmstees of the church and has 
thus served from the time of its organization. 
The year after he moved to the farm Mr. 
Damer helped to build the "Union Hall." an 
old landmark of Island Grove township. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. He has efficiently 
served as justice of the peace, assessor, and 
member of the school board, the cause of 
education finding in him a stalwart champion. 
Progressive in citizenship, he has rendered 
valuable service in all movements for the pub- 
lic good and he and his family are held in the 
highest of esteem by all who know them. 

JOSEPH BURES is a progressive young 
farmer of Glenwood township and by inde- 
fatigable industry' and faithfulness to his 
work he has risen to a prominent place in the 
agricultural circles of his township. Mr. 
Bures is a son of Frank and Anna (Nespor) 
Rures, who was bom, reared and educated in 
Bohemia, their married life commencing in 
the homeland, in 1856. In 1861 they left their 
native land, filled with ambition to better their 



1090 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



condition by coming to the land where there 
have always been great opportunities for the 
hard-working and faithful man. They first 
made their home in Jones county, Iowa, where 
they rented land until 1875, when they estab- 
lished their home as pioneers in Saline county, 
Nebraska. In 1879 they came to Gage county 
and purchased land in Paddock township. 
Here Mr. Bures continued his earnest labors 
until he sold his land to his son Joseph, the 
subject of this sketch. Frank Bures was born 
in Bohemia, December 5, 1832, and makes his 
home with his son Joseph. His wife, w'ho 
was born February 5, 1839, and who for sixty 
years was her husband's constant companion, 
passed to her reward August 17, 1916. Mrs. 
Bures was a faithful member of the Catholic 
church and imbued her sons with the love of 
the church and of the God whom she wor- 
shiped. Of the three children two are living, 
Frank being deceased : John resides in Elm 
township; and Joseph is the subject of this 
sketch. 

Joseph Bures was born February 4, 1873, 
in Jones county, Iowa, and was about seven 
years old when his parents established their 
home in Paddock township. Gage county. He 
remained under the parental roof until he was 
27 years of age. His education was received 
in the district schools and he served his ap- 
prenticeship as a fami hand for two or three 
seasons ere he latmched on a farming career 
for himself. In 1900 he i)urchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in Paddock township, 
and here he farmed until 1905, when he sold 
the property and purchased his present home 
farm, in Section 2, Glenwood township. He 
has built a large, modern house and made 
various other improvements in his farm build- 
ings. In 1908 he purchased two hundred acres 
in Section 12, and this he is farming in con- 
junction with his home place. 

April 7, 1899, Mr. Bures married Man' 
Cacek, who is a daughter of Bohemian ]>arents 
who came to Gage county to farm and to rear 
their children. Mary (Cacek) Bures was a 
schoolmate of her husband's and the friend- 
ship which had grown between the young girl 
and the ungainly, growing lad rijiened into 



love, their marriage being the culmination of 
their early friendship. Man' Cacek was bom 
June 11, 1880, in Gage county, and is a 
daughter of Joseph and Anna (Teple) Cacek, 
natives of Bohemia. Mr. and Mrs. Bures be- 
came the parents of six children : Joseph, 
Albert, Clara, Rosa, and Charles are under 
the parental roof, and Anton is deceased. 

Mr. Bures is a breeder of Chester White 
hogs and is farming his land in a very efificient 
manner. His home is among the many nice 
ones of the township. In politics Mr. Bures 
votes the Democratic ticket and he is a mem- 
ber of the Catholic church. He is affiliated 
with the Z. C. B. J., a Bohemian brotherhood. 

WILLIAM E. RIFE, city treasurer of Be- 
atrice, has for the past thirteen years been 
closely identified with the business interests 
of the city and county. He was bom at 
Seneca, La Salle county, Illinois, February 11, 
1867, a son of Ephraim and Savilla (Cochran) 
Rife, the former born in Pennsylvania, in 
1834, the latter born in New York, in 1844. 
The parents married in Illinois and there 
Ephraim Rife became a farmer and merchant. 
He remained in the state of Illinois until 1881, 
when he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and 
]>urchased a farm of two hundred and forty 
acres, five miles east of Wilber. where he re- 
sided three years. He then traded for a fami 
near Adams, where the family made their 
home two years. On disposing of this tract 
the parents moved to Lincoln, where they re- 
sided five years, and they then became resi- 
dents of Red Cloud. Nebraska, where they 
spent their remaining days, the father passing 
away in 1896, and the mother suniving until 
1913. Ephraim Rife was a successful man 
in business and he and his wife were lifelong 
members of the Methodist church. Eleven 
children were bom to them and eight of the 
number are now living: John H., a mer- 
chant in western Nebraska ; Samuel L.. a busi- 
ness man of Bridger, Montana ; William E., of 
this review : Katura, married and residing in 
Seattle, W'ashington ; Grace, the wife of G. L. 
Grififis, vice-president of the Blue Valley Mer- 
cantile Company, at Beatrice; Susan, the wife 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



1091 



of JNIr. Bauftman, residing at San Francisco, 
California; Elmer Roy, in the employ of the 
Standard Oil Company at Red Cloud, Ne- 
braska ; and Lydia, the wife of Rev. 1. F. 
Roach, of Oklahoma City, who for five years 
was pastor of the .Methodist church at Lincohi, 
Nel)raska. 

WiUiam E. Rife was reared on a farm, ac- 
quired his education in the public schools, and 
followed farming until he was twenty-eight 
years of age. He then engaged in business at 
Red Cloud, Nebraska, making his home there 
for ten years. He then, in 1905, came to Be- 
atrice and became one of the promoters of the 
Blue Valley Mercantile Company, with which 
wholesale concern he was actively connected, 
as a buyer, until 1916. He is still a member 
of the board of directors of the company. In 
1916 he established mercantile stores at Cla- 
tonia and Pickrell, and these are still con- 
ducted by him. 

In December, 1916, Mr. Rife was appointed 
city commissioner of Beatrice, to fill the 
vacancy caused by the death of Mr. G. P. 
Reynolds, and was made treasurer at the same 
time. At the election in April, 1918, Mr. Rife 
was duly elected to the same office, a fact 
which attests to the confidence and esteem in 
which he is uniformly held. 

In 1889, at Lincoln, Nebraska, was sol- 
emnized the marriage of William E. Rife and 
Miss MagdaHne Wooden, a native of Des 
Moines, Iowa, and they became the parents of 
seven children : George Edward, of Denver, 
Colorado, is now in the military service of the 
United States and is located at Newport News, 
Virginia, at the time of this writing; Grace 
Bell is the wife of Henr\- Doerch, manager of 
Mr. Rife's store at Pickrell : Beulah Irene is 
a bookkeeper in the Beatrice City Hall; Floyd 
Ivan is at Deming, New ^Mexico, in the service 
of the United States; Pearl Le Van died in 
infancy; Lydia Mae is at home; and William 
E., Jr., also is under the parental roof. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rife are members of the 
Methodist church and Mr. Rife is affiliated 
with the Masonic fraternity ; the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is deputy 
g;rand master: the Fraternal Order of Eagles; 



the Royal Highlanders ; and the Modern 
Woodmen of America. He and his wife also 
affiliate with the Daughters of Rebekah and 
the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Rife is a 
Repuljlican in politics and is one of the sub- 
stantial men of the city, where his support can 
be depended on for any measure that is of 
benefit to the people of the community. 

DENNIS MAGNER has been a resident 
of Gage county for fifty years, and is still en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits in Island Grove 
township, as one of the sterling pioneers of 
the county. 

Dennis Magner was born in County Cork, 
Ireland, in September, 1833, and is a son of 
David and Margaret (Landers) Magner, who 
spent their entire lives in the Emerald Isle and 
who were the parents of eight children, Den- 
nis being the only one now living; John and 
Winnie came to America about 1848, settling 
in Iowa, where they spent the rest of their 
lives. Dennis Magner came to the United 
States in 1851 and after a residence of nine 
years in Chicago he located in Iowa, making 
his home there until 1868, when he came to 
Gage county, Nebraska. Here he secured a 
homestead in Island Grove township, and this 
has been his home continuously since pioneer 
da vs. He came to the county the next year 
after Nebraska had become a state, and pioneer 
conditions were to be found on every hand. 
He set about improving his farm, tilling the 
soil, planting and harvesting, and he has met 
with that success which properly rewards in- 
telligently directed eflfort. He is to-day the 
owner of four hundred acres of good land. 

Mr. Magner was married, in Ohio, in 1859, 
to Miss Margaset Shannahan, a native of Ire- 
land, and this union has been blessed with 
seven children, four of whom are living: 
Margaret became the wife of Mr. Betro and 
resides in the state of Washiiigton ; Edmund 
resides at Maple Falls, Washington ; and Anas- 
tasia and John F. are at the parental home. 

The family are communicants of the Catho- 
lic church at Wymore and in politics Mr. 
Magner is a Republican. With no unusual ad- 
vantages at the beginning of his career, ex- 



1092 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUXTY. NEBRASKA 



cept a laudable ambition and a determination 
to succeed, the advancement of Mr. Magner 
has come to him as the result of his own ef- 
forts. He is now living practically retired, 
having placed labor's burden on younger 
shoulders, and he is enjoying the rest which he 
justly deserves. 

WILLIAM L. DEWEY. — A native of 
Gage county, and a representative of one of its 
pioneer families, William L. Dewey was bom 
on a farm on Wolf creek, August 13, 1866. 
His father, Timothy Dewey, was born in Ohio 
and in 1859 came to Gage county, Nebraska 
Territory, where he took up one hundred and 
sixty acres of land. After proving up on this 
land he made his home in Iowa four years. 
Returning to Gage county, he became a suc- 
cessful farmer and here he passed the re- 
mainder of his days. He disposed of his 
homestead and purchased land in the ( )toe In- 
dian reservation, but later he returned to 
Island Grove township and purchased the 
land where his son William L. now resides. 
He and his brother William were here during 
the Indian uprising, and were among the very- 
early settlers of the county, sharing in all of 
the hardships and pioneer experiences of those 
times. He was a cousin of Admiral George 
Dewey, who won fame at the battle of Manila 
Bay, that memorable May 1, 1898. The pro- 
genitors of the Dewey family came to America 
during the colonial period of our nation's his- 
tor\-. The mother of our subject was Mar- 
garet (I'ilcher) Dewey, a native of Connecti- 
cut, and of her six children, five are living: 
Mrs. Minnie Titus resides in Iowa ; \\'illiam 
L. is the subject of this sketch; Selicia is the 
wife of Louis Curry, a merchant at Stroud, 
Oklahoma : Charles is a farmer in Oklahoma ; 
and Belle remains in Gage county. 

\\"illiam L. Dewey was reared and educated 
in Gage county and took up farming as a life 
work, wisely choosing the occupation for 
which he had been fitted under the direction 
and teaching of his father. In October. 1913, 
he purchased the interest of the other heirs 
and became owner of the old home farm in 
Island Grove township, where he successfully 



carries on general farming and stock-raising. 

In 1891 ^Ir. Dewey was united in marriage 
to Miss Anna Retchless, a native of New- 
York state and a daughter of William Retch- 
less, who settled in Pawnee county, Nebraska, 
in 1877. In 1887 Mr. Retchless became a 
resident of Gage county, w-here he passed the 
remainder of his life. 

Mr. and Mrs. Dewey became the parents of 
six children : Charles is a resident of Armour, 
Nebraska, where he conducts an elevator and 
is agent for the Missouri Pacific Railroad ; 
Fannie and Herbert are at home; Nellie is 
the wife of Steve Rotney, of the state of 
Washington ; and Hattie and George are the 
younger children. In August, 1908, Mr. 
Dewey was called upon to mourn the loss of 
his wife, and her death called from earth a 
devoted wife and loving mother. 

Mr. Dewey is a Republican in politics and 
has served in various township offices. He is 
a member of Liberty Lodge, No. 152, Ancient 
Free & Accepted Masons, and his life is defi- 
nitely guided by the benevolent teachings of 
this time-honored fraternity. lie is progres- 
sive in his methods and is a successful farmer 
and stock-raiser. 

FRANK DVORAK. — On the farm known 
as "Sunny Slope," in Section 29, Glenwood 
township, live Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dvorak. 
This farm was owned by O. J. Lyndes, of Be- 
atrice, until 1914, when Mr. Dvorak purchased 
it and established his home upon the veritable 
"Sunny Slope." Since 1915 he has been doing 
a general farming business, and he is one of 
the progressive exponents of farm industn,- in 
Gage county. 

Frank Dvorak was bom Februan' 18, 1891, 
at Table Rock, Paw-nee count}-. Nebraska, and 
is a son of Anton and Antonia (Svarscop) 
Dvorak. Anton Dvorak, who was bom in 
1865, in P.ohcmia. came with his parents to this 
country in 1874, and the family settled in 
Pawnee county, where the parents fanned 
until their death. For further family histor\' 
reference may be made to the sketch of Anton 
Dvorak, on other pages of this volume. 

Frank Dvorak received the education and 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1093 



the opportunities of the average lad of to-day, 
when we have free schools and text-books of 
excellent order. After finishing his schooling 
he chose farming as his calling in life and 
chose as his home the sunniest spot in Glen- 
wood township, known as "Sunny Slope." 

To share his home with him he chose Miss 
Anna Zaribnicy, and their marriage was sol- 
emnized May 11, 1915. Mrs. Dvorak is a 
daughter of Frank and Theresa (Bednar) 
Zaribnicy, the former a farmer of Glenwood 
township, and the latter deceased. Mr. Zarib- 
nicy married for his second wife, Miss Anna 
Kalsus. Mr. and Mrs. Dvorak are members 
of the Presbyterian church and the Demo- 
cratic party receives his political support. 

AMOS SPROWLS. — For thirty-two years 
Amos Sprowls has been a resident of Gage 
covmty, and in the work of development he 
has contributed his full share. Mr. Sprowls 
is a native of the old Keystone state, bom 
September 7, 1835, and is the only survivor of 
a family of nine children born to William and 
Anna (Montgomery) Sprowls, both natives of 
Pennsylvania, where they spent their entire 
lives. The father was a farmer and made a 
specialty of raising Spanish Merino sheep, 
being a good judge of those animals and well 
versed in proper methods of breeding and 
raising them. He brought his flock to a high 
standard, and the subject of this sketch recalls 
that at one time his father had a tiock of 
two hundred ewes, each yielding si.x pounds 
of wool. The paternal grandfather, Arthur 
Sl^rowls, was a native of Ireland, and during 
the days of the American Revolution he went 
to England, expecting to immigrate to 
America, but it was two years before he could 
get passage, owing to the war. He finally 
succeeded in securing passage on a sailing 
vessel, and he became an early settler of 
Pennsylvania, where he purchased one hun- 
dred acres of land and where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life. The maternal grandfather 
of our subject was Hugh Montgomer>', who 
'vas bom in Belfast, Ireland. He was a 
(veaver by trade and at his death was a man of 
considcralalc wealth. 



Amos Sprowls spent his boyhood days on a 
farm in his native state and his public-school 
education was supplemented by a course in 
Waynesburg College, his studies here being 
interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war, 
when he was compelled to return home. His 
two younger brothers, George and Jesse M., 
entered the Union anny and Jesse was killed 
at Gettysburg. George was wounded and 
taken prisoner, sent to Andersonville and then 
to Richmond, where he was released, and the 
transport boat on which he was returning to 
his home was sunk, and he lost his life. 

In 1866 was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Sprowls to Miss Elizabeth Enlow, who 
was bom in Pennsylvania and whose ancestors 
were of English descent. After a married life 
of almost a half century Mrs. Sprowls was 
called to the home beyond, in 1914, having be- 
come the mother of five children, namely : 
Thomas Willard Sprowles, of Chicago, Illi- 
nois, where he is connected with the Butler 
Memorial House, was formerly in active ser- 
vice as a clergyman of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. He was educated at historic 
Washington and Jefferson College, in Penn- 
s}lvania, and Nebraska Wesleyan University, 
at Lincoln. The other children — Luella 
Martha, William Enlow, Plorace Alvin, and 
Francis \'ernon — all remain at the paternal 
home. 

The religious faith of the family is that of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and in poli- 
tics Mr. Sprowls is a Democrat. He came to 
Gage county in 1886 and purchased 240J/2 
acres of land, on which he has made substan- 
tial improvements, his farm being to-day one 
of the valuable properties of Island Grovci 
township. In all work of improvement and 
progress Mr. Sprowls has taken an active in- 
terest, and for many years he has held secure 
place as one of the representative agricultur- 
ists of Gage county. 

M. H. FREEL. — The subject of this rec- 
ord is one of the self-made men of Gage 
county, and he owns and operates a well im- 
proved farm in Island Grove township. 

M. II. Freel is a native of Wayne county, 



1094 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY. NEBRASKA 



Iowa, wliere he was born in 1852, a son of 
Benona and .Margaret ( Prentice) Freel, na- 
tives of Indiana. They were married in Illi- 
nois and became residents of Nebraska before 
the Civil war. They settled in Richardson 
county, where they resided for many years. 
They then came to Gage county, where their 
last days were spent. They were members of 
the Methodist church and in politics Mr. 
Freel was a Republican. Of the thirteen 
children six are now living. 

M. H. Freel was only a boy when the home 
was established in Nebraska, and he was 
reared on a pioneer farm. He attended the 
public schools, and when he became a man he 
chose the calling to which he had been reared. 



and became a fanner. In 1876 he married 
Miss Sarah Main, a native of Iowa, and while 
they have not been blessed with children jf 
their own they have reared live children. lUr. 
and Mrs. Freel are members of the Christian 
church and in politics he is a Republican. 

Mr. Freel is the owner of two hundred 
acres of valuable farm land, well improved, 
and his success has been achieved through his 
own eflforts. Having come to Nebraska when 
this state was a pioneer district, he has been 
an eye-witness of the innumerable changes 
that have taken place, and in this work of 
transformation he has contributed his full 
share. 



INDEX 



AcKER^(AN, John, 982 
Acton, Frank W., 483 
Acton, Thomas, 980 
Adam, August, 841 
Adam, Ernst, 856 
Adams, John O., 347 
Adams, Nelson, 352 
Aden, Bartlet, 560 
Albert, Benjamin C, 1001 
Albert, Daniel, 690 
Albert. Henry, 472 
Albert, William F., 544 
Albrecht, Franz, 365 
Andersen, Christian, 968 
Andersen, Hans, 929 
Anderson, Alex L., 636 
Anderson, John E., 1060 
Anderson, John L,., 373 
Anderson, P. M., 759 
Anthony, I^evi, 257 
Applebee, John, 838 
Armstrong, Alex, 858 
Armstrong, Charles. 814 
Ashby, William H., 330 
Atkins, Guy S., 884 
Austin, Charles N.. 709 
Austin. Homer B.. 543 
Ayres, S. B.. 780 



Babcock. Albert H., 335 
Baker, George, 1057 
Balderson, James E., 934 
Bardwell, Lysander H., 746 
Barmore. Frank M.. 894 
Barnard. George. 861 
Barnes. Fred H.. 1003 
Barnum. Hiram S.. 920 
Barratt. John, 850 
Bates. Charles O 332 
Bauman. Edward. 843 
Beam, Samuel W., 961 
Eednar, .\lbert, 897 
Bednar, James E., 529 
Benson, Peter E., 679 
Beran, .Anton, 666 
Beran, Frank, 445 
Beza, .\nton, 1034 
Bibb, Robert S., 334 
Bigler, Elwood, 530 
Bindernagel, David M., 1056 
Bindernagel, Philip, 584 
Bindernagel, Philip .\.. 695 
Black. W. C. Jr.. 597 
Blakely. Nathan. 153 
Boesiger. John F., 905 
Boggs, Charles S.. 623 
Boggs, James F„ 608 
l^oggs, Lewis B., 414 
Bohnstedt, Theodore, 831 
Bonebright, Ira D.. 98" 
Bonham. Charles F.. 431 



Bourne, Wilbur S., 466 
Bower, Perry L., 870 
Boyd, Ira. 816 
Boyd, John C, 939 
Boyd, Otho, 942 
Boycr, A. L., 546 
Braddock, John, 878 
Bradley, Alden C, 680 
Brainard. Dorr D., 729 
Brewster. .Ananias, 630 
Bridenthal, J. W., 1037 
Brodhead. William H.. 143 
Brown. Frank H., 957 
Brown, Harry R., 486 
Brown. James E., 945 
Brown. Mentor A.. 247 
Brubaker, Benjamin .\., 745 
Uiubaker, Isaac H., 908 
IJrugh, Leroy, 620 
Bryson, David F., 486 
Bryson, Guy R., 1047 
Bryson, John A., 910 
Bryson, Silas, 479 
Bryson, William E., 874 
Buhr, Bruno J., 970 
Bull, Stephen, 647 
Burbank, C. A., 857 
Burbank, John F., 853 
Burch, Isaac W., 687 
Bures. Frank. 849 
Bures. Joseph, 1089 
Burger, George F., 986 
Burger. George S., 960 
Burger, John I.., 996 
Burgess, John W., 508 
Burke, Thomas F., 332 
Burket, Armstrong O., 690 
Burnham, J. M., 1031 
Burroughs, David N., 801 
Burrows, George C, 869 
Busboom, John T., 949 
Bush. James E., 335 



Cacek, John, 812 
Cacek, Joseph, 836 
Cacck, Joseph, Jr., 788 
Callan, Thomas R., 676 
Calland, Norton S., 1038 
Campbell, George W., 930 
Campbell. John W.. 884 
Carpenter, Howard, 788 
Carpenter, J. D., 805 
Carsten, John E., 698 
Carstens, Herman. 925 
Carstens, John G., 719 
'•C. B. R. E.", 328 
Chamberlin, Elmer E.. 736 
Champ. Francis M., •'<2I 
Chapman. I,ee I,., 703 
Chapman, Percy J., 919 
Chittenden, Frank J., 624 



Claassen, .\ron E., 923 
Clancy, John J.. 1009 
Clark. Victor F.. 462 
Clayton. Freeman E.. 739 
Clayton. Isaac R.. 984 
Clough. Jay P., 929 
Clough. Mason D.. 929 
Cohbey, Joseph E., 336 
Colby, Leonard W.. 496 
Colby, Marie Mailer Colby, 497 
Coleman, Theodore, 245 
Colgrove, Dell B., 744 
Colgrove, James F., 746 
Collins, William L., 979 
Cook, Daniel W., 338 
Cook. Harrison F.. 138 
Cooper, Joseph, 616 
Cooper, Weitje C... 893 
Craig. William, 758 
Cramer. Eilert D.. 572 
Crangle, Fred N., 831 
Crangle, William F., 1003 
Crawford, James, 875 
Cripe, .\dam, 552 
Crocker, Frank C, 963 
Crocker, Hiram P., 1013 
Crocker, Lloyd, 1015 
Crook, Edward G., 989 
Cullen, James K.. 634 
Cummings, Marion T., 594 
Curry, Charles S., 899 

Pm-bev. Dwicht S.. 489 
Danikroger. Henry. 813 
Darner. Harry IL. 1088 
Darwin. .Mien M., 575 
Davis, Edward F., 689 
Davis, Harry T. F.. 1025 
"Dawson, Jacob S., 766 
Dawson. John L., 1017 
Day. William T., 1035 
Dean. Smith C. B.. 331 
De Bolt. Walter H.. 478 
De Buhr, Harm M.. 719 
Dell. J.icob S.. 962 
Dell. Joseph C, 396 
Dewey, William L., 1092 
Dobbs, Fidillo H.. 609 
Dobbs, Hugh J.. 586 
Dobbs, Thomas F., 587 
Dobbs, William J.. 1041 
Dole. Elbert J., 529 
Dole. Edward W., 607 
Dole Floral Com|>any. 430 
Dole. Sophia H.. 384 
Dorn. John T., 995 
Dorscy, Charles O., 157 
Douglas, George G,. 936 
T>rummond, Bernard E.. 634 
Duis, Ralph A., 815 
Dvorak, .\nton. 835 
Dvorak. Frank. 1092 



1096 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Eastman, Sarah J., 889 
Eby. William M., 1049 
Ehmen, Henry W., 10S8 
Ehman, John W., 713 
Eggert, Fred. 848 
Eickmann, Martin F., 404 
Elias, Francis, 488 
Ellis. Emer)- S.. 1064 
Ellis. Kalph G., 1002 
Ellis. Thomas S., 1008 
Emery. Charles N., 155 
Emery, John C, 761 
Enlow. Oliver M., 331 
Epard. John A.. 956 
Epard, Lon W., 8.'3 
Erickson. Gustavus A.. 416 
Essam, Harvey R., 772 
Essam. Henry. 1028 
Essam. Jacob, 507 
Evans. Ira \V., 923 

Fall, Clifford P., 367 
Farlow, William N., 707 
FauIHer, David S., 617 
Faxon, George, 807 
Feerhusen, Henry H., 802 
Field, James R. C, 1028 
Filley, Elijah. 353 
Fishbach, Henry, 513 
Fisher, Henry, 773 
Fisher, James, 973 
Focken. Henry, 1069 
Folkerts. George. 988 
Forbes. William M.. 332 
Fosslcr. John. 789 
Fosslcr. John. Jr.. 727 
Freel, M. H., 1093 
Freeman. Daniel. 116 
Freeman. James H., 889 
Fterichs. Gerhard L.. 842 
Frerichs. John L.. 964 
Frerichs, Lammert. 966 
Frerichs. Lammert W., 706 
Frerichs, Pope, 1001 
Frisbie, Fred W,, 1058 
Fritz. Conrad W., 927 
Fritzen, John, 1077 
Fritzen, Martin, 976 
Fry, Christian F., 948 
Fry, William T.. 943 
Fuller, John N., 561 
Fulton, Jiihn B., 522 

Gapford. Charles C, 731 
Gale. Clarence W.. 635 
Gale. George. 166 
Galloway. James C. 860 
Galloway. James E., 861 
Garrison, C. A., 915 
Gerdes, Gerd, 804 
Gerdes, John L- 1082 
Gessell, Lemuel P., 646 
Giddings, Harvey W., 567 
Giddings. S. E.. 750 
Gicsmann. Herman F., 794 
Gilmore, Robert G.. 809 
Gish. James W.. 941 
Goodban. John S.. 366 
Goodman. Daniel. 818 
Graf, David, 503 
Graff, Clarence W,, 345 
Graff, Louis. 518 
Graff. Philip, 526 
Graham. Francis M.. 258 



Grant. Richard W., 578 
Gray, Alfred H.. 627 
Grieser. Leonard, 989 
Griffiths, David G., 570 
Griggs. Kirk. 511 
Griggs. Nathan K-, 329 
Grone, Arthur. 1039 
Gronewold. John J., 675 
Gudtner. Charles O., 681 

Hacerman, Thomas C, 718 
Hale. Andrew J.. 332 
Hall, C. A., 574 
Hamm, William, 1024 
Hardy, Albert, 332 
Harms, Eilert, 1016 
Harms, Harm D., 559 
Harms. Henry E.. 10J4 
Harper. Fred A.. 906 
Harpster. George F., 1032 
Harpster. Solomon, 371 
Harrington. Salmasius H., 329 
Harris. George S., 784 
Hartzell, Simon B.. 502 
Hasenohr. August, 969 
riaupt, Oscar J., 950 
Haverland, Christian. 826 
Ilawes, Carl. 659 
Hazen. Solon M.. 255 
Hazlett. Alfred. 384 
Hebel, Joseph, 532 
Heetlage, John, 1025 
Heffclfinger, Otis B., 895 
Heffelfinger, Percy F., 903 
Heffelfinger, Ray C, 740 
Helmkc, John H., 782 
Hemphill, Robert C. 833 
Hentges, Charles, 724 
Hcpperlen, Harry M.. 362 
Hereth, John G.. 582 
Hershey. John L.. 525 
Hevelone, Elmer L., 475 
Hcwett. Obediah B., 135 
Heyen. Jacob, 1046 
Hiatt. Colonel Johnson. 910 
Hibbert. Thomas E.. 536 
Higgins. Calvin K., 655 
Hilton. George B., 664 
Hinds, Charles N., 837 
Hinds, Edwin B., 919 
Hitc. Charles R., 388 
Hitt. Archie C. 1048 
HotTstaedt. Frank N.. 892 
Hollingworth. Charles H.. 837 
Hollingsworth. Joseph. 156 
Holm. William. 351 
Hood, John C. 1063 
Horn. Charles P.. 656 
Horner, Henry. 630 
Horrum. George E.. 753 
Houghton, Cyrus, 755 
Howe. James M., 1075 
Howey. Frederick H., 369 
Hoyle. Fernando. 1027 
Hoyle. Walter E. 927 
Hubka, Albert, 845 
Hubka. Emil, 955 
Hubka, Frank J. 1011 
Hubka, Joseph, 847 
Hubka. Joseph S., 950 
Hughes. Charles. 730 
Hunkle. George. 505 
Hurtz. .\nton. 951 
Hutchinson. Christianas L.. 823 



Jack. Fulton, 546 
Jackson. Charles A.. 880 
Jamison, .Andrew J., 606 
Janzen, Henry, 580 
Jewell. Earl C, 713 
Jewell. William H., 815 
Johnson, C. C, 346 
Johnston, George M.. 583 
Jones. Cyrus P., 981 
Jones. Frank W., 378 
Jones. George H,. 754 
Jones, John E.. 1076 
Jones. John S., 501 
Jones. John W., 1071 
Jones, Robert S., 1061 
Jones. Samuel, 163 
Jones, William R., 976 
Jurgens. Henry. 1009 
Jurgens. John T., 642 
Jurgens, Thee T.. 785 

Kasparfk, Henry, 694 
Kelley, Addison P., 700 
Kerk, William M., 1007 
Kidd. Albertus H.. 450 
Kiler. Isaac. 1052 
Kilpatrick Brothers. 599 
King, Charles W., 724 
King, Chester F., 873 
King, J. J., 975 
King. John E., 571 
Kinney. John F., 130 
Kirby. Maurice. 885 
Kivett. Richmond, 1088 
Klaus, Fred, 786 
Klein. Jacob. 419 
Klein. Jacob A., 568 
Kloepper. Louis. 778 
Knochel, Wendel, 1033 
Knox, Charles D., 470 
Knox. Clarence B.. 657 
Koenig. Lenhard. 735 
Kors. Martin L.. 677 
Kracke. Frederick. Sr., 1053 
Kramer. William. 881 
Krapp, John, 649 
Krautcr. John F., 651 
Krebsbach. William. 928 
Kriter. Frederick D., 1085 
Kroese. Herman A.. 907 
Kroos. Benjamin, 1080 
Krotz, Joseph, 696 
Krueger, Henry. 828 
Krueger. Michael. 1006 
Kuhlmann. Albert. 684 

Lacy. Huram, 1061 
Laflin. Lewis H.. 991 
La Forge. Curtis C. 668 
Lancaster, Raymond. 779 
Lancaster. Walter V., 832 
La Selle. Henry A.. 1072 
Lawrence. James G., 531 
Layton. .\ndrew I.. 789 
Lee. .\mesbury. 880 
Lefferdink. Frank E-, 523 
Lcggetl. Joseph. 1021 
Leners. John. 714 
Leners. Renken. 1080 
Lenger. Lewis D., 901 
Le Poidevin. Charles C, 560 
Le Poidevin. Ezra. 874 
Le Poidevin. John. 730 
Le Poidevin. John T.. 767 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



1097 



he Poidevin, Thomas, 500 
Lewis, Ford, 555 
Lewis, George G., 704 
Lillie, William F., 654 
Lisec, Frank, 793 
Loemker, Ernst, 807 
Long, James, 766 
Loomis, Gilbert T., 136 
Lyndes, O. J., 644 

McCandless, Arnott D., 432 
McCann, John R., 454 
McClung, Jestun O., 970 
McClung, Lewis C, 840 
McColl, Charles J., 506 
McConihe. John. 133 
McGirr, Frederick O., 542 
McGirr, John I., 509 
McGirr, Virgil E., 482 
McKeever, L. L., 734 
McKenna, William T., 470 
McKinlcy, William R., 882 
McKinney, Samuel H., 726 
McKissick, John W., 468 
McLaughlin, James B., 385 
McMichael, William A., 801 
McMurray, John A., 1079 
McPheron, James M., 795 
McPheron, Ulysses G., '576 
Magner, Dennis. 1091 
Mangus, Jerry T.. 917 
Mangus, Joseph, 477 
Mangus, William, 905 
Marples, James W., 593 
Martin, Curtis 0., 1002 
Martin. John M., 933 
Martin, Thomas M., 400 
Masek. Frank, 688 
Mason, Harvey O., 471 
Mayborn, Thomas, 660 
Meints. Brune C, 836 
Meints, Christ J., 716 
Meints, John C, 792 
Menke, Henry, 841 
Mentcr, John H., 457 
Merchant, I. T., 485 
Merrick, Homer J., 390 
Messmore, Frederick W., 437 
Meyer, Frank. 628 
Michael, David H., 1042 
Milburn, Albert T., 519 
Miller, Albert, 443 
Miller, Charles A. (Clatonia), 916 
Miller, Charles A. (Sicily), 765 
Miller, Eli. 773 
Miller, Francis A., 743 
Miller, George F., 747 
Miller. Horace M., 955 
Miller, William H., 754 
Milligan, Joseph, 139 
Mitchell, George T., 818 
Mittan. Isaac B., 661 
Montgomery. John R., 979 
Moore, William C, 429 
Moschel, Ludwig, 569 
Moseby, Thomas D., 858 
Moseley, Frank, 740 
Moseley, Paul F., 825 
Mowry, Samuel. 397 
Mulligan. William A., 541 
Mumford, Charles B., 458 
Mumford. Eugene P., 405 
Mumford, Frank W., 720 
Mumford, George L., 663 



Mumford, Isma P., 161 
Mumford, John N., 951 
Mumford, Oliver C, 829 
Murdock, Charles M., 440 
Murphy, George A.. 334 
Murphy, John E.. 455 

Nelson, Joseph R., 135 
Neumann, Julius, 760 
Nicewonger, Daniel. 998 
Nicholas, George W., 737 
Nicholas, Robert, 403 
Nichols, Martin V. B., 863 
Nichols, Samuel F., 667 
Noble, Lucien L-, 579 
Novotny, Anton, 464 
Novotny, Edward, 1053 

OjERS, Charles H., 407 
Oltmans, Anton, 953 
Oltmans, Dick, 984 
Oltmans, Oilman. 962 
Overbeck, Frank, 439 
Ozman. William L.. 636 

Paben, Tore, 825 
Packer, James, 672 
Paddock. Algernon S., 164 
Palmer, Aaron, 426 
Palmer. William, 1070 
Pape, Frank F., 1012 
Parde, John W., 576 
Parde, William H., 941 
Parde, William P., 806 ' 
Parker, Hiram W., 157 
Parker, John B., 581 
Pearson. Rupert C. 1043 
Pease, Robert, 553 
Pemberton. Leander M., 587 
Pence, George N., 832 
Pence. Jasper H.. 925 
Penterman, Herman H.. 774 
Pethoud. Francis M., 626 
Pethoud. James K. P., 453 
Pethoud. John, 510 
Pfeffermann, Albert C, 717 
Pfeffermann. Sturmeus, 623 
Pheasant, Samuel S., 683 
Pickett, Ira N., 824 
Pieper, William, 849 
Pike, Bennett, 140 
Pitts. George W., 467 
Plucknett, Floyd G., 983 
Poeverlein. Leonard, 383 
Pothast, Frederick L.. 401 
Prout. Frank N., 333 
Pyle, Samuel L., 56S 

Rai.vs. George O.. 616 
Ramsey, Joseph H., 603 
Rathbun. Edward G., 1055 
Ralhbun. James, 847 
Rathbun. Lewis, 701 
Reed. John Q., 646 
Reed. William I.. 708 
Reedy. .Vndrew J., 437 
Reents. J. B., 446 
Rcid. Isaac, 1076 
Reiff. George W., 732 
Reiff. John B., 615 
RcimtT, Heinrich, 517 
Rcmmers. Henry, 726 
Remmcrs, John E-, 817 
Remmcrs, Thomas. 697 



Rcnard, John B., 460 
Reuling, John A., 1047 
Revis. William N.. 898 
Reynolds. George B., 728 
Reynolds, Herman M., 145-421 
Rice, Henry, 702 
Richards, George F., 777 
Richards, Louis, 774 
Richards. Silas F., 767 
Richards. William H., 333 
Riechers. John, 540 
Rife, William E. 1090 
Riggert, Fred, 854 
Riggert, William, 748 
Rinaker, Samuel, 356 
Robbins, William E.. 997 
Roe, George L., 903 
Root, Elmer L., 757 
Root. Frederick L., 748 
Root. William R., 786 
Roper, Fordyce, 158 
Rossiter, Edgar, 551 
Rossiter, Richard, 711 
Roszell, Ralph R., 669 
Roszell, William F., 666 
Rothrock. Edgar, 591 
Ruth. Samuel D., 467 
Rutherford. Jacob S., 625 
Ruyle. Herbert R., 828 
Ruyle. William H.. 808 
Ryan. Matthew W.. 1084 
Ryhd, Victor E., 559 

Sarin, Robert W., 913 
Sachtleben. Henry H., 1043 
Sackett. Harry E., 958 
Saunders, James P., 737 
Sausman. Jacob P., 947 
Savage. Owen L., 701 
Schaefer, Erwin W.. 762 
Scheidelcr, Anton, 801 
Scheidelcr, John, 749 
Scheve, Joseph II.. 886 
Schick. John L., 595 
Schlosser. Jesse L., 519 
Schock. John D 822 
Schoen. Frank, 933 
Schowengerdt. Frank T.. 389 
Seymour. Silas A.. 640 
Shafer. Clarence L., 1085 
Shalla. Frank. 776 
Shalla, Frank R., 853 
Shalla, John, 710 
Shalla, John M., 674 
Shalla, Joseph (Barnston), 731 
Shalla, Joseph (Glcnwood), 841 
Shalla, Tony, 843 
Shalla, William H., 856 
Shaw, Harley J., 768 
Shaw, Stephen V., 691 
Shelley, Frank R., 678 
Shelley, Gilbert R., 749 
Shelley, James W., 481 
Sherwood. Abijah S.. 668 
Sible. John R., 1083 
Siefkes, Bernard H.. 578 
Siems, Henry J., 855 
Siems. Herman F.. 909 
Singleton. John, 715 
Smcthers. Harvey M.. 1029 
Smethers. Percy J., 685 
Smith, C. M., 670 
Smith, Frederick J., 638 
Smith, James A., 335 



1098 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA 



Smith, Samuel R., 937 
Smith, Stephen A., 829 
Snyder, Anthony W., 753 
Sonderegger, Arthur C, 1008 
Sondercgger, Carl, 375 
Sonderegger, Charles C, 1025 
Sondercgger, Ernest I,., 1064 
Sonderegger, Frederick T., 800 
Spealman, John R., 872 
Spellman, Burt L., 618 
Spellman, Clemens A., 618 
Spencer, Alvin D., 922 
Spiegel, George W., 1044 
Spilker, Christ, 868 
Spilker, Ernst H., 756 
Sprowls, Amos, 1093 
Stanek, Joseph S., 966 
Stanosheck, Thomas W., 846 
Starr. Calvin, 348 
Steecc, George M., 974 
Steinmeyer, Benjamin F., 379 
Stcinmeyer, Frederick, 770 
Steinmeyer, George W., 1012 
Steinmeyer, J. Henry, 549 
Steinmeyer, John F., 899 
Steinmeyer, Robert H., 396 
Steinmeyer, Wesley D., 996 
Stephenson, George T., 686 
Strauch, Frank, 1051 
Strough, Lloyd L., 736 
Strough, John, 435 

Tart, Arthur T., 1020 
Taylor, Jacob, 732 
Taylor, Sherman, 772 
Theasmeyer, George E., 641 
Thorn, James A., 940 
Thom, Peter C, 651 
Thoman, George I., 795 



Thornburg, Abraham L., 943 
Thornburg, John D., 967 
Tilton, Frank R., 954 
Tilton, Lloyd H.. 741 
Tinkham, Albert L., 159 ' 
Tjaden, John, 699 
Towle, Albert, 133 
Townsend, Oliver, 137-553 
Townsend, William, 632 
Tracey, Daniel K.. 544 
Troemper, Henry J., 492 
Truxaw, Frank J., 793 
Turner, Fred IL, 749 
Tyler, William B., 253 

Ulrich, Albert O., 885 
Ulrich, Edward W. A., 551 

Van Boskirk, Fred F., 572 
Van Home, George H., 598 
Van Liew, Fred D., 721 
Vasey, Thomas, 1019 
Von Steen, John H., 491 

Wallmann, Eh.me, 944 
Wandersee, Frank, 781 
Wandersee, Frank H., 704 
Warford. Lewis M., 999 
Warren, Clarence S., 563 
Wayman, John H.. 658 
Webb, Joseph L., 972 
Webb, Joseph L., Sr., 411 
Weiner, Raymond, 820 
Werner, Louis, 862 
Weston, Jefferson B., 142-409 
Whalen, John T., 799 
Whitton. Richard, 777 
Whyman, Carl I., 877 
Wible, Charles A., 1071 
Wick, William W.. 902 



Wickham, Frank P., 708 
Wiebe, Gerhard, 671 
Wiebe, Henry J., 374 
Wiebe, Herman, 894 
Wiebe, Jacob W., 539 
Wiebe, John G., 1017 
Wiens Brothers, 1083 
Wiens, Frank, 1083 
Wiens, Jacob, 1083 
Wiese, Gerd E., 964 
Wieters, Henry, 843 
Will, Frank II., 799 
Will, Joseph J., 764 
Williams, Evan, 797 
Williams, Thomas, 787 
Williamson, Henry, 534 
Wilson, James R., 639 
Wilson, John L-, 722 
Wilson, Robert A. 254 
Winter, Frederick W., 900 
Wise, Bayard T., 139 
Wolken, Herman, 573 
Wollenburg, Carl F., 446 
Wollenburg, William. 1031 
Woods, Fred J., 1067 
Wright, Amos L., 417 
Wright, Fred A., 765 
W'right, John W., 425 
Wrightsman, Noah, 838 

Young, Josiah, 751 
Yule. John T., 521 
Yule, Thomas, 344 

Zimmerman, George E., 571 
Zimmerman, John H., 717 
Zimmerman, Tamme R., 382 
Zuver, Byron P., 864 
Zuver, James B., 675 



PORTRAITS 



Adams, John O., 348 
Adams, Nelson, 352 
Albert, Henry. 473 
Anthony, Levi, 257 
Applebee, Jolin, 839 
Ar-ka-ke-ta. 86 
Armstrong, Alex, 859 

Barratt, John, 851 

Barratt, Mrs. John. 851 

Bauman, Edward, 844 

Bauman, Mrs. Edward, 844 

Bednar, .Mbert, 896 

Bednar, Mrs. .Mbert. 896 

Blakcly, Nathan, 154 

Blakely, Margaret C, 155 

Boesiger, Frederich, 904 

Eoesiger, Mrs. Frederich, 904 

Bower, Perry L., 871 

Boyd. John C. and Family. 938 
Braddock. John, 879 
Braddock, Mrs. John, 879 

Bradley, James, 321 
Brodhead, William 11.. 144 
Brown, James E., 946 
Brown, Mrs. James E., 946 
Bryson, David F., 487 
Bryson, Mrs. David F., 487 
Bryson, Silas, 480 
Bryson, Mrs. Silas, 480 
Buhr, John C, 971 
Buhr, Mrs. John C... 971 
Burt. Francis, 33 

Campbell. George W., 931 N 
Campbell. Mrs. George W., 931 
Clark. William, 26 
Clayton, Isaac R., 985 
Clayton, Mrs. Isaac R., 985 
Colby, Leonard W., 494 
Colby, Mrs. Leonard W., 496 
Coleman, Theodore, 244 
Cook, Daniel W., 339 
Cook, Harrison F., 138 
Crangle, William F.. 1004 
Crangle, Mrs. William F.. 1004 
Crocker, Hiram P., 1014 
Cunn'ng, Thomas B,, 34 

Davis, Harry T. F., 1026 
Davis, Mrs. Harry T. F., 1026 
Dawson, John L-, 1018 
Dawson, Mrs. John L., 1018 
Day, William T. and Family, 1036 
DeSmet, Peter J., 77 
Dobbs, Fidillo H., 610 
Dobbs, Hugh J., Frontispiece 
Dobbs, Mary J., 611 
Dobbs, William J., 1040 
Dobbs, Mrs. William J., 1040 
Douglas, Stephen A., 32 

Ebv, William M., 1050 



Eby, Mrs. William M., 1050 
Ehraen, William, 1059 
Ehmen, Mrs. William, 1059 
Ellis, Emery S., 1065 

Fall, Clifford P., 368 
Feerhusen, Henry IL, 803 
Ferguson, Fenner, 320 
Fishbach, Henry, 515 
Focken, Henry, 1068 
Focken. Mrs. Henry, 1068 
Fossler, John, 790 
Fossler, Mrs. Anna, 791 
Freeman, Daniel, 116 
Fremont, John C, 74 
Fritzen, John, 1078 
Fritzen, Mrs. John, 1078 

Gage, William D., 37 

Gale, George, 167 

Gale, Mrs. George, 167 

Gilmore, Robert G., 810 

Gilmore, Mrs. Robert G., 811 

Goodman, Daniel, and Family, 819 

Graf, David, 504 

Graf, Mrs. David, 504 

Graff, Philip, 527 

Graham, Francis M., 258 

Graham, Hannah R., 258 

Harden, Edward R., 322 
Harpster, Solomon, 372 
Harpster, Mrs. Solomon, 372 
Haverland, Christian. S27 
Hazen, Solon M., 256 
Helmke, John H., 783 
Helmke, Mrs. John H.. 783 
Hemphill, Robert C, 834 
Hemphill, Mrs. Robert C. 834 
Hepperlen, Harry M., 363 
Hiatt, Colonel Johnson, 911 
Hiatt, Mrs Colonel Johnson, 911 
Hibbert, Thomas E., 537 
Hinds, Edwin B, 918 
Hinds, Mrs. Edwin B., 918 
Hoyle, Walter E. and Family. 926 
Hurtz, Anton, 952 
Hurtz, Mrs. Anton, 952 

Jack. Fulton, 547 
Jones, William R., 977 
Jurgens, Henry, 1010 
Jurgens, Mrs. Henry, 1010 

Kinney, Hannah D., 131 
Kinney, John F.. 131 
Kinney, Julia Beatrice, 120 
Kracke, Frederick, Sr., 1054 
Kracke. Mrs. Frederick, Sr., 1054 
Kriter. Frederick D., 1086 
Kriter, Mrs. Frederick D., 1086 

Lacy, Hlram, 1062 



Lacy, Mrs. Hurman, 1062 
Laflin, Lewis H., 993 
La Selle, Henry A., 1073 
Leggett, Joseph, 1022 
Leggett, Mrs. Joseph, 1022 
Leners, Renken, 1081 
Leners, Mrs. Renken, 1081 
Lewis, Ford, 557 
Lewis, Meriwether, 26 

McCandless, Arnott D., 433 

McConihe, John, 132 

McLaughlin, James B. and Family, 387 

Mason, Oliver P., 325 

Merrick, Homer J., 392 

Merrick, Lucy A., 393 

Messmore, Frederick W., 438 

Metcalf, Julia Beatrice, 124 

Miller, Albert, 444 

Miller, Mrs. .-Mbert, 444 

Mittan, Isaac B., 662 

Mittan, Mrs. Isaac B.. 662 

Moore, William C, 428 

Moore, Mrs. William C, 428 

Mowry, Samuel, 398 

Mowry, Mrs. Samuel, 398 

Mumford, Elizabeth, 161 

Murphy, John E.. 456 

Murphy, Mrs. John E., 456 

Nelson, Joseph R., 135 
Nicholas, Robert. 402 
Nicholas, Mrs. Robert, 402 
Novotny, Anton, 465 
Novotny, Mrs. .\nton, 465 

OjERS, Charles H., 408 
Ojers, Mrs. Charles IL, 408 

Packer, James, 673 
Packer, Mrs. James. 673 
Parde, John W., 577 
Parker, Iliram W., 157 
Pemberlon, Leander M., 589 
Penterman, Herman IL, 775 
Pethoud. James K. P., 452 
Pethoud, Mrs. James K. P.. 452 
Pfcffermann, Sturmeus, 622 
Pfcffermann, Mrs. Sturmeus, 622 
Pheasant, Samuel S., 682 
Pheasant, Mrs. Samuel S., 682 
Pike, Bennett, 141 
Pyle, Samuel L-, 566 
Pyle, Mrs. Samuel L., 566 

Reents, Rev. J. B., 447 
Reiiard, John B., 461 
Renard, Mrs. John B., 461 
Reynolds, Herman iL, 146 
Rice, Henry, 703 
Rinakcr, Samuel, 3S7 
Rossiter, Richard, 712 
Rossiter, Mrs. Richard, 712 



1100 



HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, X; 



i-ASKA '-5C1- ' 



Sackett. Harry E., 959 
Schaefer, Erwin \V., 763 
bcheve, John, 887 
Scheve, Mrs. John, 887 
bchoen, Frank (Residence), 934 
Shaw, Harley J., 769 
Shaw, Stephen P., 692 
Shaw, Mrs. Stephen P., 692 
Shaw, Stephen V'., 693 
Shaw, Mrs. Stephen V., 693 
Snyder, Anthony \V., 752 
Snyder, Mrs, Anthony W., 752 
Sonderegger, Carl, 377 
Spiegel, George W., 1045 
Steinmeyer, William, 380 
Steinmeyer, Mrs. William, 380 



Stotsenberg, John M., 314 



Taylor, Jacob, 733 
Theasmeyer, George E., 643 
Tneasmeyer, Mrs. George E., 
Thorn, Peter C, 652 
Thom, Mrs. Peter C, 652 
Tilton, Curtis, 742 
Tilton, Mrs. Curtis, 742 
Towle, Albert, 133 
Towie, Katie, 134 
Townsend, Oliver. 137 
Townsend, William, 633 
Tyler. Rebecca. 254 
Tyler, William B., 254 



Warford, Lewis M., 1000 
Warford. Mrs. Lewis M.. 1000 
Webb, Dr. Joseph L.. Sr., 413 
Wiese, Gerd B. and Family, 965 
Williams, Evan, 796 
643 Williams, Mrs. Evan, 796 

Wilson, Amelia, 255 
Wilson, John L., 723 
WUson, Robert A., 255 
WoUenburg, William. 1030 
Wollenburg, Mrs. William, 1030 
Wright. .\mos L.. 418 
Wright, Mrs. Amos L., 418 
Wright, John W., 424 

Young, Brigham, 75 



a. 



